250 sign letter supporting Dassey's petition for clemency.

Byline: Michaela Paukner, mpaukner@wislawjournal.com

Nearly 250 people sent an open letter to Gov. Tony Evers in support of Brendan Dassey's petition for executive clemency. The letter was submitted to the governor's office Thursday and includes signatures from retired U.S. government officials, legal experts and exonerees.

Dassey was 16 years old when he confessed to helping his uncle Steven Avery rape and murder the photographer Teresa Halbachin 2005. Their story was documented in the 2015 Netflix series, "Making a Murderer."

Dassey'sattorneysasked Evers for a pardon or commutation of his life sentence on Oct. 2. The open letter supporting the request statedthose who signed it felt"called upon by our conscience to sign this letter." It goes on to say, "Many of us believe that the process that led to the conviction of this sixteen-year-old special education student was indefensibly flawed, characterized by egregious defense attorney misconduct. And many of us believe that...