Who is Brendan Dassey from Making a Murderer, is he going to be freed from prison and what are the latest updates on the Steven Avery case?
BRENDAN Dassey, one of the subjects of Netflix hit Making A Murderer, had his freedom hopes dashed when the highest court in the United States refused to review his case.
Dassey, 27, along with his uncle Steven Avery, was sentenced to life behind bars over the killing of Teresa Halbach in a 2007 trial. Here's the story...
Who is Brendan Dassey?
Brendan was born in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, in 1989.
He was one of four children to Barbara and Peter Dassey.
He grew up with his mother and three brothers on a large family property alongside his maternal grandparents and uncles, including Steven Avery.
As a young man, Dassey was reportedly a quiet introvert with learning difficulties and a below-average IQ.
Court documents said he had difficulties communicating, adding that he was interested in animals and video games.
He was also a fan of Wrestlemania – in one memorable scene from Making a Murderer, he frets about missing the WWE showcase.
At the time of Teresa Halbach's death in 2005, he was 16 years old and had had no involvement with the criminal justice system.
What was his involvement in the Making a Murderer case?
The trials of Dassey and 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.
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.
How could the result of the US Midterms affect him?
The US midterm election results have provided one of the latest twists that could free one of the world’s most talked about convicted murderers.
Democrat Tony Evers seized control of the governorship in Wisconsin from Republican Scott Walker making Steven Avery the unlikeliest possible winner of the night.
The incarcerated star of Netflix's Making A Murderer has been given fresh hope following the incredibly narrow result in his native state.
Jerome Buting, Steven Avery's trial lawyer for the murder of Teresa Halbach, has now demanded the Governor-elect free Avery and his nephew Brendan Dassey.
Did the Supreme Court review the case to free him?
Following the release of Making a Murderer in December 2015, Dassey's legal team filed a lawsuit claiming he had been illegally arrested and imprisoned.
A judge overturned Dassey's conviction in August 2016, ruling that investigators took advantage of the then-16-year-old Dassey's cognitive disabilities and tricked him into confessing.
His attorneys argued that Dassey's confession was coerced by investigators who used improper techniques while interrogating a juvenile with a low IQ.
They claimed that investigators made false promises to Dassey that he would be released if he told them about the killing.
A federal magistrate overturned Dassey's conviction, saying repeated false promises by detectives, when considered with other factors like Dassey's age, intellectual deficits and the absence of a supportive adult, led him to determine that Dassey's confession was involuntary under the US Constitution.
However, prosecutors appealed to a US Appeals Court which upheld the conviction in a 4-3 ruling that found the confession to be voluntary.
On June 25, 2018, the Supreme Court Justices agreed not to review the Appeals Court ruling - but no reason was provided for the decision.
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What is the latest development in Steven Avery's case?
Dassey's uncle, Steven Avery, was last year denied a request for a new trial, although he and Dassey continue to maintain their innocence.
Avery had argued that his conviction in the 2005 death of photographer Teresa Halbach was based on planted evidence and false testimony.
His attorney said she planned to present new evidence to the court to try and revive his request after it was rejected by a state circuit judge.
But a judge ruled Avery had failed to establish grounds to warrant a new trial.
Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel praised the decision, saying it "brings us one step closer to providing justice to Teresa Halbach's family." He said the Department of Justice would continue to vigorously defend Avery's conviction.
A second series of Making A Murderer released in October 2018 is set to reveal fresh evidence including a mystery phone call.