amybeth thought a full-fledged investigation would ensue. but, as she tells it, michael peterson spoke to the authorities that day, relating that elizabeth had a hereditary bleeding disorder. perhaps she d had a stroke and fallen down the stairs. the questions amybeth expected to be asked never were. i wondered, you know, why aren t they talking to people? why aren t they asking questions? no one did. later that day, michael peterson phoned elizabeth ratliff s family in the u.s. with the dreadful news. margaret blair is elizabeth s sister. he said um margaret, there s been an accident. liz fell down the stairs and died. what are you saying? i just totally went numb. i mean, my sister. he s saying she died. she s young. she s got two beautiful little children. babies, really. those baby girls? they are martha and margaret. michael took custody of the girls after the accident in germany. and then michael, along with his first wife patty, and then later
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.
amy beth thought a full-fledged investigation would ensue. but as she tells it, michael peterson spoke to the authorities that day, relating that elizabeth had a hereditary bleeding disorder. perhaps she had had a stroke and fallen down the stairs. the questions amy beth expected to be asked never were. i wondered why aren t they talking to people. why aren t they asking questions. no one did. later that day, michael peterson phoned elizabeth ratliff s family in the u.s. with the terrible news. margaret blair is elizabeth s sister. he said margaret there s been an accident. liz fell down the stairs and died. what are you saying? i went numb. my sister, he s saying my sister, she died. she s young, she s got two beautiful little children, babies, really. those baby girls are martha and margaret. michael took custody of the girls after the accident in germany. and then michael, along with his first wife patty and later with
family friend elizabeth ratliff. investigators now suspected 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. margaret blair had come to accept michael peterson s explanation of his first wife s death years before. i believed what i was told about the cerebral hemorrhage and 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 to elizabeth s old friends from germany. when i talked to her friends i found out that blood had been
it s obvious that she was either running from someone or trying to escape. reporter: amybeth thought a full-fledged investigation would ensue. but, as she tells it, michael peterson spoke to the authorities that day, relating that elizabeth had a hereditary bleeding disorder. perhaps she d had a stroke and fallen down the stairs. the questions amybeth expected to be asked never were. i wondered, you know, why aren t they talking to people? why aren t they asking questions? no one did. reporter: later that day, michael peterson phoned elizabeth ratliff s family in the u.s. with the dreadful news. margaret blair is elizabeth s sister. he said um margaret, there s been an accident. liz fell down the stairs and died. what are you saying? i just totally went numb. i mean, my sister. he s saying she died. she s young. she s got two beautiful little children. babies, really. reporter: those baby girls? they are martha and margaret. michael took custody of the girls after the a