NBC26 has obtained nearly 2,000 pages of emails from the Wisconsin Department of Corrections that show there were concerns for Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey's safety in prison following the national attention from the Making a Murderer documentary on Netflix.
Avery and Dassey were convicted of the 2005 murder of freelance photographer Teresa Halbach.
In the D.O.C. emails, they questioned whether Avery felt safe behind bars and if Dassey should be moved to another prison. Eventually, Dassey was transferred to another facility due to what officials called "operational purposes."
The emails also discuss hundreds of media inquiries, as well as requests for information from people across the world who wanted to send Avery and Dassey letters and money. One email from a jail staffer asked if there was "anything special" they should do with the outside funds. "$50 here and $25 dollars there" were eventually approved to be released to Avery and his nephew.
Another email questions the sincerity of Brad Dassey's attempts to reach out to his brother in prison saying his interest in visiting his brother may be "for secondary gains."
The increased email communication about Avery and Dassey happened in the Department of Corrections from the day the documentary was released, December 18th, until the end of January.
