It is no surprise that Reddit has thrown itself full force at the case of Steven Avery, a Wisconsin man whose dubious conviction on rape and murder charges provides the focus of the Netflix true-crime documentary series Making A Murderer. Recently, a comprehensive and convincing theory regarding the case has emerged on the Making A Murderer subreddit. But said theory was not actually generated on Reddit proper; instead, it was discovered in the comments section of a YouTube video and then cut-and-pasted into Reddit by a user named Jaypact, who prefaces his discovery by calling it “the most credible theory I have seen so far.” As near as these things can be determined, the YouTube video in question was “Ozzy Man Reviews Making A Murderer.” There, the theory is posted by a user named JayDub.
Regardless of its origin, the theory states that the essential mistake made by the Manitowoc Sheriff’s Department occurred when Andrew Colborn went to the Avery Salvage Yard, where Mike Halbach and Ryan Hillegas had discovered the RAV4 belonging to victim Teresa Halbach. Colborn called in the vehicle’s plate number because he wasn’t in his police cruiser and didn’t have his radio available. By doing so, he as “operating outside of police protocol.” Realizing this mistake, the theory goes, Lt. James Lenk then ordered Colborn to remove the vehicle’s license plate and told Mike and Ryan to remain silent about the entire incident. Lenk and Colborn were unaware that Bobby Dassey and Scott Tadych had disposed of Teresa Halbach’s body and then hid her RAV4 at Avery Salvage after wiping it of prints. Tadych then transferred Halbach’s cremains to the Avery burn pit but did not do so cleanly or thoroughly, which is why the cremains were found in multiple locations. The conviction of Steven Avery, says the theory, was the result of some shoddy police work, a conspiracy of silence, “sheer colossal luck” on the part of the real culprits, and the utter bafflement of the jury at seemingly contradictory evidence.
When he shared this theory with his fellow Reddit users, Jaypact added the following endorsement.
This is probably the most credible theory I have come across so far. Notice how the events here not only make logical sense, but they also line up with how many of the parties involved behaved during the documentary i.e how Mike Halbach and Ryan Hillegas seemed like they knew more about what happened than they were leading on. As well as Scott Tadych and Bobby Dassey’s bizarre hostility towards Steven Avery.
I can’t see another theory topping this one personally.