Fans start petitions to pardon subject of Netflix's 'Making a Murderer'

WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Petitions have emerged online calling for the release of Steven Avery, the subject of Netflix documentary series Making a Murder.

The series tells the story of Avery, who was convicted of murder in 2005 and was sentenced to life in prison. Since the series' release in December major online petitions have surfaced on the White House website and petition site Change.org calling for Avery's release.

"There is a documentary series on Netflix called 'Making a Murderer'. After viewing it, I am outraged with the injustices which have been allowed to compound and left unchecked in the case of Steven Avery of Manitowoc County in Wisconsin U.S.A.," the Change.org petition states. "Avery's unconstitutional mistreatment at the hands of corrupt local law enforcement is completely unacceptable and is an abomination of due process."

The White House petition makes similar claims and also calls for the pardon of Avery's nephew Brandon Dassey.

"Steven Very and Brendan Dassey should be given a full pardon by President Obama for their wrongful conviction in the connection to the murder of Teresa Halbach," it states. "There is clear evidence that the Manitowoc County sheriff's department used improper methods to convict both Steven Very and Brendan Dassey."

The Change.org and White House petitions have received 262,831 and 67,341 respectively, but despite their popularity the prosecutor claims the Netflix series omitted key evidence.

"You don't want to muddy up a perfectly good conspiracy movie with what actually happened," Wisconsin state prosecutor Ken Kratz told People. "And certainly not provide the audience with the evidence the jury considered to reject that claim."