The Innocent Killer: A True Story of a Wrongful Conviction and its Astonishing Aftermath

Written by Michael Griesbach

Narrated by Johnny Heller

In The Innocent Killer, Michael Griesbach tells the story of one of the nation's most notorious wrongful convictions, that of Steven Avery, a Wisconsin man who spent eighteen years in prison for a crime he did not commit. But two years after he was exonerated of that crime and poised to reap millions in his wrongful conviction lawsuit, Steven Avery was arrested for the exceptionally brutal murder of Teresa Halbach, a freelance photographer who had gone missing several days earlier. The "innocent man" had turned into a cold-blooded killer. Or had he?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Jan 28, 2016
• ISBN: 9781515973805

Michael Griesbach

Michael Griesbach is a longtime Wisconsin prosecutor and active member of the board of advisers at the Wisconsin Innocence Project. He is a frequent presenter and panelist on the topic of wrongful convictions and their causes. He has also presented on other topics concerning the criminal justice system and its need for reform. Mr. Griesbach is the author of the widely acclaimed, The Innocent Killer: A True Story of a Wrongful Conviction and its Astonishing Aftermath, published by the American Bar Association in 2014. He hopes to leave his readers better informed about the criminal justice system and more concerned about those whose lives it deeply

Reviews for The Innocent Killer

[Rich Konopka · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

utter trash. can't believe someone would actually entertain this yoyo

[daftboy1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is the true story of how a dodgy trailer trash scum bag called Steve Avery was arrested for the assault on a young mother he was innocent of this charge served 18 years, was about to get a big pay off then he murdered a young lady he will now die in jail.Quite right too.OK book easy to read lots of Legal work in this story though.

[bookwormteri · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Unlike the Netflix series, this book focuses more on the initial wrongful conviction of Steven Avery. It was fascinating. This book does not portray Avery as kindly as the series does and it is nice to have two differing opinions of the man. Good read.

[dpappas_25 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's rare, but what happened here is a good example of what happens when cops and prosecutors lose sight of their calling, when they're so convinced that what they're doing is right that they don't care about how they get the outcome they're seeking.What happened in real life with Steven Avery seems like something out of a legal thriller. In fact while reading this book I had to keep reminding myself that these events are real and actually took place. As an American who is really interested in the criminal justice system I find myself in shock at what happened and hope that we as a country can learn from what happened.Steven Avery was wrongfully convicted of an attempted sexual assault and spent 18 years in prison (not all of those 18 years were for the crime that he did not commit). After his release he went on to sue for wrongful conviction and just when it looks like he has built a really strong civil suit, Teresa Halbach goes missing and Steven Avery was the last person to see her alive.Michael Griesbach really knows the ins and outs of this case and you can really tell that when reading this book. Griesbach played a role in getting Avery released from prison and also the subsequent trial for the murder of Teresa Halbach and does disclose this in the book.I was surprised and impressed at the opinions that Griesbach expressed towards those police officers and prosecutors that dealt with the wrongful conviction of Avery. Quite frankly as someone that works as a prosecutor you wouldn't think that he would be that critical towards those who worked on the case and did everything possible to convict Avery. Griesbach shows refreshing honest in this book.Griesbach did a great job in laying out both cases for the reader and while keeping it somewhat technical still making it interesting for laymen. I'm not a big reader of true crime (I've read a few) but I still found this to be really interesting and zoomed right through it. I would recommend this book if you enjoy true crime or if you are interesting in reading more about someone who was wrongfully convicted. There are important lessons to be learned from this situation and others like it and I only hope that our criminal justice system can truly learn those lessons and make some changes.Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the galley.