Michael Peterson murdered wife Kathleen and staged accident

Only a few cases featured on Forensic Files become as popular as the Michael Peterson case. The twists and surprises over the years make for a compelling story, and so it's become so – both as a documentary and a drama series. The Staircase is a 13-episode Netflix documentary from 2018 that covers the case, appeals, retrial, and finally the plea. HBO Max released its dramatization of the story in an eight-part series starring Colin Firth in 2022 under the same title.

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

I'd known of this case solely from Forensic Files, the episode airing initially in 2006. But Dominick Dunne's Power Privilege & Justice had covered this case two years earlier. What I didn't know until 2022 was all of the events that'd transpired after Peterson's imprisonment. Duane Deaver's fall from grace, Michael Peterson's release on bail pending a retrial, and his ultimate Alford plea were made aware to me from the 2017 Dateline NBC episode I hadn't seen before. It should go without saying, but I was shocked by the turn of events.

The interviews with Peterson in 2017 were just as unsettling as the footage in our episode, probably filmed in 2002. Michael Peterson comes across as aloof and disingenuous. To me, it seems that he's never speaking from his soul, but only sharing what he wants people to know/hear. His movements, speech, and affectations all seem performed. In 2019, Dr. Phil's YouTube channel shared a 4-minute clip about Michael Peterson's "lie behavior". It gives me a mixture of feelings – check it out and judge for yourself.

In our episode, I was initially taken aback by the 911 operator. After Michael Peterson indicates that his wife has fallen down the stairs, the operator asks, "How many stairs?" At first, this seemed like an odd and unnecessary non sequitur. Many of the commenters on the episode's YouTube video shared the same feeling. But I've come to rationalize the operator's question in context of assessing the victim's potential injuries. It's possible Kathleen had merely fallen a few steps, perhaps just two or three stairs. This could indicate that her injuries might not be as severe compared to falling down an entire staircase.

Duane Deaver and the Michael Peterson case

Peterson's guilt in the murder of his wife Kathleen was not solely based on the testimony of the vilified "blood stain analyst" Duane Deaver. Despite this, the controversial expert's mishandling of potentially hundreds of cases warranted a retrial for Michael Peterson in 2011. The original trial's judge, Orlando Hudson agreed that Deaver's testimony had been "misleading" and "false" back in 2003.

It's true that Duane Deaver overstated his qualifications during the 2003 trial. And the 2017 Dateline NBC episode "Down the Back Staircase" disparaged the various technicians' process. But I regarded this show's narrative about how specialists recreate blood spatter to mimic evidence lacked the appropriate context. It attempted to convey the experts trying every tactic and position to make the evidence fit. A degree of this does occur, but their goal is the opposite: Analysts are recreating a reasonable event and circumstances to produce the known outcome. And the blood spatter was hardly the smoking gun…

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

Substantial blood evidence in Michael Peterson case

Take Duane Deaver out of the equation, and let an average homicide investigator consider the evidence at hand:

• The blood found at the crime scene was partially coagulated. This pokes giant holes in Michael Peterson's account of finding his wife after coming inside and immediately notifying police.
• An attempt to clean up blood was evident. Again, if Michael immediately called paramedics, when and why would he start cleaning up?
• There was additional blood spatter on top of cleaned areas. It's hard to refute two separate attacks and bloodshed events when spatter occurs on top of a washed surface.
• Two large blood drops were found outside the back door. Michael's tale to police didn't include going out onto the back patio after interacting with Katheen's blood.
• Michael's shoe print was on Kathleen's pants. It's plausible that Michael would have Kathleen's blood on his shoes, but suspicious that he'd actually step on his wife's leg.

This doesn't mention the blood stain on the side door and its frame, nor blood on Kathleen's bare feet. Her seemingly clean shoes were near the crime scene, and Michael offered that she may've tripped on her "flimsy sandals". The medical examiner noted six lacerations that seemed to be made with a thin, smooth, rounded object. It'd be impossible to do that type of localized damage to one's head from a fall down the stairs. But the main sign that Kathleen had been savagely beaten to me was the sheer volume of blood at the scene. There was clear evidence of a blood-spray event. Someone's head doesn't just burst in a way that could cause that volume/disbursement of blood. Unreal.

Theories and events after Michael Peterson’s incarceration

During the years of Michael Peterson's incarceration, he had others convinced he hadn't been involved in Kathleen's death. Among his appeals, there was even a theory that an owl had flow into their home, attacked Kathleen causing her to fall, and then flown off into the night. There are actual people who believe and extend this absurd theory, and they were included in extra footage from the Netflix series The Staircase. Part of their claim were the pattern of injuries on Kathleen's head, and actually our episode's theory of the murder weapon being a "blowpipe" has been debunked.

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

Investigators knew from testimony and pictures of the inside of the Petersons' home that they owned a custom fireplace poker. It had been a gift from Kathleen's sister, but over two extensive searches of the Petersons' house, it was never located. But as the trial evolved, the defense produced the missing item – it'd apparently been in the garage and simply overlooked. A forensic examination of the "blow poke" showed it'd been idle for too long to be considered a weapon in the attack. But this just means Michael used another weapon of opportunity.

But what was the motive to beat Kathleen Peterson to death? Michael Peterson was the beneficiary of Liz Ratliff's substantial estate when she had her own mysterious "fall-down-the-stairs" accident in 1985. Recall that an exhumation of her body led to the discovery of lacerations on her head, similar to Kathleen's. It's guessed that Michael was embarrassed/infuriated/ashamed/pick-your-emotion when Kathleen discovered his bi-sexual activities. My additional research included a narrative that Kathleen already knew about and was accepting of Michael's sexual preferences, but if that was the case, why would he hide it?

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

While we're asking questions, I have more (as usual): Why were Michael's two grown sons (Clayton and Todd) both asking for money at the time of Kathleen's death? The Petersons were in significant debt, and Michael hadn't had income in years. Kathleen's $2m (later research showed it was $1.5m) life insurance was certainly an additional motive for her demise. And finally, why was Todd already at his folks' house when the paramedics arrived? Michael stated he'd called his son after notifying authorities – did Todd live so close that he could arrive before EMTs? Or is it more likely he was already there? Did police examine phone records to confirm Michael's description of events?

Todd Peterson and his mother's fatal heart attack

In December 2021, Todd Peterson shared an 11-minute diatribe about Michael Peterson's criminal activities. Just four months after his mother Patricia died from a heart attack, Todd revealed his own battle with addiction, and his feelings about his father's lifelong misconduct. This man has led a troubled life – I can't imagine his anguish.

Where is Michael Peterson now in 2024?

After entering an Alford plea to end the ordeal in 2017, Michael Peterson has not lived an entirely quiet life. He'd been released on bail in 2011, and his plea bargain saw him admit the prosecution had enough supporting evidence to find him guilty. But the new plea to manslaughter gave Peterson his freedom with merely the time he'd already served. Michael Peterson doesn't regard this as an admission of his guilt, telling Dr. Phil in 2019, "I can live with the fact that I didn't kill Kathleen, I know this whether you believe that over there, it doesn't really affect my life."

During the making of the documentary series The Staircase (Netflix, 2018), Michael Peterson formed a relationship with series editor Sophie Brunet. Peterson and Brunet split in 2017, and Michael Peterson went on to reconnect with his first wife (and mother of his two sons) Patricia. The two lived as "companions" from 2019 until 2021 when Patricia suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 78. Michael continues to live in an apartment in Durham, NC. Peterson maintains his innocence in Kathleen's death and has written memoirs, donating the proceeds to charity.