they made us a family. not only did she raise these children and have quite an accomplished corporate career, dinner 50, she would do it. but, in the wee hours of a winter night. i found them at the base of the stairs. kathleen peterson, dead. was this a fall, or was this murder? a mystery we covered for more than a decade comes to a shattering and. it did not look like a fall. michael peterson, under suspicion, then, a bombshell revelation about another woman from his past. this was on the floor, and there was a puddle of blood under the staircase. appear today the same, way to minnesota shaded with one of the? odds yes, what are the odds? a trial, one expert this is the scene. would make a slam dunk case for peterson s guilt. the tourist or captivated by his testimony. but were his dramatic experience legit? it is designed to get a result, does not scientifical. michael peterson on the quest that might finally lead to the truth.
peterson s marriage was murky, investigators thought the story told in blood was becoming clearer. not only was there more of it in the stairwell than detectives would expect to see with a fall, but according to m emts, much of it was dry when they arrived. so you have to wonder when the victim actually goes down those stairs? right, how long she had been there? 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 this was a homicide. 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. as the officer s book to michael into the county jail, the blended family formed a unified block of support. my mother would just be
a series of articles had been published in the news and observer, alleging misconduct. state bureau of investigations crime lab, the espy i. in prison, you don t care much about international fares, political they don t have any effect. the s b eye, who were behind many guys being in there, under mastication? we want to hear about that. it turns out, one of the experts at the center of the storm is a name you have heard before. special agent dwayne. you remember? my pinion is, this is the state. he was a star witness in the peterson trial. the blood pattern expert that put michael peterson in the staircase, bludgeoning his wife. reporter, julie since you talk to the jurors here. how important was the blood expert? it was critical. here s a guy that has been doing this for years but the state. look at what his experiment showed.
reporter: a decade after he was arrested for killing his wife, kathleen, michael peterson was back in a north carolina courtroom arguing for a retrial on the grounds that the state s crucial blood pattern expert had given false testimony against him. but as far as kathleen s sister, candace, was concerned, prison was where peterson deserved to rot. my sister s dead for eternity. oh, no, no, no. he murdered my sister. he took the prime of her. he needs to be held accountable for what he did. reporter: but peterson s attorney, david rudolph, was just as determined to free his client from prison. over the course of a seven-day hearing, rudolf methodically dissected the original testimony of blood pattern expert, duane deaver.
did duanedeaver misrepresent himself to the jury? yes. reporter: and there it was. michael peterson s conviction was tossed out. his family was overwhelmed. i was weeping with joy and shock and could not believe that there was hope. i was like, my dad s getting out. we re gonna have our dad back. reporter: for the peterson children, now there was only joy. lots of hugs. lots of happy, happy photographs. so we re all, like, jumping up into the air in a silly picture of just so so happy. reporter: 24 hours after the judge issued his decision sharply criticizing the blood pattern expert s work on the case, 68-year-old michael peterson was released on a $300,000 bond. i imagine you remember the day, hour and date.