Teresa Halbach, The Victim From Making A Murderer
TwitterTeresa Halbach was just 25 when she was murdered on Halloween 2005.
The murder of Teresa Halbach was more than a Halloween murder. It launched both the Netflix series Making a Murderer (2015) and an ongoing debate over the identity of her killer.
On Oct. 31, 2005, Halbach set out on a job. A freelance photographer, she had been hired by Auto Trader to photograph vehicles at the Manitowoc County, Wisconsin home of Steven Avery. According to People, Halbach didn’t want to go to the Avery property — the last time she’d visited, Avery had creeped her out by answering the door “wearing just a towel.”
But Auto Trader asked her to go once more, and Halbach acquiesced. About a week later, her charred remains were discovered in a burn pit on Steven Avery’s property.
NetflixSteven Avery was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Teresa Halbach.
As Vox explained, Steven Avery initially seemed like the perfect suspect. Halbach’s car had been hidden on Avery’s property, his blood was found inside the vehicle, her DNA was discovered on a bullet in Avery’s garage, and her spare keys were also uncovered in his trailer.
But the Halloween murder of Teresa Halbach was anything but simple. Avery claimed his innocence, and the Netflix series Making a Murderer (2015) laid out how he might have been framed.
Indeed, Avery had previously served 18 years in prison for a rape he didn’t commit and had just filed a $36 million lawsuit against the county, former sheriff, and former district attorney. Avery later argued in court that he’d been framed for murder in retaliation.
What’s more, a convicted killer named Joseph Evans Jr. claimed in 2019 that he had killed Halbach and framed Steven Avery, according to Newsweek.
For now, Avery is serving a life sentence. But whether or not there will be future developments in this case is yet to be seen.
