Jan. 3, 2026
12 Crimes of Christmas - "THE STAIRCASE MURDERS: CORRUPT EXPERTS, THE OWL THEORY & MICHAEL PETERSON'S FREEDOM - PART 2"
Reid Carter concludes the Michael Peterson saga with the stunning reversal that freed a convicted murderer. Blood spatter expert Duane Deaver: exposed as a fraud who lied about credentials and falsified evidence in multiple cases. December 2011: Conviction vacated after eight years in prison. The owl theory: microscopic feathers and talon-shaped wounds suggest Kathleen was attacked outside before stumbling to her death. February 2017: Alford plea to voluntary manslaughter - Peterson maintains innocence but acknowledges evidence could convict him. Today: Age 81, living quietly in North Carolina. Kathleen's daughter Caitlin: "You will be a convicted felon forever."
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Caalarogu Shark Media. Good morning, I'm Reed Carter. Saturday, January third,
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twenty twenty six. Yesterday we covered the trial that convicted
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Michael Peterson of murdering his wife Kathleen at the bottom
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of their staircase in two thousand and one. Today how
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that conviction fell apart. December twenty eleven, eight years after
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Peterson was sent to prison for life, Judge Orlando Hudson,
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the same judge who'd presided over the original trial, made
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an announcement the conviction was vacated. The blood spatter expert
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who testified against Peterson, Dwayne Deaver, had lied, lied about
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his credentials, lied about his experience, gave testimony that was
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materially misleading and deliberately false. Deaver had claimed he'd worked
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on over five hundred bloodstained cases, the truth fifty four.
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He'd exaggerated tenfold. And it wasn't just the Peterson case.
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Dever's fraudulent testimony had contributed to wrongful convictions across North Carolina.
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The State Bureau of Investigation launched an investigation into his
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entire career. Michael Peterson walked out of prison on December sixteenth,
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twenty eleven, not a free man, released on house arrest
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pending retrial. But after eight years behind bars, he was out.
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The question remained, did he kill Kathleen? Or had a
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corrupt expert helped convict an innocent man? And then came
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the owl theory. I'm reed, Carter. This is Celebrity Trials today,
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Part two of the staircase murders, the fraud, the owl,
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and the plea that let Michael Peterson walk free. This
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is Celebrity Trials. Dwayne Deaver was a blood spatter analyst
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for the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. For years.
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He was the go to expert in murder cases. Prosecutors
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loved him, juries believed him, defense attorneys feared him. At
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Michael Peterson's trial, Deaver was the prosecution's star witness. He
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analyzed the blood patterns in the staircase, concluded they were
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consistent with a beating, not a fall, Demonstrated his methods
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for the jury, explained how he'd conducted experiments to support
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his conclusions. He testified he'd worked on over five hundred
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blood stain cases, said he knew exactly what he was
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looking at, said the evidence proved murder. The jury believed
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him convicted Peterson, but after the trial questions emerged. In
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twenty ten, the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission was investigating
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the wrongful conviction of Greg Taylor. Taylor had been convicted
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of murder in nineteen ninety three based partly on Deaver's testimony.
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The commission discovered Deaver had withheld exculpatory evidence test results
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that would have helped Taylor's defend. Taylor was exonerated, and
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investigator started looking at Diver's other cases. What they found
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was devastating. Deaver hadn't worked on five hundred cases, more
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like fifty four. He'd inflated his experience by nearly one
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thousand percent. His experiments were questionable at best. For the
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Peterson case, He'd conducted blood spatter tests without proper documentation,
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without following scientific protocols, without keeping records that could be verified.
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He'd testified in case after case using methods that weren't
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scientifically validated, given opinions that weren't supported by evidence, helped
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convict people based on junk science and lies. The State
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Bureau of Investigation suspended him, then fired him, launched a
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review of every case he'd ever touched. Peterson's attorneys seized
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on the revelations, filed motion after motion, argued their client
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deserved a new trial because the expert who'd helped convict
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him was a fraud. December fourteenth, twenty eleven, Judge Orlando
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Hudson agreed. The court finds that mister Deaver gave materially
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misleading and deliberately false testimony. Hudson wrote. The conviction was vacated.
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Two days later, Michael Peterson posted three hundred thousand dollars
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bail walked out of prison after eight years, two months,
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and four days. He wasn't free, not yet. The state
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could retry him. The murder charge still stood, but he
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was out. Prosecutors appealed, argued the conviction should stand lost
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at the Court of Appeals. In twenty thirteen, the State
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Supreme Court declined to hear the case. Michael Peterson would
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get a new trial. But here's the question nobody could answer.
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Did Devers fraud mean Peterson was innocent or just that
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the trial was unfair? Deaver lied about his credentials, but
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did he lie about the blood evidence? Were his conclusions
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wrong or just his methods? The blood was still on
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those walls, was still dead at the bottom of the staircase,
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seven lacerations to her head, massive blood loss. Even without Dever,
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the prosecution had a case, the medical examiner's testimony, the
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financial motive, the bisexual affairs, Elizabeth Ratliffe's eerily similar death
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sixteen years earlier. Could they prove it again? Or had
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Devers fraud poisoned everything? Two thousand and nine, T. Lawrence Pollard,
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an attorney who lived near the Petersons, was reviewing the
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case files. He noticed something strange in the evidence list,
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a microscopic owl feather found on Kathleen's body and a
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wooden spliver from a tree limb also found on her body.
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Pollard was an avid hunter new birds, knew how they attacked,
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and he started to wonder, what if Kathleen wasn't murdered
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at all? What if she was attacked by an owl?
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Sounds insane, an owl killing a grown woman. How is
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that possible? But Pollard started researching and the evidence was
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more compelling than anyone expected. Barred owls are common in
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North Carolina. They're aggressive territorial, known to attack humans who
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get too close to their nests, especially at night when
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they're hunting. There are hundreds of documented cases of barred
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owl attacks on humans. The owls dive at people's heads,
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strike with their talons, leave distinctive wounds, pairs of lacerations
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from the dual talons on each foot. Pollard looked at
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photos of Kathleen's head wounds. The seven lacerations didn't look
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like they'd been made by a blunt instrument. They were
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too small, too precisely spaced. They looked more like talon marks.
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He contacted experts, doctor Alan Van Norman, a neurosurgeon, an
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owl expert, doctor Patrick Reddigg, professor of Veterinary Medicine at
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the University of Minnesota. Kate Davis, director of Raptors of
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the Rockies. All three signed affidavits said the injuries were
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consistent with an owl attack. Said the evidence the feather,
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the wood splinter, the wound patterns supported the theory. Here's
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how it might have happened. Kathleen went outside that December night,
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maybe to turn off the pool lights, maybe to check
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on something in the yard. An owl hunting in the
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dark mistook her hair for prey, swooped down, struck her
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head with its talons. Kathleen panicked bleeding from her scalp
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ran inside, made it to the back staircase, collapsed, fell
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down the stairs, hit her head again and again. The
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combination of the owl attack and the fall caused the
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seven lacerations, the massive blood loss. Michael was still by
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the pool, didn't hear it happen, came inside, later found
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his wife dead at the bottom of the stairs. Not murder,
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bizarre tragic accident involving a predatory bird. The owl theory
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explained things the prosecution couldn't. Why were there pine needles
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in Kathleen's hair she'd been outside. Why was there a
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microscopic feather on her body? An owl had struck her.
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Why did the wounds look like paired lacerations rather than
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blunt force trauma talons? Not a weapon? Why was there
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no murder weapon found? Because there was no murder weapon,
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the weapon flew away. Defense attorney David Rudolph initially dismissed
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the owl theory seemed too crazy, too convenient, But over time,
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as he learned more about documented owl attacks, as he
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consulted with experts, he started to take it seriously. It
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became much more believable. Rudolph later said, you'd type in
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barred owls attacking humans and get dozens than hundreds of stories,
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pictures videos. It's not as crazy as it sounds. Michael
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Peterson him himself was skeptical at first. He dismissed it
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at first, but gradually, over time you start to take
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it a little bit more seriously, Rudolph said. The owl
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theory was never formally presented in court. Peterson's first conviction
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happened before Paullard developed the theory, and by the time
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the retrial was scheduled, Peterson chose a different path. But
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the theory has convinced many observers. A woman attacked by
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an owl, falling down the stairs in a panic, dying
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from a combination of talon wounds and fall injuries. It's strange,
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but not impossible, and it would explain why Michael Peterson
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has maintained his innocence for over twenty years. Maybe he
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didn't kill Kathleen, Maybe he really did find her dead
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at the bottom of the stairs, victim of a freak
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accident involving a nocturnal predator. Or maybe the owl theory
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is just another layer of reasonable doubt, a creative explanation
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that distracts from the simpler truth, Michael Peterson beat his
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wife to death and staged it to look like a fall,
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just like he may have done to Elizabeth Ratliffe sixteen
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years earlier. We'll never know for sure, because Michael Peterson
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never went back to trial. We'll be right back with
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the offered plea that freed Michael Peterson and what Kathleen's
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family had to say about it. May twenty seventeen, Michael
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Peterson's retrial was scheduled to begin. Peterson had been out
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on house arrests since December twenty eleven, five and a
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half years of freedom, but not really free, ankle monitor
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restrictions on movement, the murder charge still hanging over him,
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Prosecutors were ready to try him again. They'd lost Dwayne
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Deaver's testimony, but they still had the medical examiner, still
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had the evidence about Elizabeth Ratliffe, still had motive, the affairs,
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the finances. Peterson's defense was ready too. They had the
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discredited blood spatter analysis. The owl theory is potential reasonable
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doubt doctor Henry Lee's alternative explanations. But Peterson was seventy
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three years old. He'd already spent eight years in prison.
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Another trial could last months. If convicted again, he'd die
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behind bars, so he made a decision. February twenty fourth,
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twenty seventeen, Durham County Courthouse. Michael Peterson stood before Judge
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Orlando Hudson. He entered an Alferd plea. An Alford plea
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is a strange legal mechanism. The defendant doesn't admit guilt,
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maintains their innocence, but acknowledges that the prosecution has enough
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evidence to likely result in a conviction. It's guilty, not guilty,
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convicted but claiming innocence. Peterson pleaded to voluntary manslaughter instead
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of first degree murder. The judge sentenced him to a
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maximum of eighty six months in prison, but Peterson had
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already served over ninety eight months. He'd served more time
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than the sentence. Michael Peterson walked out of the courthouse
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a free man, a convicted felon, but free. His attorney,
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David Rudolph, spoke outside the courthouse. The bottom line here
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is that mister Peterson is not guilty. He never was guilty.
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But Kathleen's family didn't see it that way. Candace Zamparini,
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Kathleen's sister, addressed Peterson directly in her victim impact statement
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Alford Schmalford, it means nothing, Michael Peterson. You are pleading
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guilty to voluntary manslaughter. You will be treated as guilty
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for murdering my sister Kathleen, and you will be a
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convicted felon forever. Laurie Campbell, another sister. It's wrong that
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after a jury sentenced him to life in prison for
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the murder of his wife, he gets to be a
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free man while Kathleen lies in her grave. Kathleen's daughter,
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Caitlin Atwater, had filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Peterson
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in two thousand and seven. It was settled for twenty
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five million dollars under the terms any money any Peterson
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earns goes directly to Caitlin. Peterson wrote two memoirs after
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his release, Behind the Staircase and Beyond the Staircase, but
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he can't profit from them. The settlement with Caitlin ensures
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that he's donated the proceeds to charity. In interviews, Peterson
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has said he can live with the Alford plea. I
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can live with the fact that I didn't kill Kathleen.
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I know this, whether you believe it or not, it
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doesn't really affect my life. He's also said he'd like
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to reconcile with Kathleen's family, but knows it will never happen.
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I would like to say, Candace, we all loved Kathleen,
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we all miss Kathleen. I am so sorry that you
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lost a sister. I didn't do it, but if it
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will make you feel better to believe that, fine, go ahead.
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Cold comfort for a family that lost a sister, a daughter,
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a mother. As for Elizabeth Ratliffe, Peterson was never charged
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with her death. The German investigation ruled it natural causes.
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I'm a medical examiner ruled it homicide, but no prosecution
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ever happened. Michael Peterson maintains he had nothing to do
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with Elizabeth's death either, says he was just a friend
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who helped a widow who adopted her orphaned daughters, who
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was in the wrong place at the wrong time twice.
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Margaret and Martha Ratliffe, Elizabeth's daughters raised by Michael Peterson,
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stood by their adoptive father throughout believe he's innocent of
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killing both their mothers, sobbed when he was convicted, celebrated
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when he was freed. They changed their names back to
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Ratliffe after the trial, but they've never turned on the
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man who raised them. Michael Peterson turned eighty one in
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October twenty twenty four. Lives quietly in North Carolina, survives
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on his marine pension and Social Security. Can't profit from
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his books because of the settlement with Caitlin. He called
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the twenty twenty two HBO Max series The ste Case,
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starring Colin Firth and Tony Collette, an abomination, said the
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filmmakers trashed his family's life, but he acknowledges the original
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French documentary helped freeom. The cameras captured everything, including the
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problems with the prosecution's case that eventually led to his
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conviction being vacated. Peterson still maintains his innocence, says he
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never hurt Kathleen, never hurt Elizabeth. Ratliffe says he's been
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the victim of corrupt experts, over zealous prosecutors, and bad luck.
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The owl theory remains unproven but widely discussed. Attorney Larry
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Pollard has spent years developing evidence to support it. Multiple
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experts have signed affidavits saying the injuries are consistent with
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a barred owl attack. Whether the owl theory is true
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or just creative reasonable doubt, it's become inseparable from the case.
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You can't discuss Kathleen Peterson's death without mentioning the owl.
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Dwayne Deaver, the discs Graced blood Spatter analyst, was fired
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from the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. His fraudulent
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testimony contributed to multiple wrongful convictions. His exposure helped free
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Michael Peterson, but also revealed how easily junk science can
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convict innocent people. Kathleen's daughter, Caitlin Atwater, has moved on
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with her life, received the twenty five million dollar settlement,
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believes her stepfather killed her mother. The Peterson children, Clayton, Todd,
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Margaret Martha, remain divided. Some support Michael, others have distanced themselves,
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and the question at the heart of the case remains unanswered.
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Did Michael Peterson kill Kathleen? Did he kill Elizabeth Ratliffe
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sixteen years earlier? Is he a double murderer who got
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away with it through legal technicalities and an Alfred plea?
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Or is he an innocent man victimized by coincidence two
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women he loved dying in eerily similar accidents, convicted by
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