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Murder of Teresa Halbach

Also known as: Making a Murderer case

Active

2005–2005

Region

Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, USA

State

WI

Kind

Single

Status

Convicted

Victims

1

Teresa Halbach, a Green Bay-area portrait photographer, disappeared on October 31, 2005, after going to the Avery family's auto salvage yard in Manitowoc County to photograph a vehicle for sale. Her car was found hidden on the property, and burned bone fragments were found near Steven Avery's home. In 2007 separate juries convicted Avery, who had been exonerated of an unrelated 1985 rape two years earlier, and his 16-year-old nephew Brendan Dassey of her murder; Avery was sentenced to life without parole and Dassey to life with parole eligibility in 2048. The case drew worldwide attention through the Netflix series Making a Murderer. Both men maintain their innocence; their appeals, including a federal ruling for Dassey that was reversed, have so far failed, and both convictions stand.

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Victims

We remember the people whose lives were taken.

• Teresa Halbach · October 31, 2005

  A portrait photographer with a Green Bay studio who also did freelance photography.

Timeline of locations

1. 2003
   Avery's home on the family property (Killer's residence, approximate area)

   After his 2003 exoneration Avery lived in a trailer on the family's 40-acre salvage-yard property.

2. October 31, 2005
   Avery's Auto Salvage, Town of Gibson (Crime scene, approximate area)

   Halbach came to the family salvage yard on October 31, 2005, to photograph a vehicle for sale. Her car was found partly concealed in the yard on November 5, and burned bone fragments were later recovered near Avery's trailer on the property.

3. March 18, 2007
   Calumet County Courthouse, Chilton (Court / trial)

   Avery's trial was held in Calumet County. On March 18, 2007, the jury convicted him of first-degree intentional homicide and a firearms count; he was sentenced to life without parole.

4. April 2019
   Oshkosh Correctional Institution (Prison)

   Dassey has been held at Oshkosh Correctional Institution since April 2019.

5. 2022
   Fox Lake Correctional Institution (Prison)

   Avery has been held at Fox Lake Correctional Institution since 2022, after earlier terms at Boscobel and Waupun.

Watch, listen, read

Sources

• Steven Avery (Wikipedia)
• Brendan Dassey (Wikipedia)
• Dassey v. Dittmann, No. 17-1172: certiorari denied June 25, 2018 (Supreme Court of the United States docket)
• Steven Avery denied hearing as court rules out alternate suspect (FOX 11 News, January 2025)
• Avery, Dassey ask Gov. Evers for commutations of their sentences (FOX 11 News, September 2026)
• Judge says commutation for Steven Avery is 'inappropriate' (FOX 11 News, September 2026)
• Blood Simple (Milwaukee Magazine, May 2006)

Each location also lists its own sources in the data file.