‘Making A Murderer’: Did Ken Kratz Know The Evidence Was Planted?

The following is purely speculation and in no way should be considered concrete facts unless future evidence proves otherwise. Spoilers ahead for “Making A Murderer.”

Netflix
Netflix

Read Part One Here.

Read Part Two Here.

So my clairvoyant friend Amy has been hard at work. Let’s forget the fluff and filler and get straight to what you’re looking for: the reads.

That being said, we’ll dive right in and take a look at the guy we all love to hate:

Ken Kratz

Netflix
Netflix

Lead prosecutor on both Brendan and Steven Avery’s cases, Kratz has become something of a villain in this twisted tale. Amy doesn’t know that, but here’s what she felt:

The man …bigger man…with glasses and a mustache. He truly believes he is doing this for the good. He truly has deep-seated anger for this sad man [Steven Avery]. He truly believes he belongs behind bars. He is protecting himself in that he is only “trying the evidence” so it doesn’t bother his conscience at all that the evidence might be planted or untrue. He is black and white and I feel he knows what he is doing. He just justifies it.

From what we know of Kratz and his character this is dead-on. I pushed a little farther — anything else from Kratz? I never suspected he was actually involved in the setup but thought it was worth a shot.

At first, when I looked at him I got that he was a on the “good side”… like that is literally what I heard it described as. But then I looked again and got very confused. Because I see something way different in him. So I am going to go out on a limb here and say that he is supposed to be part of the defense team?

Amy doesn’t always get the details exactly right, but no one bats 100% every time. However, she’s close. And get this:

But he is not a good person…no…he is actually a bit unstable. I feel he is ego-driven and also persuaded by offers of fame, limelight, and money opportunities that come from him doing this. It is not because he wants to help or have justice prevail. Those are the furthest things from his mind. That is what I feel…I could be way off on this one…it is not the clearest and definitely confusing to me.

She admits he’s confusing in his energy but everything else reads exactly as Kratz has been portrayed not only in the documentary, but post-documentary. He’s all too eager to speak to the press and tell them how MAM isn’t accurate, how they left out details, how he has all sorts of DNA evidence that damns Steven Avery and Brendan. (Spoiler alert: it involves sweat. Ever notice how many times he says “sweat” in that press conference? Gross.) Not to mention his involvement with the domestic abuse victim he was supposed to be representing. Kratz is not a good person, indeed.

So let’s switch gears and take a look at:

Brendan Dassey

Netflix
Netflix

I’ve been very eager to hear what Amy had to say about Brendan. She did not disappoint.

This kid…wow. I feel just sad and overwhelmed and shoulders slumped forward. I feel easily influenced and even borderline slower mental capacities. Not a very high intelligence. I feel he really looked up to an older sibling and that older sibling could just about make him do or say anything in life with the snap of his fingers.

This ties Bobby Dassey back into things. Maybe this explains why Brendan was so calm when talking to the cops? Did Bobby, being involved in Teresa’s murder, tell Brendan just to answer their questions and everything would be okay? This would make sense if Bobby thought Brendan was untouchable but boy was he wrong.

I feel him being coerced into something…I can hear conversation where he is being told to do something and why and it is coercion. I feel like he has a conscience but not enough mental capacity to delve into that…he just does what he is told and he is scared here…very scared. I feel sorry for him…it just feels like he has no choice or say in the matter, but his heart is good enough to care about what he is doing…or to know that it might not be right.

We all know Brendan was obviously coerced into the confession. It’s also pretty obvious that he was conflicted throughout the situation, even unsure as to whether he had done what the police said he had.

Why don’t we mosey back on over to:

Bobby Dassey

Netflix
Netflix

We know Amy previously read that Bobby Dassey was not only involved in the murder, but angry about something. I speculated privately it was because his brother was drawn into it as a suspect. I did not, however, tell her that Brendan was his brother — or that he was related to anyone except Steven Avery, as she correctly said he was “The Sad Man’s” nephew.

The picture of the guy that I read previously that I felt was a nephew…and angry at the situation. I feel he is the brother of this younger kid…the one I just read. He is the one he basically worships and looks up to.

Outta the park. What else?

I feel also there is great tension between this guy and the sad man. The guy doesn’t like the sad man. He doesn’t like him around. I feel there is a lot of lying…of course! Lying to each other’s faces. A lot of fake family loyalty that is really just all this grosses of hate and judgement brewing under the surface. Fake loyalties and fake allegiances too. A lot of game playing. It is exhausting to tune into. I don’t know how these people lived life this way. More backstabbing and fake faces forward and lies and competition and cover up than I have ever seen. It is enough to make my head spin…

This is very interesting insight. Barb Janda, Brendan Dassey’s mother, clearly had a very rocky relationship with Steven Avery. And her husband, Scott Taydch, famously told the media upon Steven Avery’s conviction: “What happened yesterday is the best thing in the world. He got what he got comin’ to him.” That’s an odd amount of hostility towards someone in your own family. And I established that the car Teresa Halbach was arriving to photograph didn’t belong to Steven Avery, but to Barb Janda. There’s some suspicion there for sure.


I have a few more base reads to do to set the lay of the land before we dive in really deep and start finding out information that’s not available via the documentary or the internet — this is where the good stuff comes into play, the things that may come to light as these cases are reexamined. More up next on some hot-button characters that I’ve been repeatedly asked to look into due to their varying levels of sketchiness: Scott Tadych, Ryan Hillegas, and by far the one who’s had the most fingers pointed at him via my readers — Mike Halbach. I’m excited. Are you? Thought Catalog Logo Mark

Read Part 4 Here.

Horror writer for Creepy Catalog, ESFP, Kylo Ren advocate, Slytherin, sassbasket.

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