The fight to free Brendan Dassey continues. Dassey and his uncle Steven Avery were convicted and sentenced in the 2005 murder of Teresa Halbach in Manitowoc County. Dassey is sentenced to life in prison, with the earliest possibility for parole in 2048.Years later, the Netflix documentary “Making a Murderer” is still resonating with people around the world. “I watched the documentary like everybody else and I felt really compelled to try to do something to help him,” said Becca Nash, who lives in Arizona and created the Facebook group called ‘Brendan Talks’. Nash created the group so people could help her lift Dassey’s spirits in prison and to try to get lawmakers to free him. Nash said she talks to Dassey every week over the phone. They’ve never met in person.”I’ve known him for six or seven years now, so I consider him a good friend at this point,” Nash said. “We talk about movies, music. He loves Pokémon, anime, manga. We talk about TV shows he likes.”She’s been to supporter rallies in Wisconsin for Dassey and she regularly administrates activities for her Facebook group to participate. Things like eating Dassey’s favorite foods, sending him pictures of their art contests and lighting candles in his name. “He’s very nice, very sweet, he wouldn’t hurt a single person,” Nash said. “I believe he is 100% innocent.”Nash also makes hundreds of postcards for people to send to lawmakers, like Gov. Tony Evers, in an effort to get Dassey freed. So far, Nash said she’s made over 500 postcards. Another group member, Elisabeth Graff-Kettler, lives in Bristol in Kenosha County. She said she learned about Dassey’s case after watching the Netflix documentary. “To me, it’s like a horrible child abuse,” Graff-Kettler said. “I mean, here’s a kid. He knows he’s innocent. No one is looking to help him.”She’s referring to Dassey’s confession tapes with police, who she believes coaxed him into saying what they wanted. “We went in there, we tied her up. He stabbed her and he told me to cut her throat,” Dassey can be heard saying in the taped confession. Graff-Kettler keeps Dassey’s photo with the framed photo of her deceased son. She said she’s been writing to Dassey and Evers for years. “I’ve had so many sleepless nights, thinking about this child,” Graff-Kettler said. “Worried about what are they doing to him and what is it doing to him, mentally?”In 2019, Dassey’s eligibility for pardon was denied.”I sat there and I just sobbed,” Graff-Kettler said. “I went, ‘Oh my God, what more could they do to this child and his family?'”A spokesperson for Evers said since taking office in 2019, the governor has received 2,200 contacts regarding Dassey’s case. People like Graff-Kettler and Nash, who are personally invested. “Do I think a postcard is going to change (Evers’) mind? Probably not, but I want him to know there’s people all over America, all over the world, who believe a great injustice was done and that he needs to fix it,” Nash said. A spokesperson for Evers’ office said the pardon advisory board’s eligibility criteria has not changed in Dassey’s case and Evers is not currently considering sentence commutations at this time.
The fight to free Brendan Dassey continues.
Dassey and his uncle Steven Avery were convicted and sentenced in the 2005 murder of Teresa Halbach in Manitowoc County.
Dassey is sentenced to life in prison, with the earliest possibility for parole in 2048.
Years later, the Netflix documentary “Making a Murderer” is still resonating with people around the world.
“I watched the documentary like everybody else and I felt really compelled to try to do something to help him,” said Becca Nash, who lives in Arizona and created the Facebook group called ‘Brendan Talks’.
Nash created the group so people could help her lift Dassey’s spirits in prison and to try to get lawmakers to free him.
Nash said she talks to Dassey every week over the phone. They’ve never met in person.
“I’ve known him for six or seven years now, so I consider him a good friend at this point,” Nash said. “We talk about movies, music. He loves Pokémon, anime, manga. We talk about TV shows he likes.”
She’s been to supporter rallies in Wisconsin for Dassey and she regularly administrates activities for her Facebook group to participate. Things like eating Dassey’s favorite foods, sending him pictures of their art contests and lighting candles in his name.
“He’s very nice, very sweet, he wouldn’t hurt a single person,” Nash said. “I believe he is 100% innocent.”
Nash also makes hundreds of postcards for people to send to lawmakers, like Gov. Tony Evers, in an effort to get Dassey freed. So far, Nash said she’s made over 500 postcards.
Another group member, Elisabeth Graff-Kettler, lives in Bristol in Kenosha County. She said she learned about Dassey’s case after watching the Netflix documentary.
“To me, it’s like a horrible child abuse,” Graff-Kettler said. “I mean, here’s a kid. He knows he’s innocent. No one is looking to help him.”
She’s referring to Dassey’s confession tapes with police, who she believes coaxed him into saying what they wanted.
“We went in there, we tied her up. He stabbed her and he told me to cut her throat,” Dassey can be heard saying in the taped confession.
Graff-Kettler keeps Dassey’s photo with the framed photo of her deceased son. She said she’s been writing to Dassey and Evers for years.
“I’ve had so many sleepless nights, thinking about this child,” Graff-Kettler said. “Worried about what are they doing to him and what is it doing to him, mentally?”
In 2019, Dassey’s eligibility for pardon was denied.
“I sat there and I just sobbed,” Graff-Kettler said. “I went, ‘Oh my God, what more could they do to this child and his family?'”
A spokesperson for Evers said since taking office in 2019, the governor has received 2,200 contacts regarding Dassey’s case.
People like Graff-Kettler and Nash, who are personally invested.
“Do I think a postcard is going to change (Evers’) mind? Probably not, but I want him to know there’s people all over America, all over the world, who believe a great injustice was done and that he needs to fix it,” Nash said.
A spokesperson for Evers’ office said the pardon advisory board’s eligibility criteria has not changed in Dassey’s case and Evers is not currently considering sentence commutations at this time.
