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Wis. sheriff responds to ‘Making a Murderer’ filmmakers

The sheriff said they did a ‘real disservice’ to law enforcement

By Police1 Staff

MANITOWOC, Wis. — The sheriff of a police agency at the center of popular Netflix docuseries “Making a Murderer” is speaking out against the show, saying it has made his department the subject of public harassment, WBAY reported.

Sheriff Robert Hermann told the news site the damage to his department is global. Harassers have repeatedly called and emailed the department to tell them they are corrupt and to “rot in hell,” Hermann said.

“They did a real disservice to the law enforcement of Wisconsin,” Hermann told WBAY. “They should be ashamed of themselves.”

Hermann has been with the department since the 1980s and was present for the Steven Avery case. The sheriff said pieces are missing from the case depicted on the popular series.

"[Filmmakers] could have put some type of a disclaimer on it saying that this is one side point of view, but they didn’t,” Hermann told the news site. “They were there for the money.”

At the time of Avery’s 2007 arrest for murder, he had a pending $36 million lawsuit against the county for the 18 years he’d spent incarcerated for a rape that DNA evidence cleared him of. The docuseries suggests Avery was framed for Teresa Halbach’s murder because of that lawsuit.

“Everything from the DNA on the key, that was not blood evidence, to the bullet that was shot out of his gun, and the DNA on the bullet matched Teresa Halbach — their theory just doesn’t stand,” Hermann told WBAY.

The docuseries also leads viewers to believe the sheriff and the Avery’s have a bad relationship, which is not true, Hermann said.

“A few days ago a trespasser was on the Avery’s property, and guess who they called? Manitowoc County Sheriff,” Hermann said in his interview.

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