A second autopsy, conducted by Durham, North Carolina officials this time, revealed sufficient evidence to suspect the manner of death being clear homicide. With that said, no charges against Michael have ever been brought in connection to this matter, and he maintains his innocence. With The Staircase's true-crime drama available to watch on HBO Max now and the original The Staircase documentary streaming on Netflix, it is ultimately up to viewers to form their own opinion on what they believe happened on the evening Kathleen Peterson died. Michael ultimately takes the Alford plea, which involves the defendant acknowledging there is enough evidence to find him guilty of charges while also maintaining innocence, and is sentenced to time already served. So Im sure there is some emotion heard in the 911 call, Im sure he did love Kathleen and Elizabeth. Ultimately, Michael decides not to move to Paris in order to start a new life elsewhere with Sophie, and their relationship ends. In April 2003, a second autopsy was carried out by a Durham medical examiner, who concluded Ratliff's cause of death was "homicide". So much so, that the court in Durham ordered the exhumation of Ratliff's body from her grave in Texas. Newsweek reached out to HBO and director Antonio Campos's representatives. Just like with Petersons wife Kathleen, she suffered lacerations to the head which were attributed to her fall. The Staircase launches on Netflix on 8 June. On the night of her death, Todd pops by and sees Michael and Kathleen watching a movie and having a lovely evening together. 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. How is The Last of Us TV series different to game? 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. The Staircase addresses both of those theories, and just like the documentary of the same name by Oscar-winning filmmaker Jean-Xavier de Lestrade on which the show is based, whether you believe Michael Peterson is a killer is your own decision to make. Amongst them is the 1985 death of Elizabeth Ratliff, primarily because of the way she was found and how her two orphaned daughters soon ended up being adopted by the Petersons. Elizabeth Ratliff, shown in the Netflix docu-series "The Staircase.". 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. Killen ordered attack on civil rights worker, jury hears, Father convicted of murdering 9 of his children, Gov. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole in October 2003. Michael Stuhlbarg portrayed Peterson's lawyer David Rudolf in the series. "She hadn't gotten to the point where she was seeing other men?" "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. 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. More importantly, both Margaret and Martha Ratliff, whose custody was awarded to the Petersons as per their biological mothers final will, also support their father through and through. "Because I know all aspects of his personality. Now at this time a few things couldve happened-whatever he struck her with at the front door, he now needed to get rid of, so as she lay dying at the bottom of the stairs, he changed out of any bloodied clothes and got rid of them with the item he struck her with. "And you never saw any kind of indication that she had any kind of romantic relationship with Michael Peterson?" 15 hours ago, by Chandler Plante In 2017, he entered an Alford plea to the reduced charge of manslaughter, meaning he admitted the evidence against him would likely lead to a finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt but he did not have to admit he committed the crime. Sam Smith is going to be in And Just Like That s2! Peterson had been at her house the night before her death. 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. All Rights Reserved. Peterson and friends maintained that their friendship was purely platonic. 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. 43-year-old Elizabeth Ratliff was found dead in her home in Graefenhausen, Germany. According to the second autopsy, seven deep lacerations on Elizabeth's head - just like those found on Kathleen's - were concluded to have been sustained as a result of blunt force trauma. Thus, all we can positively state is, whatever the case may be, both Elizabeth and Kathleens deaths were simply tragic. Or anyone else for that matter-NO ONE knows exactly what someone has in their home-their own or someone elses) he then went into self-preservation mode-his mind took him back to what happened with Elizabeth Ratliff and so he carried Kathleen or even helped guide her up the stairs, if she was still conscious, telling her he would help her and not to worry, however after climbing a certain amount of stairs, he then ended up heaving her down the stairs. Inside, he and Kathleen have quite a makeup session after their own argument the night before at dinner. But I didn't say to her, 'You know, yeah, that works fine for me.'". Everyone Practices Cancel Culture | Opinion, Deplatforming Free Speech is Dangerous | Opinion. A medical examiner who examined her body at the scene concurred that the death was probably an accident. The Staircase will be your new fav true crime show, The legal age you can get married has just changed, Charles & Camilla break major royal tradition, Courteney Cox speaks on Harry magic mushroom claim, Harry 'adding at least one more chapter' to memoir, Dylan responds to being misgendered on Instagram. He later adopted Ratliff's two daughters, Martha and Margaret. "There was nothing out of place, except that she was no longer living," she recalled almost two decades later. Noticing the uncanny similarities with Kathleen's case, prosecutors took a closer look at Elizabeth's death in 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. Elizabeth Ratliff's daughters continue to believe Mike Peterson. Repeating testimonythe judgeheardThursday and Friday without the jury being present, witness Peter "Duane" Deaver said he concluded that Kathleen Peterson was beaten with a blunt object and was struck a minimum of four times. His appeal is rejected, but the documentary is a huge hit and renews interest in his case. Three episodes in, drops a major bombshell: Peterson was the last person to see another woman who was found dead at the bottom of a staircase in Germany in 1985. Brunet also stressed in the same article that her relationship with Peterson began later than depicted in the series and that her editorial decisions were not affected. At their request, Ratliff's body was exhumed in Texas in April. 13 hours ago, by Chanel Vargas So that's why today I'm very uncomfortable because I feel that I've been betrayed in a way.". She refuses to binge-watch anything. She edited the scenes of us in the house, you know, meeting with experts, that sort of thing," he continued. And no questions were raised when her close friend Michael Peterson adopted her daughters, Margaret and Martha. I'm too old. However, things changed once her embalmed body was exhumed nearly two decades later, in April 2003. There is also an alternate theory put forth by Petersons neighbor Larry (Joel McKinnon Miller) that Kathleen was viciously attacked by an owl. During Michael's trial, Cheryl Appel-Schumacher, one of the late schoolteacher's friends, recalled that Elizabeth had severe headaches a few days before she was found dead. 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). In that case, it's thought that Ratliff succumbed to her blood clotting disorder via an intra-cerebral hemorrhage and then fell down the stairs after she was already deceased. "My opinion is that this is the scene of a beating, that this scene is not unlike many scenes I've been to," Deaver concluded. 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. For example, when prosecutor Jim Hardin is presenting his case to the grand jury ahead of the trial, Rudolf is seen standing in the same grand jury room, something that he said would never happen in a U.S. courtroom. In the end, Michael Peterson was convicted of murdering Kathleen Peterson. Fear of this realization getting out, Michael possibly grabbed and shook Liz, his anger finally caused him to push her hard and she fell down the stairs to her demise. Under no circumstances would they have had a sexual relationship.". An autopsy at the time of her death concluded Ratliff died from an intra-cerebral haemorrhage 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. Patty described what she saw when she entered the house. However, Rudolf did state he offered to come on board as a "technical consultant" for the series to consult on the courtroom and lawyer scenes but was not contacted by the team behind The Staircase. Michael and Patty had two sons while living over in Germany - Clayton and Todd - while Elizabeth and George had two daughters, Margaret and Martha. Elizabeth's updated autopsy report indicated that she died from homicidal assault. Coverage of the latest true crime stories and famous cases explained, as well as the best TV shows, movies and podcasts in the genre. "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." The prosecution shockingly reveals to the jury that, at age 43, Ratliff turned up dead at the bottom of her stairs in 1985, some 16 years earlier. It is true that Peterson and Brunet did date, with Peterson confirming to The News and Observer they went their separate ways in 2017. At the age of 43, Elizabeth Liz Ratliff had created a good life for herself as a teacher for military children, signifying that she often got the chance to travel across the globe for work. 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. Bill Peterson (Tim Guinee), Michaels brother, is his biggest ally and works with the lawyers and the family to try and keep everything in order while it feels like chaos. Just four days before her death, she was complaining of severe headaches. The widow grew even closer with the Peterson family. Colin Firth as Michael Peterson in "The Staircase." A few people have suspected an affair between Michael and Elizabeth turning sour as his motive for murder, but the novelists former wife Patricia has always vehemently backed him up. Right about the time the trial ended, they didn't start putting the cuts together," Rudolph explained. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! In her opinion, the seven lacerations on her head indicated blunt force trauma. Did Michael Peterson Kill Elizabeth Ratliff? Peterson has to hire a high-powered defense team for his trial. 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. Jean-Xavier de Lestrade's The Staircase alludes to the haunting center of novelist Michael Peterson's infamous murder case. Instead, they used her death as an example of an incident that could have helped him "fake" Kathleen's accident. The North Carolina medical examiner performed an autopsy and concluded that she died from blunt force injuries and that it was the result of a homicide. First, her death was ruled natural After her death, German officials concluded that Ratliff died of a cerebral hemorrhage which led to her falling down the stairs. Elizabeth's death was initially ruled an accident, but when her body was exhumed during the trial for a second autopsy in April 2003, the coroner found sufficient evidence to categorize it as a . He was granted a new trial in 2011, which was scheduled to begin in May 2017. The Innocence Project gets involved and approaches Freda Black, now working at a dry cleaner, for information. 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. , Let's Break Down The Staircase's Deeply Frustrating 13 Episodes, The "Bel-Air" Cast Weren't Surprised by the Show's Success: "A Huge 'I Told You So' Moment", "Outer Banks" Had No Business Making Rafe Look This Fine With a Buzz Cut, Jazz Catches Hilary in a Lie in This Exclusive "Bel-Air" Season 2 Sneak Peek, Selena Gomez Says She Avoided Her "Wizards of Waverly Place" Costars After Series Due to Shame, "The Last of Us" Stars Storm Reid and Bella Ramsey Hit Back at Homophobes: "Don't Like It, Don't Watch", Jessica Chastain Tripped Over Her Dress at the SAG Awards, but It Didn't Take Away From Her Big Win, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Stuhlbarg is seen above with Tim Guinee and Colin Firth in a scene from "The Staircase" in which the men prepare for Peterson's trial. Michael Peterson and his first wife, Patricia Peterson, were among the many people who filled the foyer that Monday morning 18 years ago, the witness testified. At least, until tragedy struck. 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. "They have a scene where Michael's brother is on the phone with me, telling me that he's selling all the furniture, to pay to write me checks for the appeal. Cat is Cosmopolitan UK's features editor covering women's issues, health and current affairs. Some speculate that Michael shared an illicit affair with Elizabeth. Warning: This article contains spoilers about The Staircase on HBO Max. From Rudolf's perspective, in HBO Max's The Staircase, it is implied Rudolf found out about Ratliff only a few weeks before the trial. Michael's adopted daughters also believe that he did not kill their biological mother. Firth portrayed Peterson for eight episodes of the HBO Max drama based on the documentary of the same name. I couldn't afford to live in Paris and my children, and grandchildren were in America," he said. The real-life Rudolph is seen above. (We'll get back to that.). After Vietnam, retired Marine Captain Michael joined Patty in Germany and the couple quickly became good friends with Elizabeth Ratliff and her husband George, also a Captain in the military. Additionally, he was unimpressed with some of the early court scenes. In her opinion, the seven lacerations on her head indicated blunt force trauma. Her husband, George Ratliff, died shortly before her in a secret military operation overseas in 1983, according to CourtTV. His only respite is his new relationship with Sophie, the documentary editor, and her letters. . 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