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Steve Avery’s Lawyer Posts Inmate’s ‘Confession,’ In Which He Asks For Money And Tells Her To ‘Keep Your Panties On’

An inmate named Joseph Evans claims he hit Teresa Halbach with his car in Steve Avery's salvage yard, then burned her body. 

By Gina Tron
The Teresa Halbach Murder Case, Explained

The lawyer for "Making a Murderer" subject Steve Avery appears unimpressed by another convicted killer's confession that he murdered Teresa Halbach, the woman whose 2005 slaying landed Avery behind bars for life.

News about a purported confession in the case surfaced this week when a documentary filmmaker said he'd interviewed a "notable" convicted murderer in Wisconsin who claimed responsibility for Halbach's death. That same killer also appears to have written a confession mailed to Kathleen Zellner, Avery’s post-conviction lawyer.

“Let’s see,” Zellner tweeted out on Tuesday. “You be the judge of the credibility of this confession.”

The inmate, who identifies himself as Joseph Evans, starts off his letter by stating: "I am making a claim to your reward offer for the information in the Steven Avery case."

Just this month, Zellner announced on Twitter that a $100,000 reward is being offered to anyone who provides information leading to the arrest and conviction of the Halbach's killer.

Joseph Evans Pd

In his letter, Evans, who is serving a life sentence for killing his wife in 2008, claims he stopped by Avery's salvage yard looking for parts to repair his and his wife's cars. He wrote that he visited the same day that Halbach was there taking photos of cars for her job. He claimed that as he was driving through the property, Halbach stepped in front of his car and he hit her, causing her to fall and strike her head on a large rock.

He said when he got out to check on her, she was dead, so he put her into her Rav4 before driving up to Avery’s home for help, but nobody was there. He wrote that he panicked, drank some Brandy and swallowed some pills before entering Avery's unlocked trailer home where he claims he stole Avery’s rifle. He wrote that he pulled Halbach's body out of her car, shot her three times (though he doesn't explain why, since she was supposed to be dead already) and then put her body back in her car. Evans wrote that he then burned her body in a burn barrel on the property, all while drinking Brandy and consuming more pills.

The letter goes on to request a $2,000 down payment.

"If your [sic] fully serious to get your client Steven Avery out your [sic] gonna need my help," he writes, adding he is prepared to give a deposition, with the expectation of receiving another $13,000 at that point "to start the process of me to chill out in my cell and wait."

Evans also requested $250,000 instead of the $100,000 originally offered, telling Zellner to “keep your panties on and skirt down, because I'm not out to screw you." He even mailed Zellner a deposit slip, which she tweeted along with some laughing emojis.

The inmate has linked himself to the Avery case before, but in a very different way. He mailed a letter to several local news outlets in 2016, claiming that Avery had confessed to him during their time as cellmates that he killed Halbach, according to a 2016 WBAY report.

Avery had been released from prison just two years before Halbach’s death after being exonerated in a rape case. Suspicion quickly fell on Avery in Halbach's death and he and his nephew Brendan Dassey were convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 2007.

The first season of "Making a Murderer," released in 2015, recounts Avery's initial wrongful conviction and raises questions about his and Dassey's involvement in Halbach's murder. The documentary suggested that police may have planted evidence on Avery’s property, and that investigators took advantage of Dassey’s limited intellect in order to coax him into confessing.

Zellner also tweeted out a message to Avery’s “followers” on Tuesday: "Do not be discouraged by recent events. We have some very credible tips and when verified we will send to LE [law enforcement]. No more publicity stunts!! No more deposit slips!!!”