3 days ago, by Kelsie Gibson Now, if you wish to learn more about this nearly four-decade-old matter, including the undeniable suspicions surrounding the same, dont worry; weve got all the essential details for you. Following Kathleen's death, which didn't look much like the accident Michael Peterson made it out to be, police almost immediately zoned in on him as the prime suspect. Michael, a Vietnam War vet, bonded with Elizabeth's husband George, who was a captain in the military. While looking for something in the study or den, Kathleen either stumbled upon the emails exposing Michaels bisexual desires either on the computer or possibly a hard copy of something. After seeing much of The Staircase on Netflix and seeing Michaels narcissistic and cocky personality I believe he tried to make her believe she was crazy to think that or try to make up a story, as that was what he did for a living so it would be easy for him to come up with excuses easily. Coverage of the latest true crime stories and famous cases explained, as well as the best TV shows, movies and podcasts in the genre. She often ate dinner with the Petersons, and Michael would help her clean up and tuck her children to sleep. [26] A bloodstain-analysis team that Deaver had trained was suspended and disbanded. As we see in The Staircase, it's very clear that Michael Peterson is distressed at the thought of his family friend's body being dug up and re-examined. [20][21] On March 2, 2017 (following his Alford plea), Peterson's attorney filed a motion to allow him to pay for a bird expert at the Smithsonian Institution to examine feather fragments found in Kathleen's hair to determine whether or not she had been attacked by an owl. The defence countered these claims, arguing that half of Elizabeth's brain was missing during the new autopsy and pushing against the idea that Michael was the last person to see her alive. Because Peterson had already served more time than the sentence (98.5 months), he did not face additional prison time. After George's death, the Peterson and Ratliff families became very close. He co-wrote the biographical Charlie Two Shoes and the Marines of Love Company with journalist David Perlmutt, and co-wrote Operation Broken Reed with Arthur L. Boyd. Investigators exhumed her grave in Bay City, TX. On November 25, 1985, Elizbeth Ratliff was found dead at the bottom of her staircase in an eerily similar way to the way Kathleen Peterson was found on December 9, 2001. They had two children, Clayton and Todd. On November 25, 1985, Elizbeth Ratliff was found dead at the bottom of her staircase, in an eerily similar way to the way Michael Peterson's wife, Kathleen Peterson was found on December 1, 2001. Whether the evidence about Elizabeth Ratliff's death had a particularly swaying influence on the jury or not is impossible to know - but Michael Peterson was convicted of murdering Kathleen Peterson in October 2003. The prosecutors have also hypothesized that Elizabeths perplexing 1985 passing inspired Michael to fake Kathleens accident in 2001, yet there has never been any direct evidence to back it up. Although the 13-part programme centres around the mysterious death of Kathleen Peterson at her home in Durham, North Carolina, she wasn't the only woman linked to Michael Peterson to have been found dead at the bottom of a staircase. On November 9, the Court announced that it affirmed the decision of the appeals. The defense countered these claims, arguing that half of Elizabeth's brain was missing during the new autopsy and pushing against the idea that Michael was the last person to see her alive. Radisch's reported concluded that Elizabeth Ratliff's death had actually been as a result of a "homicidal assault", and not an accident as was previously determined. The News & Observer, Durham's local news outlet, reported how "Margaret and Martha Ratliff wrapped their arms around each other and mourned" upon hearing their father's guilty verdict. The Staircase director Jean-Xavier de Lestrade has opened up about the death of Elizabeth Ratliff, insisting that Michael Peterson had nothing to do with it. "Prosecutors spent thousands of dollars transporting her boy 12,000 miles from Bay City, Texas to Chapel Hill," Defense AttorneyDavid Rudolf said on "The Staircase." He also suggested some of the blood could have been diluted with urine. Following the guilty verdict, de Lestrade interviewed the jurors to find out why they reached their verdict. Elizabeth Ratliff, a friend of the Petersons, who died in Germany in 1985, had also been found dead at the foot of her staircase with injuries to the head. Elizabeth was just 43 years old when she died on November 27, 1985. She also remembered the copious amounts of blood near the staircase at the scene of Elizabeth's death. Elizabeth's updated autopsy report indicated that she died from homicidal assault. She was found by her children's nanny, Barbara Malagnino, who sought help from Patty shortly after making the grim discovery.. Regina Green, an old family friend of Peterson pointed out in "The Staircase" how much Ratliff and Petersons first wife Patricia looked alike. She also remembered the copious amounts of blood near the staircase at the scene of Elizabeth's death. ]]> She was found by her children's nanny, Barbara Malagnino, who sought help from Patty shortly after making the grim discovery. Her life was thus incredibly different from her Rhode Island farm upbringing, especially as shed eventually found herself working at an elementary school at the Rhein-Main Air Force Base in West Germany. He later admitted his war injury was not the result of the shrapnel wound in Vietnam, but was the result of a car accident in Japan, where he was stationed after the war as a military police officer. On November 25, 1985 Elizabeth Ratliff was found dead at the bottom of her staircase with injuries to her head. [14][15] Because the ruling was not unanimous, under North Carolina law, Peterson had the right to appeal to the North Carolina Supreme Court, which accepted the case. "Even from this distance I could see that it did not look clear, and that's when he made the statement, right there by her body in my presence, that she had died of a cerebral haemorrhage.". The defense disputed this theory. [35] The judge sentenced him to a maximum of 86 months in prison, with credit for time previously served. Around that same time, Elizabeth and George grew close to the Petersons, their neighbors, bonding over Michael being a Vietnam War veteran and his then-wife Patricia being her coworker. Wouldnt it make more sense to leave them with a relative.unless Elizabeth wanted Michael to know and raise his daughter along were her sister together. However as Kathleen was not having any of it, I believe she decided to storm out and go to a relatives house or even a hotel, just to get out as some people do in the onset of a huge argument-just need to get out even to go for a drive. OR after heaving her down the stairs to make sure she indeed was dead, struck her again a few times with the same item as at the front door-he may not even have had to hit her fast, he could do it more slowly which would not end up leaving castoff on the ceiling, which was an issue at the trial-if he had struck her surely there would be castoff on the ceiling, but they were figuring on it being done in a fast frenzy-he then changed clothing and got rid of the clothing and the item he struck her with. . [39][40] The film documents Peterson's family and his legal team's arguments in seeking a retrial, in which they succeed.[41]. With two young children (Martha, the youngest, was just months old when her father passed away), Elizabeth relied on Michael and Patty's support more than ever. Patty described what she saw when she entered the house. But as Michael, again could not have this harmful information that could ruin his reputation get out, he flew into a rage again striking Kathleen as she was headed out the door, thus leaving the drops of blood on the porch which was what initially led to the owl theory (an owl latched onto Kathleens head with its sharp talons-crazy I know). There are theories he had been in an illicit relationship with Elizabeth, although this is something his first wife Patty strenuously denies. ", Her death was eventually ruled a homicide. But most of all, we will support you to develop and grow throughout your time with us. The Creators Weigh In, The Bizarre True Story Behind Rachel Weisz's "Dead Ringers" Remake. I believe they had been around Michael long enough to possibly take on his ability of telling stories, the more they told themselves he did not do it or that he could not have done it, the more they believed it. Elizabeth Ratliff's body was exhumed in 2003. [19], Despite interest in this theory among some outside advocates, no motion for a new trial was filed on this point in 2009. Elizabeth Ratliff Autopsy - 4 Autopsy Report -- Elizabeth Ratliff In 2001 the woman Ratliff called "mom," Kathleen Peterson, was found dead at the bottom of a flight of stairs in the family's Durham, North Carolina, home. Peterson had been at her house the night before her death. As per reports, Elizabeth often had dinner with the Petersons, and Michael would stay back to clean up or tuck her little girls to bed, which is precisely what they unwittingly did on her last evening alive. There was a substantial amount of blood around the staircase, Witness Cheryl Appel-Schumacher testified during Petersons 2003 trial that the blood reached all the way up the staircase. Michael moved back to the United States, taking his adopted daughters with him, and met Kathleen Peterson in 1986. He was granted a new trial in 2011, which was scheduled to begin in May 2017. Just like with Petersons wife Kathleen, she suffered lacerations to the head which were attributed to her fall. In The Staircase, Patty recalls how they would all eat together and how Michael would regularly stay behind to help Elizabeth clean up and put her daughters to bed. They wanted to reassess her injuries, to make sure her death really was the tragic accident it had been accepted as for 17 years. I believe that Patty suspected Michaels infidelity with Liz, and with the girls left to Michael, this probably only reinforced her suspicions. He later adopted Ratliff's two daughters, Martha and Margaret. The similarities between the deaths of Elizabeth Ratliff and Kathleen Peterson raised eyebrows among the Durham authorities. From D.A. Tragedy struck, however, in 1983, when Elizabeth's husband George was killed in a secret military operation overseas. So much so, that Elizabeth Ratliff's body was exhumed and a second post mortem carried out by the Durham Medical Examiner. Now as both Elizabeth and her husband were both deceased, the girls Margaret and Martha would surely be left in the care of one of their relatives? The filmmakers started their project within weeks of Kathleen's death and Peterson's murder indictment; jury selection took place in May 2003 with the case itself going to trial in July 2003. Although I do feel that the police did not act in all honesty with some of their actions, I do feel that no matter what, the jury saw through the shoddy case and found him guilty anyway. And as far as the girls, Margaret and Martha, Michael was the only parent they had been around the longest, they knew of their birth mothers death but couldnt associate with it as they were so young when it happened. Elizabeth now feeling frustrated and not wanting to continue being alone with 2 small children told him she was going to go tell his wife that her daughter Margaret was Michael's daughter (as you can see the incredible similarities between she and Michael as well as his boys Todd & Clayton with Patty) https://flic.kr/p/JR7p1K He was sentenced to time already served and freed. Peterson was the last known person to see her alive. The children's nanny, Barbara, discovered the body when she arrived the next morning. In her opinion, the seven lacerations on her head indicated blunt force trauma. It was the main motive that the prosecution offered at trial for Kathleen's alleged murder (the other being a $1.5 million life insurance policy). It also examines the role and behavior of the press as it covered aspects of the case. 1987-United States-Michael and Patty have now since divorced (funny how so soon after this all happened) And in the divorce, the Petersons boys went with Patty while the Ratliff girls remained with Michael. two adorable daughters into their lives Margaret and Martha Ratliff. Now fast forward to 2001-the night Michaels second wife, Kathleen dies. Elizabeth Ratliff, a family. When Elizabeth Ratliff died in 1985, Michael became the guardian of her two children. An autopsy at the time of her death concluded Ratliff died from an intra-cerebral hemorrhage secondary to the blood coagulation disorder Von Willebrand's disease, based on blood in her cerebrospinal fluid and reports that she had been suffering severe, persistent headaches in the weeks leading up to her death. But they need to put themselves in their shoes, think if you already came from a broken home, wouldnt you try to believe in every last possibility that your parent could not do something so horrific, even if similar circumstances also involved that parent many years before? Although forensic expert Henry Lee, hired by Peterson's defense, testified that the blood-spatter evidence was consistent with an accidental fall down the stairs, police investigators concluded that the injuries were inconsistent with such an accident. Michael Peterson and his first wife, Patricia Peterson, were living in West Germany at the time. With our diverse line-up of original, high-quality programming, our distribution partners across EMEA recognise the benefits of offering A+E Networks EMEA's distinctive, high quality brands on their platforms and services.