Netflix's Making A Murderer Subject Steven Avery's COVID-19 Diagnosis Gets Update From Lawyer

The coronavirus pandemic has had an unprecedented effect on the world at large, from global self-quarantining to the myriad businesses that have been forced to remain closed for weeks and months. The widespread virus itself has caused suffering for many people of all ages and nationalities, regardless of their situations, and has been a particularly unfortunate issue for this country's prison population. In fact, it was recently revealed that Steven Avery, the accused subject of Netflix's acclaimed docu-series Making a Murderer, was diagnosed with COVID-19, and his lawyer has provided an update on the situation.

It appears as though Steven Avery managed to come into contact with another coronavirus-afflicted prisoner or prison employee, as he recently tested positively for COVID-19. But according to his current lawyer and Making a Murderer Season 2 subject Kathleen Zellner, Avery's situation doesn't appear to be as worrisome as it is for many others out there. Here's how she put it in a post on Twitter:

It is true that Steven Avery has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus —he will fully recover. The bigger threat to him is whether the COA will cure the disease that caused him to be wrongfully convicted.

While Kathleen Zellner didn't go into any deep specifics about Steven Avery's day-to-day progress with his COVID-19 diagnosis, her declarative update did seem to confirm that the alleged killer won't be one of the 107,000+ victims who lost their lives due to complications from the still-non-contained novel coronavirus. It's not clear exactly how much medical attention the headline-making Avery has received, but Zellner's tweet implies that he's on the road to a full recovery, so it's assumed his situation hasn't been as harrowing as it's been for others.

As it turns out, Kathleen Zellner wasn't the only legal representative that spoke out about Steven Avery's diagnosis. His former defense attorney Jerome Buting, who was one of the fan-favorite standouts from Making a Murderer Season 1, also took to Twitter to share well-wishes for his former client's recovery process.

Steven Avery has tested positive for COVID-19, and is confined to his cell. But @SandyGreenman reports he only had short-lived symptoms & is in good spirits. [Praying Hands] for speedy recovery and quick justice. #FreeStevenAvery

That update comes by way of Steven Avery's former romantic partner Sandy Greenman, who has remained a part of Avery's life in recent years during his unsuccessful-for-now appeals process. It sounds like the full recovery that Kathleen Zellner talked about is partially due to Avery not suffering from highly debilitating symptoms over a long range of time. Hopefully by sequestering him to a cell by his lonesome, the powers that be at the prison were able to limit the spread of COVID-19 between the compound's many walls.

Perhaps fans will get to hear more about the particulars of Steven Avery's COVID-19 situation at some point in the future, to get a first-person perspective on how it was to deal with the virus while incarcerated within Waupun Correctional Institution in Wisconsin. If it doesn't happen via social media or news interviews, maybe fans can anticipate seeing the diagnosis get addressed in the next streaming series focusing on the many details of his case, for which he was convicted of Teresa Halbach's murder.

With two seasons of Making a Murderer having already aired in 2015 and 2018, fans get can ready for another Steven Avery-infused set of docu-series episodes. Only this time, they'll come under the title Convicting a Murderer, which will go over many details that werent' used in the Netflix shows' two seasons. That said, its debut on a currently unknown network or streaming service is happening at some point in 2020, assuming that everything is still good to go for all involved.

While waiting for more info on Convicting a Murderer, check out our 2020 Summer TV schedule to see what's hitting the streaming service and more in the near future.

Nick Venable
Assistant Managing Editor

Nick is a Cajun Country native and an Assistant Managing Editor with a focus on TV and features. His humble origin story with CinemaBlend began all the way back in the pre-streaming era, circa 2009, as a freelancing DVD reviewer and TV recapper.  Nick leapfrogged over to the small screen to cover more and more television news and interviews, eventually taking over the section for the current era and covering topics like Yellowstone, The Walking Dead and horror. Born in Louisiana and currently living in Texas — Who Dat Nation over America’s Team all day, all night — Nick spent several years in the hospitality industry, and also worked as a 911 operator. If you ever happened to hear his music or read his comics/short stories, you have his sympathy.