Kiss the Girls: Was the Scene Brendan Dassey Described in the Book?

Making a Murderer, season 2 is now available to binge watch on Netflix and fans of the show are finally able to continue the documentary on Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey’s case following the alleged rape and murder of 25-year-old photographer, Teresa Halbach.

The first episode revolves around Brendan Dassey’s murder trial, and how the jury convicted him back in 2007. Although many clips of the trail were shown during episodes of the first season, one recycled clip still resonates eerily with viewers of the footage.

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Brendan Dassey Was Accused of Being Party to Murder, Sexual Assault & Mutilating a Corpse Based on His Original Videotaped Confession

For those who need a refresher, Dassey’s role in the series is somewhat lesser to that of his uncle, but he was still convicted of being a party to first-degree intentional homicide, second-degree sexual assault, and mutilating a corpse. Dassey gave a detailed video confession of the crime in March 2006, but later recanted this confession while testifying during his own trial. He was inevitably charged with each of the crimes he was accused of, and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in the year 2048.

During Dassey’s trial, he admits to lying about the videotaped confession he gave where he admitted that he and Avery raped, stabbed, and later burned the body of Teresa Halbach. The prosecution asks him simply how he could envision such a scene of horror in so much detail, to which Dassey replied “I read it in a book,” although he couldn’t remember the author’s name. The footage of this part of Dassey’s trial was shown during the ninth episode of Netflix’s Making a Murderer, titled “Lack of Humility,” and then again during the first episode of season two.

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Dassey Claimed He Got The Description of Halbach’s Murder From The Book “Kiss The Girls” by James Patterson

The novel Dassey referenced is called “Kiss the Girls,” and was written by crime author James Patterson and later turned into a film. Patterson’s novel follows police detective Alex Cross who investigates two serial killers, Cassanova and The Gentleman Caller, working together on opposite sides of the U.S. to rape and murder women. Cassanova kidnaps the victims first and holds them in his underground “harem,” before he rapes and murders them.

The reference has been the subject of many fan theories, especially by those who support Brendan Dassey and believe he is innocent. Several Reddit threads are dedicated to proving just how easily it could be for anybody to describe a horrific scene like the one Dassey described in his confession, as long as anybody who described it had seen or read literally any horror/crime book or movie.

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Those Who Believe Dassey Claim it is Completely Plausible That He Got The Scene From a Book or Movie

Many don’t believe that, with Dassey’s IQ and mental capacity, he would have read an entire true crime novel, and consider it more believable that he saw the scene in the movie, especially considering the scene he described is so similar to the 1997 movie scene.

“I was so glad when Brendan answered this, too. When Kratz asked this, I was floored. Gee, I don’t know, probably every book in the Thriller/Mystery section of any library or bookstore? You see stuff worse than that on primetime tv, give me a friggin’ break,” one user wrote.

Another agreed, stating: “I laughed so hard at that moment because Brendan totally owned that asshole prosecutor. That jerk, asking Brendan “what book could all of that possibly be in?” And I’m like, “Uhhhhhhhhhhh how about every book that depicts violent crime against women?”

The question that many have asked however, is whether Dassey really got it out of the book, if he actually got the description of violence from the film, or if he described what actually happened the night Halbach disappeared.

According to this discussion thread on reddit, the detail about cutting the female victim’s hair is in the movie version of Kiss the Girls, but not the book. Dassey claimed that he cut Halbach’s hair, but Reddit user andromache97 user points out the killer doesn’t cut his victims’ hair in the book — but it does occur in the 1997 movie based on Patterson’s story.

However, does the scene he describe exactly match scenes in the book or movie? According to Vulture, no, it does not. “There is, however, no one scene that depicts a scene such as the one Dassey describes under interrogation or memorably draws for investigator Michael O’Kelly, with a woman shackled naked and spread-eagled to a bed,” Vulture reports.

What are your thoughts on Dassey’s claim? Is it plausible that he made the scene up after reading “Kiss the Girls?” Or do you think he was trying to change his story to avoid conviction? Let us know in the comments below.

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