Making A Murderer, Netflix’s widely buzzed-about documentary series, tells the story of Steven Avery, a man who served 18 years in prison for a wrongful conviction, only to be arrested two years later for the murder of Teresa Halbach. After watching the series, many viewers have concluded that Avery was framed for the murder, and that his case was grievously mishandled by then-state prosecutor Ken Kratz. Kratz—who was removed from that position in 2009 after allegedly pressuring a domestic violence victim into a sexual relationship by threatening to drop the case against her abuser—has been receiving widespread criticism ranging from bad Yelp reviews to death threats, not to mention The A.V. Club’s Josh Modell’s description of him as “blatantly corrupt, inept, and shameless” based on his portrayal in the documentary series.
But now, according to The Wrap, Kratz is pushing back, saying, “you don’t want to muddy up a perfectly good conspiracy movie with what actually happened.” Kratz claims the Netflix series left out key pieces of evidence, and that some of Avery’s DNA was recovered from the victim’s car. (The series does address this, alleging his blood, a sample of which had gone missing, was planted there by police.) Kratz also claims that phone records show Avery was trying to disguise his identity, and hiring Halbach was a trick to lure her to his location. (Halbach, a photographer, had been hired by Avery for a photo shoot prior to her murder.) A bullet was also discovered in Avery’s garage Kratz insists could only have been fired by Avery.
Whether any of that evidence is damning enough to change minds remains to be seen. As it stands, petitions have sprouted up online both to reopen the case and for President Obama to pardon Avery.