'You know he did it, right?' ex-prosecutor Ken Kratz tells Gov. Tony Evers in Brendan Dassey clemency case

Andy Thompson | Appleton Post-Crescent

Show Caption Hide Caption Brendan Dassey's Confession Four months after the Teresa Halbach murder, Steven Avery's 16-year-old nephew Brendan Dassey implicates himself in the brutal rape and murder. But was Dassey's confession real or spoon fed by a pair of detectives?

After Brendan Dassey’s legal team announced in early October it was seeking clemency from Gov. Tony Evers, former prosecutor Ken Kratz went on the offensive.

Kratz successfully prosecuted Dassey, who was featured in the hit Netflix docuseries “Making a Murderer," for the 2005 murder of 25-year-old photographer Teresa Halbach. He reacted swiftly to the petition for executive clemency, which asked Evers to consider a pardon or a commutation of Dassey's life sentence.

Kratz objected, sending a tweet to Evers that included a link to a video about Dassey’s case.

“@GovEvers, you know he did it, right?” the message said.

Kratz said consideration of Dassey’s petition for clemency must be comprehensive.

“You have to look at both sides,” he told USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin.

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Lawyers for Dassey, 30, who is serving a life sentence and won't be eligible for parole until 2048, filed the petition Oct. 2.

Prosecutors charged Dassey after Halbach went missing Oct 31, 2005. Her remains, along with several other pieces of forensic evidence, were found days later on the Avery Salvage Yard property outside of Manitowoc.

Steven Avery, Dassey’s uncle, was arrested and also is serving a life term. His case is before the Wisconsin Court of Appeals.

Dassey made incriminating statements to detectives when he was 16 years old and in 10th grade at Mishicot High School. The defense claims investigators elicited a coerced confession from Dassey by seizing on his cognitive disabilities, feeding him false information and steering him into implicating himself in Halbach’s murder.

As the #BringBrendanHome bandwagon is quickly filling with reality TV stars, justice reform advocates, and breathlessly being covered by the MSM, @GovEvers you know he did it, right??? https://t.co/YhbljAGld8 I put my thoughts in a video, to make it easy for you.#MakingaMurderer pic.twitter.com/3v8soD1Z8Q — Ken Kratz (@Ken723Ken) October 3, 2019

The submission last week of a letter to Evers by about 250 national legal experts, social justice advocates and high-profile exonerees bolstered the petition. The letter stated Dassey's statements were unreliable.

Kratz countered the claim that Dassey’s confession was coerced. He said “Making a Murderer” featured part of the police interrogations but didn’t show everything Dassey told police, including his admissions.

“When you review the things that the jury got to see, his admissions are chilling; they have a ring of truth to them,” Kratz said.

As for as the experts who signed the clemency letter, “once they all watch the full confession, then we can talk,” he said.

Kratz said he is concerned the extensive support for Dassey creates momentum that could result in granting his release from prison.

“That can’t happen without knowing the other side,” he said.

Kratz, whose updated book "Avery" went on sale this week, said he was not surprised Dassey’s legal team chose to seek clemency from the governor, noting his state appeals have been exhausted and his federal appeals were unsuccessful.

“That’s all they had left,” he said.

Andy Thompson can be reached at 920-996-7270 or by email at awthompson@postcrescent.com. Follow him on Twitter @Thompson_AW.