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Brendan Dassey

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Oddity

The Resume

    (October 19, 1989- )
    Born in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin
    Brendan Ray Dassey
    Nephew of convicted killer Steven Avery
    Featured in the popular Netflix documentary series 'Making a Murderer' (2015-16)
    Convicted of being an accessory to the first-degree murder of photographer Theresa Halbach (Apr. 25, 2007)
    Confession was ruled to have been forcibly coerced as determined by Judge William Duffin, who overturned his conviction (Nov. 2016)

Why he might be annoying:

    He was accused of being a co-conspirator in an act of rape and corpse mutilation.
    It has been argued that even if his confession was 'coerced,' it doesn't 'completely exonerate him 100%' from guilt.
    His half-brother capitalized on his fame with a pro-Steve Avery Indie-Christian rap, 'They Didn't Do It.'
    His case inspired a petition calling for the WWE and Vince McMahon to let him guest-host WrestleMania.
    'Making a Murderer' depicted him as a simpleton who fabricated an initial confession, which he allegedly based off of the book (or movie version of) 'Kiss the Girls.'
    The miniseries gave the impression that his confession was completely invalid, but a reading of the actual interrogation transcript shows that he had a better grasp on the intimate details of the case than previously thought.
    'Making a Murderer' also strongly suggests that his confession was the only factor that led to Avery's being convicted for Halbach's murder, when there was actually enough evidence to convict him anyway.
    His drawn-out interrogation footage, as shown in the series, was unintentionally comedic (with the officers slowly losing their patience with his slow-wittedness and eventually outright volunteering the information), and became a popularly circulated internet meme.
    Netflix has toyed with the idea of spinning him and his family off into a 'sequel' series (exploitation).

Why he might not be annoying:

    He may have been sexually abused by his uncle.
    He had no previous conflict or record with the law prior to the Halbach murder.
    He was tried as an adult co-conspirator by the county despite barely being seventeen at the time.
    He is strongly believed to be suffering from a form of borderline deficiency/cognitive issues (likely Autism or Aspergers).
    Case in point when his mom asked him what he thought of his defense attorney, he answered 'we both like cats.'
    His lawyer later admitted to having made a mistake by allowing him to be interrogated by the police without his being present.
    Avery was largely unconcerned with how the trial affected his own nephew, even when Dassey's own mother angrily chastised him over the phone for getting him involved in the first place.
    The series generated an unprecedented level of response for a Netflix show, prompting rallies calling for his exoneration all over the world, as well as renewed scrutiny of the controversial Reid technique of questioning.
    The fascination with his case rivaled that of Avery's, and the entire unedited footage of his interrogation was made available on YouTube for all to scrutinize.
    The Seventh Circuit upheld Judge Duffin's initial decision to overturn his conviction, although a federal rules court determined that he was to be confined to his jail cell during proceedings (Jun. 2017).

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 8 Votes: 37.50% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 12 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 62 Votes: 45.16% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 17 Votes: 35.29% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 89 Votes: 57.30% Annoying