MADISON - Hours after lawyers for Brendan Dassey announced an effort to seek clemency from Gov. Tony Evers, his case got a boost from an influential supporter: Kim Kardashian West.

On Wednesday evening, the reality television star and entrepreneur used her Twitter account, which has nearly 62 million followers, to urge Evers to read a letter Dassey wrote as part of his effort to get a pardon or shortened sentence.

Earlier in the day, Dassey's lawyers filed a petition for executive clemency with Evers' office, arguing Dassey's confession to involvement in the murder of Teresa Halbach was false and coerced by investigators.

Dassey was charged after Halbach, a 25-year-old photographer, went missing Oct. 31, 2005. Her remains, along with several other pieces of forensic evidence, were discovered days later at the Avery Salvage Yard outside of Manitowoc.

Dassey's uncle, Steven Avery, was arrested and months later, Dassey was interviewed four times by investigators, but only once with an adult present. At the time, Dassey was a 16-year-old special education student at Mishicot High School. His confession was the primary evidence used against him at his trial in April 2007, which ended with his conviction.

Dassey, 29, is serving a life sentence and won’t be eligible for parole until 2048, when he will be 59. His story, along with Avery's, gained international attention after being featured in Netflix's docuseries "Making a Murderer."

The docuseries cast doubt on the motives of police investigating Halbach's death and left many viewers with the impression that Avery and Dassey were wrongfully convicted.

This isn't the first time Kardashian West has involved herself in an issue related to criminal justice. She helped convince President Donald Trump to free Alice Marie Johnson, a 63-year-old who in 1996 was convicted of five counts of drug trafficking and one count of money laundering and sentenced to life in prison. The conviction was Johnson's first offense.

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Contact Chris Mueller at 920-996-7267 or cmueller@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AtChrisMueller.