those stairs. >> right, how long she'd been -- actually been there. >> reporter: a blood pattern expert analyzed the scene. when he completed his initial findings, police suspicions were confirmed. >> he told me that he felt strongly that, um, this was a homicide. >> can you tell us how this has been for you and your family? >> reporter: just a few days before christmas, michael peterson was charged with the murder of his wife. >> they had the grand jury, and, of course, i was indicted. and so, i turned myself in. >> reporter: as the officers booked michael into the county jail, the blended family formed a unified block of support. >> my mother would just be absolutely appalled, and this is the last thing she would ever, ever want to happen to her husband. >> reporter: it was hardly the christmas that the peterson family had so looked forward to. kathleen dead, their father in jail. >> it was just us kids, you know, in that house by ourselves, you know, trying to piece together a christmas.