i ve gotta get ready. i gotta go to sleep be because the conference is first thing in the morning. so she gets up from the pool and goes, i ll see you later. reporter: an hour went by. maybe two. michael says he may have dozed off. when he went back inside the house sometime after 2:00 a.m., there was kathleen at the bottom of the stairs. a ghastly sight. and i saw her lying in the back staircase. her feet out. and there was blood. there was just blood everywhere. my wife s had an accident. she s still breathing. what kind of accident? she fell down the stairs. reporter: was she breathing? she was at the time. reporter: she was? yeah. is she conscious? what? is she conscious? no, she s not conscious. i knew she was dying. i mean, i d seen enough of that in vietnam. i mean, i knew she was dying. please, get somebody here
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? reporter: was the writer of fiction, making up yet another story, covering up murder as an accident? but, if kathleen was bludgeoned to death as prosecutors thought, problem. investigators hadn t found the murder weapon. prosecutors believed it was a hollow fireplace tool called a blow poke, seen here in family photographs. it had been given to kathleen by her sister, candace, as a gift. i d given it to her about ten years prior. that s for sure. and that thanksgiving when i was at her house, the i definitely saw it by the fireplace. reporter: prosecutors thought peterson had ferreted the blow poke out of the house that night after the attack. if he had, that could explain those blood drops on the walkway. blood dropping from the murder weapon, as it was
reporter: they processed the scene, photographing the stairwell, documenting the pool of blood and spray up the wall. outside, drops on the walkway and a smear on the front door. in the kitchen, blood stains on a cabinet, and underneath, a drop of blood on the counter. and right beside it, an opened wine bottle and two glasses. it was, you know, very, very time consuming. you don t want to, you know, go through it real speedy. you want to make sure that you cross all your ts and dot all your is. reporter: it would take investigators a couple of days to go through the 9,000 square foot estate. while they did, michael and the kids took refuge at a neighbor s house. just spent most of the time in bed then margaret came in, martha, caitlin, everybody flew in, everybody. reporter: he says from the moment the police arrived at the house, they were aggressive towards him and his family. but even in his haze of shock and grief, peterson says, he
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stairwell, documenting the pool of blood and spray up the wall. outside, drops on the walkway and a smear on the front door. in the kitchen, blood stains on a cabinet, and underneath, a drop of blood on the counter. and right beside it, an opened wine bottle and two glasses. it wa you kw, vy, very time consuming. you don t want to, you know, go through it real speedy. you want to make sure that you cross all your ts and dot all your is. reporter: it would take investigators a couple of days to go through the 9,000 square foot estate. while they did, michael and the kids took refuge at a neighbor s house. just spent most of the time in bed then margaret came in, martha, caitlin, everybody flew in, everybody. reporter: he says from the moment the police arrived at the house, they were aggressive towards him and his family. but even in his haze of shock and grief, peterson says, he thought he knew why. i had written some really negative comments.