A Must-See Letter From Steven Avery

Netflix's hit documentary series Making a Murderer created a firestorm of attention around Steven Avery, a Wisconsin man currently serving life in prison for the murder of 25-year-old Teresa Halbach. Avery has maintained his innocence since being arrested in 2005, and believes the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department framed him because he was in the midst of suing the county and former sheriff for $36 million for a previous wrongful conviction that kept him behind bars for 18 years. (The department adamantly denies this.) In a new letter sent to Fox6 News, Avery explains that he still hopes that his name would be cleared; Avery says that the truth will set him free.

After Fox6 News wrote to Avery, he responded with a three-page letter (partly typed and partly handwritten), saying that the 10-hour series is an accurate depiction of his trial. "The REAL KILLER IS STILL OUT there. WHO IS HE STALKING NOW? 10 YEARS FREE SOME WHERE TO KILL AGAIN," he wrote. Although Avery hasn't seen the documentary — there isn't Netflix in prison, as you might expect — he has been in contact with the filmmakers since its release and thinks it truthfully portrayed how he was set up for murder.

Avery also responded to his ex-fiancee's recent interview with HLN, in which she called him a monster and accused him of abusing her and threatening her family. When asked if she thinks Avery killed Halbach, Jodi Stachowski said: "Yes I do — because he threatened to kill me and my family and a friend of mine. I was in a bath and he threatened to throw a blow dryer in there and he told me he could get away with it."

The series' subject alleged in his letter that Manitowoc County must have pressured Stachowski to turn on him, because she defended him throughout the show, until they broke up and she stopped appearing on screen. "Threats Against her and her Family Avery saids [sic] are totally untrue," Avery wrote to Fox6 News, switching between first and third person. "Jodi must have been pressured by the state to change her story... She would never have said anything bad about me. Due to the fact she wanted to Marry [sic] me."

Avery said that he would grant Fox6 News an interview if they broadcast his letter and investigated the Manitowoc County sheriff. Although they posted his letter online, it doesn't appear that the station will grant his second request.

Nevertheless, the inmate remains hopeful that he'll get out of prison, and his abundant use of all caps and exclamation points in the letter was his only way to convey his desperation. "I am REALLY INNOCENT OF THIS CASE AND THAT IS THE TRUTH!!!" Avery wrote. "THE TRUTH WILL SET ME FREE."

Images: Making A Murderer/Netflix