decades. here i have two women add socioiat socioiated ci . coming up.oiat soci for investigators a risky move. a lot of people were very antsy about that. will it pay off. her fingernail polish was still on. her dress perfectly in place. i m thinking my case is getting a whole lot better. when dateline continues.
it was remarkable. reporter: they were stunned. the body was practically intact. her fingernail polish was still on. her dress was still perfectly in place. reporter: the m.e. took a closer look at the injuries to elizabeth s head. she was finding lacerations, deep gouges in the scalp. seven of them. seven lacerations. you could black: it was amazing count them. it was uncanny. the lacerations were very similar to the ones that had been perpetrated upon kathleen peterson. and in her findings, she made a decision that ms. ratliff had been had been murdered. reporter: investigators thought they d hit pay dirt. in death, they thought kathleen peterson and elizabeth ratliff could have been twins. i m just thinking that, that my case is getting a whole lot better. reporter: kathleen s sister candace thought that peterson had killed both women. i have a better chance of being struck by lightning than finding two people who i intimately know at the bottom of
as the top was pried off elizabeth ratliff s coffin. it was so airtight it was hard to use the crank to get the casket to open. once it was raised you could see part of elizabeth ratliff s face and hair. it was remarkable. reporter: they were stunned. the body was practically intact. her fingernail polish was still on. her dress was still perfectly in place. reporter: the m.e. took a closer look at the injuries to elizabeth s head. she was finding lacerations, deep gouges in the scalp. seven of them. seven lacerations. you could black: it was amazing count them. it was uncanny. the lacerations were very similar to the ones that had been perpetrated upon kathleen peterson. and in her findings, she made a decision that ms. ratliff had been had been murdered. reporter: investigators thought they d hit pay dirt. in death, they thought kathleen peterson and elizabeth ratliff could have been twins.
what happened to liz reporter: but any questions regarding foul play in elizabeth ratliff s death were laid to rest by the results of an autopsy performed at the u.s. military hospital in germany elizabeth died, the examiner said, from a brain hemorrhage, natural causes so the story lay buried for nearly two decades but when detective art holland heard it, his head spun. i was overwhelmed with, you know, here i have two women that appeared to die the same way two women that are associated with michael peterson. reporter: detectives wanted to dig a little deeper. what would they find coming up for investigators, a risky move. a lot of people were very antsy about that will it pay off her fingernail polish was still on i m just thinking that my case is getting a whole lot better
it was so airtight it was hard to use the crank to get the casket to open once it was raised you could see part of elizabeth ratliff s face and hair it was remarkable. reporter: they were stunned the body was practically intact. her fingernail polish was still on her dress was still perfectly in place. reporter: the m.e. took a closer look at the injuries to elizabeth s head she was finding lacerations, deep gouges in the scalp seven of them. seven lacerations you could black: it was amazing count them. it was uncanny. the lacerations were very similar to the ones that had been perpetrated upon kathleen peterson and in her findings, she made a decision that ms. ratliff had been had been murdered. reporter: investigators thought they d hit pay dirt in death, they thought kathleen peterson and elizabeth ratliff could have been twins i m just thinking that, that my case is getting a whole lot