In the wake of a Netflix documentary on convicted murderer Steven Avery, defense attorneys Dean Strang (pictured here) and Jerome “Jerry” Buting have become Internet sensations. Credit: Mark Hoffman

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Madison — Dean Strang grew up wanting to become an editorial cartoonist for a newspaper.

Jerome "Jerry" Buting's youthful imagination was fired by a love of astronomy.

Eventually, the men found their way into the practice of law, working for decades performing the tough work of defending people accused of wrongdoing, from petty crimes to heinous offenses.

Over the Christmas holidays, these two well-regarded Wisconsin defense attorneys were transformed into legal stars after the mid-December release of the Netflix documentary "Making a Murderer."

Their defense of Steven Avery, who was convicted in the 2005 murder of photographer Teresa Halbach, was part of the dramatic heart of the 10-part documentary that riveted binge-watching viewers worldwide.

In the wake of the documentary release, the lawyers say they have received hundreds of emails from viewers interested in the case as well as communications from technical and legal experts offering advice.

They also have fielded dozens of media inquiries.

A lot of Internet swooning has come their way.

The Guardian wrote of Strang becoming "an unlikely sex symbol," while BuzzFeed put together a quiz, "Do You Belong with Dean Strang or Jerry Buting."

And there's this from the Elle website: "Deconstructing Your Sexual Attraction to Making a Murderer's Dean Strang in 13 Steps."

Calls have poured into Strang's office near the state Capitol in Madison, where he spoke to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Wednesday before heading to a television interview.

"It's weird, it's disorienting," Strang said of the attention.

Frankly, he's more than a little embarrassed to be in the spotlight and to be held up by some as a model criminal attorney. If some lawyers around the state are saying, "Why him?" be assured that Strang is saying, "Why me?"

"In this state alone there are hundreds of lawyers who would be better models than I, at least for doing the day in, day out, unglamorous hard work in the state's courthouses," he said.

Meanwhile, Buting has been observing the reaction from afar in Rome, where he is visiting his son, who is studying for the priesthood. Before the documentary aired, Buting said he had eight followers on Twitter. He now has more than 24,000.

"I know what I'm coming back to," Buting said during a telephone interview. Going through emails will be important, he said.

"We've had suggestions from scientists all over the world, suggestions on advancing the scientific approach," he said.

The documentary by filmmakers Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos homes in on Avery, who was released from prison in 2003 after serving 18 years for a sexual assault he did not commit.

Two years later, Avery was charged with Halbach's murder. He was convicted in 2007 and is now serving a life sentence. Avery's nephew, Brendan Dassey, was convicted separately of helping Avery assault, kill and mutilate Halbach.

Avery's defense team argued that Manitowoc County sheriff's deputies were motivated to plant evidence against Avery. At the time of Halbach's disappearance, Avery was suing the county for $36 million for wrongful conviction in the 1985 sexual assault case.

With striking behind-the-scenes access, the documentary shows the two attorneys as they take on the case and carry the fight into the courtroom.

Buting said he was initially leery about the project but the filmmakers had been on the case for months before he and Strang were hired.

"I had never seen anything that really explained what it was like to prepare for and try a serious criminal case like this," Buting said. "We thought it would be a good public education opportunity. I also didn't know whether Dean and I would come out looking bad or good. We just decided it was worth the chance to try and help them do a project that would be unique."

Critics of the documentary have contended that the series offers a one-sided take on the case, from the defense's perspective.

On screen, Strang and Buting offer stylistic contrasts. Strang is reserved while Buting is dramatic.

Their complementary characteristics spring from their careers.

Strang teaches courses at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Department of Continuing Studies. He also is the author of the book "Worse Than the Devil: Anarchists, Clarence Darrow and Justice in a Time of Terror," which details the 1917 bombing of a Milwaukee police station and its aftermath.

Admitting that he has an aversion to conflict, Strang has carved out a high-profile legal career since graduating from the University of Virginia Law School in 1982. He landed his first job at a prominent Milwaukee firm, had a short stint as a federal prosecutor, served five years as Wisconsin's first federal defender, was a shareholder in two criminal defense firms and now is part of the small firm StrangBradley.

As a lawyer, Strang said: "I've always had the feeling that in some way I was born on third base. And I want to be very careful in telling the world I hit a triple because I didn't."

He credits "luck and serendipity" for his professional career path.

Buting, on the other hand, appears to have a natural fire in his belly for courtroom give and take. Growing up, he said, he watched a steady diet of legal TV shows, including "Perry Mason" and "Judd, for the Defense."

A 1981 graduate of the University of North Carolina Law School at Chapel Hill, Buting landed a job as an assistant state public defender in the Milwaukee trial office. On his first day of work, he said he met his future wife, Kathleen Stilling, a fellow public defender.

Married 26 years, they're partners in a Brookfield law firm, Buting, Williams & Stilling.

"We've worked together almost every day since 1981," Buting said, with one exception of a brief time when Stilling served as a Waukesha County Circuit Court judge.

Buting and Strang have taken on high-profile cases besides Avery's.

Strang was a defense attorney in the John Doe investigation into possible campaign law violations during Wisconsin's recall elections. He also helped defend Lori Esker, who was found guilty in the murder of Lisa Cihaski in the so-called Dairy Princess trial in Wausau in 1990.

Buting helped clear Ralph Armstrong, who was convicted in 1981 of raping and murdering fellow UW-Madison student Charise Kamps.

The Avery case has stuck with the two attorneys.

Asked if Avery was guilty of the crime, Buting said, "My response is, no, he's not. I've looked at so many inconsistencies in the state's theory and the case.... There are no good answers to explain Steven Avery is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt...."

Strang said he hopes that renewed interest in the case leads to newly discovered evidence. Based on the evidence presented in the trial, Strang said he could not possibly have voted to convict Avery.

"I remain really haunted by deep doubts that he's guilty," he said. "I really do fear that here is an innocent man in prison wrongly the second time. I wasn't there, I don't know that he's innocent. I can't claim that. I just know that I've never been convinced by anything close to removing a reasonable doubt that he's guilty."