“StairMaster” Michael Peterson Awaiting New Trial (9/16)

Wrongly Convicted? Both Sides of the Story

Case #15 Michael Peterson

(The Kathleen Peterson murder case)

Fact Based Reporting by

Rob Roman

Kathleen Peterson's marriage to Michael began and ended on stairs in their mansion — Kathleen Peterson’s marriage to Michael began and ended on stairs in their mansion

(1 ) (Introduce the accused and the victim. Give a brief and objective synopsis of the crime)

Michael Peterson was an officer in the Marines, a famous author, and a socialite in Durham, NC. His second marriage was to

Kathleen Atwater, a successful executive from the Nortel Networks Company.

December 9th, 2001, at 2:30 AM, police receive a call that Kathleen Peterson had fallen down the stairs. The story was that she had mixed alcohol and prescription pills. Problem: there was blood at lots of places up the stairs and blood on the soles of her feet. There was a large blood smudge on the inside of the front door. These things don’t happen with a fall down a long flight of stairs.

The Peterson home, pride of the exclusive neighborhood

Also, Michael Peterson had been caught lying about a series of medals he won in the Vietnam War. Two purple hearts and a silver and bronze star that he did not win. Kathleen’s toxicology reports showed no alcohol or drug use of any significance, although Michael kept telling that story more and more. There were financial difficulties in the home, the marriage had drifted, and Michael Peterson was spending lots of time on the internet communicating with gay men.

Blood at the bottom of the back staircase

When you fall down the stairs, you are usually injured randomly, all over the body or in the same places at the same orientation. Kathleen had seven massive blows to the head. Dr. Henry Lee on the defense side, said the blood spatter was consistent with a fall down the stairs. Mike Nifong, for the prosecution, said this death was highly suspicious.

Was Elizabeth Ratliff,alsofound at the bottom of her stairs, murdered by Michael Peterson on Nov. 25th, 1986? — Was Elizabeth Ratliff, also found at the bottom of her stairs, murdered by Michael Peterson on Nov. 25th, 1985? What about her husband, who died mysteriously of possible arsenic poisoning? Did Michael do this and also attempt to poison Liz?

Elizabeth bears a striking resemblance to Kathleen

Later it was discovered that Elizabeth Ratliff, a friend of the Peterson family, had also died at the foot of her stairs in Germany in 1985. Michael Peterson was the last person to see her alive.

(4) (pre-trial, trial, and post-trial facts)

There was a life insurance policy in Kathleen’s name for around $1,800,000. Did Kathleen discover Michael’s fascination with gay porn, gay websites and gay escorts, and confront him with it? Did Michael and Kathleen have a bitter fight after which Michael just snapped? Or is this entirely something else?

Just because is was not a staircase fall, does not automatically make it a murder by Michael Peterson. A new theory was advanced by an attorney and neighbor that it could have been an owl attack. The idea goes like this – Kathleen could have been outside by floodlights.

A fire "blowpoke". a gift from Kathleen's sister, could be the murder weapon — A fire “blowpoke”. a gift from Kathleen’s sister, could be the murder weapon

An owl could have seen light reflected in Kathleen’s glasses and descended on her. The owl could then have gotten entangled in her hair and tried to claw it’s way out. Kathleen then could have gone into the house via the kitchen or main door. She would then go for the stairs, thinking Michael was up there. She collapses at the foot of the stairs, gets up and falls down several times, creating the blood spatter we see at the crime scene.

Injuries to Kathleen’s face and the back of her head certainly appear similar to an owl attack. There are two separate tracts of injuries and indications of the front claws. Further, Kathleen was found with three very small feathers on her body, including one in a clump of her hair found in her hand.

A owl's claws. Is there any possibility to the "Owl attack" theory? — A owl’s claws. Is there any possibility to the “Owl attack” theory?

Will the defense go with the owl attack defense, the staircase fall / accident defense, a new intruder defense, or the anything but Michael defense? We will have to wait and see.

Looking at the evidence produced at trial, it becomes pretty clear, in my opinion, that this was not an accidental fall. Blood spatter is actually going up the stairs. There was blood spatter on a hanging picture high up at the base of the stairs. Normally in a staircase fall, there would be blood pooling around and under the body, not on top of the body as in this case.

Liz's body was exhumed and the coroner declared this to be a homicide — Elizabeth’s body was exhumed and the coroner declared this to also be a homicide

More damning than that, it has been shown that the blood on the wall at the bottom of the staircase was wiped down, then fresh spatter appeared on top of it. The crime scene had been tampered with. Even more damning, Michael’s shorts have blood spatter on them. You do not get blood spatter on your clothes unless you are right there when the blood spatter is happening.

There was also testimony about red neurons found in the brain. This indicated that the victim suffered a prolonged period of blood loss while still alive, a minimum of 45 minutes up to 2 hours. This meant that what happened to Kathleen Peterson happened 45 minutes to two hours before Michael Peterson called the police.

Michael Peterson’s first story that he followed Kathleen inside the house after turning off the pool lights, then changed to being outside at the poolfor 45 minutes, smoking a cigar, after Kathleen went inside.

Dr. Henry Lee, the famous blood evidence investigator, was called in by the defense. Dr. Lee testified that the blood spatter was in fact consistent with a fall down the stairs. But keep in mind that Dr. Lee’s testimony is confined to just the blood spatter, not the blood pools, or how long the body had been there or the orientation of the body or anything else. Dr. Lee thought that the blood spatter could be caused by the victim coughing up blood.

Michael Peterson's shorts — Michael Peterson’s shorts with blood spatter

A giant piece of evidence: there was a bloody footprint found on the back of Kathleen’s leg beneath her. How does this happen in an accident?

Michael claimed he was out by the pool when this all happened, as far away as you could get in that house. Would he be out at the pool at 2:30 am? Would Kathleen be outside or just going upstairs to bed at that time? She had an important meeting on Monday morning. The state of the body and dried blood suggested that this happened much earlier. It also appears that Kathleen suffered for over an hour. Yet, Michael’s emergency phone call sounds very realistic, emotional, and heart-wrenching.

Then,there is the matter of Elizabeth Ratliff, a friend of the family when Michael Peterson was married to his first wife, Patricia Sue Peterson. Elizabeth’s husband died and she and her two children became very close with Micheal and Patricia Sue and their two children. Michael’s first marriage started going sour. In 1985, Elizabeth Ratliff was found dead at the bottom of her staircase. Michael Peterson was the last to see her alive. It’s fairly certain that this was an accident, however, but would this give Michael Peterson the idea to stage this as a staircase fall after the fact?

Kathleen on the circular stairs, the most prominent feature of the home

Another thing is a character issue. Michael was an officer in the Marines during the Vietnam war. After a year in combat, he was transferred to France as part of the military police where he was side-swiped by a car. Years later, Peterson professed to have been wounded by shrapnel in Vietnam and to have won a bronze star, a silver star with clusters, and two purple hearts. Michael then wrote a series of novels about the Vietnam war. The problem was, according to military records, Peterson was never awarded these medals nor wounded in combat.

All of these factors will be in play during a new trial.

(5) What has changed?

The conviction has been reversed on appeal. One of the blood experts for the prosecution was found to have given false and misleading information in testimony. A new trial is pending.

(6) (What could or should happen in the case?)

In my opinion, they have the right man for the right crime. Peterson seems to be in the same class as Scott Peterson, Shawna Forde, and Jodi Arias. All are capable of possibly winning a reversal and a new trial, but can any of them prevail? My answer is “no”. Michael Peterson will be found guilty again, and he will go back to prison. Michael Peterson has refused to make any deal with the state that includes any further prison time.

Michael and Kathleen Peterson, socialites

After 8 years in prison since his conviction on October 10, 2003, Michael was released on bond and confined to house arrest via tracking ankle bracelet on December 16th, 2011. Later, even house arrest was rescinded. He has been awaiting a new trial, which could be coming soon.

(7) Links to best available information from Both Sides of the case:

Prosecution –
.
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/10548122/
.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maureen-ryan/staircase-murder-documentary-last-chance-sundance_b_2805852.html
.
http://www.peterson-staircase.com/
.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Peterson_%28murder_suspect%29
.
http://www.newsweek.com/staircase-revisits-man-convicted-murder-63375

http://vanceholmes.com/court/trial_m_peterson.html

Defense –
.
http://www.wral.com/mike-peterson-won-t-accept-plea-with-prison-time-attorney-says/13973444/
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https://www.facebook.com/Free-Michael-Peterson-199068540164476/timeline/
.
http://www.wral.com/mike-peterson-gets-new-attorney-for-second-murder-trial/14109012/
.
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2011/12/14/9448435-author-michael-peterson-wins-new-trial-in-bizarre-murder-case?lite
.
.
.

(8) (Summary / Is this a wrongful conviction?)

On A Scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the highest and 1 being the lowest, the chances the defendant / convict could or should be released soon. 10.0 – He has been released since 2011.

On a scale of 1 to 10, chances that this was a wrongful conviction 1.0

(That’s right next to nothing )
To avoid a “wrongful conviction”:

Kathleen Peterson in HS Unlimited future — Kathleen Peterson in HS: Unlimited future

Don’t let your marriage go sour
Don’t profess a happy marriage, then spend days and days on the internet looking at gay porn and gay escort websites.
Don’t call the police after your wife had been murdered and shortly thereafter, go on the internet.
Don’t delete lots of files shortly before a family member dies.
Do not tamper with the crime scene and possibly call the police 2 hours after the “accident” happened.
Don’t lie about military medals you didn’t get.