Generation Why Podcast

If you’ve ever found yourself deep in a Reddit thread, wondering who has the time, energy and patience to wade through all the old evidence and counter-evidence surrounding shows like “Serial” and “Making a Murderer,” it’s time to meet Justin Evans.

Evans is so fascinated by murder cases that he quit his day job in 2015 to spend more time trying to solve them. He walked away from an $80,000 annual salary, but become a respected expert on Reddit and his own podcast.

Someday, he hopes, he may even crack a case.

“I had been lying to myself for 20 years that I was happy,” he said of his old job as a domain administrator. “Talking and analyzing murder cases and how the system works will always get a smile out of me.”

Also Read: 'Making a Murderer': 8 Alternate Theories on Who Killed Teresa Halbach

His life as an internet sleuth led to him spending hours every week examining the life of “Serial” subject Adnan Syed, and later Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey, the men convicted in “Making a Murderer.” He intensely examined the theories and counter-theories in the cases — but second-guessing of his second-guessing led him to eventually abandon “Serial.”

“We ended up removing that case because Adnan had such a following that you are not allowed to say anything that’s even remotely questions about his actions,” he said.

Evans has a sense of humor about his new role: When we asked him for a photo of himself, he sent the one you see above.

Evans’ work often means re-examining decisions by juries. So of course his new life began by serving on a jury himself in 2012.

“I was called to jury duty for a first-degree murder trial and I served on the jury and saw how a court actually functions in a murder case,” Evans said. “I wanted to talk about it, so I called my friend and told him that I wanted to go on the record and discuss how I put a man away for the rest of his life and how jury selection works.”

Evans, now 39, grew up in southern California but moved away to Kansas in 1988 when his parents filed for divorce. That’s where he finished high school, and eventually moved out on his own at the age of 18.

He started work at Sprint in 1999, but ownership switched to Embarq and then to Centurylink, where he worked from 2006 until December 2015.

His life’s calling changed with the summons to jury duty in 2012. The case he worked on, Howard Harmon’s trial in the murder of Sabrina Jones in May 2010, made him realize he was fascinated by murder trials and the criminal justice system.

Also Read: 'Making a Murderer': What's Happened to Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey Since the Series Premiered?

He started The Generation Why podcast, in which he and his friend, Aaron Habel, discuss and share their opinions about murder mysteries, conspiracies and controversies.

“I started the podcast and episode one is me giving a play-by-play about my jury duty,” he said. “It was late 2012 when we started podcasting.”

He met his podcast partner, Habel, at a restaurant in 1993 when he was 16 years old.

“We were dishwashers and he was wearing a psychic TV shirt,” he recalled. “I also listened to industrial/experimental music, which was a rarity in the Midwest during the 1990s. I told him, ‘I like your shirt!’ and he asked what my favorite band was. I said ‘Skinny Puppy’ and we’ve been pretty much best friends ever since.”

For the last three years, he’s been an active Redditor, even receiving “gold” a few times. The status is reserved for especially successful Redditors.

Since “Making a Murderer” debuted on Netflix in December, many Avery advocates have come up with alternative theories on who might have killed Wisconsin photographer Teresa Halbach. The theories have kept Evans busy both on Reddit and his podcast. He looks at all evidences and sides of his case, while trying to figure out which theories work and which don’t.

“I feel like I approach every case with weighing all the evidence so when alternative theories are brought up, I try to vet them,” Evans said. “I don’t try to find an alternative explanation, I just look at the mainstream storyline and then I look at the conspiracy theories, and I find out which one has the most weight.”

See Videos: From 'Making a Murderer' to 'JFK': 11 Movies and TV Shows That Caused Change

The series has perplexed him at times.

“During my first watch of the series, I felt that it was possible that Steve had murdered [Teresa Halbach], but my initial reaction was that Brendan Dassey should not have been charged at all,” he said. “Then, reading through the transcripts and evidence and watching the entire series again while taking notes, it’s more plausible that Avery should’ve been the prime suspect and that he should’ve been charged with the crime. But at the same time, I saw issues with the way they prosecuted him and the evidence. The guy probably killed Teresa.”

Of all the alternate theories out there, he’s most intrigued by the one that Charles and Earl Avery, Steven’s brothers, may have killed Halbach, because “they had access to the property.” (In a 2009 court filing obtained by TheWrap, Steven Avery said that brothers Charles and Earl Avery had the motive and means to kill Halbach. He later apologized, and the brothers did not respond to messages seeking comment. Prosecutors say that Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey are the only ones responsible.)

Evans says he tries to come up with his own opinions and not to have a “knee-jerk reaction” to cases. While he now believes that Steven Avery killed Halbach, he also believes that Avery’s new lawyer, Kathleen Zellner, will be able to get him a new trial and get him acquitted.

“She has gotten a real good track record and she is a powerhouse of an attorney,” he said. “She has overturned many wrongful convictions. As much as I do believe Avery is the one who did it, I think she can raise enough reasonable doubt and get him off because the investigators f—ed up.”

'Making a Murderer': 8 Alternate Theories on Who Killed Teresa Halbach (Photos)

Theory No. 1.: It was Scott Tadych and Bobby Dassey

In January, a Reddit user posted a theory he first saw on YouTube, which claims Scott Tadych (Brendan’s mother’s boyfriend at the time, now husband) and Bobby Dassey (Brendan’s brother) “kidnapped, raped, shot and then burned Teresa Halbach in the privacy of the gravel quarry off of Jambo Road on Halloween evening.”
Netflix
The theory holds that the two burned the body to dispose of any DNA evidence, transporting the cremains to Avery’s burn pit “using one of Barb Janda's burn barrels,” and hiding Halbach’s car in the rear of the Avery Salvage yard after wiping it clean of their prints. But Tadych failed to collect all of the cremains or clear them from the burn barrel, according to the theory, leaving behind evidence found by FBI investigators.
Netflix
Tadych has a history of violence towards women. The two men’s alibis are that they went hunting and passed each other on the highway around the time of the murder.

Tadych and Dassey did not return a call for comment.
Netflix
Theory No. 2: It was Ryan Hillegas and Mike Halbach

When fans saw the way Halbach’s ex-boyfriend Hillegas and brother Mike behaved during the trial (Mike grieving before Halbach’s body was found and Hillegas intimating that he cracked her voicemail passcode), some were quick to suggest that they were involved in Teresa’s murder.
Netflix
Many have suggested that Hillegas was stalking Halbach and left multiple voicemails on her phone that would have conferred guilt. During the trial, a cell phone expert said that her voicemail filled up in the days after Halbach’s death, and that some messages were inexplicably deleted.

Hillegas could not be located for comment. A message was left with a former employer. A message to Halbach’s employer was not returned.
Netflix
Theory No. 3: It was Teresa Halbach

Some theories claim that Halbach committed suicide and Avery was framed. Some Reddit users have debated videos she posted three years before her death that sounded like farewells, which she prefaced, “If I were to die …”
Netflix
Moreover, many users have pointed out that her missing-person flyer was labeled “Endangered Missing,” which usually refers to a person who has “a medical condition or went missing under circumstances that indicate they may be in danger,” according to The Charley Project, which investigates missing persons cases. The theory claims that Halbach may have killed herself while shooting photos of Avery’s car, and that the discovery of her body was used to the advantage of those who sought to frame him.
Twitter
Theory No. 4: It was Edward Wayne Edwards

Former police sergeant and FBI cold case investigator John Cameron says that serial killer Edward Wayne Edwards might have killed Halbach.

According to Cameron, Edwards liked to set others up for his crimes and was obsessed with the media attention they received. According to Uproxx, Edwards was convicted of five murders from 1977 to 1996, but a number of investigators say he could have been involved in a variety of famous murder cases, including that of JonBenet Ramsey.
FBI
Several of Edwards’ victims were killed on Halloween Night, just like Halbach. Moreover, Cameron says Edwards killed in Wisconsin in 1980, when he took the lives of Timothy Hack and Kelly Drew in what became known as the Sweetheart Slayings. Edwards lived about an hour away from Avery at the time of Halbach’s murder.
YouTube
Cameron also said Edwards liked to show up at the funerals and trials of his victims, appearing in the background of a documentary about the West Memphis Three. Cameron says he noticed a man who looked very similar to Edwards standing in the background at Avery’s trial.

Edwards died in prison on April 7, 2011 of natural causes, officials said.
Netflix
Theory No. 5: It was the other Avery Brothers

In a 2009 court filing obtained by TheWrap, Avery said that brothers Charles and Earl Avery, as well as nephew Bobby Dassey and brother-in-law Tadych, had the motive and means to kill Halbach.

In the 59-page court document, Avery’s attorneys listed various reasons for their suspicion, including previous criminal records of the family members. The attorneys said they knew Halbach would be on the property on the day she was killed, and that they wanted to frame Avery.
Netflix
The document alleges that Charles Avery has had a history of assault against women, including clients who visited the Avery Salvage Yard. The filing also states that Charles had a reason to “frame Steven over money, a share of the family business, and over Jodi Stachowski,” Steven’s former girlfriend.
Netflix
The document makes similar suggestions about Earl Avery, who had been charged with sexually assaulting his two daughters in 1995. According to the document, Earl admitted to driving his golf cart past Halbach’s car where it was found on the salvage yard, and told police that he was willing to give “any information incriminating to Steven, saying that ‘even if my brother did something, I would tell.'” [sic]

Avery later apologized for claiming his brothers may have killed Halbach. The Avery brothers did not respond to messages seeking comment.
Netflix
Theory No. 6: It was the cops

Some theorists claim that Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Sgt. Andrew Colborn killed Halbach. One Reddit user said he could have been surveilling the property following litigation over Avery’s wrongful conviction in a prior rape case, when he saw Teresa and killed her himself.
Netflix
“Colburn [sic] and Lenk burn the body at the quarry and park car on Avery lot (after doctoring it up. The lot is massive and can be accessed from the quarries). By 11/3 Colburn is in a panic. Woman went missing on 10/31 and she is not reported missing!!! He calls in the plate (oops, she was just reported missing). They continue to wait for the car to be found. They join the detectives on site after the search warrant is in place. They drop the bones in the burn areas (again, both burn areas on the property increases probability they are found). They have cleaned the key as they have used it.”
Netflix
The Reddit user, however, does not offer a motive for Colborn in Halbach’s murder.

“I didn’t stop the vehicle days before it was located and I don’t know how I could have conducted myself any more professionally and open-minded than I did,” Lt. Colborn told TheWrap.
Netflix
Theory No. 7: Manituwoc County framed Avery

The Netflix documentary raises the idea that the Manitowoc Police Department framed Avery and planted evidence to incriminate him. Avery had been wrongly convicted of a rape, for which he sat in prison for 18 years. Many viewers looked to Andrew Colborn and James Lenk, who found Halbach’s RAV-4, and its key in the Avery trailer, although the property had been searched multiple times. Also, Colborn called in a license plate matching that of Halbach two days before her car was actually found on the Avery property. The plates had been removed and tossed into another vehicle.
Netflix
The documentary also argued that the police department didn’t pay attention to other potential suspects, and suggested that the cops had it in for Avery given the lawsuit he filed a lawsuit for $36 million against the Manitowoc Police Department and its sheriff after he was released from prison for the rape conviction.
“The Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Department and other law enforcement officials were not involved in any sort of conspiracy, he was not framed, evidence was not planted,” Colborn told TheWrap. “The evidence was there where Mr. Avery put it.”
Netflix
Theory No. 8: It was a guy from Bonduel

According to a mysterious and uncorroborated blog post from 2009, a woman living in Bonduel, Wisconsin, claimed that her husband was behaving strangely and had spoken of visiting an auto salvage yard on Oct. 31, 2005.
“He commented that a woman wanted to take pictures of the rental property on 31 October while he was there, and he felt that the photographer was ‘stupid.’ During the week, she observed that her husband had scratches on his back and a cut finger that bled intermittently,” the post stated.

According to the woman, she and her husband stopped in the Maribel area for lunch when her husband saw a missing person poster for Halbach and said, “She’s dead.” Later, she supposedly found underwear stained with blood, a can of lighter fluid with a bloody fingerprint, a hammer with dark red spots and surgical gloves.
Google Maps

1 of 21

If Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey didn’t kill Teresa Halbach, who did?

Theory No. 1.: It was Scott Tadych and Bobby Dassey

In January, a Reddit user posted a theory he first saw on YouTube, which claims Scott Tadych (Brendan’s mother’s boyfriend at the time, now husband) and Bobby Dassey (Brendan’s brother) “kidnapped, raped, shot and then burned Teresa Halbach in the privacy of the gravel quarry off of Jambo Road on Halloween evening.”

View In Gallery