A new development in the Steven Avery story - as portrayed in Netflix series Making a Murderer - has arisen as his criminal defense lawyer dropped a bombshell on the case.
It's the belief of Avery's criminal defense lawyer, Kathleen Zellner, that it was in fact Teresa Halbach's on-again, off-again boyfriend, Ryan Hillegas, who actually committed her murder.
Zellner's new motion for a new trial, which she presented this week, included a 1,250-page post-conviction filing containing sworn affidavits from 10 law enforcement, legal profession, medical and scientific experts.
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Zellner says that this doesn't necessarily mean that Hillegas must be found guilty - all the new evidence needs to do is put significant doubt in the jury's mind that Steven Avery is the guilty party.
Credit: Netflix/Making a Murderer
Here are the key points in Zellner's new motion, as reported by Kare11.com:
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Hillegas had no alibi
Retired FBI agent Gregg McCrary said: "I have seen no evidence that he offered an alibi or any sort of statement regarding his activities from Oct. 31, 2005, to November 3, 2005.
"Nor have I seen any evidence that the authorities ever asked him to do so."
He organised the searches for Halbach
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Following Halbach's disappearance, Hillegas organised a group of volunteers in a search for his ex-girlfriend and her vehicle. After the search party left, former private investigator Pam Sturm arrived, conferring with Hillegas and his friend Scott Bloedorn, who shared a property with Halbach at the time. Shortly afterwards, Sturm quickly located the missing vehicle in the Avery Salvage Yard, hidden by branches.
According to McCrary, "Mr. Hillegas injected himself into the police investigation by taking an active role in the volunteer search. He gave a female volunteer searcher [Sturm] a camera and a direct phone number to the sheriff.
"It appears that he directed her to the area where the victim's vehicle was located."
He provided false information
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McCrary states: "Hillegas also appears to have misled police when he told them that Ms. Halbach had damaged the front driver's side of her vehicle months before her disappearance, had filed an insurance claim for that damage and had taken the cash payout without repairing the vehicle.
"However, it appears that particular damage was done more contemporaneously with the crime and a check with Ms. Halbach's insurance company revealed that she never filed an insurance claim for the front-end damage."
Credit: Netflix/Making a Murderer
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He used a fake name
"On at least one occasion, Mr. Hillegas had misidentified himself as Mr. Kilgus to gain access to the Avery property," said McCrary.
"Regardless, the authorities allowed Mr. Hillegas multiple entries to the Avery property while it was under police control."
He accessed Halbach's phone records
McCrary continues: "There is evidence that voice messages were deleted from Ms. Halbach's voice mailbox after her death and before law enforcement initiated their missing person investigation.
"Mr. Hillegas is one individual who knew Ms. Halbach's username and password, and assisted law enforcement in accessing her Cingular Wireless account to obtain a list of her phone calls during the relevant time period."
He was believed to have been an abusive partner
"She sustained both verbal and physical abuse in her relationship with her ex-boyfriend," according to McCrary.
"At the time of her death, the ex-boyfriend was unemployed, lived close by and visited her home frequently."
He injured his hands during the timeframe of the murder
A pathologist, Dr. Larry Blum, added: "It is my opinion, to a reasonable degree of scientific certainty in the field of forensic pathology, that Mr. Hillegas' right hand ... appears discolored ... the abrasions I observed on the back of Mr. Hillegas' left hand are consistent with scratches inflicted by fingernails."
Words: Paddy Maddison