Was the staircase killer just a fall guy? It s the murder-mystery that inspired a TV genre - a novelist with a secret, his wife dead at the foot of the stairs, and a bizarre twist. As Colin Firth stars in a dramatised version, TOM LEONARD examines the tale
US novelist Michael Peterson was accused of murdering wife Kathleen in 2001
She was found in a pool of blood at foot of stairs of North Carolina family home
Within days, Peterson, then 58, had been charged with first-degree murder of his 48-year-old wife by prosecutors - leading to televised trial with twists and turns
Everything We Know About HBO Max s The Staircase
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Transcripts for MSNBC Dateline 20200914 06:44:15
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they said, my god, there was blood everywhere. and, well, no. there wasn t. the german police didn t see any blood. the german doctor didn t see any blood. the american military didn t see any blood. why didn t they see any blood? and if you saw all this blood, why didn t you say something at the time to someone? reporter: he is certain elizabeth ratliff died of a stroke. as for how his wife, kathleen, died years later, michael can t say for sure. but he thinks his first instinct was the right one. i guess maybe i m the last person to believe it. i think she fell down the stairs. i don t know. reporter: michael believes alcohol must have played a role in her fall, and even though her blood alcohol levels weren t off the charts, he says, there may have been another contributing factor. a few months before her death, she d suffered an injury diving into their swimming pool. and her doctor put her on several prescription meds. do you remember her being wobbly in the weeks that
cross-examination, even brad the escort said peterson had told him how much he loved his wife. in his e-mails unlike most of my clients he indicated that he had a great relationship. most clients don t want to say anything about the relationship. he indicated he had a warm relationship with his wife and nothing would ever destroy that. reporter: michael hadn t killed kathleen, the defense argued, and he certainly didn t kill family friend, elizabeth ratliff. they called their own medical expert who reviewed her autopsy reports and said it wasn t a murder. is blood in all of the ventricles of the brain consistent with a stroke from natural causes? it is consistent. reporter: then, there was the mount everest of the case the forensics, explaining to the jury all that blood in the peterson stairwell. the defense would call dr. henry lee to the stand. reporter: the defense called celebrity forensic expert dr. henry lee, of o.j. case fame, to show the jury in theatrical fash