Netflix plans documentary on Steven Avery case

Netflix will premier a 10-part documentary series on the Steven Avery homicide case, one of the most brutal and bizarre cases ever in east-central Wisconsin.

The Internet TV network announced plans for the documentary on Monday.

The series, titled "Making a Murderer," will premier on Dec. 18 for Netflix subscribers.

Avery, 53, is serving a life sentence for the 2005 homicide of 25-year-old freelance photographer Teresa Halbach. The slaying of Halbach came after Avery was released from prison after being exonerated in a previous rape case for which he had served 18 years.

The series was inspired by a newspaper article from 2005, according to a news release from the network.

Halbach was a photographer in northern Calumet County who was killed at the Avery family's auto salvage yard near Mishicot in Manitowoc County. Her burned body parts were found at the salvage yard and on Avery's property next to the business.

"The series takes viewers inside a riveting, high-stakes criminal case where reputation is everything and things are never as they appear," the Netflix release states. "The filmmakers have documented every angle of the story, following the second investigation and ensuing trial of the accused, petitioning the court to avoid having to turn over their footage, gathering archival materials, and interviewing those closest to the case."

The filmmakers, Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos, were present throughout the multi-week trial, which unfolded amid statewide media scrutiny in the Calumet County Courthouse in Chilton.

The documentary examines what went wrong in the first case and looks into allegations of misconduct by police and prosecutors, evidence tampering and witness coercion, according to the release.

Alison Dirr: 920-993-1000, ext. 430, or alison.dirr@gannettwisconsin.com; on Twitter @AlisonDirr