means. i mean, you know, if he wasn't writing a book or had any royalties coming in, he had no income >> reporter: and, according to kathleen's sister, michael's dabble in local politics had brought even more stress to the marriage when he ran for mayor, he'd been called out publicly if a lie -- a whopper of one the war action novelist claimed to have been awarded a purple heart, only he hadn't. he got hurt, not by taking hills in vietnam, but in a car accident in japan. >> when it became public about his lies, it did cause kathleen these friendships. she had to decide whether to stand by michael or keep these friendships, and these friendships were lost. >> reporter: so if the true state of the petersons' marriage was murky, investigators thought the story told in blood was becoming clear not only was there more of it in the stairwell than detectives would expect to see with a fall, but according to emts, much of it was dry when they arrived >> so you have to wonder when

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