Covering two Wisconsin trials the 2015 Netflix series “Making a Murderer” examined had such a profound impact on Niles native Jessica Olstad that she left broadcast journalism.

As she told the Cass County Bar Association at Southwestern Michigan College June 10, “Shortly after, I decided to call it a day. My contract was up at Fox 11. Even though I loved my boss, my job and the people I worked with, it was too much. I was tired of covering accidents, seeing crime scene photos. I didn’t want to interview victims’ families anymore. The constant race to be first started to become more important than being accurate. I found a new career path. Ironically, I coach and train business leaders on how to talk to the media.”

“I saw the worst of humanity, but had a lot of fun, too,” she said of covering the “Marigold” movie premiere and presidential speeches, interviewing Bernie Sanders, seeing Air Force One and driving the Goodyear blimp.

“Covering these cases isn’t easy for anyone. Every day I watched both families walk into the courtroom, cameras pointed in their faces. I can’t imagine how that must have felt,” Olstad said. “I only know how I felt. I had a 40-minute drive to and from the courthouse. More often than not, I’d go home in tears.”

“I remember the verdict like it was yesterday,” she said. “Waiting, I honestly did not know which way it was going. The only thing I really remember was Steven Avery shaking his head. I always felt sorry for Dolores and Allan. They didn’t do anything. I’m sure it wasn’t easy watching their son be tried. They never took off their jackets. They were always ready to bolt the second testimony was over.”

The 1995 Brandywine High School graduate was a reporter for WLUK-TV in Green Bay when Avery stood trial in Calumet County for murdering photographer Teresa Halbach, who disappeared Halloween 2005 after taking pictures at Avery’s salvage yard.

A second trial convicted Avery’s nephew, Brendan Dassey, as an accessory to murder.

In 1985, Avery, despite an alibi, had been arrested and convicted of sexually assaulting Penny Beerntsen.

After serving 18 years in prison, Avery was exonerated with aid from the Innocence Project, which matched DNA to another man.

After Avery’s 2003 release, he filed a $36 million civil lawsuit against the county and officials associated with his arrest and conviction.

“He was a shining example in Wisconsin for injustice,” Olstad said.

Two years later, he was re-arrested and charged with killing Halbach.

Bloodstains inside Halbach’s vehicle matched Avery’s DNA.

He maintained he was framed to discredit his civil case.

Olstad, who declined to give an opinion on Avery’s guilt or innocence, said, “So many times victims are forgotten or pushed aside. That’s my biggest complaint about ‘Making a Murderer.’ Teresa is barely mentioned, barely seen, barely talked about. That young woman was tortured, stabbed, raped, shot and burned. There was nothing left but fragments of her teeth. No appeal or documentary can bring Teresa back.”

Olstad had been assigned to research the Avery and Halbach families.

“We talked to anybody who would talk to us,” she said. “We tried desperately to talk to Steven’s parents. They hated us, quite frankly. I can’t say we blamed them.”

Her report ran 8 ½ minutes — “unheard of in local television” — with a “pretty memorable sound bite” of Sheriff Kenneth Petersen discussing how it would be easier to kill Avery than to frame him.

“Ten years ago we didn’t have Facebook and Twitter like now,” Olstad said. “People tuned in to TV every night, read their newspaper every morning and that was it. Wisconsin allows cameras in courtrooms so that wasn’t an issue, but the sheer volume of cameras was. It was agreed one pool camera would face the lawyers and Avery. Another faced the witness stand.”

The sheriff made space in the courthouse basement for a makeshift newsroom.

“The utility company had to install an additional power source outside to keep up with demand from all the satellite trucks,” Olstad said. “We had a podium for news conferences. Every day, after testimony wrapped, attorneys from both sides came down and answered questions. They were very gracious on both sides.”

She still thinks about five women whose violent ends her career chronicled.

“I will never forget any of them,” Olstad said. “This isn’t ‘bingeworthy entertainment.’”

Southwestern Michigan College is a public, residential and commuter, community college, founded in 1964. The college averages in the top 10 percent nationally for student academic success based upon the National Community College Benchmark Project. Southwestern Michigan College strives to be the college of first choice, to provide the programs and services to meet the needs of students, and to serve our community. The college is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and is a member of the American Association of Community Colleges.