Like most of the country, I was totally obsessed with "Making A Murderer" when Netflix first put it out. I hopped on the bandwagon that Steven Avery was framed by the Manitowoc Police Department, and that there was something very shady going on behind the scenes. I shined up my pitchfork, and dove deep into it.
Before I moved here to Milwaukee, I listened to Dan O'Donnell's (from our sister station, WISN) "Rebutting A Murderer" on our iHeartRadio app, and I remember screaming at my phone (like Dan could actually hear me... I'm a lunatic) that everything he was saying was wrong .... until I did my research on what ACTUALLY happened.
"Making A Murderer" is so incredibly one sided, and is comparable to what producers do when putting together a reality show. If you lead your audience to believe something with enough "facts" to back up your argument, then of course they're going to be too distracted to even consider the other side of things. Will I watch the next season though? Abso-freaking-lutely.
I asked Dan if he would sit down with me to talk about his experience with the case since he covered it while working at another news station at the time. I could listen to this guy talk for hours, but I had to let him go around 20 minutes or so, or I would have looked down and it would have been Sunday. Dan's "Rebutting A Murderer" (which I'll include at the bottom of this blog) is the most listened to original podcast on our iHeartRadio app... so yea, it's pretty amazing. You might remember the quick scene where the verdict comes out, and a man is pacing back & forth in the hallway of the Courthouse while talking on his cell phone. That's mid-twenties Dan O'Donnell giving the breaking news back to home base.
If you also get sucked into crime podcasts like me, then I've got great news for you. Dan made the announcement during our chat that he will be creating "Rebutting A Murderer" 2 in the very, very near future.
Season 2 of "Making A Murderer" starts on Netflix tomorrow, Friday, October 19th.
You can hear all ten 10-15 minute episodes of "Rebutting A Murderer" on our free iHeartRadio app, and episode 1 is below.