They fought and it turned physical. The medical examiner rules that the cause of death was blunt force trauma. Just like with Petersons wife Kathleen, she suffered lacerations to the head which were attributed to her fall. He was sentenced to time already served and freed from prison. Regardless, Rudolf believes the damage has been done, describing it as "defamation" towards Brunet and de Lestrade. Investigators exhumed her grave in Bay City, TX. He also said thatthe person wearing apair of bloody shorts and bloody sneakers--both belonging to Michael Peterson--had to be present in the stairwell or just outside when Kathleen Peterson's head or a pool of her blood were hit with great force. Michael is having a rough time in prison. Netflixs new series The Staircase chronicles the trial of author Michael Peterson, whose wife Kathleen was found dead at the bottom of a staircase in her Durham, North Carolina home in November 2001. Kathleen even has a brief run-in with Freda Black. So you know, the bottom line of all of that, is it creates this impression that this Academy Award-winning director, a documentarian was twisting his film for a completely unethical purpose to help the subject. But yet, they [in The Staircase on HBO Max] somehow create the impression that Michael was hiding this from me until four weeks before the trial. Patricia Peterson and Elizabeth Ratliff had worked together at an elementary school on a U.S. Air Base and lived close by with their families in the town of Graefenhausen. 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. host = new String(location.hostname); All external sites will open in a new browser. document.write('Tuesday, August 19, 2003 Posted: 1440 GMT
<\/span>'); He was released on bond in 2011 pending a retrial. The widow grew even closer with the Peterson family. I feel here is where things took a turn. In 2001, Kathleen calls Candace to apologize for their argument over Thanksgiving and Michael notices a bunch of owls above their home. Sign up for our Celebrity & Entertainment newsletter. "What's the fucking grounds?" "There was no pool of blood.". The neighbour, Karin Hamn, testified that she saw MP hurrying away from ER's house at 12.50 am on November 25th. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. Those who were there in the aftermath of Elizabeth's death were called as witnesses, and the the state pathologist took to the stand to confirm Elizabeth Ratliff had sustained similar injuries to the ones Kathleen Peterson suffered. . Rudolf first took issue with some of the smaller details in the series. The best face wash for every single skin type. "Can people just go dig up graves?". Elizabeth Ratliff became good friends with Michael Peterson after meeting his first wife, Patty, when the women worked together at a school in Germany. believed to have been the last person to see her alive, carried out a second autopsy on Elizabeth Ratliff's body. What we do know is that he was found guilty of the first degree murder of his wife, Kathleen. However, there are no skull fractures, which is practically impossible. However, back in Germany Michael Peterson's BFF Elizabeth Ratliff also happened to die in another "freak staircase accident" in 1995. Although Ratliff lost a lot of weight and mourned her husband's death deeply, Appel-Schumacher said Ratliff's mood lifted during 1985. Elizabeth's death is a tragedy, but whether it was brought upon by an ill-fated accident or contemptuous murder, we'll never know. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. The Netflix series, originally a documentary produced by a French company, examines his original trial. The critically acclaimed documentary of the same name came out in 2004 a few years after the trial and is now available to stream on Netflix, while this fictionalized version tells the tale of The Staircase through flashbacks to the Petersons' lives before the murder, the night of the murder, the times leading up to the trial, the trial, and beyond. 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. He was sentenced to time already served and freed from prison. Together, Elizabeth and George Ratliff had two daughters, Margaret and Martha Ratliff, who Michael Peterson would adopt following their deaths. In the fifth episode, Brunet and Lestrade are seen arguing with their producer over which clip to delete from the documentary. Click Here to try 4 Free Trial Issues of Time! Under no circumstances would they have had a sexual relationship.". But two years after George's death, as if the Ratliff family hadn't suffered enough trauma, Elizabeth too was found dead - at the bottom of the staircase at her home in Germany. Why? So much so, that the court in Durham ordered the exhumation of Ratliff's body from her grave in Texas. So. "It is further my opinion that these injuries were incurred while Mrs. Ratliff was alive and are of sufficient severity to have caused her death.". The prosecution used the evidence to draw parallels in court but never formally charged Michael with Elizabeth's death. The 43-year-old died in 1985 in Germany, found at the bottom of her stairs by her children's nanny Barbara Malagnino. "It was a great blow to both of us, for which I feel not guilt, but sorrow," he continued. Upon examination, forensic pathologist Deborah Radisch, who also worked on Kathleen's case, said that Elizabeth's injuries were inconsistent with an accident. (We'll get back to that.). At their request, Ratliff's body was exhumed in Texas in April. David Rudolf represented Michael Peterson in the real-life murder trial depicted in the HBO Max series "The Staircase." A one-stop-shop for all things video games. two adorable daughters into their lives Margaret and Martha Ratliff. Elizabeth Ratliff's children Margaret (Ratliff) Blakemore and Martha Ratliff. "I don't know that you could possibly make a more serious and damaging claim against a documentarian than that, especially when it's completely and utterly false and demonstrably false. Whether or not Michael Peterson killed Elizabeth Ratliff remains unknown. Killen ordered attack on civil rights worker, jury hears, Father convicted of murdering 9 of his children, Gov. When watching The Staircase, it might be hard to keep track of the complicated Peterson family tree. Death: July 29, 2018, Durham, North Carolina, USA (end-stage liver disease from alcoholism) Bio: Assistant District Attorney / Prosecutor Cullen Moss Born: July 8, 1975 Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA Jim Hardin Born: February 1957 Birthplace: Durham, North Carolina, USA Bio: District Attorney / Lead Prosecutor Rosemarie DeWitt 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. Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. "Her injuries are indicative of multiple blunt force impacts". Do any of us? However, he maintains adamantly that Kathleens death was an accident. After Kathleen's death, her two sisters, Candace (Rosemarie DeWitt) and Lori (Maria Dizzia) firmly believe Michael at first, but quickly switch sides, along with Caitlin, and stand with the prosecution. The Scene of Her Death The 43-year-old died in 1985 in Germany and was found at the bottom of her stairs by her children's nanny, Barbara Malagnino. The SBI, the organization that recreated the crime scene, is placed under investigation for unethical practices, which opens up another opportunity for an appeal in Michael's case. But . Her name was Elizabeth Ratliff (shown above in the blue shirt) and she died at the age of 43. Its construction of the case emphasized prejudicial aspects, like the judge allowing evidence of Ratliff's death, which a state medical examiner also deemed a homicide, and the prosecution exposing Peterson's sex life so as to use jurors' potentially anti-gay attitudes against him. Both the German officials as well as the United States military police conducted investigations into Elizabeths case, and their autopsy ruled her manner of death an accident. Shed reportedly died from an intracerebral hemorrhage, secondary to a blood clot disorder. The go-to source for comic book and superhero movie fans. Peterson agreed to an Alford plea, which enables him to maintain his innocence in the death of his wife Kathleen Peterson in 2001. Investigators exhumed her grave in Bay City, Texas. Michael struggles with life outside of prison and sees his children are struggling as well. defense lawyer Thomas Maher asked. She also remembered the copious amounts of blood near the staircase at the scene of Elizabeth's death. When producer Denis Poncet (Frank Feys) and director Jean-Xavier de Lestrade (Vincent Vermignon) come across the Peterson story, they wonder if there is a story there. Exposing Jean-Xavier de Lestrade's tendentious film, the Peterson murder documentary: Death on the Stairacse. Judge Orlando Hudson Jr. will rule on whether the similarities between Ratliff's death and Kathleen Peterson's are sufficiently similar that jurors should hear the evidence. Viewers new to The Staircase story may have been surprised to learn Peterson dated Sophie Brunet, the editor of Lestrade's first documentary. Despite speculation that Peterson may have killed Elizabeth Ratliff 16 years before Kathleen's death, something he has always strongly denied, the prosecution in Michael Peterson's trial didn't accuse Peterson of being responsible for Elizabeth Ratliff's death. She edited the scenes of us in the house, you know, meeting with experts, that sort of thing," he continued. Ok so here is my theory for the Michael Peterson case-while I do not think he is a serial killer who always plans to kill women by the same method of throwing them down the stairs, I do think he has the personality of flying into a rage which ended with the deaths of 2 women and here is how I think it happened: 1985-Germany-Michael was carrying on an affair with family friend, Elizabeth Ratliff (he claims they never did but then he did look elsewhere who knows how many times during his marriages for other partners to satisfy his sexual desires, and as we cannot ask Elizabeth, I would say his ability to lie and tell stories, definitely does not add anything to his credibility. The prosecution used the evidence to draw parallels in court, but never formally charged Michael with Elizabeth's death. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole in October 2003. 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. During her testimony, Appel-Schumacher told Hudson that Ratliff was happily married to George Ratliff, who died in a secret military operation overseas in 1983, and was devastated when he died. Furious she confronts Michael with her findings. Earlier Monday,jurors heard testimony froma blood spatter expertwho examined blood stains in the stairwell where Kathleen Peterson died. Michael Peterson and his wife Kathleen were first married in 1997. After her passing, Michael adopted Elizabeth's two daughters, Martha and Margaret. The final episode of the series is told through three time periods 2001, the day before Kathleens death, 2011, the night before Michaels retrial, and 2017, when Michael is contemplating the Alford plea. As Peterson was being investigated for the staircase death of his wife in the early 2000s, Ratliffs body was exhumed in Texas in 2003. The autopsy report found that Elizabeth Ratliff had died in 1985 from “blunt force trauma to the head” by a “homicidal attack,” rather than of a brain hemorrhage while . Cat is Cosmopolitan UK's features editor covering women's issues, health and current affairs. In the documentary, Michael remembers he and his then-wife, Patricia, had dinner at the Ratliff home and he stayed behind to help Elizabeth put Martha and Margaret to. Appel-Schumacher said the blood was mostly on a wall adjacent to the staircase and it stretched from the top landing to the bottom. We earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article. "For another year, she was gone. The defense maintains that the deaths are only similar on the surface, and Peterson plans to prove that to the judge--and the jury, if he rules against them--if necessary. With The Staircase retelling the tale of Michael Peterson and his alleged hand in wife Kathleen Petersons bizarre December 2001 demise, several related matters are coming back into the spotlight. Some speculate that Michael shared an illicit affair with Elizabeth. There were also multiple questions put forward about what happened on the evening Kathleen Peterson died, due to the "Owl Theory" that suggested she may have been attacked by the bird and died from her wounds or, what Michael Peterson claimed, that she fell to her death. It was after she left the project that she first sent him a letter. It's all in the documentary, it's there. Michael had two biological sons, Todd and Clayton, with his first wife, Patty. Nearly two decades before Michael's wife, Kathleen, was found lifeless at the bottom of a staircase, there was a woman named Elizabeth Ratliff, whose death would become crucial to the prosecution's story. The two families were close friends while living in Germany, and Michael was the last person who'd seen Elizabeth alive following dinner at the Ratliff home one night, Michael offered to stay behind and help Elizabeth put her girls to bed. Michael and Patty had two sons while living over in Germany - Clayton and Todd - while Elizabeth and George had two daughters, Margaret and Martha. The jury finds Michael guilty and sentences him to life in prison without the possibility of parole. When he separated from his wife, he brought his sons and the Ratliff children to the United States. When re-examined, Elizabeth's relationship with Michael's family and the details of her passing thicken the plot of this engrossing true-crime case. Michael Peterson took charge of all the details, and friends of Elizabeth Ratliff were grateful that he did, she said.
