To some, the case of Kathleen Peterson would be referred to as a “bizarre bird strike”, while others would call it a tragic accident. But after all, was it actually a brutal murder? The mysterious fate of the successful businesswoman Kathleen Peterson whipped up a storm of bitter controversy and beliefs that, to this day, question the criminal justice system.
To the outside world, the Peterson’s had everything; a beautiful home, a loving marriage, and successful careers that earned the Peterson’s a comfortable, six-figure income. However, this perfect image was shattered when Kathleen was found dead at the bottom of the stairs in their NC home just weeks before Christmas, on December 9, 2001.
For some history on the couple, Kathleen and Michael’s meetings were brought together by their children, Kathleen’s teenage daughter, and Michael’s (her husband) two sons as well as his two adopted daughters. In 1992, this mesmerizing family moved into a 14 room house on Cedar Street in Durham, North Carolina. Five years later the couple made their marriage official and were perceived as the most “ideal” parents to their children.
In the early hours of December 9, a frantic 911 call was made by Michael from inside the residence stating that Kathleen had had an accident. He also stated that at the time of the call, she was still breathing and urged them to come quickly. The medics arrived at the scene as quickly as they could. When they got there, the EMT’s were greeted with Kathleen’s body drenched in blood, and a panic-stricken Michael. He was also barefoot, wearing only shorts and a t-shirt. He claimed to be occupied in the pool for 3 hours, despite the extremely low temperatures, with it only being in the 50’s at the time of the murder.
After a quick examination of Kathleen’s body, it was clear that Michael’s original claim of falling down the stairs was a lie. There were cuts and wounds scattered throughout her body, as well as a bloody footprint on the back of her sweatshirt. With all of this evidence, the medics declared that this was not an accident, but a case of assault. All signs immediately pointed to her husband, with the most obvious one being the fact that he had a drop of her blood on his shorts. However, though the evidence lined up against him, Michael denied everything and insisted that he was innocent of his wife’s death.He stated that he had no intention to harm his wife.
However, he did tell the police his theory on how she fell down the stairs. Supposedly, that night, the couple were drinking champagne in the pool and discussing future events. He could only surmise that the combination of her headache medication along with alcohol could have caused her to tumble down the wooden staircase. At that time he had been relaxing by the pool, too far away to hear any screams from the house. “I’ve whispered her name more than 1,000 times and I can’t stop crying. I would have never done anything to hurt her,” Michael told reporters outside of Durham County Jail.
Investigators found too much evidence against Michael as the culprit – including another dead body.
Sixteen years before Kathleen was found dead, a 43 year old woman named Elizabeth Ratliff died in a similar fashion. She was an American woman who had been a close friend of Peterson’s while he lived in Germany with his kids and first wife. On November 25th, 1985, Ratliff died after falling down a flight of stairs. The authorities had accepted the death as an accident and Elizabeth’s funeral was arranged. This led to Michael adopting her 2 daughters.
When the prosecution heard of this case which was also connected to Michael, they claimed that the similarities were too many to be a coincidence. “Here I have two cases. Two women that appeared to die the same way. Two women that are associated with Michael Peterson. Lighting doesn’t strike the same place twice,” detective Art Holland told a television reporter.
The prosectures believed that the death of Elizabeth Ratliff gave Michael an idea to murder his own wife. The prosecutors went back to Elizabeth’s case and found that there were also signs that her death was not an accident, but also an assault.
Looking into the case, the investigators found a surplus of files that had been deleted before and after Kathleen’s death from Michael’s device. This gave police a motive – infidelity. Authorities believed that Michael was caught cheating by Kathleen. Moreover, this could give him a possible motive to murder his wife. Authorities also found that Kathleen’s insurance was around $1.4 million, which Michael would pocket if the case was called an accident.
On October 10th, 2003, jurors sided with the prosecution. Michael was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Kathleen’s daughter and her biological father inherited the $1.4 million life insurance policy, which helped the two out tremendously during this time. Two days later Michael’s legal team started arguing that the case verdict was wrong and Michael took the Alford plea.
“The Staircase” was a documentary produced about the Kathleen Peterson story. The film unwittingly attracted people to become interested in the case, especially Larry Pollard. Pollard was a friend of Peterson’s that asked the prosecutors to reopen the case because the information he found led to another culprit – an owl.
Pollard looked into the autopsy photos, and said that the gashes on Kathleen’s body look like marks from an owl’s talons. Pollar’s consulted with experts which agreed that the scars looked relevant to an owl’s scratches then abuse from a human. The executive director, Kate Davis, backed up the theory by stating that the attack’s usually take place at night and Peterson’s phone call was made at 2:40 a.m. Investigators found clumps of Kathleen’s hair along with splinters, needles, and a small feather. Kathleen could have been attacked by an owl and staggered into the house where she collapsed at the foot of the stairs. However, the theory was dismissed even though owl attacks aren’t as outlandish as they might seem.
After his sentence, Michael settled a wrongful-death suit for $25 million. Michael still states that he is completely innocent, and that he had no involvement in his wife’s death. “The only thing I know absolutely, positively, is that I had nothing to do with my wife’s death.”
