Is it possible that people can commit complex crimes - even murder - while they are sleepwalking? The Blow Poke Returns. Falling down the stairs is also unlikely as they look too large to cause lacerations that thin. The question is how she received these. A pine needle was found at the scene where they may have been transferred from the owl to her hair as it attacked her. Michael Peterson also said Kathleen Peterson was still breathing when he found her yet it later turned out she had been dead for hours. There are multiple coincidences here; both were found at the bottom of a set of stairs, Peterson received money from both and was in-charge of both of their estates, both looked very similar to each-other, both supposedly left lots of blood on the walls when they died and Peterson was the last person they saw before they died. According to the outlet, Peterson said in 2006, "We lived together for 14 years, and we were happy every one of those years.". The Puncture wounds found on the face and arms of Kathleen Peterson are all of around the same size so it would be difficult to inflict those injuries, it’s most likely to be the owls beak as the wounds were all the same size. Supposedly there was an injury he picked up through military action and he was given two purple hearts as a result. Esquire participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. A Prosecution Trickery “Kathleen’s head injuries are not consistent with her having been beaten by a blunt object or on a stair, as she had no brain injury or swelling, no subdural hematoma, and no skull fracture”. No motion for a new trial was filed. Reasons to commit a crime are not proof thats someone committed a crime. It could be that he was trying to find out about a famous murder case where someone was given a not guilty verdict. A dozen years ago, novelist Michael Peterson's wife Kathleen was found at the bottom of a staircase in the couple's Durham, N.C., mansion. They were also not poor and had a net worth of $2 million so they could have paid off the debts. An owl spots the reindeer and dives for them at speed, mistaking them for small animals like the ones by the pool. She probably then briefly woke up and felt her head at which point her hair was easily pulled out, it may have also been pulled out due to pain. This may explain some of the washed away blood on the staircase rather than being an attempt by Michael to wash it away. Was it a murder or an accident? It is obvious, Jean-Xavier de Lestrade only shot his film from that one, distorted angle. These could have been caused in multiple ways; either through her head hitting stairs, the skirting board at the bottom of the stairs, the stair lift, the owl’s talons striking across her head at speed when it initially landed or a murder weapon similar to the blow poke. Had I not known about the owl theory and I had to judge this then I’m not sure how I would have voted. Kathleen suffered possible strangulation injuries. In book “Kids in … The Verdict. The staircase Kathleen was found at the foot of consisted of 19 steps. Even if he grabbed her by her hair with his hands and then hit her head against the stairs it’s unlikely this would have caused marks that thin or would have not fractured her skull. Kathleen's sister, Candace Zamperini, allegedly yelled at Peterson during the trial. The male witness seemingly wanted to dominate the interviews and interject the ‘correct’ information. This could have been when Kathleen Peterson walked back into the kitchen disorientated after being attacked by the owl. But when Detective Art Holland of the Durham police arrived at their home, the scene immediately struck him as suspicious: Kathleen was "splayed out on the floor, her head resting on the landing of a back staircase," according to NBC. This occurred after the police removed the barriers blocking the exit, which … "But I would hate to risk my client’s life or future on that argument.". My opinion of this documentary is quite low. The prosecution is very good at establishing motive with money worries, Michael Peterson’s lies, his homosexual relations and the O. J. Simpson notebook that wasn’t really used much. Clayton had credit card debts and he was almost sent to prison for planting a small bomb. Here's what to know about Peterson, his family, and his murder trial. The owl theory can do what no other theory really does, it can explain the trident marks. Instead, he claimed an owl was to blame. Blood was also on the front door frame and just before the front door. James Jordan's Death Caused Mass Speculation, Netflix's Newest Must-Binge Series Is a 10-Part True Crime Saga. A footprint from Michael Peterson’s trainer was found on the back of Kathleen Peterson. There were flip-flops by the stairs but not on Kathleen Peterson’s feet. Finally she tries to go up the stairs wearing only sandals and possibly slightly tipsy. It could have also have been simply picked up as she walked to the house. Interestingly enough Henry Lee who was on the O.J. " Death on the Staircase is also a story of exclusion, of segregation, but of another kind. It swoops down and becomes entangled in her hair locking its talons, only being set free after it ripped away a lot of the skin and had left a microscopic owl feather in her hair. Red Neurons meant that “2 to 4 to 6” hours before she died, Kathleen Peterson was being starved of oxygen. It was released on 14. Simpson notebook. All episodes of Death on the Staircase. Extreme Sleepwalking. It became a show, almost as if this was some kind of murder mystery. Former District Attorney Judge Jim Hardin told NBC she was there for around two hours. He phones 911 after about fifteen minutes to an hour of panic and the emergency services arrive. "I said, 'Are you aware that the same thing happened to Margaret and Martha’s mother and Michael Peterson was the last one to be with her?'" Due to the simple nature of the cuts it’s hard to pin it on a specific thing. The Staircase: The Murder of Kathleen Peterson (True Crime Murder & Mayhem) - Kindle edition by Parker, RJ, Designs, Aeternum. Also, many of [the analyst]'s tests appeared to be used to confirm a theory rather than sort through the evidence for the most likely scenario.". "You brutally took the life of a woman who provided for you, guarded your children, she loved you!". David Rudolf, the defence lawyer for Michael Peterson, also seems to agree that an owl was the most likely cause of Kathleen Peterson’s death. Kathleen Peterson opened an email at around midnight, Michael Peterson supposedly logged onto his computer and mumbled about emails after Kathleen Peterson was found dead, Kathleen’s head injuries are not consistent with her having been beaten by a blunt object or on a stair, as she had no brain injury or swelling, no subdural hematoma, and no skull fracture, front door frame and just before the front door, Peterson received money from both and was in-charge of both of their estates, both supposedly left lots of blood on the walls, Peterson was the last person they saw before they died, managed to slice the back of his head, causing heavy bleeding, the owls nested just next to the Peterson house, back right corner of her head which is where 90% of owl strikes occur, agree that an owl was the most likely cause of Kathleen Peterson’s death, 4 Unsolved True Crime Cases to Keep You Up at Night, Samuel Little: America’s Deadliest Serial Killer, I Was Pulled Over By CHP Killer Craig Peyer and Lived, The Unexplained Disappearance and Deaths of Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon in the Jungles of Panama. I will start off with the Netflix documentary “the staircase” which is where I first found out about this case. In 2001, author Michael Peterson was arraigned for the murder of his wife Kathleen, whose body was discovered lying in a pool of blood on the stairway of their home. There are a number of coincidences here; the cuts have the same number of lacerations extending out from the centre as the number of talons an owl has, the same number of feet as an owl and they look about the right size for an owl. The fact is this evidence relies on fatal falls down staircases being rare when they are infact not uncommon. As a reason for murder it seems unlikely. At the end of this I feel the owl theory is by far the most convincing theory for how Kathleen Peterson was killed. She was there for around an hour until Michael Peterson walks in to find her. The issue is one of his books was being turned into a movie which does bring the idea that financial difficulties pushed him to murder into question when he was actually getting his own inflow of cash. Reactions to the verdict of the Michael Peterson murder trial from the District Attorney, the defense team, and the filmmaker who documented the proceedings. There is no point in being innocent if innocence doesn’t stop you from being imprisoned. If we don’t side with innocence and we accidentally lock innocent people up then the justice system will become less and less effective. In the end however, the money didn’t go to Michael Peterson, just to her first husband and her daughter Caitlin. In 1987, the family moved in together, according to NBC. Granted unusual access to Peterson's lawyers, … One of the prosecutors who tried the infamous 2001 North Carolina killing featured in The Staircase documentary series has died. According to WRAL, attorney Lawrence Pollard filed a new motion in Superior Court in 2009 that stated: "Thus, it is new and compelling evidence, and probably the single most important piece of evidence found so far in this case, because it connects the attack by a bird with the victim, and it is held in the victim's hand." We will never know how Kathleen Peterson died and there are still multiple theories surrounding it. This content is imported from YouTube. It means nothing. It may have been a fall down the stairs, an intruder, Michael Peterson himself or an owl may have attacked her along with later falling down the stairs. Michael Peterson phones 911 twice with a gap of around six minutes. The issue for the prosecution here however is that David Rudolf who was part of Michael Peterson’s defense team claimed that the police had already found it. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. She was attacked, started bleeding, ran indoors and slipped on the blood coming from her wound. On the insides of Michael Peterson’s shorts there was blood. The original prosecution said a weapon was used however it’s unclear what kind of weapon would cause this kind of injury. A series gets an Average Tomatometer when at least 50 percent of its seasons have a score. In Part 3, the defense team discovers that the death of a woman from their client's past is similar to Kathleen's death. It’s possible he may not have as she was behind the water fountain and most likely out of sight. An autopsy at the time of her death concluded Ratliff died from an intra-cerebral haemorrhage secondary to the blood coagulation disorder Von Willebrand's disease, based on blood in her cerebrospinal fluid and reports that she had been suffering severe, persistent headaches in the weeks leading up to her death. There were also reports that he was seen coming away from her house. Prosecutors said they hoped the plea brought "a measure of justice" to Kathleen’s family. The ME determined that Kathleen had been bludgeoned to death and suffered seven deep lacerations on the scalp. The Stairs of Death at Mauthausen concentration camp, then and now. In fact, a medical examiner later determined that her blood alcohol content was so low she would have passed a breathalyzer test if she'd taken one. There is an average of over 513,000,000 stairway ascents or descents for every death that occurs. The evening before she died, Peterson had been at her house, helping put her daughters, Margaret and Martha, to bed, according to NBC. Fifty-seven-year-old Laurie Wolfe was found dead at the bottom of a staircase in Oakland, California in July 2014. However this may be more bearable with the effect that alcohol has to make people feel warmer. In 2001, Kathleen Peterson was found dead at the bottom of the stairs in the North Carolina home she shared with her husband, the novelist Michael Peterson. With Caitlin Atwater, Freda Black, Bettye Blackwell, Lori Campell. The bonus story, Abducted: The Minivan Murders, covers the crimes of James Daveggio and Michele Michaud. There have been numerous threads about this case. This means that while he maintains that he is innocence he admits that the evidence would be sufficient to convince a jury that he is guilty. Except Kathleen's fingerprints weren't on either glass. On Sunday, December 9, 2001, Kathleen was found dead at the bottom of a staircase in her Durham mansion. Not long after Kathleen's body was found, Peterson, the prime suspect, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. It’s unclear whether she knew about his affairs but if she didn’t and threatened to break up with him then it may have caused him to worry about how he would survive financially. Peterson, now a grandfather of two, lives in a 1,200-square-foot two-bedroom condo. Death on the Staircase. To set off the series of events there are a number of things to take into consideration. It could have been kicking Kathleen Peterson down the stairs or it could have also been Michael Peterson running towards Kathleen Peterson and slipping on the blood around her. Before Peterson met Kathleen in 1986, he lived in Germany with his first wife Patricia Peterson, an elementary school teacher at an American military base there, according to People. Many of those have been by and large created by and populated by people who merely watched the documentary The Staircase. Is there reasonable doubt here, absolutely. He phoned twice that night and when emergency services arrived at the house Kathleen was dead. It could have also come from being hit by Michael Peterson. And I immediately thought—'a permanent sleepover!'" 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