Making a Murderer lawyer claims Steven Avery’s family killed Teresa Halbach and allowed him to be ‘framed’ by cops

THE lawyer who represented Making a Murderer’s Steven Avery suspects two of his client’s own relatives may be behind the infamous murder of Teresa Halbach.

Jerry Buting has revealed how he wanted to name Avery’s nephew Bobby Dassey and brother-in-law Scott Tadych as alternative suspects in the high-profile 2007 trial.

The lawyer that the killing of Halbach could have been a “joint-operation” and believes Avery was definitely not involved.

He said: “Bobby and Scott, we pointed the finger at both of them. I think both, I think it’s likely both, potentially (a joint operation).”

They both deny any involvement in the brutal killing, and have never been treated as suspects by police in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin.

Avery is serving life for the killing of the photographer, but Mr Buting argued to jurors he had been framed by local cops.

She was last known to have met Avery at his home on the grounds of his Auto Salvage business to take a picture of a minivan he was trying to sell.

Her vehicle was found part-hidden in his salvage yard and bloodstains recovered from its interior matched Avery’s DNA.

The young woman’s charred bone fragments were later found in a burn pit near Avery’s home.

Mr Buting and his co-counsel, Dean Strang, wanted to name Bobby and Tadych as suspects in the trial but this was denied, it’s been reported.

New lawyer Kathleen Zellner has since alleged evidence of Bobby’s computer containing “images of Ms. Halbach and violent pornography”, as detailed in Season Two of the hit Netflix series.

However Buting says he was not aware of the computer allegations so was not in a position to claim Bobby was an alternative suspect.

Bobby is the brother of Brendan Dassey – who was also convicted for the Halbach murder.

Last month it was reported Avery bought leg irons and handcuffs the day before he tied, raped and slaughtered Halbach in 2005, his ex-girlfriend told police.

The shocking claims were revealed by prosecutor Michael Griesbach in his book Indefensible: The Missing Truth About Steven Avery, Teresa Halbach And Making a Murderer.

In the notorious book about Avery’s past, Griesbach claims vital evidence about Avery’s alleged crimes leading up to Halbach’s murder had been left out by the Netflix documentary.

In the book, he writes: “Driven perhaps by the same kind of madness that led to his drawing of a torture chamber and comments he made to other inmates, he bought handcuffs and leg irons the day before her (Teresa) visit, just a short time before she was murdered.”

The book also mentioned that Dassey’s mum Barb Janda “told police she didn’t think the hand-cuffs and leg irons were intended for Jodi.”

Griesbach, a former prosecutor who helped overturn Avery’s wrongful 1985 sex attack conviction, is convinced he is guilty of murdering Teresa despite suggestions in Making A Murderer.

He accuses the documentary makers of deliberately leaving out key evidence to make Avery appear the victim of a second miscarriage of justice.

Avery was jailed for life along with his 16-year-old nephew Brendan Dassey, who confessed he helped his uncle rape, stab shoot and dismember the victim in 2007.

TELEVISED PRESS CONFERENCE

The claims tie in with graphic details revealed by prosecutor Ken Kratz in a televised press conference in 2006.

Kratz warned children not to watch the press conference as the details were too grim for them to hear.

In the statement, he said: “Brendan accompanies his sweaty, 43-year-old uncle down the hallway to Steven Avery’s bedroom.

“There they find Teresa Halbach completely naked and shackled to the bed. Teresa Halbach is begging Brendan for her life.

“The evidence that we’ve uncovered establishes that Steven Avery at this point invites his 16-year-old nephew to sexually assault this woman that he has bounded to the bed.

“During the rape, Teresa is begging for help, begging 16-year-old Brendan to stop, if he could stop this.”

Kratz’s went on to reveal grim details about Teresa’s final minutes before being raped and butchered.

He continued: “Brendan watches Steven Avery take a butcher knife from the kitchen and stab Teresa Halbach in the stomach.

“What Steven Avery does then while Teresa is still begging for her life is he hands the knife to the 16-year-old boy and instructs him to cut her throat.

“Sixteen-year-old Brendan, under the instruction of Steven Avery, cuts Teresa Halbach’s throat but she still doesn’t die.

“There’s additional information which includes manual strangulation and gunshot wounds.”

‘SHAMEFULLY OMITTING EVIDENCE’

Kratz, who has written a bombshell book about the case called Avery, has also hit out at the Netflix show’s producers – accusing them of “shamefully” omitting key evidence and presenting a one-sided view of the case.

He says nothing in the 10-part second season – which has included in-depth crime scene recreations and expert testimony attempting to debunk the prosecution’s case – has made him question Avery’s guilt and believes there’s no way he’ll ever be freed.

He said: “Steven Avery killed Teresa Halbach.

“The jury unanimously determined that. Every Appellate Court since has reaffirmed that conviction.

“Avery is a sadistic killer, who is right where he belongs —he will die in prison.”

Griesbach’s book also reveals how Avery was obsessed with extreme bondage sex and once throttled his lover unconscious in the months before the murder at the heart of the hit Netflix series.

Avery also boasted how he wanted to rape and murder young women in a ‘torture chamber’, according to police reports citing his fellow inmates, known as “jailhouse snitches”.

It also mentions how Avery invited his nephew’s ex-girlfriend round to his house to “have some fun” suggesting that they had sex just 24 hours before the slaughter of Teresa, Griesbach claims.

Prosecutors wanted to use these allegations in at his trial, but the judge deemed such information was inadmissible and unrelated to the killing of Miss Halbach.

Avery’s ex-girlfriend Jodi Stachowski said she felt guilty because she had been due to be with Avery on the day he raped and butchered Teresa, and could have saved her.

She said: “He’s not innocent. I ate two boxes of rat poison just so I could go to the hospital and get away from him.”

Jodi also said she believed Avery and his nephew raped Miss Halbach while she was tied up on the bed, before murdering her – similar to that of Brendan Dassey’s story.