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Michael Peterson is arrested and charged with his wife, Kathleen’s murder. Police and prosecutors don’t believe his story that his wife fell down the stairs.
At first, Kathleen’s daughter, Caitlin, and sister, Candace Zamperini supported and believed Michael. However, as the news spread about the gay porn images discovered on Michael’s computer, Kathleen’s family withdrew their support.
Prosecutors and investigators find out about an incident that happened in Germany in 1985, many years before Michael met Kathleen. While Michael was living in Germany, he befriended a woman by the name of Elizabeth Ratliff. Elizabeth’s husband, George, passed away while serving in the military.
In 1985, a few years after George Ratliff’s death, Elizabeth was found at the bottom of the stairs by the nanny, Barbara Malagnino. The night before Elizabeth’s death, Michael Peterson and his wife had dinner with Elizabeth and her two young daughters. After dinner, Michael stayed to help put the children to bed. It is believed that Michael Peterson was the last known person to see Elizabeth alive.
After Elizabeth’s death, Michael took custody of Elizabeth’s two daughters, Martha and Margaret.
In April 2003, authorities performed a second autopsy on Elizabeth. Forensic pathologist, Deborah Radisch, who also performed the autopsy on Kathleen Peterson, was the one in charge of the second autopsy. Deborah Radisch concluded that Elizabeth died from a “homicidal blow.”
Later in 2003, the trial against Michael Peterson for the death of Kathleen got underway. The prosecution in the case didn’t exactly accuse Michael of Elizabet Ratliff’s death in Germany, but they certainly used the evidence to draw parallels in the two accidents.
The prosecutor in the case was James Hardin Jr., the same district attorney Michael criticized during his articles at the Durham Herald Sun.
During the trial, which would become one of the longest criminal trials in North Carolina history, all of the forensic evidence was presented to the jury. Prosecutors argued that the amount of blood found in the Peterson residence was inconsistent with an accident or fall down the stairs. They spoke to the blood that was found on the bottom of Kathleen’s feet. How could she have gotten blood on the bottom of her feet, if she fell?
The state argued that when first responders arrived at the Peterson’s house, the blood didn’t appear to be fresh. Like, the blood didn’t appear to have just gotten there right before Michael called 9-1-1 that morning. Forensics that were hired by the prosecution estimated that the blood had been there, possibly for a couple hours before the first responders arrived.
During the trial, evidence was presented that first responders found water marks on the front of Michael’s shorts that morning. It appeared to them that maybe he tried to clean the shorts sometime before calling 9-1-1. The forensic lab that the shorts were sent to, found 8 drops of blood on the inside part of the shorts. According to the prosecution, the blood splatter on the inside of the shorts, near the crotch area, suggest that Michael stood over his wife, Kathleen, while he beat her, causing the blood splatter to come up between the shorts.
The prosecution told the jury that Kathleen’s murder was likely caused by a blow poke. The blow poke was a gift to the Petersons from Kathleen’s sister, but was missing from the house at the time of the initial investigation and search.
During the trial, Michael’s defense team presents the “missing” blow poke. Michael’s attorney, David Rudolph, claims the blow poke couldn’t possibly be the murder weapon because when it was found, it was covered in cobwebs and dust.
Michael’s defense teams call their own set of forensic experts to testify, including Henry Lee. Henry Lee is a world-renowned expert in the field of blood splatter. Mr. Lee testifies that the blood splatter on the staircase is consistent with a fall down the stairs.
His analysis of the crime scene suggested that most of the blood splatter on the staircase was most likely couched up by Kathleen rather than from the wounds themselves.
The version of events, offered by Henry Lee and Michael Peterson’s defense team was that ALL the forensic evidence pointed to a fall. Lee testified that based on the forensic evidence, it’s likely that while Kathleen was 5 steps up on the staircase, she fell backwards, hitting her head on a sharp edge of a crown molding on the wall. She then tried to stand back up, therefore getting blood on the bottom of her feet, but then she slipped AGAIN, hitting the crown mold on her way down the second time. And that is when Kathleen bled to death, and where Michael discovered her.
The prosecution used the same forensic evidence to paint a very different version of events. Prosecutor James Hardin told the jury that Michael used the blow poke to attack Kathleen, hitting her 7 times in the head, which were consistent with the autopsy findings.
The prosecution told the jury that the motive in the case was simple. Money. The jury learned all about Michael and Kathleen’s debt, and they zeroed in on the $1.4 million dollar life insurance policy as a motive to murder his wife. They used the gay porn images found on the computer as additional motive. According to the DA James Hardin, Michael Peterson wasn’t some loving father and husband. He was a cold-blooded killer who spent his days chatting and meeting with male escorts online.
During the trial, 65 witnesses testified and more than 800 pieces of evidence were presented to the jury. The trial lasted for just about 3 months and concluded in October 2003. The jury was made up of 5 men and 7 women and after deliberating for 15 hours over the course of 5 days, the jury finally reached a verdict in the case.
On December 3, 2003, after becoming one of the largest criminal trials in Durham history, Michael Peterson was found guilty of the murder of his wife, Kathleen.
In a subsequent appeal of the case, Michael won a second trial. The decision to extend a second trial was largely due to fault forensic evidence presented by one of the state’s expert witnesses, Duane Deaver.
But before Michael could be retried for Kathleen’s murder, he entered an Alford plea. Michael was sentenced to 86 months in jail, with credit for time served.
Michael Peterson is now a free man.
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