and the army taught me a lot about commitment. which i apply to my life and my work. at comcast we re commited to delivering the best experience possible, by being on time everytime. and if we are ever late, we ll give you a automatic twenty dollar credit. my name is antonio and i m a technician at comcast. we re working to make things simple, easy and awesome. michael peterson told us he d come upon the unimaginable. his wife, kathleen, at the bottom of their back staircase, covered in blood. emts saw michael cradling his wife, weeping so hard, he had to be pulled away. that was the worst. i mean, that was worse than anything in in war, anything, anything,
michael peterson says he was certain that his wife, kathleen s death had been a terrible accident. a slip and fall down their back staircase after a night of drinking. but as days passed, he started to realize that not only did police think kathleen s death was a case of murder, but also that he was the prime suspect. well, that s just nonsense, and i wasn t worried because when you re innocent, well, nothing can happen. but it was hardly nonsense to detective holland of the durham police department. from the start, he was investigating not an accident but what he believed was a suspicious death. and there were good reasons, he felt, to take a close look at michael peterson. reasons, he says, that had nothing to do with peterson s very public criticism of the police. he may have had some issues
the emotion, the tension, the anger, all of it was still there. how does mr. peterson plead to charge of voluntary manslaughter? he enters a plea of guilty pursuant to alford. mr. peterson you re pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter. that s a class d felony. do you understand, sir? yes, sir. and do you now personally plead guilty pursuant to the alford case? yes, sir. that s was the most difficult decision i ever made in my life was to take the alford plea. and that s gonna give kathleen s family an opportunity for what they call the victim impact statement right. michael peterson you are pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter. you will be treated as guilty for murdering my sister kathleen. and you will be a convicted felon forever. it was very cathartic to say, ahh, this is what i fought for. we weren t quitting until we heard the word guilty.
investigates on suspect michael may have been responsible for both deaths and in the search for evidence they were about to exhume elizabeth s body. could the old case shed new light? continuing with our story, here s dennis murphy. as time went by, margaret blair had come to accept michael peterson s explanation of her sister s death years before, a tumble down the stairs in a german townhouse. i just believed what i was told about the cerebral hemorrhage and, you know, i m presuming that a doctor had, you know, made this diagnosis. but when she learned that kathleen had also been found dead at the bottom of a staircase, margaret began wondering anew about how her sister died. she started reaching out elizabeth s old friends from germany. when i talked to her friends, i found out that blood had been dripping down the walls. well, that doesn t happen when you have a cerebral hemorrhage. authorities in north carolina were thinking the same thing.
and it was a gigantic wedding. it was in the house. and there must have been 150 people there. and it was just wonderful. i always thought, you know, this is what i ll register as the happiest day of my life. kathleen s younger sister candace, says kathleen was over the moon, as well. she was thrilled to be marrying michael. all three girls were bridesmaids in her wedding. the day they married, my sister glowed. and candace watched in amazement as, over the next several years, kathleen did it all. not only did she raise these children and have a quite accomplished corporate career, oh, dinner for 50? she d do it. and so it was on that mild december evening 2001, with kathleen juggling it all. she d been preparing for the holidays, while fending off the latest crisis at work. michael says she made dinner. they sat down to watch a movie. then, headed out back to enjoy a midnight glass of wine.