Kim Kardashian supports Making a Murderer's Brendan Dassey's pardon appeal
Kardashian urges Wisconsin governor to pay attention
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Kim Kardashian has lent her support to Making a Murderer‘s Brendan Dassey’s efforts to secure a pardon.
The reality TV star, who has a history of advocating on behalf of inmates she believes deserve to be released, urged the governor of Maryland to pay attention to Dassey’s case in a recent tweet.
“Please @GovEvers Read this letter,” she wrote to Governor Tony Evers, a Democrat who took office in January.
In addition to her message, Kardashian retweeted a news report that included a handwritten letter from Dassey, in which he asks Evers to grant him a pardon.
Dassey was 17 when he received a life prison sentence after telling police that he had participated in the 2005 rape and murder of Teresa Halbach with his uncle Steven Avery.
The case was documented in Netflix’s true-crime series Making a Murderer.
Avery has tried to get a new trial, to no avail. Dassey’s lawyers, meanwhile, have contended that their client is intellectually disabled and that he was manipulated into confessing.
Dassey’s letter to Evers reads in part: “I am writing to ask for a pardon because I am innocent and want to go home.”
Evers’s office has a rule that people still serving their prison sentences cannot be granted a pardon, meaning Dassey’s chance of obtaining one might be slim, but his attorney has expressed hope that Evers will be convinced to make an exception.
A representative for Evers told TMZ that the governor is aware of Kardashian’s support of Dassey, but that Dassey’s case will undergo the same process as other petitions.
Kardashian has notably campaigned on behalf of Alice Marie Johnson, a woman who served 21 years in prison for a first-time, nonviolent drug offence. Her sentence was commuted last year.