Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Making a Murderer creators sued by man who investigated Steven Avery case

Andrew Colborn has filed a lawsuit against Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos

Jack Shepherd
Tuesday 18 December 2018 03:44 EST
Comments
Making A Murderer: Part 2 - Trailer

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.

A former Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Detective who appeared on the Netflix series Making a Murderer is suing its creators.

Andrew Colborn filed a lawsuit on Monday (18 December) in Wisconsin claiming Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos edited the documentary in a defamatory way.

Colborn alleges the directing duo made it appear as if law enforcement had planted evidence to frame Steven Avery and his nephew Brendan Dassey, who are both serving jail time for the murder of Teresa Halbach in 2005.

“At no time during plaintiff’s employment at [Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Office] did [Colborn] serve as a spokesperson for the department,” the lawsuit reads, according to Deadline.

“Declining dozens of media requests for interviews, plaintiff has refrained from public comment and has in no other way injected himself into the controversy surrounding the Avery case and the release of [Making a Murderer]. As such, he is neither a ‘public figure’ nor a ‘limited purpose public figure,’ as those terms are defined in defamation law”.

Making a Murderer first debuted on Netflix in 2015, with a follow-up series being released earlier this year. Avery’s lawyer Kathleen Zellner recently issued an update on the ongoing case, saying that she was filing a 22,000-page document she hopes will exonerate Avery.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in