Lynn Hartman, 53, says she found the man of her dreams after her divorce. He just happens to be behind bars after being convicted of murder in a case that gripped the nation when it was featured on the Netflix series “Making A Murderer.”
Hartman, who’s now engaged to Steven Avery after meeting him in person behind bars three times, recalls the first time they met. “He looks like the sweetest little teddy bear I’ve ever seen in my life,” she says in an exclusive interview with Dr. Phil airing on Tuesday. “It was just like magic. He grabbed my hands, and we sat at the table and we cried. I was very attracted to him because I could tell how much he loved me. He was the whole package.”
After watching “Making A Murderer,” Hartman, a paralegal, says that she concluded that Avery was wrongfully convicted in the 2005 murder of 25-year-old Wisconsin photographer Teresa Halbach.
“I felt that the state of Wisconsin saw Steven Avery as a disposable person, and at that time I was in the middle of a divorce and I identified with that because I kind of felt disposable myself,” says Hartman. She says she wrote Avery a letter, he responded, and then the two continued their letter writing for eight months before meeting in person. “Within the first month, he was telling me that he knew he wanted me to be his wife,” says Hartman. “I was excited. He had singled me out. It made me feel special. He told me I was beautiful.”
In the video above, Hartman opens up about her nickname for Avery, their engagement, and what they have planned for their future. Dr. Phil’s exclusive interview with Hartman airs on Tuesday 10/4, Avery calls Hartman, while she’s on Dr. Phil’s stage, from prison, where he has lived for the past 11 years. Check here to see where you can watch.