Book summary “Indefensible”: summary

Introduction

You watch a wildly popular television documentary and feel certain that an innocent man was framed by corrupt authorities. The global frenzy surrounding the 2015 Netflix series Making a Murderer turns Steven Avery into a folk hero and leaves you questioning the entire American justice system.

An independent re-examination of the Steven Avery case exposes how emotional true-crime media manipulation distorted overwhelming physical evidence of guilt.

You step behind the media narrative as author Michael Griesbach, a Wisconsin prosecutor not involved in the original 2007 trial, re-examines the actual case files. The book analyzes the true nature of the forensic evidence, the validity of the confessions, the plausibility of police conspiracy theories, and the heavy human cost of the media spectacle.

You will find answers to the following questions throughout the text:

• How did an eighteen-year wrongful conviction create a massive civil lawsuit against Manitowoc County?
• What did advanced FBI testing reveal about the blood found inside the victim's vehicle?
• How do physical traces on bullets and bone fragments support the prosecution timeline?
• What are the legal consequences of the coercive interrogation techniques used on Brendan Dassey?
• Can you reconcile a vast police conspiracy theory with the unedited trial record?

1. The 1985 Wrongful Conviction and Civil Lawsuit

Steven Avery's initial eighteen-year imprisonment for a crime he did not commit created a massive conflict of interest and a thirty-six-million-dollar civil lawsuit against Manitowoc County.

Former sheriff Tom Kocourek and former district attorney Denis Vogel rushed to convict Avery in 1985 despite evidence pointing toward serial sex offender Gregory Allen. You can trace this failure directly to systemic misconduct that ignored obvious signs of innocence.

The author reviewed a criminal complaint charging Gregory Allen that was left sitting directly inside Steven Avery's 1985 case file, which DA Denis Vogel had personally signed.

The Assault on Sandra Morris

Steven Avery's prior violent attack on his neighbor Sandra Morris demonstrated a dangerous escalation in his behavior toward women months before his 1985 wrongful conviction. You see a clear pattern of harassment when Avery used binoculars to watch Sandra Morris drive by his house, frequently exposing himself or rubbing his body on cars.

Sandra Morris drove past Avery's house with her infant daughter at 5:30 AM when Avery rammed her vehicle with a 1978 Ford LTD and pointed a rifle at her head.

The DNA Exoneration

The 2003 DNA exoneration of Steven Avery for a 1985 assault revealed that the true perpetrator was a violent serial predator named Gregory Allen. DNA testing on a single pubic hair matched Gregory Allen, who had a long record of sexual violence and had avoided prosecution while continuing to commit crimes.

Sherry Culhane from the Wisconsin State Crime Lab called DA Mark Rohrer and Griesbach on September 5, 2003, to report the DNA match to Gregory Allen.

Detective Gene Kusche developed a composite drawing of Penny Beerntsen's assailant after Manitowoc County Sheriff's officials retrieved Avery's recent mug shot from a prior incident and brought it to the hospital. Placed side by side, the sketch bore an uncanny and embarrassing resemblance to the mug shot rather than the victim's actual description.

2. Forensic Evidence and the EDTA Battle

Advanced FBI chemical testing and physical trace analysis established that Steven Avery's blood inside the victim's vehicle was genuine rather than planted from an evidence vial.

The EDTA Testing Controversy

The prosecution relied on a newly developed FBI protocol to test Steven Avery's bloodstains for EDTA, aiming to disprove the defense claim that police planted the blood from an existing evidence vial. Norm Gahn introduced Dr. Marc LeBeau to testify that bloodstains found inside Teresa Halbach's RAV4 contained no detectable EDTA, while the reference vial of Avery's blood from the clerk of courts office contained significant amounts.

In the Steven Avery trial, Dr. Marc LeBeau testified on March 5, 2007, regarding the LC/MS/MS testing method used by the FBI chemistry laboratory. You find that the method measured down to thirteen parts per million as the lowest concentration of EDTA detectable by the sensitivity of the FBI method. Michael Griesbach reviewed five hundred pages of trial transcript regarding the EDTA testing.

The defense challenged the reliability of the FBI's EDTA test, arguing that a failure to detect the chemical does not definitively prove it was absent. Defense expert Janine Arvizu testified that the test's detection limit and complicating real-world factors like swabbing and extraction made it impossible to determine the total absence of EDTA with absolute certainty. Janine Arvizu, a laboratory quality auditor from Albuquerque, New Mexico, testified as an expert witness for the defense during Avery's trial. Her testimony focused on thirteen micrograms per liter as the theoretical detection limit for EDTA identified in the procedure.

Blood Vial Packaging and Seals

The small hole found in the rubber stopper of Steven Avery's 1996 blood vial was standard evidence of a proper medical blood draw rather than a sign of police tampering. While Making a Murderer dramatized the discovery of a tiny hole in the blood vial stopper to suggest police extracted blood using a hypodermic needle, national phlebotomy experts confirmed that a puncture mark is routinely expected when tubes are properly filled with a syringe or tube holder adapter.

Dennis Ernst, chair of the committee writing national phlebotomy standards, stated on Dateline that a proper blood tube will always feature a telltale puncture mark. Prison nurse Marlene Kraintz was prepared to testify that she personally punched the hole while drawing Avery's blood on January 2, 1996, causing the defense to omit the argument at trial. You can see how twenty minutes of online research easily exposes this red herring.

Although broken evidence tape on the blood vial package left open the theoretical possibility of access, dried blood around the stopper is a normal physical occurrence in imperfectly airtight tubes. The documentary highlighted dried blood trapped between the stopper and the glass, but experts explained that stoppers are not 100 percent airtight, making blood gathering inside typical and non-sinister.

DA E. James Fitzgerald opened the 1985 court file package on June 19, 2002 at twelve twenty-five p.m., pursuant to a court order for the Wisconsin Innocence Project, and closed it two minutes later. Court records showed Fitzgerald last opened the evidence package under that court order for DNA testing, and while he likely forgot to reaffix the tape, the physical condition of the vial itself showed no actual evidence of tampering.

3. Physical Evidence and the Crime Scene

Comprehensive physical traces, including DNA matches on garage bullets and skeletal remains in the burn pit, corroborated the prosecution's timeline of the murder.

Bullets and Bones

Investigator Kevin Heimerl found 2 bullets in the garage on March 1, 2006. This search followed Brendan Dassey stating Steven Avery shot Teresa Halbach there.

A firearms expert confirmed the second bullet was fired from Avery's Marlin Glenfield Model 60. Scientific testing matched biological material on it to Teresa Halbach's DNA.

Dr. Leslie Eisenberg testified that virtually every part of the skeleton below the neck was recovered from the burn pit. She noted that transport would have caused specific breakage patterns not observed, which countered the traveling bones defense.

Arson investigator Rodney Pevytoe found bone fragments deeply embedded inside the wire mesh of steel-belted radial tires. This confirmed they were burned together. Steven's brother Earl told investigators that Steven asked Brendan to remove tire rims and wire from the burn pit on Wednesday night, November 2. Wiring found in the pit indicated 5 or more steel-belted radial tires.

The Discovery of the RAV4

Volunteer searchers found the hidden RAV4 on the property on November 5. This discovery prevented Avery from potentially destroying it in the on-site car crusher.

The find sparked a massive multi-jurisdictional search involving state troopers and crime lab units. On a rainy Saturday, law enforcement officers and over a hundred police officers from several jurisdictions, including sixty state troopers, converged on the Avery Salvage Yard after the victim's vehicle was found concealed under branches near the woods.

The RAV4 was parked in an ideal location for someone needing to conceal it before eventually disposing of it in the car crusher after stripping identifying parts. Driving or pushing Halbach's RAV4 to the concealed spot at the edge of the salvage yard without being seen by passing motorists or Avery family members living on the property would have been extremely difficult.

4. Brendan Dassey and the Interrogation Controversy

Brendan Dassey's graphic confession dramatically shaped public perceptions of guilt, despite severe questions regarding the coercive interrogation techniques used by investigators.

Ken Kratz held a press conference on March 2, 2006, describing the graphic details of Brendan Dassey's statement to the media. This statement drastically shifted public and legal perception of Steven Avery's guilt. Dassey was initially viewed as an alibi witness.

The Reid Technique Flaws

Investigators Mark Wiegert and Special Agent Thomas Fassbender interrogated sixteen-year-old Brendan Dassey over four hours using long monologues and leading questions. The Reid Technique relies on an interrogator's subjective assessment of deception. Long monologues offer a mitigated out.

• Trained officers are often poor at detecting lies.
• Confirmation bias leads to heavy reliance on leading questions.
• A high risk of false confessions targets vulnerable individuals.

During the March 1 interrogation, Investigator Wiegert asked leading questions like "Who shot her in the head?" after which Brendan replied that Steven Avery did. Leading questions shape the suspect's narrative. They compromise the authenticity of the information gathered.

Investigators inadvertently fed crucial details about the crime before Dassey independently recalled them. These details included the victim's hair being cut and being shot in the head.

Voluntariness versus Reliability

Judge Jerome Fox ruled that Brendan Dassey's confession was voluntary before trial. The Court of Appeals later affirmed this decision. Courts evaluate police misconduct, coercion, and personal characteristics of the defendant such as age and intelligence.

The legal standard for admitting a confession focuses strictly on its voluntariness rather than its overall reliability. An involuntary confession remains inadmissible even if you can prove it true.

Dassey's legal appeals focused heavily on whether his confession was rendered involuntary through coercive police interrogation techniques exploiting his youth and limitations. A federal magistrate wrote a 91-page decision in 2016 evaluating Dassey's three separate interrogations. The magistrate ruled that the confession was unconstitutionally coerced through implied promises of leniency.

The state argued that interrogation tactics remained within lawful bounds of police deceit and manipulation. Dassey was 17 years old at the time of the investigation. He transformed into a 26-year-old man in prison during a decade behind bars.

Dassey's mother raised funds for clothes fitting her son, anticipating his release. A federal appeals court later blocked the order. The legal battle centers not on innocence or guilt, but on constitutional protections against forced self-incrimination.

5. Evaluating the Frame-Up Theory and Police Integrity

The defense theory requiring dozens of officers to coordinate an elaborate evidence-planting conspiracy contradicts the unedited trial record and the professional personnel files of local deputies.

To successfully frame Steven Avery, law enforcement would had to plant 7 distinct categories of evidence—including blood, a vehicle, bone fragments, bullets, electronics, a key, and DNA on a hood latch—while evading detection by multiple jurisdictions, state crime labs, and civilian witnesses over a span of 10 years.

Defense attorneys Dean Strang and Jerry Buting focused heavily on a blood vial with a hypodermic needle hole in the stopper, though FBI EDTA testing showed the blood in the vehicle did not match the preservative in the vial.

The Implausibility of Police Conspiracy

The discovery of Teresa Halbach's car key in Steven Avery's bedroom by officers Colborn and Lenk became a central point of contention regarding alleged evidence planting. While the defense and the documentary argued that the key was obviously planted by Manitowoc County officers facing a massive civil lawsuit, the unedited trial and police reports provided context about rough handling of a rickety bookcase that caused the back panel to gap and the key to fall out.

Sergeant Colborn testified that he handled a narrow bookcase rather roughly, twisting, shaking, and pulling it while searching for specific documents, which separated the thin wood back panel from the frame.

The documentary selectively edited Sergeant Andy Colborn's trial testimony to create the false impression that he called in license plates after discovering Teresa Halbach's RAV4 off-site. By splicing cross-examination and omitting key portions of Colborn's direct and redirect testimony, the filmmakers made it appear that Colborn answered affirmatively to a question about looking at the Toyota's license plate. In reality, Colborn testified that a Calumet County detective had given him the plates earlier, and he was calling dispatch simply to verify and memorize the vehicle information.

Dean Strang's cross-examination of Andy Colborn was selectively spliced in the documentary to hide Ken Kratz's objections and Colborn's full explanation of why officers verify information from assisting agencies.

Colborn and Lenk Records

Sergeant Colborn and Lieutenant Jim Lenk had a minimal, protocol-compliant connection to Avery's 1985 wrongful conviction, providing a weak motive for an evidence-planting conspiracy. The defense built its frame-up theory around a 1995 phone call Colborn received as a corrections officer from a Green Bay detective reporting an inmate's claim about the real assailant, Gregory Allen. Colborn followed proper protocol by passing the information up the chain of command, where supervisors instructed him to stay out of it, meaning the officers had no active role in suppressing the truth.

Colborn and Lenk were deposed just weeks before Halbach disappeared regarding their handling of the 1995 phone call, but neither officer was a defendant in Avery's civil lawsuit.

An examination of the personnel files of Officers Andy Colborn and Jim Lenk refutes the documentary's portrayal of them as corrupt officers who planted evidence. Reviewing official county records and personnel files revealed a consistent trend of professionalism and integrity with virtually no disciplinary marks. Colborn's background includes 12 years of honorable service in the United States Air Force and numerous commendations, demonstrating that allegations of evidence planting were unsupported by actual misconduct records.

Andy Colborn served 12 years in the U.S. Air Force, achieving the final rank of staff sergeant E5 with awards for meritorious service, and later won Officer of the Year in 2013 for his domestic violence work.

6. Media Manipulation and the Human Cost of True Crime

Selective documentary editing transformed a convicted killer into a folk hero while inflicting devastating reputational and emotional damage on real participants and investigators.

Documentary Editing Manipulation

Making a Murderer aired on Netflix just before Christmas in 2015. The series transformed a convicted murderer into a sympathetic folk hero in the court of public opinion through strategic omissions and emotional manipulation.

The filmmakers omitted crucial evidence, such as Avery's history of stalking and assaulting his neighbor Sandra Morris, his disturbing animal cruelty, and physical evidence like handcuffs, leg irons, and a drawing of a torture chamber found in his trailer. The documentary minimized Avery dousing a cat in gas and throwing it into a bonfire when he was twenty years old, portraying it as a childish prank, and cast Sandra Morris as the villain after Avery rammed her car and held her at gunpoint.

The documentary selectively edited witness testimonies and omitted crucial police explanations to convince viewers that evidence was planted. The filmmakers intertwined close-up images of the key on the floor with carefully edited testimony of officers fumbling on the stand, while completely leaving out Deputy Kucharski's explanation of the search.

Public Backlash and Threats

The release of Making a Murderer provoked an international wave of outrage, resulting in severe harassment, bomb threats, and death threats against law enforcement officers and prosecutors. Viewers directed intense anger at the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department and local officials, assuming widespread police conspiracy.

The office received over two hundred angry e-mails and telephone calls received by the sheriff's department in the first week, including multiple serious threats requiring FBI and state investigation. On February 3, 2016, six and a half weeks after the documentary's release, two bomb threats were phoned into the sheriff's department warning of a huge massacre, while a simultaneous false SWAT emergency report was dispatched to an officer's home.

Over five hundred thousand citizens signed two separate petitions to President Barack Obama and Governor Scott Walker for the release of Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey. One-sided true crime documentaries inflict devastating, unintended emotional and reputational consequences on real people whose lives are permanently upended. Teresa Halbach's family, Penny Beerntsen, and officers like Andy Colborn and Jim Lenk found their private tragedies and professional reputations irrevocably broadcast and damaged worldwide.

Following the release of the series, the author's book The Innocent Killer dropped from a four-star Amazon rating to barely over two stars due to a coordinated online review sabotage campaign by viewers of the documentary.

10 Key Ideas

1. Steven Avery's initial eighteen-year imprisonment for a crime he did not commit created a massive conflict of interest and a thirty-six-million-dollar civil lawsuit against Manitowoc County.
2. Advanced FBI chemical testing and physical trace analysis established that Steven Avery's blood inside the victim's vehicle was genuine rather than planted from an evidence vial.
3. Comprehensive physical traces, including DNA matches on garage bullets and skeletal remains in the burn pit, corroborated the prosecution's timeline of the murder.
4. Dr. Leslie Eisenberg testified that virtually every part of the skeleton below the neck was recovered from the burn pit and noted that transport would have caused specific breakage patterns not observed.
5. Brendan Dassey's graphic confession dramatically shaped public perceptions of guilt, despite severe questions regarding the coercive interrogation techniques used by investigators.
6. The defense theory requiring dozens of officers to coordinate an elaborate evidence-planting conspiracy contradicts the unedited trial record and the professional personnel files of local deputies.
7. The discovery of Teresa Halbach's car key in Steven Avery's bedroom by officers Colborn and Lenk became a central point of contention regarding alleged evidence planting, while trial records showed rough handling of a rickety bookcase caused it to fall out.
8. Steven Avery's prior violent attack on his neighbor Sandra Morris demonstrated a dangerous escalation in his behavior toward women months before his 1985 wrongful conviction.
9. Making a Murderer transformed a convicted murderer into a sympathetic folk hero in the court of public opinion through strategic omissions and emotional manipulation.
10. One-sided true crime documentaries inflict devastating, unintended emotional and reputational consequences on real people whose lives are permanently upended.