The hit Netflix documentary “Making A Murderer” is being accused of being a ploy designed to free a killer — nearly a decade after becoming an Emmy-winning sensation that helped propel the streamer’s meteoric rise.
The 2015 docuseries followed the legal fight by Steven Avery and his nephew Brendan Dassey to be cleared of murdering freelance photographer Teresa Halbach in 2005 in Wisconsin.
Directors Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos were lauded for the series, but now they and Netflix are being accused of “ethically shady” filmmaking in a new 10-episode documentary, “Convicting a Murderer,” hosted by conservative commentator Candace Owens.
The two are even accused of directly telling Avery that they believe he was framed and calling the production “his movie.”
Owens and “Convicting a Murderer” director Shawn Rech accused Netflix of setting out to portray Avery as a victim of corrupt law enforcement as cops investigated Halbach’s murder.
Avery had been freed in 2003 after 18 years in prison for a sexual assault that attorneys from the Wisconsin Innocence Project and DNA evidence helped prove he did not commit.
Two years later, the remains of Halbach, 25, from Green Bay, Wisc., were found in the Avery family’s auto salvage yard in nearby Two Rivers. She had gone there on assignment for Auto Trader magazine.
Dassey, then 17, claimed Manitowoc County detectives coerced him into confessing to helping his uncle, then 43, rape and kill the freelance photographer before tossing her body into a bonfire.
Avery was charged with Halbach’s murder a month later but claimed the charge was intended to discredit his $36 million lawsuit against Manitowoc County for his previous wrongful conviction.
Both men were convicted, prompting a series of appeals and reviews which featured in “Making a Murderer.”
Now Rech tells The Post his investigation reveals how a senior Netflix adviser encouraged Ricciardi and Demos to make “ethically shady” decisions throughout the production.
“We have recordings of them telling Steven [Avery] that this is his movie – and that they hope it gets him out,” Rech said.
Owens said the two did not tell viewers or journalists while they promoted both seasons of the show about their belief.
“I wouldn’t have minded if [Ricciardi and Demos] on the media circuit said, ‘Hey listen, we called this guy and told him we think he’s completely not guilty, and that’s the story we want to tell,’” Owens said. “That honesty upfront is needed. Don’t pretend that you don’t have a narrative or a stake in this.”
Netflix depicted Avery as part of a large, loving family but downplayed its “history of pedophilia” and “outwardly racist” beliefs — and suggested he was the victim of police corruption, Owens and Rech claim.
“There’s no question that Netflix tried to make it seem as if it was plausible that all of this was a setup against Steven Avery conducted by the state – with willing participants being the police officers,” Owens told The Post.
“I was just stunned by the audacity of Netflix to present them [directors Ricciardi and Demos] as something else.
“They pretended to be agnostic and they certainly were not agnostic, which we will show in their prison calls with Steve Avery. It was dishonest.”
Owens insisted the directors and Netflix intentionally omitted key evidence linking Avery to the murder, as well as disturbing details of his animal cruelty conviction in 1981 for dousing a cat with gasoline and tossing it into a bonfire.
Rech claimed that a Netflix executive said he hoped the audience would understand that allegations of police and prosecutorial misconduct were just a theory and not proven, Rech said.
“And of course, they [the audience] didn’t – they [the directors] knew they were going too far,” Rech said. “They used narrative filmmaking techniques to tell a factual story. It was a pure advocacy piece.”
He added: “My goal for this film is a call to action for filmmakers to create a voluntary set of ethical standard. You can do an advocacy piece, but say it’s an advocacy piece.”
Owens called on Netflix, Ricciardi, and Demos to relinquish the four Emmys “Making a Murderer” won in 2016, including outstanding director for a nonfiction program and outstanding documentary or nonfiction series.
“You almost got away with this documentary,” Owens said. “You made it seem like you were just interested in following facts and then suddenly someone comes behind you and shows how much you intentionally left out – how intentional you were in leaving those bits out. They should be ashamed, they should be embarrassed, they should return their Emmys.”
Netflix declined to comment on “Convicting a Murderer.” Attempts to reach Ricciardi and Demos were unsuccessful.
The first three episodes of “Convicting a Murderer” are available on DailyWire.com. Episode four, “Shifting Timelines,” will debut on Thursday.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
