Former officer files defamation lawsuit against Netflix and ‘Making a Murderer’ filmmakers

A former officer who investigated the murder of slain Wisconsin woman Teresa Halbach filed a lawsuit against Netflix and “Making a Murderer” filmmakers, Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos, on Monday, claiming aspects of the popular docu-series are false and defamatory.

According to court documents obtained by WBAY Action 2 News, Andrew Colborn, who retired from Manitowoc County police force in March, is suing for defamation, claiming he was defamed and misrepresented throughout numerous parts of the series.

“Despite overwhelming evidence proving Avery and Dassey’s guilt and the utter absence of evidence supporting defendant’s accusations of police misconduct, defendants falsely led viewers to the inescapable conclusion that plaintiff and others planted evidence to frame Avery for Halbach’s murder,” the court papers read.

“Defendants omitted, distorted, and falsified material and significant facts in an effort to portray plaintiff as a corrupt police officer who planted evidence to frame an innocent man. Defendants did so with actual malice and in order to make the film more profitable and more successful in the eyes of their peers, sacrificing and defaming the plaintiff’s character and reputation in the process.”

Andrew Colborn lawsuit &quo… by on Scribd

The lawsuit also alleged that Colborn was never the spokesperson for the Manitowoc County police, nor did ever ask to be the public spokesperson.

However, since he helped convict Steven Avery, the centerpiece of the docu-series, for the 2005 killing of Halbach, the filmmakers thrust Colborn into the spotlight, while they “strategically spliced and omitted portions of plaintiff’s trial testimony.”


[Feature Photo: Andrew Colborn, AP Photo/Kirk Wagner, Pool]