The hotly-anticipated second series of Making A Murderer returns to Netflix this Friday, so ahead of your weekend binge, bring yourself up to speed with our timeline of the story so far.

Steven Avery, along with his nephew Brendan Dassey, is currently serving a life sentence for the 2005 murder of photographer Teresa Halbach – a crime they both say they didn't commit. Add in the fact that Avery was in the process of suing the local state for $36 million at the time of his arrest (for his previous wrongful conviction for sexual assault and attempted murder) and things get even more complicated.

Read on for our timeline of the legalities behind the case…

July 9, 1962 Steven Avery is born to Allan and Dolores Avery, in Two Rivers, a small city in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, and also – pleasingly – the birthplace of the ice-cream sundae.

Early 1980s Avery is convicted of burgling a bar in 1981 and released 10 months into a two-year sentence. In winter 1982, he is jailed for animal cruelty after pouring oil on his pet cat and setting it alight whilst with a group of friends.

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He was released in August 1983. In January 1985, he is sentenced to six years for 'endangering safety whilst evincing a depraved mind' after driving his cousin's car off the road and pointing a gun at her.

July 29, 1985 Penny Beernsten is attacked and sexually assaulted whilst running along a beach in Lake Michigan. Avery is selected as the perpetrator from a photo line-up of nine; he is identified again in a 'live' line-up and convicted of rape and attempted murder. He is sentenced to 32 years in jail. Two appeals, in 1987 and 1996, were denied.

2002 Using DNA testing that wasn't available in 1985, the Wisconsin Innocence Project works to exonerate Avery and prove that local criminal Gregory Allen was behind Beernsten's violent assault.

September 11, 2003 Avery is released from the Stanley Correctional Institution. His overturned wrongful conviction receives much interest from the media and the public.

October 12 2004 Avery files a lawsuit in the US District Court seeking a total of $36 million from Manitowoc County, Thomas Kocourek and Denis Vogel (respectively the retired Sheriff and district attorney of Manitowoc County at the time of his charging).

October 31, 2005 The Avery Bill is passed, providing updated guidelines for how to handle suspects and witnesses during interrogation. (Following Avery's implication in the murder of Teresa Halbach, it is speedily renamed the following month and becomes the Criminal Justice Reform Bill.)

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Ironically, this is also the date Teresa Halbach, a 25-year-old freelance photographer, visits the Avery Salvage Yard. She arrives at the property to photograph a mini-van for AutoTrader magazine, and arrives at approximately 2.30pm. She is not seen alive again.

November 3, 2005 Halbach's mother reports Teresa as missing. Calumet County notifies Manitowoc County for assistance, contacting Avery, plus two other photo appointments Halbach had attended that day.

Over the next two weeks, a search operation begins. Teresa's car is found on the Avery property by a search party; license plates from it are found within another car in the yard. Blood discovered within it is found to be from both a man and a woman.

Teeth and bone fragments belonging to an adult woman are discovered in a fire pit in the yard, which Avery was seen stoking on October 31. Discrepancies arise surrounding Halbach's voicemails. Avery's trailer is searched multiple times by police with items removed for examination.

Halbach's car key isn't discovered until November 8, when it is spotted "lying on the floor" by Lieutenant Lenk. Avery's 16-year-old nephew, Brendan Dassey, is questioned by police.

On November 8, Avery tells media he believes he is being framed owing to his lawsuit. On November 9, he is arrested for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

November 15, 2005 Calumet County special prosecutor Ken Kratz charges Avery with the murder of Teresa Halbach and the mutilation of a corpse, revealing Avery's blood was found inside Halbach's car.

January 2006 Avery enters a plea of not guilty. His niece, Kayla Dassey, tells police Avery asked her cousin to help him "move a body". (Later, during the trial, she says she "made up the statement".) Remains previously found at the Avery Salvage Yard are confirmed to be Halbach's.

February 2006 Avery's 2005 wrongful conviction lawsuit against Vogel, Kocourek and Manitowoc County is settled for $400,000.

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March 1, 2006 Brendan Dassey is interrogated by police without any legal advisor or appropriate adult present. His story changes drastically over the course of the questioning; he initially denies involvement in the case, before admitting he saw 'body parts' on a bonfire.

He later says he helped move Halbach's body onto a bonfire, before admitting he raped her and answering 'I did' when asked by police 'who shot Teresa in the head?' He later rescinded his confession.

March 2, 2006 Dassey is charged with being party to the first-degree homicide of Halbach, as well as sexual assault and mutilation of a corpse. Five days later, additional charges are added to Avery's case: sexual assault, kidnapping and false imprisonment.

January 29, 2007 The additional charges against Avery are dropped during a pre-trial ruling, with Judge Patrick Willis deciding Dassey might not testify at Avery's trial. The following day, Willis rules that the jury can be told about Avery's wrongful rape conviction.

The defence is told they can also reference a vial of Avery's blood (obtained during a previous investigation) that was found unsecured; the defence team claims the vial was tampered with in order to plant blood in Halbach's car.

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February 12, 2007 Avery's trial begins. Ken Kratz leads the prosecution. Five weeks later, the jury of six men and six women declare Avery is guilty of intentional homicide, as well as of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He is acquitted of mutilating a corpse.

April 25, 2007 Dassey is found guilty of sexual assault, party to a homicide and mutilation of a corpse.

Summer 2007 On June 1, Avery, aged 44, is sentenced to life imprisonment, without possibility of parole. On August 2, 17-year-old Dassey is sentenced to life imprisonment, with possibility of parole in 2048.

2009 Three women accuse prosecutor Ken Kratz of harassment and intimidation. He resigns in 2010.

August 2011 Avery's petition for a new trial is denied by the 2nd District Court of Appeals.

January 2013 A request for a new trial in Dassey's case is denied by Wisconsin Supreme Court; in August, the Wisconsin Supreme Court denied a request from Dassey's team to review the case.

2013 Ken Kratz settles with his chief accuser out of court. The following year his law license is suspended for four months and he admits to abusing prescription drugs and being treated for sexual addiction and narcissistic personality disorder.

December 18, 2015 10-part docu-series Making A Murderer, which has followed the case for a decade, premieres on Netflix. Filmmakers Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos began the project in 2005 after reading a New York Times article about Avery's case. The series receives a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

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January 2016 Chicago-based false conviction attorney Kathleen Zellner collaborates with Tricia Bushnell of the Wisconsin Innocence Project to file a new appeal on Avery's behalf. She cites a violation of his due-process rights, accusing officials of obtaining evidence from properties that were outside of their search warrant.

Avery files a new motion for his release, claiming evidence was obtained illegally by investigators.

Ken Kratz reveals he's writing a book about the case in the fall-out of the 'bias' presented by the Netflix series.

August 12, 2016 Federal magistrate William Duffin grants Dassey's petition for writ of habeas corpus, with his confession deemed involuntary. Duffin gives Wisconsin prosecutors 90 days to decide whether to retry or release him.

Two weeks later, Zellner visits the Manitowoc County Courthouse, filing a request to retest various items from the crime scene. She describes it as "the most comprehensive testing motion ever filed in the state of Wisconsin and probably one of the most comprehensive motions ever filed in the United States".

October 4, 2016 Wisconsin state prosecutors file documents to oppose Dassey's release, arguing it is in the interest of public safety for his conviction to be upheld.

November 14, 2016 A judge-made ruling says Dassey should be released, under court-ordered supervision. Two days later, the overturning of Dassey's conviction is blocked, awaiting a hearing.

June 2017 A three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit back Duffin's decision to overturn Dassey's conviction. In December 2017, the judges of the Seventh Circuit vote four-to-three in favour of upholding Dassey's conviction.

MORRY GASH / AP/Press Association Images PA Images

October 3, 2017 Avery's motion for a new trial is denied.

February 20, 2018 Dassey's legal team file for a writ of certiorari, seeking judicial review by the Supreme Court of his case. This is denied four months later.

July 2018 Zellner files a 599-page document to Wisconsin Circuit Court, asking for permission to substantiate Avery's case with data obtained from the Dassey family laptop. She asserts the CD proves Bobby Dassey, older brother of Brendan, gave false testimony during the original investigation. She also believes it proves the older Dassey should be given more consideration in regards to the case.

To be continued…

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