Keegan Kyle

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

MADISON - State prison officials considered transferring Steven Avery to an out-of-state facility in the wake of Netflix’s popular "Making a Murderer" series but dropped the idea after Avery rejected safety concerns, newly released emails show.

Approached in January, amid growing public attention of his 2007 murder conviction, Avery told Waupun prison officials that “most inmates voice support of him and everyone has been very good to him,” according to an email sent to top prison brass.

“Offered him the opportunity to change housing and possibly a cell by the staff desk. He declined,” corrections employee Donald Strahota wrote Jan. 10. “We also discussed the possibility of moving to another institution and he didn’t think it was necessary."

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin obtained more than 1,900 pages of emails from prison officials last week as part of a Jan. 26 request for records under government transparency laws. Each email references Netflix, "Making a Murderer," Avery or Avery’s nephew, Brendan Dassey.

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Timeline: History of the Steven Avery case

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Avery and Dassey were convicted of murdering photographer Teresa Halbach.

Last December, Netflix released a 10-part docu-series examining their trial and whether Avery and Dassey had been wrongfully convicted due to questionable investigative methods and evidence.

The series reverberated across the globe and throughout Wisconsin’s prison system. Citing a torrent of media attention in January, then-Department of Corrections Secretary Ed Wall pushed staff to question whether Avery’s safety was a problem.

“My worry is that someone seeks their own 15 minutes of fame by doing something to him,” Wall wrote.

Avery didn’t seem to share these concerns though. Bill Pollard, warden of the Waupun prison where Avery was being held, replied, “He seems to relish the notoriety... The only correspondence I received from him was a request to view the docu-drama from Netflix which I denied.”

Still, Wall expressed caution, indicating they would be on the hook if anything happened to Avery.

“Although he may like it, they won’t judge him if something happens,” Wall wrote.

Avery ultimately stayed in Waupun while Dassey was transferred from a maximum-security prison in Green Bay to one in Portage. The emails released to USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin don’t shed light on why Dassey was moved. However, corrections spokesman Tristan Cook said Tuesday that it was due to a conflict of interest with a staff member.

Regarding Avery's safety, Cook said the department "has no records indicating any threats or assaults against Steven Avery. DOC takes the safety and security of all inmates seriously."

Media interviews blocked

Many of the 1,981 pages of emails released by state prison officials are newsletters or other summaries of articles referencing "Making a Murderer." But in rare instances the emails provided insight into how those inside and outside the prison system reacted to the series.

Pollard, the Waupun warden overseeing Avery, made it clear that he wasn’t enthused about the upcoming series, writing to a colleague in mid-December that he “probably won’t be watching.” A couple weeks later he pushed to reject a TV station’s request to interview Avery, mistakenly identifying Teresa Halbach as “Jessica Halbach.”

“I am not inclined to participate in adding any credibility or inmate perspective on a case that has already been tried,” he wrote Dec. 30. “Nor do I think we should participate or authorize this which could victimize the family of Jessica Halbach by allow (sic) such an interview. Money has already been coming in from all over for him due to the notoriety and I do not think is (sic) a good idea to make it any bigger deal than it actually is.”

Cathy Jess, a top prison official, and Stephanie Hove, director of the Department of Correction’s victim services office, backed Pollard’s position. No news media requests to interview Avery have been granted to date, and prison staff have been reminded “we should not be sharing information about this inmate or any others.”

“Let’s not be part of sensationalizing this case,” Pollard wrote to Waupun prison staff Jan. 7. “This was a court decision and that conviction is what placed him here, we don’t dictate to the courts how to do their business.”

Related:Was Avery evidence a conflict of interest?

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Pollard is no longer warden of the Waupun prison where Avery is housed. Cook said he was transferred to a nearby maximum-security prison for "operational purposes." He did not respond to questions seeking when that happened or about an email released to USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin which shows Pollard criticizing Wall's inquiries about Avery.

In an Jan. 11 email exchange with Strahota, Pollard described "all the involvement and direction from above" as "crazy" and referred to Department of Corrections headquarters as the "emerald city," an apparent reference to the fabled "Wizard of Oz" town ruled by a phony magician.

Wall resigned from his cabinet position in February amid a federal probe into abuses at a Northwoods youth prison. He was later fired from a position at the Wisconsin Department of Justice for suggesting that an aide to Gov. Scott Walker destroy a letter. He is now appealing that decision.

Inmates profit from series

The "Making a Murderer" emails indicate that Avery and Dassey received wire transfers ranging from $10 to $50 from across the globe in response to the Netflix series. But it is unclear how much those transfers have totaled. USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin has requested this information from prison officials.

Referencing one $10 transfer to Dassey from an unidentified person in Galt, California, a prison staffer wrote Jan. 5 that “They had a card with it telling him to keep his chin up and good luck with his appeal.” Another staffer replied to the message, saying there was no reason to deny the funds because “he is not engaging in an enterprise or business.”

In addition to the emails released to USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin, prison officials said they are continuing to review 252 email attachments for possible redactions. The emails were released late Friday following inquiries by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about the department’s handling of requests for public records.

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin requested and publicly disclosed its request for the emails in January as part of an effort to examine the "Making a Murderer" case and illuminate some of the barriers that journalists face in their work. Other media outlets subsequently filed requests for the same emails and received them at the same time.

Time has proven to be the biggest barrier in reviewing the "Making a Murderer" emails. After working through technical limitations and a $220 price tag, the Department of Corrections took about four months to review and release its emails. From the date of our first contact, the total process took about six months.

Keegan Kyle is an investigative reporter for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin. He can be reached at kkyle@gannett.com or on Twitter @keegankyle.