ladbible logo

To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

'Making A Murderer' Detective Sues Netflix For Defamation

'Making A Murderer' Detective Sues Netflix For Defamation

Andrew Colborn claims the documentary series suggested he planted evidence to frame murder suspect Steven Avery.

Rachael Grealish

Rachael Grealish

A former detective is suing Netflix and the makers of Making a Murderer for defamation as he claims the show subjected him to 'worldwide ridicule, contempt, and disdain'.

Retired Manitowoc County Sheriff's police officer Andrew Colborn has filed the suit with the claim the show has suggested he planted evidence to frame Steven Avery for murder, which he says has damaged his reputation.

In a press release, his attorney Michael Griesbach said: "His reputation and that of Manitowoc County, itself, has been severely and unjustly defamed. He is filing this lawsuit to set the record straight and to restore his good name."

Variety reports the suit to allege that the filmmakers 'distorted events and omitted key facts', suggesting this was used as part of the argument that Colborn and other detectives had framed Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey for murder.

Making A Murderer Detective Sues Netflix For Defamation.
Netflix

The 10-part series, which has just aired a second season but was launched back in 2015, follows the case of Avery and his 16-year-old nephew Dassey, who were both convicted of murdering the freelance photographer Teresa Halbach.

It's also been reported that in the complaint he says the filmmakers 'went well beyond merely expressing an opinion' when it came to the case and that they 'manipulated' trial testimony in order to bring viewers to a different conclusion.

Netflix has been approached for comment.

Making A Murderer Detective Sues Netflix For Defamation.
Netflix

The news of the suit against Netflix and the filmmakers comes soon after Avery's lawyer Kathleen Zellner tweeted that there is new evidence that could see her client found innocent of murder.

She claims the files - made up of 22,000 pages - will be handed in on 20 December and contain new DNA evidence which could help free the former scrap metal worker, more than 10 years after he was put behind bars.

She told OK! magazine: "You must, if you can, create reasonable doubt by having an alternative theory that matches the evidence. That's when you're most likely to win a murder case."

Making A Murderer Detective Sues Netflix For Defamation.
Netflix

The 61-year-old says she is confident that she will not only prove that Avery is innocent but that someone else is responsible.

She said: "I think another thing that goes on in these cases that people don't realise is that most murder cases, cold cases, end up being solved by witnesses finally coming forward.

"Someone else knows who committed this murder, and we are already getting tips about that. I believe - it's happened on several of my cases - that someone will come forward and say, 'I know who committed the murder, they told me they committed the murder.' That's still in play."

She added: "My goal is to not just to find the constitutional violation to get Steven Avery a new trial, because many people are convicted again in their second trial. I am trying to get the evidence to what I believe is the truth of what happened, so that there won't be another trial."

Featured Image Credit: Netflix

Topics: TV and Film, US News, Making A Murderer, UK Entertainment, US Entertainment, Netflix