The family of slain photographer Teresa Halbach will have a say in whether “Making a Murderer” subject Brendan Dassey will be retried for her murder, according to Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schmiel.
According to People, Schmiel told reporters on Monday that the attorney general’s office will consult with Halbach’s relatives before it makes a decision regarding Dassey, whose conviction was overturned last week.
“There are a number of directions this case can go and before we make a determination as to which option we’ll pursue, we are going to want to give Teresa Halbach’s family an opportunity to have some input,” Schmiel said. “We’ve been in communication with them. We’ll continue to outline all the different options, what the likelihood of best success are for each one.”
Dassey, the nephew of fellow “Making a Murderer” subject Steven Avery, was convicted of murdering Halbach in 2007. However, earlier this month, Dassey’s conviction was overturned by a judge who determined that investigators coerced his confession. In his order, Judge William E. Duffin wrote that “investigators repeatedly claimed to already know what happened on October 31 [when Halbach disappeared] and assured Dassey that he had nothing to worry about.”
The judge’s order concluded: “These repeated false promises, when considered in conjunction with all relevant factors, most especially Dassey’s age, intellectual deficits, and the absence of a supportive adult, rendered Dassey’s confession involuntary under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.”
Duffin gave prosecutors 90 days to decide whether or not they want to re-try Dassey.
Dassey was 16 when he was interrogated, without his parents present. He later recanted his confession.
Though Dassey filed his writ of habeas corpus, which eventually led to the overturned conviction, in 2014, his case, along with Avery’s, gained widespread attention with the December 2015 release of the Netflix series “Making a Murderer,” which led many viewers to question Dassey and Avery’s guilt.