Making a Murderer’s Brendan Dassey, 29, breaks 13-year silence with handwritten note begging to be freed from prison
MAKING a Murderer's Brendan Dassey has broken his 13-year silence with a handwritten note begging to be freed from prison.
The 29-year-old, who was convicted of rape and murder when he was a teenager, asked Wisconsin's governor for a pardon or commutation of his life prison sentence on Wednesday.
Dassey's latest appeal was not considered by the US Supreme Court and his chances of getting a pardon from Governor Tony Evers appear slim.
On the handwritten note, which was submitted along with his application, he wrote: "I am writing to ask for a pardon because I am innocent and want to go home."
BEGGING FOR FREEDOM
Evers' rules for a pardon forbids anyone who is serving a prison sentence from being considered.
In the note, Dassey listed things he enjoys, including Pokemon and burgers. He also drew a pair of hearts with the word "hugs" in one and "love" in the other, reported .
Evers re-started Wisconsin's pardons board this year after his Republican predecessor Scott Walker stopped it.
However, to to be considered the applicants must have completed their prison sentences and anyone not meeting that criteria will be rejected as ineligible with no review.
Evers' spokeswoman Melissa Baldauff said in June that he is not considering public rules for commuting a prison sentence.
Govenor Tommy Thompson, who left office in 2001, was the last who had issued one.
'WORTHY OF CLEMENCY'
Dassey's attorney Laura Nirider said she hoped Evers would make an exception for him, saying: "What we're hoping to do is to take this moment to ask the governor to hold off, to look at this case as a perfect example for that kind of relief,' she told reporters following a news conference.
"We look forward to working with Governor Evers to help him understand this case, to help him see that it's time to bring Brendan home."
We'll deal with it just like we do any communication we receive
Governor Tony Evers
When asked on Wednesday about the status of Dassey's application, Evers said he had not yet seen it.
"We'll deal with it just like we do any communication we receive.
"We give consideration to all sorts of things that we reject. Whether there´s criteria or not, we'll consider it and respond back to them."
Dassey's application argues that he was the victim of a "uniquely and profoundly flawed legal process".
It says seeking clemency from the governor is "one of the last remaining legal options" available.
The application said: "By his prison conduct and his gentle, patient insistence of his own innocence, Brendan has shown himself to be the rare person who is worthy of clemency."
SENTENCED TO LIFE
The trials of Dassey and his uncle Steven Avery gained global attention after the release of Netflix documentary Making a Murderer, which cast doubt on the legal processes used to convict them.
Photographer Teresa Halbach disappeared in 2005, after visiting the Avery family salvage yard in Twin Rivers.
Dassey was initially interviewed as a witness in the investigation into his uncle.
But police contacted Brendan again after his cousin Kayla said he had discussed the murder with her.
In March 2006 he was arrested and charged with being party to first-degree murder, sexual assault, and mutilation of a corpse, and was convicted in April 2007 after a nine-day trial.
During interrogations by the police he confessed in detail to helping Avery carry out the rape, killing and dismemberment of Halbach.
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His confession was used as the foundation of Dassey's trial, which lacked physical evidence linking him to the murder.
But in June 2006 he recanted his admission in a letter to the judge, claiming he had been coerced and that he had taken most of the ideas from a book. He never testified against Avery.
Dassey was sentenced to life in prison with eligibility for parole in 2048.
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