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If this week wasn't bad enough – what with the declining temperatures, the dark mornings and having run out of Netflix series to binge-watch – it's about to get a lot worse.

Last week, the protagonist of the hit Netflix documentary Making A Murderer, Steven Avery, announced his engagement to legal secretary Lynn Hartman after eight months of 'dating'.

Making a Murderer's Steven Averypinterest
Netflix
Making a Murderer\'s Steven Avery

Yes, that's right – a man who has a life sentence for murder without parole, has been engaged three times and therefore has had more serious relationships behind bars than we've had in the past 10 years of dating.

Just give us a moment while we question everything in life.

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According to reports, the 53-year-old convict proposed to the former legal assistant and bankruptcy paralegal from Las Vegas following months of daily phone calls and letters.

We can barely hold down a chat on Bumble for more than 24-hours, let alone eight months…

In a post that has since been deleted from the Steven Avery Project Facebook page, Lynn admitted the pair met for the first time when she visited him at Waupun Correctional Institute, in Wisconsin – where Avery has been locked up for the last 11 years – and Steven proposed.

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Hartman wrote: 'I am very happy to announce that Steven Avery asked me to marry him today, and I accepted. It has been a difficult road getting to this point in our lives but we are very happy.

'Despite all obstacles, and Steven's wrongful conviction and incarceration, we plan to be married shortly after he is released,' she said.

via GIPHY

Avery – who has proclaimed his innocence since he was sentenced to life for killing 25-year-old photographer Teresa Halbachin in 2005 – now has a higher chance of being released from prison after wrongful convictions lawyer in Kathleen Zellner took up his case earlier this year.

Following his engagement, Avery told the Daily Mail: 'She's going to be my future wife, we'll be laughing forever.

'I'm happy, she treats me decent, she loves me, she's kind of spoiling me right now. I just want to be happy and enjoy my life, I think I did enough time,' he said.

Never did we think we'd want dating advice from Steven Avery…

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Katie O'Malley
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Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.