Given that Netflix’s smash-hit documentary Making A Murderer is only a recent phenomenon, it’s easy to forget that the majority of the action from the show took place nearly a decade ago.
Both Steven Avery and his nephew Brendan Dassey were sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Teresa Halbach, but continue to maintain their innocence.
Brendan was just 16-years-old when he was found guilty of 1st-Degree Intentional Homicide, Mutilating a Corpse and 2nd Degree Sexual Assault in 2007.
Ten years on, Dassey is still behind bars and a registered sex offender, and he won’t be eligible for parole until 2048.
Now 26, Dassey looks quite a bit different than he did in the documentary. His cousin Carla Chase recently shared a photo of the modern day Brendan and his mother Barbara Tadych.
According to the Mirror, Dassey has also recently been moved from Green Bay Correctional Institution in Allouez, where he’d served most of his sentence, to Wisconsin to Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage.
The reason for the change in scenery was that the success of Making A Murderer has, understandably, made Dassey a much more high profile inmate and there were fears for his safety.
Carla wrote on Twitter: “Sorry everyone, Brendan has been moved to Columbia prison in Portage Wi. He is doing ok & making new friends. This was 4 his safety.”
Speaking to Forbes, his lawyer Laura Nirider added that Brendan is still coming to terms with the public reaction to the documentary series.
She added:
Behind the four walls of a prison without, obviously, a Netflix subscription, it’s hard to understand how big Making a Murderer has gotten. He’s understanding it. He is hopeful. He is grateful. He wants his fair shot. That’s all.
Brendan maintains his innocence and continues to claim that his March 1 2006 confession was “involuntary” because of his age and intelligence. Following the release of Making A Murderer, Brendan’s legal team filed a new lawsuit alleging that he was illegally arrested and imprisoned in the 2005 killing of Teresa Halbach, and should be released.
