Following the Netflix premier of Making a Murderer in December, there have been countless theories as to who could have killed Teresa Halbach. While many believe that Steven Avery is responsible for the crime, there are others who are convinced that someone else is to blame. One of the most interesting theories to arise is the one proposed by retired Montana police detective John Cameron.
Cameron, who has worked with the FBI to successfully capture serial killers, believes that serial killer Edward Wayne Edwards may have murdered Halbach and set Steven Avery up. The retired cold case detective details the serial killer’s life and crimes in his book, It’s Me, Edward Wayne Edwards: The Serial Killer You Never Heard Of.”
Cameron was unaware of Avery’s case until someone recommended that he watch the popular Netflix docu-series. In an interview with Boston radio station WAAF he said, “Basically what happened in Making a Murderer with Steven Avery is exactly the type of set ups that Ed Edwards had done his whole life…I was basically watching my book play out on Netflix.”
So who is Edward Wayne Edwards?
His confession to the media supports the idea that Edwards sought to be famous for what he did. Before being caught for his crimes, Edwards appeared on television shows like To Tell the Truth, created a religious album, worked as a public speaker, and he penned his own autobiography called The Metamorphosis of a Criminal: The True Life Story of Ed Edwards.
Cameron described Edwards to WAAF, “He was just a complete evil man that was destroyed very young in a Catholic orphanage, raped and abused, and came out and decided to basically taunt people with his intelligence, set people up, and watch the system execute them.”
The retired police detective believes that Edwards is connected to several high-profile cases including the Zodiak Killer, JonBenet Ramsey, and the Laci Petersen murder.
Edwards allegedly looked for a person of notoriety to set up for murder, which is one of Cameron’s main reasons for connecting him to the Steven Avery Case. He stated to WAAF, “He targeted people who were pretty popular and religious and killed them, or someone close to them, and set someone up. And that’s what happened in the Steve Avery case.”
Avery was in the limelight around the time that Halbach was murdered due to his wrongful conviction for which he spent 18 years in prison. Avery was meeting with politicians regularly to pass bills, and he was featured on the news frequently. Edwards, who was supposedly in Wisconsin during this time, recognized Avery’s popularity and decided he was going to frame him. These ‘set ups’ were called crimes of recognition by Edwards, who wanted to take the spotlight away from people and place it back on himself through killing.
The serial killer would plant blood, hair, and other types of DNA so that someone else would be convicted for a crime that he committed. Then, Edwards would follow the case closely to watch his work play out.
People believe that Edwards can be seen in the background of Making a Murderer while prosecutor Ken Kratz is talking to his co-worker. Cameron believes the man seen in the documentary matches Edwards’s physical appearance, and that the man is flipping off the camera.
Although the five cases Edwards confessed to did not take place on Halloween, Cameron insists that the killer participated in ritualistic killings on holidays such as Halloween and Christmas. Halbach was murdered on Halloween, which would help to support Cameron’s theory. Edwards had also killed in Wisconsin before: in 1980 he kidnapped, tortured and stabbed Timothy Hack and Kelly Drew.
While Cameron’s theory is very compelling and hard to ignore, it is difficult to prove because Edwards died April 7, 2011. There is no substantial evidence actually proving that Edwards murdered Halbach, and it seems as though Cameron is connecting the killer to many unsolved cases without hard evidence.
What do you think of the Edward Wayne Edwards theory? Did he frame Steven Avery for the murder of Teresa Halbach?
