Kathleen and Michael Peterson
Michael and Kathleen Peterson lived in Durham, North Carolina.
He was a best selling novelist and a war veteran.
She was a prominent socialite.
They lived in a mansion in Forest Hills.
December 9, 2001, Kathleen fell down the stairs.
Michael called 911.
When the emts arrived, Michael was standing over his wife's body.
He told the emts that they were drinking and watching a movie before bed.
He went out to the pool to turn off the lights, while Kathleen headed up to the bedroom.
When he came back in the house, he found her lying on the bottom of the back staircase.
There was a tremendous amount of blood everywhere on and around her.
There as also some blood on the couch and the front door.
Officers at the scene said that he was acting confused.
They said his story didn't make sense.
Later investigators found out that 11 p.m.Kathleen retrieved an email and called a co worker.
The co worker said she didn't sound dunk or upset.
Her blood tests came back and they were normal.
The medical examiner said that her wounds were not because of a fall down the stairs.
She had multiple skull lacerations.
Her time of death was 3 hours before he made the call to 911.
Where and what was the weapon?
Blood splatter was on the clothes he was wearing.
Michael's hard drive was analyzed.
He had an email exchange with a gay escort.
He also went to a bunch of gay porn websites.
It turned out that the Petersons where in tremendous debt.
There was a 1.8 million dollar life insurance policy on Kathleen.
A lady named Margaret Malayer called the authorities.
She told them that her sister, Elizabeth Ratliff that died in Germany in 1985.
She was found at the bottom of her stairs.
Michael Peterson was the last to see her alive.
She died of a brain hemorrhage.
The death was accidental.
There was blood everywhere.
He said she must have fallen down the stairs.
He adopted her two daughters.
April 2003, her body was exhumed.
She multiple skull lacerations.
She was murdered.
Michael Peterson's first degree murder trial began on July 1, 2003.
The defense said that no one had ever seen them fight.
The prosecution said that with Michael, love was no match for money.
Michael's oldest son Clayton, then 27, was barely out of prison.
In 1997 he was sentenced to four years in Federal prison for planting a pipe bomb in Duke University.
Investigators found six more in the Peterson's home and materials to make a further 13.
Two of the bombs were rigged to arrows that could be fired from a crossbow.
The Federal prosecutor described Clayton as 'dangerous and deadly.'
The prosecution said the weapon as a fireplace blow poke.The defense found a blow poke in Michael's garage, covered in spiderwebs.
He was found guilty of first degree murder without parole.
In Germany, they reopened Elizabeth's case.
Developments in the Case
His conviction was over turned in 2011.
The Netflix documentary "The Staircase". helped with the over turn.
He is now living in a small apartment and claiming his innocence.
No comments:
Post a Comment