‘Convicting A Murderer’ rebuttal to ‘Making a Murderer’ Release Date Announced, Trailer drops

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The release date for ‘Convicting A Murderer’ was announced Thursday by DailyWire+.

According to DailyWire+, the first three episodes of the series on its platform will air on September 8 with the first two episodes streaming for free and the third episode available for DailyWire+ members only. Episode one will also be available to view on the DailyWire+ YouTube channel as well as on X, formerly Twitter. The remaining seven episodes will debut weekly on the subscriber-based streaming service every Thursday.

The trailer also “dropped” on Thursday.

As previously reported by the Wisconsin Journal, they’re back and coming to a television screen near you. Steven Avery, Ken Kratz, Andrew Colborn, Tom Fassbender will soon return to your living room in a never-been-seen-before series, “Convicting a Murderer.”

The new series is far from another season or sequel to the controversial Netflix series, “Making a Murderer.” In fact, “Convicting a Murderer” was actually made as a rebuttal to the original Netflix docuseries, according to Ken Kratz, the original prosecutor of the Avery case.

Avery is currently serving life in prison after being found guilty for the murder of Teresa Halbach. Halbach was murdered on Oct. 31, 2005. For the past 18 years, Avery has had a number of new criminal defense attorneys who have all been unsuccessful at his release. However, Avery’s  attorney Kathleen Zellner remains optimistic that new evidence will prove her client’s innocence.

The Netflix series “Making a Murderer,” which originally aired in 2015, received criticism from the media, government officials and the general public for allegedly only telling one side of Avery’s story, revictimizing Halbach and her family, as well as incriminating law enforcement professionals.

“I watched ‘Making a Murderer,’ did some research and found out I was lied to,” said Shawn Rech, director of “Convicting a Murderer” at Transition Studios who also noted that the original series was “just layered and layered all of this nonsense.”

“Making a Murderer was cut to the integrity of a Howard Stern bit,” Rech added.

Rech noted that the original Netflix series “Making a Murderer” was the subject of litigation in Federal court from a libel case filed by Colborn (Colburn v. Netflix), who was a retired police officer. Colburn’s attorneys said that the Netflix series falsely portrays that he planted evidence, attempting to frame Avery. In 2021, a Federal judge ruled in favor of Colborn. The ruling against Netflix stated that “Neither The Supreme Court nor the Seventh Circuit has ever suggested a speaker enjoys unconditional First Amendment immunity for making defamatory statements simply because the statements concern legal proceedings.”

However, on March 10, 2023, the Court ruled in favor of Netflix, Demos, and Ricciardi granting a Summary Judgement.

“In the end, Colborn’s turn in Making a Murderer may not have been to his liking, but that does not make it defamatory. Few aspire to enter the cultural zeitgeist on such controversial terms. That possibility, though, is a necessary byproduct of the freedom of press that the First Amendment protects. If media could portray us only at our best, we would be a country of antiseptic caricatures and less intelligent for it,” Judge Brett H Ludwig said.

Rech says that the new series — being called “a Season of Truth” —  tells a more complete story and tells the truth about Wisconsin law enforcement. Unlike the original “Making a Murderer” series, the new series “Convicting a Murderer” shows the forest through the trees.

“We don’t tell people what to think. We tell the complete story. Law enforcement was falsely portrayed dishonestly in ‘Making a Murderer.’ You’re going to hear law enforcement respond directly to the false accusations made in ‘Making a Murderer,’” Rech added.

During an exclusive interview with the Wisconsin Law Journal, Kratz praised the series.

“‘Making a Murderer’ bears much of the responsibility for this outcome,” Kratz added.

“It’s time for the public to see just how ‘Making a Murderer’ fabricated events and courtroom testimony, all for the purpose of entertainment,” Kratz added. “Hopefully those justice professionals who have lost their reputations and careers, like me, as a direct result of this deceptive and defamatory TV show will be vindicated,” Kratz added.

The Wisconsin Law Journal previously reached out to Netflix, Moira Demos and Laura Ricciardi — the creators of the original “Making a Murderer” series. Demos and Ricciardi did not immediately respond for comment.  Erika Masonhall, a spokeswoman for Netflix previously said, “Thanks for the opportunity, but we’ll decline to comment.”