‘Making a Murderer': Judge Orders Brendan Dassey’s Release Pending Retrial

A judge has ordered the supervised release of “Making a Murderer” subject Brendan Dassey, pending possible retrial.

According to court documents obtained by TheWrap, U.S. Magistrate Judge William E. Duffin ordered that Dassey’s motion for release pursuant to Fed.

The respondent shall release the respondent upon the United States Probation Office notifying the court that it has approved the proposed residence and completed whatever addition investigation it deems necessary.

Judge Duffin granted Dassey’s writ for a petition of habeas corpus, finding that Dassey’s imprisonment was unlawful because his confession to the murder of Teresa Halbach was involuntary.

In a brief filed with the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals within 90 days of the decision, Attorney General Brad Schimel appealed the decision, asking for Dassey to remain behind bars: “We believe the magistrate judge’s decision that Brendan Dassey’s confession was coerced by investigators, and that no reasonable court could have concluded otherwise, is wrong on the facts and wrong on the law.”

The saga surrounding Halbach’s killing in Wisconsin around Halloween 2005 and whether Dassey’s uncle Steven Avery committed the brutal act was the focus of Netflix’s hit docuseries “Making a Murderer,” which gained wide acclaim and interest after it was released in December 2015.

Dassey, who is now 26, was convicted in 2007 of first-degree intentional homicide, second-degree sexual assault and mutilation of a corpse in Halbach’s murder.