ingredients for a fatal confrontation. it got out of control, and michael peterson snapped. and he was the only one who could have done it, according to the prosecution. reporter: further evidence that michael attacked kathleen ferociously, the prosecution stated, was as clear as the spray of blood up the staircase walls. the amount of blood, the positioning of the blood, the location of the blood, it was overwhelming. in general terms, the greater the force, the smaller the drop. reporter: to take the jury vividly up the back stairs, the prosecution called the state s blood pattern expert, duane deaver. he told the jury with certainty that kathleen peterson had been beaten to death. he testified the droplet pattern high up the walls was just what you d expect to see with a weapon rising, striking, and casting off blood with each new blow. and i believe there is a minimum of four blows that have occurred in this, uh in this scene.
problems. i sensed it. i sensed the stress of that. reporter: and when investigators looked at the couple s credit reports they saw just what kathleen s sister candace feared. it was living above their means. i mean, you know, if he wasn t writing a book or had any royalties coming in, he had no income. reporter: and, according to kathleen s sister, michael s dabble in local politics had brought even more stress to the marriage. when he ran for mayor, he d been called out publicly if a lie a whopper of one. the war action novelist claimed to have been awarded a purple heart, only he hadn t. he got hurt, not by taking hills in vietnam, but in a car accident in japan. when it became public about his lies, it did cause kathleen these friendships. she had to decide whether to stand by michael or keep these friendships, and these friendships were lost. reporter: so if the true state of the petersons marriage was murky, investigators thought the story told in blood was becoming
agent deaver lied to this court and our jury not once or twice, but repeatedly. reporter: and with the peterson supporters holding their breath, the same judge who d presided over the murder trial now laid out his thinking point by point, rhetorical questions is a new trial required for newly discovered evidence, due process violations, and for perjured testimony? 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: twenty-four 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
having sex. reporter: the hookup never happened, but combine that with the other combustibles in the couple s life, the prosecution said, and you have all the ingredients for a fatal confrontation. it got out of control, and michael peterson snapped. and he was the only one who could have done it, according to the prosecution. reporter: further evidence that michael attacked kathleen ferociously, the prosecution stated, was as clear as the spray of blood up the staircase walls. the amount of blood, the positioning of the blood, the location of the blood, it was overwhelming. in general terms, the greater the force, the smaller the drop. reporter: to take the jury vividly up the back stairs, the prosecution called the state s blood pattern expert, duane deaver. he told the jury with certainty that kathleen peterson had been beaten to death. he testified the droplet pattern high up the walls was just what you d expect to see with a weapon rising, striking, and casting off b
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. reporter: but soon another bombshell, and this one would blow the fam