1 00:00:16,116 --> 00:00:20,220 Man: IT BECAME A CIRCUS, BECAME ENTERTAINMENT. 2 00:00:20,220 --> 00:00:22,822 JUSTICE WAS LOST, KATHLEEN WAS LOST. 3 00:00:22,822 --> 00:00:25,792 IT ALL BECAME A MATTER OF WARRING SIDES, 4 00:00:25,792 --> 00:00:28,361 WHO’S GONNA WIN THIS THING. 5 00:00:28,361 --> 00:00:30,330 AND THAT’S WHAT THESE THINGS TURN INTO, 6 00:00:30,330 --> 00:00:33,600 THEY BECOME ENTERTAINMENT. 7 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:35,702 Narrator: IT’S ONE OF THE MOST CHILLING TALES 8 00:00:35,702 --> 00:00:37,303 IN AMERICAN HISTORY. 9 00:00:37,303 --> 00:00:40,840 I WOULD NEVER HAVE DONE ANYTHING TO HURT HER. 10 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:43,743 I AM INNOCENT OF THESE CHARGES 11 00:00:43,743 --> 00:00:45,712 AND WE WILL PROVE IT IN COURT. 12 00:00:45,712 --> 00:00:49,249 Fanning: IT WAS A BATTLE THAT HAD HIGH STAKES, 13 00:00:49,249 --> 00:00:52,419 AND THOSE STAKES WERE MICHAEL PETERSON’S LIFE. 14 00:00:52,419 --> 00:00:55,588 Narrator: IN THE SECOND HOUR OF OUR 3-PART INVESTIGATION, 15 00:00:55,588 --> 00:00:58,758 A 16-YEAR-OLD SECRET IS UNEARTHED. 16 00:00:58,758 --> 00:01:00,527 Gasparoli: WHO IS VERY CLOSE TO TWO WOMEN 17 00:01:00,527 --> 00:01:01,895 WHO DIED AT THE BOTTOM OF STAIRS? 18 00:01:01,895 --> 00:01:04,931 I DON’T KNOW, NOBODY, EXCEPT MICHAEL PETERSON. 19 00:01:04,931 --> 00:01:08,101 Hardin Jr.: THERE IS NO WAY THIS IS A COINCIDENCE. 20 00:01:08,101 --> 00:01:09,803 YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. 21 00:01:09,803 --> 00:01:11,404 Narrator: THE PROSECUTION BEGINS 22 00:01:11,404 --> 00:01:13,406 TO BUILD THEIR CASE. 23 00:01:13,406 --> 00:01:15,909 Dimond: JURORS COULDN’T BELIEVE WHAT THEY WERE LOOKING AT, 24 00:01:15,909 --> 00:01:18,912 AND SOME OF THEM JUST LOOKED AWAY IN HORROR. 25 00:01:18,912 --> 00:01:20,647 Narrator: AN UNEXPECTED WITNESS 26 00:01:20,647 --> 00:01:22,615 IS THRUST INTO THE SPOTLIGHT. 27 00:01:22,615 --> 00:01:25,318 Black: WHAT TYPES OF SERVICES DID YOU PERFORM? 28 00:01:25,318 --> 00:01:27,720 OH, WELL, THAT’S PRETTY BROAD. 29 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:30,223 YOU’RE CHEATING ON MY SISTER WITH MEN? 30 00:01:30,223 --> 00:01:31,558 Narrator: THE DEFENSE DISCOVERS 31 00:01:31,558 --> 00:01:34,694 STUNNING INVESTIGATIVE MISCONDUCT. 32 00:01:34,694 --> 00:01:38,398 WHAT?! THAT’S WHAT THEY CALL EXCULPATORY EVIDENCE. 33 00:01:38,398 --> 00:01:40,967 Karas: IF THE JUDGE STRIKES DUANE DEAVER’S TESTIMONY, 34 00:01:40,967 --> 00:01:44,003 THE PROSECUTION’S CASE IS GONNA FALL APART. 35 00:01:44,003 --> 00:01:46,773 Narrator: AND LATER, A NEW AND SURPRISING THEORY 36 00:01:46,773 --> 00:01:48,374 IS HATCHED. 37 00:01:48,374 --> 00:01:52,312 BAM, SHE GETS HIT. BACK RIGHT CORNER OF THE HEAD. 38 00:01:52,312 --> 00:01:53,880 IF IT WAS DONE BY A BIRD, 39 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:56,683 IT DOESN’T MEET THE DEFINITION OF A HOMICIDE. 40 00:01:56,683 --> 00:01:58,451 -- Captions by VITAC -- www.vitac.com 41 00:01:58,451 --> 00:02:00,487 CAPTIONS PAID FOR BY DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS 42 00:02:00,487 --> 00:02:05,391 Peterson: THERE’S THIS BACK STAIRCASE AND THAT’S -- 43 00:02:05,391 --> 00:02:09,095 WELL, THAT’S WHERE EVERYTHING BOTH BEGINS AND ENDS. 44 00:02:09,095 --> 00:02:11,498 Gasparoli: MICHAEL PETERSON -- HE’S A CLEAR THINKER. 45 00:02:11,498 --> 00:02:13,466 HE KNOWS HOW TO HOLD AN AUDIENCE. 46 00:02:13,466 --> 00:02:14,934 Karas: HE CLAIMS HER DEATH 47 00:02:14,934 --> 00:02:18,071 IS FROM AN ACCIDENTAL FALL DOWN THE STAIRS. 48 00:02:18,071 --> 00:02:20,907 Dimond: THERE ARE SEVEN DEEP LACERATIONS 49 00:02:20,907 --> 00:02:22,876 IN THE BACK OF HER SKULL. 50 00:02:22,876 --> 00:02:24,577 Gasparoli: MUCH OF THE PHYSICAL EVIDENCE RIGHT AWAY 51 00:02:24,577 --> 00:02:27,280 DID NOT MAKE A LOT OF SENSE. 52 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:29,916 Dimond: THE MEDIA WERE RIVETED BY THIS CASE. 53 00:02:29,916 --> 00:02:31,918 Fanning: SHE THINKS SHE KNOWS THE WEAPON 54 00:02:31,918 --> 00:02:34,420 THAT WAS USED TO KILL HER SISTER. 55 00:02:34,420 --> 00:02:37,891 Dimond: WHAT MAKES YOU THINK IT’S A CRIME, HUH? 56 00:02:37,891 --> 00:02:42,128 Fanning: LIGHTNING JUST DOESN’T STRIKE TWICE. 57 00:02:42,128 --> 00:02:44,130 Peterson: I DON’T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED, 58 00:02:44,130 --> 00:02:46,399 BUT I KNOW THAT I DIDN’T KILL KATHLEEN. 59 00:02:46,399 --> 00:02:47,634 I LOVED HER. 60 00:02:50,003 --> 00:02:53,473 Narrator: ON DECEMBER 9, 2001, 61 00:02:53,473 --> 00:02:57,177 TELECOMMUNICATIONS EXECUTIVE KATHLEEN PETERSON 62 00:02:57,177 --> 00:03:01,347 IS FOUND DEAD AT THE BOTTOM OF HER STAIRS. 63 00:03:01,347 --> 00:03:05,218 THERE WAS BLOOD EVERYWHERE. 64 00:03:05,218 --> 00:03:08,021 THERE WAS BLOOD ON THE WALLS. 65 00:03:08,021 --> 00:03:10,390 THERE WAS BLOOD ON THE STAIRWAY. 66 00:03:10,390 --> 00:03:13,826 IT WAS A HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE SCENE. 67 00:03:13,826 --> 00:03:16,763 Narrator: 11 DAYS LATER, HER NOVELIST HUSBAND, 68 00:03:16,763 --> 00:03:22,302 MICHAEL PETERSON, IS CHARGED WITH FIRST-DEGREE MURDER. 69 00:03:22,302 --> 00:03:25,038 THE MEDIA WERE RIVETED BY THIS CASE. 70 00:03:25,038 --> 00:03:27,173 THIS WAS A COUPLE THAT WAS VERY WELL THOUGHT OF 71 00:03:27,173 --> 00:03:28,808 IN DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA. 72 00:03:28,808 --> 00:03:30,610 THEY WERE THE CREAM OF SOCIETY, 73 00:03:30,610 --> 00:03:34,380 SO TO THINK THAT THEY WOULD BE INVOLVED IN A MURDER? 74 00:03:34,380 --> 00:03:37,483 IT WAS TOO GOOD TO PASS UP. 75 00:03:37,483 --> 00:03:39,852 Karas: THE STORY GAINS NATIONAL ATTENTION 76 00:03:39,852 --> 00:03:43,423 AS HE CLAIMS HER DEATH IS FROM AN ACCIDENTAL FALL 77 00:03:43,423 --> 00:03:45,692 DOWN THE STAIRS. 78 00:03:45,692 --> 00:03:47,360 Dimond: ALL FOUR OF THE PETERSON CHILDREN 79 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:50,330 FIRMLY SUPPORTED THEIR FATHER’S INNOCENCE, 80 00:03:50,330 --> 00:03:54,334 BUT CAITLYN, THE BIOLOGICAL DAUGHTER OF KATHLEEN, 81 00:03:54,334 --> 00:03:56,703 AND KATHLEEN’S SISTER CANDACE, 82 00:03:56,703 --> 00:03:59,672 WELL, THAT WAS ANOTHER STORY. 83 00:03:59,672 --> 00:04:01,107 Karas: IF CONVICTED, MICHAEL PETERSON 84 00:04:01,107 --> 00:04:04,410 FACES LIFE IN PRISON WITHOUT PAROLE. 85 00:04:06,579 --> 00:04:11,084 Narrator: WEEKS LATER, THE CASE TAKES ANOTHER BIZARRE TURN. 86 00:04:11,084 --> 00:04:13,052 Karas: NOT LONG AFTER KATHLEEN’S DEATH, 87 00:04:13,052 --> 00:04:15,188 DETECTIVE ART HOLLAND RECEIVES A TIP 88 00:04:15,188 --> 00:04:17,490 FROM A WOMAN NAMED MARGARET BLAIR, 89 00:04:17,490 --> 00:04:18,658 WHO’S THE AUNT 90 00:04:18,658 --> 00:04:21,761 OF MICHAEL PETERSON’S ADOPTED DAUGHTERS. 91 00:04:21,761 --> 00:04:24,897 MARGARET EXPLAINS THAT HER SISTER ELIZABETH RATLIFF 92 00:04:24,897 --> 00:04:27,834 TRAGICALLY DIED 17 YEARS EARLIER, 93 00:04:27,834 --> 00:04:29,869 AND THERE’S INFORMATION ABOUT HER DEATH 94 00:04:29,869 --> 00:04:33,740 THAT SHE DESPERATELY WANTS TO SHARE. 95 00:04:33,740 --> 00:04:36,042 SHE SAID, "THIS IS VERY UNUSUAL, 96 00:04:36,042 --> 00:04:37,744 AND YOU NEED TO LOOK INTO THIS." 97 00:04:37,744 --> 00:04:40,813 AND SO IT WAS LIKE, "GOLLY." 98 00:04:40,813 --> 00:04:43,349 Narrator: DETECTIVE HOLLAND TAKES IN THE STORY 99 00:04:43,349 --> 00:04:46,686 THAT FUNDAMENTALLY ALTERS PETERSON’S CASE. 100 00:04:46,686 --> 00:04:50,056 IT BEGINS NEARLY 20 YEARS AGO IN GERMANY. 101 00:04:50,056 --> 00:04:53,226 Dimond: IN THE 1980’s, ELIZABETH RATLIFF, AN AMERICAN, 102 00:04:53,226 --> 00:04:55,028 IS LIVING IN GRAFENHAUSEN, GERMANY, 103 00:04:55,028 --> 00:04:57,563 WITH HER HUSBAND AND TWO YOUNG DAUGHTERS, 104 00:04:57,563 --> 00:04:59,632 MARTHA AND MARGARET. 105 00:04:59,632 --> 00:05:03,269 THERE SHE MEETS ANOTHER AMERICAN FAMILY, THE PETERSONS. 106 00:05:03,269 --> 00:05:05,905 MICHAEL AND HIS FIRST WIFE, PATTY, 107 00:05:05,905 --> 00:05:07,774 AND THEIR TWO YOUNG SONS. 108 00:05:07,774 --> 00:05:09,876 Fanning: MICHAEL WAS WORKING ON BOOKS, 109 00:05:09,876 --> 00:05:14,947 AND PATTY HAD A JOB WORKING AT A MILITARY BASE 110 00:05:14,947 --> 00:05:18,251 IN GERMANY AS A TEACHER. 111 00:05:18,251 --> 00:05:22,355 LIZ RATLIFF WAS A TEACHER IN THE SAME SCHOOL AS PATTY. 112 00:05:22,355 --> 00:05:24,557 THEY GOT TO KNOW EACH OTHER. 113 00:05:24,557 --> 00:05:26,459 THEY BECOME FRIENDS, VERY GOOD FRIENDS, 114 00:05:26,459 --> 00:05:27,894 AND LIZ GETS TO KNOW MIKE, 115 00:05:27,894 --> 00:05:30,196 AND THEY BECOME VERY CLOSE FRIENDS, TOO. 116 00:05:33,733 --> 00:05:37,270 Narrator: THEN IN 1983, TRAGEDY STRIKES 117 00:05:37,270 --> 00:05:41,407 WHEN LIZ’S HUSBAND, GEORGE, DIES IN A MILITARY EXERCISE. 118 00:05:41,741 --> 00:05:45,578 THE LOSS LEAVES THE YOUNG MOTHER REELING. 119 00:05:45,578 --> 00:05:47,347 WHEN HER HUSBAND DIED, SHE WAS LEFT 120 00:05:47,347 --> 00:05:49,882 WITH SOLE CARE FOR THESE CHILDREN, 121 00:05:49,882 --> 00:05:52,251 LITTLE MARGARET AND MARTHA. 122 00:05:52,251 --> 00:05:54,387 IT WAS A LOT OF RESPONSIBILITY 123 00:05:54,387 --> 00:05:56,389 FOR SOMEONE WHO THOUGHT SHE’D HAVE A PARTNER 124 00:05:56,389 --> 00:05:58,524 BY HER SIDE FOR LIFE. 125 00:05:58,524 --> 00:06:01,461 LIZ RATLIFF IS ENCOURAGED BY THE PETERSONS 126 00:06:01,461 --> 00:06:03,763 TO MOVE AND TO BRING HER TWO YOUNG CHILDREN 127 00:06:03,763 --> 00:06:07,100 AND LIVE IN THE HOUSE NEXT DOOR TO THEM. 128 00:06:07,100 --> 00:06:10,536 Fanning: MICHAEL WAS THE CLOSEST THING SHE HAD 129 00:06:10,536 --> 00:06:12,472 TO A MAN IN HER LIFE. 130 00:06:12,472 --> 00:06:15,041 THEY WEREN’T INVOLVED AT ALL ROMANTICALLY, 131 00:06:15,041 --> 00:06:18,077 BUT SHE SOUGHT HIS ADVICE AND ASKED 132 00:06:18,077 --> 00:06:20,613 FOR HIS HELP TO MANAGE FINANCES 133 00:06:20,613 --> 00:06:22,882 BECAUSE IT WAS SOMETHING THAT HER HUSBAND HAD DONE 134 00:06:22,882 --> 00:06:25,418 AND SHE JUST WASN’T FAMILIAR WITH IT 135 00:06:25,418 --> 00:06:27,019 AND MICHAEL WAS THERE. 136 00:06:29,655 --> 00:06:32,625 Narrator: BUT IN THE FALL OF 1985, 137 00:06:32,625 --> 00:06:36,095 THE FAMILIES’ LIVES ARE FOREVER CHANGED. 138 00:06:36,095 --> 00:06:38,197 Dimond: ON THE EVENING OF NOVEMBER 24th, 139 00:06:38,197 --> 00:06:39,832 LIZ AND HER TWO YOUNG DAUGHTERS 140 00:06:39,832 --> 00:06:43,403 ENJOYED A FAMILY DINNER AT THE PETERSONS’ HOME. 141 00:06:43,403 --> 00:06:46,806 AND AFTERWARD, MICHAEL PETERSON WALKED HER HOME. 142 00:06:46,806 --> 00:06:48,207 Fanning: IT WAS A VERY SHORT WALK 143 00:06:48,207 --> 00:06:49,575 ’CAUSE THEY WERE JUST CATTY-CORNER 144 00:06:49,575 --> 00:06:51,377 ACROSS THE STREET. 145 00:06:51,377 --> 00:06:53,613 Narrator: THE NEXT MORNING AT 7:15, 146 00:06:53,613 --> 00:06:55,815 LIZ’S NANNY, BARBARA, ARRIVES 147 00:06:55,815 --> 00:06:59,152 AND IMMEDIATELY NOTICES SOMETHING UNUSUAL. 148 00:06:59,152 --> 00:07:03,055 Dimond: THE LIGHT IS ON AND THE FRONT DOOR IS UNLOCKED. 149 00:07:03,990 --> 00:07:07,493 WHEN SHE OPENS THE DOOR, SHE MAKES A SHOCKING DISCOVERY. 150 00:07:09,629 --> 00:07:12,698 THERE IS LIZ, CRUMPLED AT THE BOTTOM 151 00:07:12,698 --> 00:07:16,636 OF A STAIRCASE IN A POOL OF HER OWN BLOOD. 152 00:07:16,636 --> 00:07:19,138 IT’S SHEER TERROR NOW. 153 00:07:19,138 --> 00:07:21,507 SHE REACHES DOWN TO TOUCH LIZ, 154 00:07:21,507 --> 00:07:24,610 AND HER BODY STILL FEELS WARM. 155 00:07:24,610 --> 00:07:27,680 SHE IMMEDIATELY GOES OVER TO THE PETERSONS 156 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:32,618 AND ASKS FOR THEIR HELP BECAUSE SHE DOESN’T KNOW WHAT TO DO. 157 00:07:32,618 --> 00:07:35,488 Dimond: MICHAEL AND PATTY PETERSON RUSH TO THE SCENE. 158 00:07:35,488 --> 00:07:38,958 MICHAEL TRIES TO GET A PULSE 159 00:07:38,958 --> 00:07:41,127 AND THEN GIVES THE DEVASTATING NEWS. 160 00:07:41,127 --> 00:07:44,630 LIZ RATLIFF IS DEAD. 161 00:07:44,630 --> 00:07:45,998 Fanning: WHEN THE POLICE ARRIVED, 162 00:07:45,998 --> 00:07:49,602 MICHAEL WAS ACTING AS THE OFFICIAL SPOKESMAN. 163 00:07:49,602 --> 00:07:52,205 HE TOLD THEM THAT WHEN HE LEFT HER AT HOME, 164 00:07:52,205 --> 00:07:54,106 EVERYTHING WAS PERFECTLY FINE, 165 00:07:54,106 --> 00:07:55,708 AND THERE WEREN’T ANY PROBLEMS, 166 00:07:55,708 --> 00:07:57,343 AND HE WALKED BACK HOME. 167 00:07:57,343 --> 00:08:01,514 HE BELIEVED IT WAS ALL A HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE ACCIDENT. 168 00:08:01,514 --> 00:08:04,083 Narrator: MICHAEL EXPLAINS THAT LIZ’S MEDICAL HISTORY 169 00:08:04,083 --> 00:08:06,219 MAY HAVE PLAYED A FACTOR. 170 00:08:06,219 --> 00:08:07,954 Fanning: MICHAEL TOLD THE AUTHORITIES 171 00:08:07,954 --> 00:08:10,890 THAT SHE WAS SUFFERING FROM A LOT OF HEADACHES, 172 00:08:10,890 --> 00:08:14,894 AND IT WAS VERY POSSIBLE THAT SHE HAD GOTTEN DIZZY 173 00:08:14,894 --> 00:08:17,797 AND JUST FALLEN WHEN SHE STARTED GOING DOWN THE STAIRS. 174 00:08:17,797 --> 00:08:20,633 SHE ALSO HAD A BLOOD DISORDER. 175 00:08:20,633 --> 00:08:23,803 IT WAS A DISEASE RELATED TO HEMOPHILIA 176 00:08:23,803 --> 00:08:26,973 AND THAT’S WHY THERE WAS SO MUCH BLEEDING. 177 00:08:26,973 --> 00:08:29,275 Narrator: INVESTIGATORS PROCESS THE SCENE 178 00:08:29,275 --> 00:08:33,045 AND FIND NO EVIDENCE OF A STRUGGLE OR FORCED ENTRY. 179 00:08:35,815 --> 00:08:40,319 DAYS LATER, A MEDICAL EXAMINER DETERMINES THE CAUSE OF DEATH. 180 00:08:40,319 --> 00:08:42,922 Dimond: IT’S DISCOVERED THAT SHE HAS BLOOD ON THE BRAIN, 181 00:08:42,922 --> 00:08:46,125 AND IT’S BELIEVED THAT SHE’S HAD A CEREBRAL HEMORRHAGE, 182 00:08:46,125 --> 00:08:48,327 PERHAPS A STROKE, AND THEY DETERMINED 183 00:08:48,327 --> 00:08:52,431 THAT THIS WAS DEATH BY ACCIDENTAL FALL. 184 00:08:52,431 --> 00:08:55,968 Fanning: LIZ’S BODY IS TRANSPORTED BACK 185 00:08:55,968 --> 00:08:59,739 TO THE UNITED STATES TO A PLACE NEAR HOUSTON 186 00:08:59,739 --> 00:09:04,076 AND SHE’S LAID TO REST NEXT TO THE BODY OF HER HUSBAND. 187 00:09:04,076 --> 00:09:06,479 Narrator: IN THE WAKE OF LIZ RATLIFF’S DEATH, 188 00:09:06,479 --> 00:09:08,948 IT BECOMES CLEAR THAT THE PETERSONS’ ROLE 189 00:09:08,948 --> 00:09:14,420 IN HER FAMILY’S LIFE WAS GIVEN GREAT CONSIDERATION. 190 00:09:14,420 --> 00:09:16,822 Dimond: TURNS OUT LIZ RATLIFF WROTE A WILL 191 00:09:16,822 --> 00:09:18,891 SHORTLY AFTER HER HUSBAND’S DEATH. 192 00:09:18,891 --> 00:09:22,528 AND IN THAT, SHE LEFT HER $35,000 ESTATE 193 00:09:22,528 --> 00:09:24,764 AND CUSTODY OF HER TWO CHILDREN 194 00:09:24,764 --> 00:09:27,400 TO THE PETERSON FAMILY. 195 00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:29,635 Narrator: WITHIN MONTHS, MICHAEL AND PATTY 196 00:09:29,635 --> 00:09:31,504 RETURN TO THE UNITED STATES 197 00:09:31,504 --> 00:09:34,240 WITH THEIR NEWLY ADOPTED DAUGHTERS. 198 00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:37,743 EVENTUALLY, THE COUPLE DIVORCE ON AMICABLE TERMS. 199 00:09:37,743 --> 00:09:41,714 AND IN TIME, THE CHILDREN CHOOSE TO LIVE WITH MICHAEL. 200 00:09:41,714 --> 00:09:43,849 Dimond: A FEW YEARS LATER, MICHAEL PETERSON, 201 00:09:43,849 --> 00:09:46,886 BACK IN NORTH CAROLINA, MEETS KATHLEEN. 202 00:09:46,886 --> 00:09:48,955 AND THEY ARE MARRIED AND TOGETHER, 203 00:09:48,955 --> 00:09:51,223 THEY ARE RAISING A BLENDED FAMILY, 204 00:09:51,223 --> 00:09:54,427 INCLUDING THE TWO RATLIFF GIRLS. 205 00:09:54,427 --> 00:09:56,395 Narrator: DETECTIVE HOLLAND IS STUNNED 206 00:09:56,395 --> 00:10:00,499 BY THE EERIE SIMILARITIES IN THE TWO DEATHS. 207 00:10:00,499 --> 00:10:02,868 Gasparoli: TWO WOMEN WHO LOOKED REMARKABLY ALIKE 208 00:10:02,868 --> 00:10:04,370 ARE FOUND DEAD AT THE BOTTOM OF STAIRS 209 00:10:04,370 --> 00:10:05,638 WITH A LOT OF BLOOD, 210 00:10:05,638 --> 00:10:07,907 AND THEY’RE BOTH LINKED DIRECTLY TO ONE MAN. 211 00:10:07,907 --> 00:10:10,743 Hardin Jr. IT WOULD BE AN IMPOSSIBLE COINCIDENCE 212 00:10:10,743 --> 00:10:13,512 FOR MIKE PETERSON TO BE THE LAST-KNOWN PERSON 213 00:10:13,512 --> 00:10:18,184 TO SEE KATHLEEN OR ELIZABETH AND NOT BE INVOLVED. 214 00:10:24,624 --> 00:10:26,626 Narrator: MICHAEL PETERSON HAS BEEN CHARGED 215 00:10:26,626 --> 00:10:29,362 WITH THE MURDER OF HIS WIFE, KATHLEEN. 216 00:10:29,362 --> 00:10:31,464 INVESTIGATORS ALSO DISCOVER 217 00:10:31,464 --> 00:10:34,967 THAT 16 YEARS EARLIER, MICHAEL’S GOOD FRIEND, 218 00:10:34,967 --> 00:10:36,535 LIZ RATLIFF, 219 00:10:36,535 --> 00:10:39,872 DIED UNDER STRIKINGLY SIMILAR CIRCUMSTANCES. 220 00:10:39,872 --> 00:10:43,409 THEY BOTH WERE AT THE BOTTOM OF A SET OF STAIRS 221 00:10:43,409 --> 00:10:46,512 WITH SIGNIFICANT BLOOD ALL OVER THE SCENE 222 00:10:46,512 --> 00:10:48,614 WITH SIGNIFICANT INJURIES. 223 00:10:48,614 --> 00:10:50,783 Gasparoli: WHO IS VERY CLOSE TO TWO WOMEN 224 00:10:50,783 --> 00:10:52,184 WHO DIED AT THE BOTTOM OF STAIRS? 225 00:10:52,184 --> 00:10:55,955 I DON’T KNOW, NOBODY, EXCEPT MICHAEL PETERSON. 226 00:10:55,955 --> 00:10:57,590 Hardin Jr.: YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. 227 00:10:57,590 --> 00:11:01,894 THERE IS NO WAY THIS IS A COINCIDENCE. 228 00:11:01,894 --> 00:11:04,163 Narrator: DURHAM POLICE SEEK MORE INFORMATION 229 00:11:04,163 --> 00:11:08,000 ON THE CASE BUT ENCOUNTER A PROBLEM. 230 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:11,070 SINCE IT WAS RULED AN ACCIDENTAL FALL, 231 00:11:11,070 --> 00:11:13,439 THERE WAS NO REAL INVESTIGATION. 232 00:11:13,439 --> 00:11:16,242 THERE ARE NO PHOTOGRAPHS. 233 00:11:16,242 --> 00:11:19,512 THE PATHOLOGIST WHO FIRST RECEIVED LIZ’S BODY 234 00:11:19,512 --> 00:11:22,615 DID NOT DO A THOROUGH AUTOPSY. 235 00:11:22,615 --> 00:11:26,619 THERE’S NO WAY TO KNOW EXACTLY HOW SHE DIED, 236 00:11:26,619 --> 00:11:30,156 SO THEIR ONLY ALTERNATIVE NOW IS TO EXHUME THE BODY 237 00:11:30,156 --> 00:11:32,692 OF ELIZABETH RATLIFF. 238 00:11:32,692 --> 00:11:34,093 WELL, TO DO THAT, THEY HAVE TO GET PERMISSION 239 00:11:34,093 --> 00:11:36,796 FROM THE FAMILY, FROM HER TWO DAUGHTERS, 240 00:11:36,796 --> 00:11:40,066 MARTHA AND MARGARET. 241 00:11:40,066 --> 00:11:43,269 MY NAME’S JAMES E. HARDIN JR. 242 00:11:43,269 --> 00:11:45,071 I WAS THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY 243 00:11:45,071 --> 00:11:48,874 DURING THE PROSECUTION OF MICHAEL PETERSON. 244 00:11:48,874 --> 00:11:50,476 WE AT FIRST DID NOT BELIEVE 245 00:11:50,476 --> 00:11:52,945 THAT MARTHA AND MARGARET WOULD AGREE TO IT, 246 00:11:52,945 --> 00:11:55,214 AND THEY’D INDICATED TO US THAT THEY WOULD NOT. 247 00:11:55,214 --> 00:11:58,017 Dimond: THESE TWO SISTERS ABSOLUTELY DO NOT 248 00:11:58,017 --> 00:12:00,186 WANT THEIR MOTHER EXHUMED. 249 00:12:00,186 --> 00:12:03,456 THEY BELIEVED THEIR STEPDAD WAS INNOCENT, 250 00:12:03,456 --> 00:12:05,891 AND THEY WERE GOING TO SUPPORT HIM 251 00:12:05,891 --> 00:12:08,360 THROUGH HELL OR HIGH WATER, 252 00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:09,829 BUT THEY THINK ABOUT IT FOR A WHILE. 253 00:12:09,829 --> 00:12:11,864 THEY GO BACK TO THE POLICE DEPARTMENT 254 00:12:11,864 --> 00:12:14,166 AND THE PROSECUTORS AND THEY SAY, "ALRIGHT, 255 00:12:14,166 --> 00:12:18,104 WE GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO EXHUME THE BODY OF OUR MOTHER, 256 00:12:18,104 --> 00:12:21,707 BUT WE’RE ONLY DOING IT TO EXONERATE OUR STEPDAD." 257 00:12:24,243 --> 00:12:26,812 Narrator: ON APRIL 14, 2003, 258 00:12:26,812 --> 00:12:29,882 OFFICIALS EXHUME THE BODY OF LIZ RATLIFF 259 00:12:29,882 --> 00:12:34,086 AT CEDARVILLE CEMETERY IN BAY CITY, TEXAS. 260 00:12:34,086 --> 00:12:36,856 IT WAS EXTRAORDINARY TO EXHUME A BODY 261 00:12:36,856 --> 00:12:40,593 THAT HAD BEEN BURIED MORE THAN 18 YEARS. 262 00:12:40,593 --> 00:12:42,995 Fanning: SHE WAS RAISED FROM THE GROUND IN TEXAS 263 00:12:42,995 --> 00:12:47,500 AND TRANSPORTED BACK TO DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA. 264 00:12:47,500 --> 00:12:49,835 Dimond: STATE MEDICAL EXAMINER DR. DEBORAH RADISCH 265 00:12:49,835 --> 00:12:53,339 IS THE ONE WHO DID THE AUTOPSY ON KATHLEEN PETERSON, 266 00:12:53,339 --> 00:12:54,673 AND SHE IS THE ONE 267 00:12:54,673 --> 00:12:59,145 WHO IS GOING TO DO THE AUTOPSY ON LIZ RATLIFF’S BODY. 268 00:12:59,145 --> 00:13:01,781 Narrator: UPON EXAMINATION, RADISH DISCOVERS 269 00:13:01,781 --> 00:13:04,750 THAT PART OF THE BRAIN HAS DECOMPOSED. 270 00:13:04,750 --> 00:13:08,020 THE SKULL, HOWEVER, IS STILL INTACT. 271 00:13:08,020 --> 00:13:12,124 IN A STUNNING DEVELOPMENT, THE M.E. DISCOVERS 272 00:13:12,124 --> 00:13:16,095 LIZ RATLIFF HAS SEVEN DEEP GASH LACERATIONS 273 00:13:16,095 --> 00:13:17,730 IN THE BACK OF HER SCALP, 274 00:13:17,730 --> 00:13:19,465 JUST LIKE KATHLEEN PETERSON. 275 00:13:22,368 --> 00:13:23,803 Hardin Jr.: IF YOU LOOK AT THE PHOTOGRAPHS, 276 00:13:23,803 --> 00:13:27,706 THE INJURIES AND THEIR LOCATIONS ARE EERILY SIMILAR. 277 00:13:27,706 --> 00:13:29,475 I MEAN, THEY’RE ALMOST THE SAME. 278 00:13:29,475 --> 00:13:32,077 IT’S SHOCKING HOW CLOSE THEY ARE. 279 00:13:32,077 --> 00:13:34,814 Dimond: RADISH CONCLUDES THAT ELIZABETH RATLIFF 280 00:13:34,814 --> 00:13:37,283 DIED OF A HOMICIDAL BEATING. 281 00:13:37,283 --> 00:13:41,220 REPEATED BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA TO HER HEAD. 282 00:13:41,220 --> 00:13:43,522 Narrator: NEWS OF RATLIFF’S CAUSE OF DEATH 283 00:13:43,522 --> 00:13:46,892 SEIZES THE ATTENTION OF THE NATIONAL MEDIA. 284 00:13:46,892 --> 00:13:49,061 Reporter: IT’S THE DEATH OF ANOTHER WOMAN 285 00:13:49,061 --> 00:13:51,530 THAT’S ADDED A BIZARRE ANGLE TO THIS STORY. 286 00:13:51,530 --> 00:13:53,966 Reporter WITH PETERSON 287 00:13:53,966 --> 00:13:56,068 AND BOTH DIED AT THE BOTTOM OF STAIRS. 288 00:13:56,068 --> 00:13:58,904 Dimond: PEOPLE WERE RIVETED BY THIS CASE. 289 00:13:58,904 --> 00:14:01,507 SO IT WAS BIG NEWS, IT WAS FRIGHTENING NEWS, 290 00:14:01,507 --> 00:14:03,342 IT WAS TERRIBLE NEWS. 291 00:14:03,342 --> 00:14:06,145 Dimond: HAD HE ACTUALLY COMMITTED MURDER WITH HIS WIFE 292 00:14:06,145 --> 00:14:10,015 AND WITH ANOTHER WOMAN 17 YEARS EARLIER? 293 00:14:10,015 --> 00:14:11,951 YOU COULDN’T LOOK AWAY. 294 00:14:11,951 --> 00:14:15,054 Fanning: THE INFORMATION ABOUT LIZ RATLIFF’S DEATH 295 00:14:15,054 --> 00:14:19,458 WAS AN ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE FOR THE DEFENSE. 296 00:14:19,458 --> 00:14:21,360 IS IT POSSIBLE THAT TWO AUTOPSIES 297 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:22,862 COULD HAVE GOTTEN IT WRONG? 298 00:14:22,862 --> 00:14:24,263 THAT TWO AUTOPSIES COULD HAVE SAID -- 299 00:14:24,263 --> 00:14:25,564 IN KATHLEEN’S CASE AND IN ELIZABETH’S CASE -- 300 00:14:25,564 --> 00:14:26,632 THAT THEY WERE BOTH 301 00:14:26,632 --> 00:14:28,267 BEATEN TO DEATH AND THEY WEREN’T? 302 00:14:28,267 --> 00:14:31,303 WELL, YOU’VE GOT 2 WOMEN 18 YEARS APART 303 00:14:31,303 --> 00:14:34,540 AND 6,000 MILES APART WITH NO MOTIVE 304 00:14:34,540 --> 00:14:35,774 IN EITHER CASE. 305 00:14:35,774 --> 00:14:38,477 AND YOU HAVE THE SAME PERSON DOING THE TWO AUTOPSIES. 306 00:14:38,477 --> 00:14:42,615 THESE ARE NOT INDEPENDENT AUTOPSIES. 307 00:14:42,615 --> 00:14:44,149 Narrator: A HEARING IS CONDUCTED 308 00:14:44,149 --> 00:14:47,186 TO DETERMINE IF TESTIMONY ABOUT LIZ RATLIFF’S DEATH 309 00:14:47,186 --> 00:14:48,754 WILL BE ADMITTED AT THE TRIAL 310 00:14:48,754 --> 00:14:50,789 FOR KATHLEEN PETERSON’S MURDER. 311 00:14:50,789 --> 00:14:55,895 THERE THE PROSECUTION MAKES A PARTICULAR REQUEST. 312 00:14:55,895 --> 00:14:58,397 Karas: THE STATE DOESN’T WANT THE JUDGE TO RULE YET. 313 00:14:58,397 --> 00:15:01,567 THEY SAY, "LOOK, THERE WAS NEVER A PROPER INVESTIGATION 314 00:15:01,567 --> 00:15:02,935 INTO THE DEATH OF LIZ RATLIFF," 315 00:15:02,935 --> 00:15:04,603 AND THEY NEED A LITTLE MORE TIME. 316 00:15:04,603 --> 00:15:06,705 AND SO THEY’RE ASKING THE JUDGE TO HOLD OFF 317 00:15:06,705 --> 00:15:10,276 ON RULING WHETHER OR NOT HER DEATH IS ADMISSIBLE. 318 00:15:10,276 --> 00:15:13,212 THE JUDGE GRANTS THE STATE’S REQUEST. 319 00:15:13,212 --> 00:15:15,147 SO THE LEAD DETECTIVE, HOLLAND, 320 00:15:15,147 --> 00:15:18,017 AND ONE OF THE PROSECUTORS, FREDA BLACK, 321 00:15:18,017 --> 00:15:20,352 GET ON A PLANE AND GO TO GERMANY. 322 00:15:20,352 --> 00:15:22,755 THEY’RE GOING TO INVESTIGATE THIS ON THEIR OWN. 323 00:15:25,491 --> 00:15:27,760 Narrator: IN EARLY MAY, JURY SELECTION 324 00:15:27,760 --> 00:15:31,764 FOR THE BIGGEST TRIAL TO EVER HIT DURHAM BEGINS. 325 00:15:31,764 --> 00:15:34,900 MY NAME IS KELLI COLGAN, AND I WAS A JUROR 326 00:15:34,900 --> 00:15:36,802 ON THE MICHAEL PETERSON CASE. 327 00:15:36,802 --> 00:15:38,737 I DIDN’T FOLLOW THE NEWS. 328 00:15:38,737 --> 00:15:40,639 I DIDN’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT HIS WIFE 329 00:15:40,639 --> 00:15:45,711 OR HIS FAMILY, SO KIND OF MADE ME A CLEAN SLATE. 330 00:15:45,711 --> 00:15:51,083 I AM BETTYE BLACKWELL. I WAS JUROR NUMBER FOUR. 331 00:15:51,083 --> 00:15:57,323 I RECEIVED A LITTLE SUMMONS FROM THE DURHAM COURT SYSTEM. 332 00:15:57,323 --> 00:16:01,460 WHEN I GOT THERE, THERE WAS A MASS OF PEOPLE THERE, 333 00:16:01,460 --> 00:16:05,331 AND I’M LIKE, "UH-OH, SOMETHING REALLY BIG IS GOING ON." 334 00:16:08,701 --> 00:16:10,903 Narrator: ON JULY 1st, 335 00:16:10,903 --> 00:16:13,906 THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED TRIAL BEGINS. 336 00:16:13,906 --> 00:16:15,607 THE COMMUNITY WAS DIVIDED ABOUT 337 00:16:15,607 --> 00:16:17,810 WHETHER MICHAEL PETERSON KILLED HIS WIFE. 338 00:16:17,810 --> 00:16:22,948 SO AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, PEOPLE WERE EAGER TO SEE THE EVIDENCE. 339 00:16:22,948 --> 00:16:25,117 Dimond: ONCE THE JUDGE IS SEATED, HE BRINGS THE JURY 340 00:16:25,117 --> 00:16:28,654 INTO THE COURT ROOM AND THERE IS MICHAEL PETERSON, 341 00:16:28,654 --> 00:16:31,790 THE MAN ACCUSED OF MURDER. 342 00:16:31,790 --> 00:16:34,326 Narrator: NOW DISTRICT ATTORNEY JAMES HARDIN 343 00:16:34,326 --> 00:16:37,129 DELIVERS HIS OPENING STATEMENT. 344 00:16:37,129 --> 00:16:38,797 Hardin Jr.: I WANTED TO BASICALLY LAY OUT 345 00:16:38,797 --> 00:16:41,700 WHAT WE ANTICIPATED THE EVIDENCE WAS GOING TO SHOW. 346 00:16:41,700 --> 00:16:44,069 WE WANTED TO ALSO MAKE IT CLEAR TO THEM 347 00:16:44,069 --> 00:16:46,238 THAT THIS CASE WAS GONNA BE BUILT 348 00:16:46,238 --> 00:16:47,573 ON PIECES OF A PUZZLE, 349 00:16:47,573 --> 00:16:50,175 AND IT WAS GONNA TAKE A LONG TIME TO DO IT. 350 00:16:50,175 --> 00:16:52,444 Gasparoli: HARDIN SAYS, "THIS IS A MAN 351 00:16:52,444 --> 00:16:54,246 WHO MURDERED HIS WIFE VICIOUSLY. 352 00:16:54,246 --> 00:16:56,281 THE BLOOD WILL TELL THE STORY. 353 00:16:56,281 --> 00:16:59,318 IT WILL SPEAK FOR KATHLEEN." 354 00:16:59,318 --> 00:17:00,853 Dimond: OPENING STATEMENTS IN ANY TRIAL 355 00:17:00,853 --> 00:17:03,889 ARE MEANT TO SHOCK IN SOME INSTANCES. 356 00:17:03,889 --> 00:17:05,090 ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS HE DID 357 00:17:05,090 --> 00:17:08,260 WAS SHOW THE JURY THE SEVEN LACERATIONS 358 00:17:08,260 --> 00:17:11,330 ON THE SHAVED HEAD OF KATHLEEN PETERSON, 359 00:17:11,330 --> 00:17:15,367 AND HE SAID, "THIS IS WHAT WAS DONE TO THIS WOMAN." 360 00:17:15,367 --> 00:17:17,436 JURORS COULDN’T BELIEVE WHAT THEY WERE LOOKING AT, 361 00:17:17,436 --> 00:17:20,239 AND SOME OF THEM JUST LOOKED AWAY IN HORROR. 362 00:17:21,907 --> 00:17:23,175 Narrator: HARDIN THEN ATTEMPTS 363 00:17:23,175 --> 00:17:25,411 TO ILLUSTRATE HOW HE BELIEVES THE WOUNDS 364 00:17:25,411 --> 00:17:26,612 WERE INFLICTED. 365 00:17:26,612 --> 00:17:28,514 HE REACHES INTO A PLASTIC BAG 366 00:17:28,514 --> 00:17:32,518 AND PULLS OUT A 4-FOOT-LONG HOLLOW BRASS ROD, 367 00:17:32,518 --> 00:17:35,654 WHICH HE TELLS JURORS IS A BLOW POKE. 368 00:17:35,654 --> 00:17:39,558 THE PRIMARY MECHANISM WAS SOMETHING LIKE THIS. 369 00:17:39,558 --> 00:17:44,029 IT’S HOLLOW, IT’S LIGHT, IT’S EASILY USED. 370 00:17:44,029 --> 00:17:45,731 NOW, THIS MAY NOT BE THE EXACT ONE 371 00:17:45,731 --> 00:17:48,801 BECAUSE WE CAN’T FIND IT, BUT WE KNOW SHE HAD ONE JUST LIKE IT 372 00:17:48,801 --> 00:17:50,769 BECAUSE HER SISTER GAVE IT TO HER 373 00:17:50,769 --> 00:17:52,337 AND THIS ONE IS HER SISTER’S. 374 00:17:52,337 --> 00:17:56,275 I THOUGHT IT WAS A VERY IMPACTFUL OPENING STATEMENT. 375 00:17:56,275 --> 00:18:02,714 HE SPOKE OF VICIOUSNESS WHILE SPEAKING GENTLY 376 00:18:02,714 --> 00:18:05,150 AND THAT MAKES PEOPLE IN THE JURY BOX LEAN FORWARD 377 00:18:05,150 --> 00:18:06,952 AND LISTEN. 378 00:18:09,021 --> 00:18:10,923 Narrator: NOW THE DEFENSE PREPARES 379 00:18:10,923 --> 00:18:13,425 TO DELIVER THEIR OPENING STATEMENT. 380 00:18:13,425 --> 00:18:14,793 HE HAD A BIG JOB AHEAD OF HIM 381 00:18:14,793 --> 00:18:17,830 TO CONVINCE JURORS THAT THIS WAS AN ACCIDENT. 382 00:18:17,830 --> 00:18:20,933 Dimond: DAVID RUDOLPH BEGINS BY PLAYING THE 911 CALLS 383 00:18:20,933 --> 00:18:23,869 PLACED BY HIS CLIENT, MICHAEL PETERSON, THAT NIGHT. 384 00:18:33,812 --> 00:18:35,848 WHEN YOU HEAR THOSE CALLS, 385 00:18:35,848 --> 00:18:39,284 YOU HEAR A VERY DISTRAUGHT MICHAEL PETERSON. 386 00:18:50,095 --> 00:18:53,866 THEY’RE ABSOLUTELY URGENT-SOUNDING AND CHILLING. 387 00:18:53,866 --> 00:18:56,702 THIS GUY WANTS HELP, AND HE WANTS IT NOW. 388 00:18:56,702 --> 00:18:58,737 IS THIS HOW A MURDERER SOUNDS 389 00:18:58,737 --> 00:19:02,975 OR A VERY CONCERNED, LOVING HUSBAND? 390 00:19:02,975 --> 00:19:06,612 DAVID RUDOLPH DESCRIBED A STORY-BOOK MARRIAGE. 391 00:19:06,612 --> 00:19:08,847 TWO SOUL MATES AND THAT PERFECT STORY 392 00:19:08,847 --> 00:19:10,315 WAS NOT MARRED BY MURDER. 393 00:19:10,315 --> 00:19:11,850 THIS WAS A TERRIBLE ACCIDENT. 394 00:19:11,850 --> 00:19:15,954 WHY WOULD MICHAEL PETERSON KILL THE WOMAN HE ADORED? 395 00:19:15,954 --> 00:19:17,823 Dimond: AS IF TO UNDERSCORE THE GOOD CHARACTER 396 00:19:17,823 --> 00:19:20,392 OF MICHAEL PETERSON, HE LITERALLY STEPPED OUT 397 00:19:20,392 --> 00:19:23,128 OF THE WAY AND POINTED TO MARTHA AND MARGARET 398 00:19:23,128 --> 00:19:24,463 AND REMINDED THE JURY 399 00:19:24,463 --> 00:19:27,132 THAT THESE WERE TWO YOUNG GIRLS THAT MICHAEL PETERSON 400 00:19:27,132 --> 00:19:30,469 SELFLESSLY ADOPTED AND RAISED AS HIS OWN DAUGHTERS 401 00:19:30,469 --> 00:19:33,972 AND THEY CONTINUE TO STAND BEHIND HIM. 402 00:19:33,972 --> 00:19:36,141 Narrator: WITH OPENING STATEMENTS COMPLETED, 403 00:19:36,141 --> 00:19:39,344 IT’S NOW UP TO PROSECUTORS TO PROVE THEIR CASE. 404 00:19:39,344 --> 00:19:41,647 AND THEY CALL A CONTROVERSIAL WITNESS 405 00:19:41,647 --> 00:19:44,516 FROM MICHAEL PETERSON’S RECENT PAST. 406 00:19:44,516 --> 00:19:46,251 Hunt Zamperini: THE DEFENSE FALSELY 407 00:19:46,251 --> 00:19:48,854 WAS TRYING TO PORTRAY LIKE KATHLEEN AND MICHAEL 408 00:19:48,854 --> 00:19:53,225 HAD THIS MONOGAMOUS, FAITHFUL MARRIAGE AND THEY DIDN’T. 409 00:19:53,225 --> 00:19:55,994 Black: WHAT TYPES OF SERVICES DID YOU PERFORM? 410 00:19:55,994 --> 00:19:58,197 OH, WELL, THAT’S PRETTY BROAD. 411 00:20:03,368 --> 00:20:05,604 Narrator: PROSECUTORS IN THE MICHAEL PETERSON CASE 412 00:20:05,604 --> 00:20:07,706 ARE ATTEMPTING TO ESTABLISH THE DYNAMIC 413 00:20:07,706 --> 00:20:09,441 OF HIS MARRIAGE TO KATHLEEN 414 00:20:09,441 --> 00:20:13,045 AND CALL A KEY WITNESS FROM HIS RECENT PAST. 415 00:20:13,045 --> 00:20:15,113 IN THEIR ATTEMPT TO PROVE A MOTIVE, 416 00:20:15,113 --> 00:20:20,085 THE PROSECUTION CALLED AN ADMITTED MALE ESCORT 417 00:20:20,085 --> 00:20:22,054 TO THE STAND. 418 00:20:22,054 --> 00:20:24,156 MY NAME IS BRENT WOLGAMOTT, 419 00:20:24,156 --> 00:20:27,359 AND I WAS THE MALE ESCORT WHO WAS CALLED 420 00:20:27,359 --> 00:20:29,428 TO TESTIFY IN THE MICHAEL PETERSON TRIAL. 421 00:20:29,428 --> 00:20:31,830 I THINK EVERYBODY HAS A CERTAIN TALENT IN LIFE, 422 00:20:31,830 --> 00:20:35,400 AND I KNEW HOW TO MARKET MY TALENTS. 423 00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:39,638 I WAS A SOLDIER IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY, ACTIVE DUTY. 424 00:20:39,638 --> 00:20:41,640 I WOULD NEVER USE MY REAL NAME 425 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:43,875 TO DO MY ESCORTING BUSINESS. 426 00:20:43,875 --> 00:20:46,044 I WENT BY SOLDIER TOP ONLINE. 427 00:20:46,044 --> 00:20:47,746 IT WAS A WAY TO DIFFERENTIATE MYSELF 428 00:20:47,746 --> 00:20:50,649 FROM OTHER ESCORTS. 429 00:20:50,649 --> 00:20:52,884 Fanning: HE HAD A WEBSITE WITH PICTURES 430 00:20:52,884 --> 00:20:56,355 OF HIM SHOWING OFF HIS MUSCULATURE. 431 00:20:56,355 --> 00:20:58,357 Gasparoli: WOW, THAT WAS A SIGHT, ALRIGHT. 432 00:20:58,357 --> 00:21:00,859 MOST OF HIS CLIENTS WROTE PAGES OF TESTIMONIALS 433 00:21:00,859 --> 00:21:03,161 ABOUT THEIR SEXUAL ENCOUNTERS WITH HIM 434 00:21:03,161 --> 00:21:05,764 AND HOW HE WAS WORTH EVERY PENNY. 435 00:21:05,764 --> 00:21:08,500 Black: WHAT TYPES OF SERVICES DID YOU PERFORM? 436 00:21:08,500 --> 00:21:11,036 OH, WELL, THAT’S PRETTY BROAD. 437 00:21:11,036 --> 00:21:13,205 BASICALLY IT’S A COMPANIONSHIP 438 00:21:13,205 --> 00:21:16,174 FOR OTHER MALES OF LEGAL AGE. 439 00:21:18,210 --> 00:21:20,078 Narrator: FREDA BLACK QUESTIONS BRENT 440 00:21:20,078 --> 00:21:24,716 ABOUT A SERIES OF E-MAILS HE RECEIVED IN AUGUST OF 2001, 441 00:21:24,716 --> 00:21:29,154 FOUR MONTHS BEFORE KATHLEEN PETERSON’S DEATH. 442 00:21:29,154 --> 00:21:31,623 Wolgamott: I WAS CONTACTED BY A MAN WHO I WOULD LATER 443 00:21:31,623 --> 00:21:33,959 COME TO KNOW AS MICHAEL PETERSON. 444 00:21:33,959 --> 00:21:35,627 I WOULD LATER FIGURE OUT THAT OUR E-MAILS 445 00:21:35,627 --> 00:21:37,095 WOULD BECOME A LOT MORE IMPORTANT 446 00:21:37,095 --> 00:21:39,931 TO MY LIFE STORY THAN I WOULD HAVE REALIZED. 447 00:21:39,931 --> 00:21:41,967 YOU TAKE ONE LOOK AT THOSE E-MAILS 448 00:21:41,967 --> 00:21:45,304 BETWEEN MICHAEL PETERSON AND THE MALE PROSTITUTE, 449 00:21:45,304 --> 00:21:49,508 AND YOU SEE THE CONSTANT COMMUNICATION. 450 00:21:49,508 --> 00:21:51,310 WHEN CAN I SEE YOU? WHERE CAN I SEE YOU? 451 00:21:51,310 --> 00:21:53,078 HOW MUCH WILL IT COST? 452 00:21:53,078 --> 00:21:54,313 Wolgamott: WE HAD TRIED TO ARRANGE A TIME 453 00:21:54,313 --> 00:21:56,548 WHERE I WAS GOING TO BE IN DURHAM 454 00:21:56,548 --> 00:21:58,617 AT THE SAME TIME THAT HE WAS GOING 455 00:21:58,617 --> 00:22:00,752 TO BE AVAILABLE TO DO A CALL. 456 00:22:00,752 --> 00:22:05,590 AND THAT DATE THAT WE AGREED ON WAS SEPTEMBER 5, 2001. 457 00:22:05,590 --> 00:22:07,726 Narrator: IN ONE PARTICULAR EXCHANGE, 458 00:22:07,726 --> 00:22:11,196 PETERSON BOASTS OF HIS SEXUAL PAST. 459 00:22:11,196 --> 00:22:13,532 Gasparoli: PETERSON LOOKED VERY COMFORTABLE 460 00:22:13,532 --> 00:22:15,033 IN HIS E-MAILS WITH HIM. 461 00:22:15,033 --> 00:22:17,302 HE MENTIONED HAVING SEX WITH AN NC STATE LACROSSE PLAYER 462 00:22:17,302 --> 00:22:18,904 AT SOME POINT, SO I’M GUESSING 463 00:22:18,904 --> 00:22:20,806 HE’D BEEN DOING THIS ALL HIS LIFE. 464 00:22:20,806 --> 00:22:23,208 Narrator: DESPITE MICHAEL AND BRENT’S PLANNING, 465 00:22:23,208 --> 00:22:25,844 THEIR LIAISON NEVER CAME TO BE. 466 00:22:25,844 --> 00:22:27,145 Wolgamott: I BAILED ON HIM. 467 00:22:27,145 --> 00:22:31,116 I BAILED ON MICHAEL ON THE NIGHT OF SEPTEMBER 5th. 468 00:22:31,116 --> 00:22:32,984 AND HONESTLY, THE LAST THING I WANTED 469 00:22:32,984 --> 00:22:36,021 TO DO WAS WORK AT THE TIME. 470 00:22:36,021 --> 00:22:37,489 I WAS JUST A LAZY SON OF A BITCH, 471 00:22:37,489 --> 00:22:38,724 AND I DECIDED, "YOU KNOW WHAT? 472 00:22:38,724 --> 00:22:40,826 I REALLY DON’T WANT TO DO THIS CALL TONIGHT." 473 00:22:40,826 --> 00:22:43,161 Karas: WHILE THESE TWO MEN NEVER MEET, 474 00:22:43,161 --> 00:22:46,198 THE PROSECUTION SAYS THAT THESE SORDID E-MAILS 475 00:22:46,198 --> 00:22:48,834 REVEAL A HIDDEN LIFE BY MICHAEL PETERSON. 476 00:22:48,834 --> 00:22:52,104 HE’S NOT WHO HE SEEMS TO BE. 477 00:22:52,104 --> 00:22:54,473 Hunt Zamperini: IT WAS HUMILIATING TO KNOW NOT ONLY 478 00:22:54,473 --> 00:22:57,342 HAD KATHLEEN BEEN BEATEN TO DEATH, 479 00:22:57,342 --> 00:23:00,212 "OH, YEAH, YOU’RE GETTING UP AND GOING TO WORK 480 00:23:00,212 --> 00:23:01,380 AND WHAT’S MICHAEL DOING?" 481 00:23:01,380 --> 00:23:03,415 MONEY’S TIGHT, CHRISTMAS IS COMING, 482 00:23:03,415 --> 00:23:07,686 AND HE’S DIALING UP MALE PROSTITUTES. 483 00:23:07,686 --> 00:23:10,021 IT BROKE MY HEART. 484 00:23:10,021 --> 00:23:11,690 Narrator: DAVID RUDOLPH THEN RISES 485 00:23:11,690 --> 00:23:14,459 TO QUESTION BRENT AND DIRECTS HIS ATTENTION 486 00:23:14,459 --> 00:23:16,428 TO ANOTHER TOPIC IN THE E-MAILS 487 00:23:16,428 --> 00:23:18,964 HE EXCHANGED WITH MICHAEL PETERSON. 488 00:23:18,964 --> 00:23:21,633 Wolgamott: HE DID BRING UP KATHLEEN 489 00:23:21,633 --> 00:23:23,368 IN OUR E-MAILS TOGETHER. 490 00:23:23,368 --> 00:23:26,171 HE TOLD ME HOW MUCH HE HAD A GREAT RELATIONSHIP 491 00:23:26,171 --> 00:23:27,539 WITH HIS WIFE 492 00:23:27,539 --> 00:23:30,308 AND THIS IS JUST A PART OF HIS LIFE AND SHE GETS IT, 493 00:23:30,308 --> 00:23:32,110 AND IT’S JUST SOMETHING THAT THEY DON’T TALK ABOUT, 494 00:23:32,110 --> 00:23:34,346 WHICH ACTUALLY I CAN BELIEVE 495 00:23:34,346 --> 00:23:36,448 BECAUSE THERE WERE PLENTY OF OTHER CLIENTS I HAD 496 00:23:36,448 --> 00:23:38,450 WHO WERE MARRIED AND THEIR WIVES KNEW 497 00:23:38,450 --> 00:23:40,485 THAT THEY WERE MAYBE GOING TO SEE ME 498 00:23:40,485 --> 00:23:42,220 ON A PARTICULAR NIGHT. 499 00:23:42,220 --> 00:23:44,723 Karas: THE FACT THAT THERE’S AN E-MAIL 500 00:23:44,723 --> 00:23:46,625 WRITTEN BY MICHAEL PETERSON 501 00:23:46,625 --> 00:23:49,361 SAYING, "LOOK, I AM HAPPILY MARRIED," 502 00:23:49,361 --> 00:23:50,729 IS REALLY GOOD FOR THE DEFENSE. 503 00:23:50,729 --> 00:23:53,532 IT SHOWS THAT HE REALLY DOESN’T WANT TO DO ANYTHING 504 00:23:53,532 --> 00:23:55,634 TO HARM THE MARRIAGE. 505 00:23:55,634 --> 00:23:56,902 HE JUST WANTS SEX. 506 00:23:56,902 --> 00:23:59,371 WHY IS HE GONNA KILL HER? 507 00:23:59,371 --> 00:24:00,972 WHY WOULD HE KILL THIS DYNAMITE WOMAN 508 00:24:00,972 --> 00:24:04,876 HE DIDN’T WANT TO DO ANYTHING TO HARM THE RELATIONSHIP WITH? 509 00:24:04,876 --> 00:24:08,180 Narrator: BUT KATHLEEN’S SISTER CANDACE DISAGREES. 510 00:24:08,180 --> 00:24:11,216 THERE WAS NO ARRANGEMENT BETWEEN KATHLEEN AND MICHAEL. 511 00:24:11,216 --> 00:24:14,319 YOU CAN CALL IT BISEXUAL, YOU CAN CALL IT GAY. 512 00:24:14,319 --> 00:24:16,421 I FIND IT JUST FLAT-OUT ADULTERY. 513 00:24:16,421 --> 00:24:18,323 SO, NO, MY SISTER WAS NOT STAYING 514 00:24:18,323 --> 00:24:21,526 IN A MARRIAGE WHERE THERE WAS INFIDELITY AT ALL. 515 00:24:21,526 --> 00:24:23,829 THE REASON THAT HER FIRST MARRIAGE BROKE UP 516 00:24:23,829 --> 00:24:26,498 WAS BECAUSE OF AN EXTRAMARITAL AFFAIR 517 00:24:26,498 --> 00:24:28,333 AND WE BELIEVED ALL ALONG THAT THIS 518 00:24:28,333 --> 00:24:32,404 WAS THE TRIGGERING MECHANISM FOR THAT CONFLICT THAT EVENING. 519 00:24:32,404 --> 00:24:34,639 Narrator: BRENT LEAVES THE STAND 520 00:24:34,639 --> 00:24:37,809 AND THE PROSECUTION TURNS TO THE MOST CRITICAL EVIDENCE 521 00:24:37,809 --> 00:24:39,945 UNCOVERED AT THE PETERSON HOME. 522 00:24:39,945 --> 00:24:42,814 AT THE CRUX OF THIS CASE IS THE BLOOD. 523 00:24:42,814 --> 00:24:46,084 THE BLOOD MAKES THE CASE. 524 00:24:46,084 --> 00:24:48,119 George: THE BLOOD THAT WAS IN THE STAIRWELL, 525 00:24:48,119 --> 00:24:50,789 IT WAS ON THE WALLS, IT WAS ON A COUPLE OF STEPS, 526 00:24:50,789 --> 00:24:53,291 IT WAS ON THE RISINGS OF THE STEPS. 527 00:24:53,291 --> 00:24:55,660 THERE WAS A LOT OF BLOOD THERE. 528 00:24:55,660 --> 00:24:59,231 BIG QUESTION IS HOW DID IT GET WHERE IT GOT? 529 00:24:59,231 --> 00:25:01,967 DID IT GET THERE BECAUSE SHE HAD AN ACCIDENTAL FALL 530 00:25:01,967 --> 00:25:04,402 OR TWO OR DID IT GET THERE 531 00:25:04,402 --> 00:25:06,638 BECAUSE SHE WAS BEATEN TO DEATH? 532 00:25:06,638 --> 00:25:08,440 Narrator: TO PROVE THAT THE BLOOD SPATTER 533 00:25:08,440 --> 00:25:10,942 WAS THE RESULT OF A HOMICIDAL BEATING, 534 00:25:10,942 --> 00:25:14,079 THE PROSECUTION CALLS A KEY WITNESS. 535 00:25:14,079 --> 00:25:16,848 DUANE DEAVER WAS AN EXPERT IN BLOOD SPATTER 536 00:25:16,848 --> 00:25:20,719 THAT WE CALLED FROM THE STATE BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION. 537 00:25:20,719 --> 00:25:22,821 Narrator: UNDER QUESTIONING FROM JIM HARDIN, 538 00:25:22,821 --> 00:25:25,790 DEAVER EXPLAINS THAT HE WENT TO GREAT LENGTHS 539 00:25:25,790 --> 00:25:27,893 TO UNDERSTAND THE BLOOD SPATTER FOUND 540 00:25:27,893 --> 00:25:29,961 IN THE PETERSON STAIRWAY. 541 00:25:29,961 --> 00:25:33,298 DUANE DEAVER, MYSELF, AND MEMBERS OF MY TEAM 542 00:25:33,298 --> 00:25:35,200 WENT TO THE FBI LAB IN RALEIGH 543 00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:39,437 AND WE DID EXPERIMENTS. 544 00:25:39,437 --> 00:25:42,507 WE BUILT A SMALL BOX THAT WOULD BE COMPARED 545 00:25:42,507 --> 00:25:44,142 TO THE STAIRWELL. 546 00:25:44,142 --> 00:25:47,445 WHAT CAUSES THE BLOOD SPATTER EVIDENCE? 547 00:25:47,445 --> 00:25:50,649 IT’S A SOURCE OF BLOOD BEING STRUCK. 548 00:25:50,649 --> 00:25:53,718 THE SOURCE OF BLOOD IS THE BACK OF HER HEAD, 549 00:25:53,718 --> 00:25:57,422 WHICH HAS ALREADY BEGUN TO BE BLOODY. 550 00:25:57,422 --> 00:26:00,859 George: AND WE TOOK A MANNEQUIN HEAD, PUT A WIG ON IT 551 00:26:00,859 --> 00:26:03,395 AND POURED PIG’S BLOOD ALL OVER THE WIG. 552 00:26:03,395 --> 00:26:06,598 AND WE STRUCK IT MANY, MANY TIMES 553 00:26:06,598 --> 00:26:08,700 WITH A BLUNT OBJECT JUST TO SEE 554 00:26:08,700 --> 00:26:11,703 IF THE BLOOD SPATTERING WOULD BE COMPARATIVE 555 00:26:11,703 --> 00:26:15,440 TO WHAT WE FOUND IN THE STAIRWELL OF THE HOME. 556 00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:17,242 NOW, THE EXTRAPOLATION IS 557 00:26:17,242 --> 00:26:20,812 THAT SHE WAS STANDING AND SOMEONE WAS STRIKING HER 558 00:26:20,812 --> 00:26:22,948 WITH SOME SORT OF OBJECT ON HER HEAD. 559 00:26:22,948 --> 00:26:25,483 AND WHEN THEY PULLED THE OBJECT BACK 560 00:26:25,483 --> 00:26:28,420 TO HIT HER AGAIN, THE BLOOD CAST OFF 561 00:26:28,420 --> 00:26:31,289 AND LANDED ON THE WALL IN A DOWNWARD FASHION. 562 00:26:31,289 --> 00:26:33,792 THAT’S WHY IT’S SO HIGH UP ON THE WALL. 563 00:26:33,792 --> 00:26:35,093 Narrator: DEAVER THEN EXPLAINS 564 00:26:35,093 --> 00:26:36,995 THAT THE RESULTING BLOOD SPATTER 565 00:26:36,995 --> 00:26:40,365 WAS NOT LIMITED TO THE STAIRWAY WALLS. 566 00:26:40,365 --> 00:26:42,567 George: CLOTHES THAT MICHAEL WAS WEARING AT THE TIME, 567 00:26:42,567 --> 00:26:44,536 HE HAD ON A PAIR OF SHORTS 568 00:26:44,536 --> 00:26:48,673 AND WHAT APPEARED TO BE A JERSEY-TYPE TOP. 569 00:26:48,673 --> 00:26:52,243 THERE WAS BLOOD SMEARS ALL OVER HIS SHORTS. 570 00:26:52,243 --> 00:26:56,081 THERE WERE ALSO DRIED BLOOD SPATTERINGS 571 00:26:56,081 --> 00:27:00,785 ON THE INSIDE THE LEGS OF MICHAEL PETERSON’S CLOTHING. 572 00:27:00,785 --> 00:27:04,789 DEAVER EXPLAINED THAT HE HAD DONE EXPERIMENTS 573 00:27:04,789 --> 00:27:08,526 AND THOSE EXPERIMENTS PROVED TO HIM 574 00:27:08,526 --> 00:27:10,495 THAT MICHAEL PETERSON HAD TO HAVE BEEN 575 00:27:10,495 --> 00:27:13,331 STANDING OVER HIS WIFE, BEATING HER 576 00:27:13,331 --> 00:27:16,635 AND THE BLOOD SPLATTERED BACK UP ON HIM. 577 00:27:16,635 --> 00:27:19,104 THAT TO ME IS THE MOST DAMNING EVIDENCE 578 00:27:19,104 --> 00:27:20,639 BECAUSE THERE’S NO WAY 579 00:27:20,639 --> 00:27:23,642 THAT THAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED EXCEPT FOR HIM 580 00:27:23,642 --> 00:27:27,579 BEING ABOVE HER CAUSING THE BLOOD SPATTER. 581 00:27:27,579 --> 00:27:29,214 Narrator: ACCORDING TO DEAVER, 582 00:27:29,214 --> 00:27:31,049 THERE ARE ADDITIONAL PIECES OF EVIDENCE 583 00:27:31,049 --> 00:27:32,484 COLLECTED AT THE SCENE 584 00:27:32,484 --> 00:27:35,387 THAT SUPPORT THIS THEORY. 585 00:27:35,387 --> 00:27:37,255 WHEN I FIRST OBSERVED MICHAEL PETERSON 586 00:27:37,255 --> 00:27:40,158 RUNNING THROUGH THE HOUSE, HE DIDN’T HAVE SHOES ON. 587 00:27:40,158 --> 00:27:41,526 WHEN I COLLECTED HIS SHOES, 588 00:27:41,526 --> 00:27:43,328 THE BOTTOM OF HIS SHOES WERE BLOODY 589 00:27:43,328 --> 00:27:46,798 AND ALL THAT WAS SENT TO THE FBI LAB. 590 00:27:46,798 --> 00:27:50,502 AT THE CRIME SCENE, POLICE HAD FOUND A PARTIAL SHOE PRINT 591 00:27:50,502 --> 00:27:53,038 ON THE BACK OF KATHLEEN’S SWEATPANTS. 592 00:27:53,038 --> 00:27:55,807 WHEN INVESTIGATORS LATER TESTED THAT FOOTPRINT, 593 00:27:55,807 --> 00:27:58,109 IT MATCHED THE SNEAKERS THAT MICHAEL PETERSON 594 00:27:58,109 --> 00:28:00,578 HAD BEEN WEARING THAT NIGHT. 595 00:28:00,578 --> 00:28:02,647 IT’S CLEAR THAT AT SOME POINT, 596 00:28:02,647 --> 00:28:04,949 HE’S ATTEMPTING TO KEEP HER DOWN 597 00:28:04,949 --> 00:28:06,985 WHILE HE’S ADMINISTERING SOME ASPECT 598 00:28:06,985 --> 00:28:09,254 OF THIS BEATING TO HER. 599 00:28:11,356 --> 00:28:13,091 Narrator: NOW IT’S DAVID RUDOLPH’S TURN 600 00:28:13,091 --> 00:28:15,727 TO CROSS-EXAMINE DUANE DEAVER. 601 00:28:15,727 --> 00:28:19,631 HE BEGINS BY ATTACKING THE BLOOD SPECIALIST’S METHODS. 602 00:28:19,631 --> 00:28:22,233 RUDOLPH GOES THROUGH A LITANY OF QUESTIONS 603 00:28:22,233 --> 00:28:25,136 CHALLENGING THE "SCIENTIFIC" EXPERIMENTS 604 00:28:25,136 --> 00:28:26,638 THAT DEAVER DID. 605 00:28:26,638 --> 00:28:29,741 LIKE HOW MUCH BLOOD DID YOU PUT IN THOSE SPONGES? 606 00:28:29,741 --> 00:28:33,344 YOU TRYING TO REPLICATE BLOOD IN A HEAD. 607 00:28:33,344 --> 00:28:34,746 HE’S ASKING QUESTIONS 608 00:28:34,746 --> 00:28:37,549 DEAVER REALLY DIDN’T HAVE AN ANSWER TO. 609 00:28:37,549 --> 00:28:39,751 Maher: THINK THEY DROPPED A MANNEQUIN’S HEAD FROM A LADDER. 610 00:28:39,751 --> 00:28:41,586 LIKE NOBODY SUGGESTED THAT SHE 611 00:28:41,586 --> 00:28:43,588 WAS DROPPED FROM A LADDER STRAIGHT ON HER HEAD, 612 00:28:43,588 --> 00:28:45,957 SO WHY WOULD YOU EVEN DO THAT? 613 00:28:45,957 --> 00:28:48,560 Karas: IT’S LIKE HE’S DOING THINGS OVER AND OVER AGAIN 614 00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:51,062 ALMOST AS THOUGH HE’S WAITING TO GET THE RIGHT RESULT. 615 00:28:51,062 --> 00:28:52,597 Dimond: IT WAS LAUGHABLE. 616 00:28:52,597 --> 00:28:56,067 JUNK SCIENCE IN THE WORDS OF THE DEFENSE ATTORNEY. 617 00:28:56,067 --> 00:28:58,236 Narrator: RUDOLPH THEN QUESTIONS DEAVER 618 00:28:58,236 --> 00:29:00,371 ABOUT AN ARTICLE OF MICHAEL’S CLOTHING 619 00:29:00,371 --> 00:29:02,807 THAT RECEIVED LITTLE SCRUTINY. 620 00:29:02,807 --> 00:29:05,276 MICHAEL HAD BEEN WEARING A FAIRLY DARK SHIRT, 621 00:29:05,276 --> 00:29:07,746 AND THERE WAS NO OBVIOUS BLOOD STAINS ON IT. 622 00:29:07,746 --> 00:29:10,682 AND THE QUESTION WAS IF HE’D BEEN ATTACKING HER, 623 00:29:10,682 --> 00:29:13,218 ONE WOULD HAVE EXPECTED CERTAIN BLOOD STAINS. 624 00:29:13,218 --> 00:29:15,820 THEY SAID, "WHY DIDN’T YOU TEST HIS SHIRT?" 625 00:29:15,820 --> 00:29:18,857 AND DEAVER ANSWERS, "WELL, IT WAS A DARK COLOR, 626 00:29:18,857 --> 00:29:21,359 NAVY BLUE, AND YOU CAN’T SEE BLOOD 627 00:29:21,359 --> 00:29:24,095 WITH YOUR NAKED EYE ON SUCH A DARK COLOR." 628 00:29:24,095 --> 00:29:25,597 AND RUDOLPH FOLLOWED UP, 629 00:29:25,597 --> 00:29:27,766 HE SAID, "WELL, THERE ARE SEVERAL TESTS YOU CAN DO. 630 00:29:27,766 --> 00:29:30,502 DID YOU DO, FOR EXAMPLE, A LUMA TEST, 631 00:29:30,502 --> 00:29:32,904 A SPECIFIC LIGHT THEY SHINE?" 632 00:29:32,904 --> 00:29:36,441 AND DEAVER ULTIMATELY ADMITS HE DID DO SUCH A TEST. 633 00:29:36,441 --> 00:29:38,743 Narrator: RUDOLF IS STUNNED. 634 00:29:38,743 --> 00:29:44,315 WHEN DEAVER MENTIONS DOING A LIGHT TEST ON THE DARK SHIRT, 635 00:29:44,315 --> 00:29:46,918 THIS IS THE FIRST TIME RUDOLF HEARS ABOUT IT. 636 00:29:46,918 --> 00:29:48,686 THAT’S NEVER BEEN MENTIONED 637 00:29:48,686 --> 00:29:51,089 IN ANY OF THE REPORTS THAT HE HAS. 638 00:29:51,089 --> 00:29:55,693 SO IMMEDIATELY HE ASKS, 639 00:29:55,693 --> 00:29:57,629 "WELL, DID YOU DO A REPORT ABOUT IT?" 640 00:29:57,629 --> 00:29:59,464 -"YES." -"WELL, WHERE IS IT?" 641 00:29:59,464 --> 00:30:01,032 "I GAVE IT TO THE PROSECUTORS." 642 00:30:01,032 --> 00:30:03,535 PROSECUTORS DON’T WHERE THE REPORT IS. 643 00:30:03,535 --> 00:30:05,904 THEY’VE NEVER SEEN IT. 644 00:30:05,904 --> 00:30:09,541 DEFENSE ATTORNEY RUDOLF IS GENUINELY SHOCKED AT THIS NEWS. 645 00:30:09,541 --> 00:30:11,075 HE SAYS, "WELL, WHAT WAS THE RESULT?" 646 00:30:11,075 --> 00:30:14,012 "WELL," HE SAID, "I DIDN’T FIND ANY BLOOD SPATTER." 647 00:30:14,012 --> 00:30:18,016 NOW IT STANDS TO REASON IF MICHAEL PETERSON 648 00:30:18,016 --> 00:30:21,920 WAS STANDING OVER HIS WIFE AND BEATING HER, 649 00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:24,889 THAT IN ADDITION TO THE BLOOD ON HIS SHORTS, 650 00:30:24,889 --> 00:30:28,026 THERE WOULD BE BLOOD ON HIS SHIRT, TOO. 651 00:30:28,026 --> 00:30:30,528 DEAVER DIDN’T HAVE AN ANSWER FOR IT. 652 00:30:30,528 --> 00:30:34,999 AND NOT HAVING AN ANSWER ALWAYS MAKES YOU LOOK BAD. 653 00:30:34,999 --> 00:30:36,534 Narrator: WHILE THE LINE OF QUESTIONING 654 00:30:36,534 --> 00:30:39,470 IS BENEFICIAL TO RUDOLF’S ARGUMENT, 655 00:30:39,470 --> 00:30:42,173 THE OMISSION OF THE TEST FROM THE COURT RECORD 656 00:30:42,173 --> 00:30:45,577 OPENS A MASSIVE WINDOW FOR THE DEFENSE. 657 00:30:45,577 --> 00:30:49,180 RUDOLF IS ENTITLED TO ANY REPORTS 658 00:30:49,180 --> 00:30:52,450 THAT DEAVER’S DONE BEFORE HE TESTIFIES. 659 00:30:52,450 --> 00:30:56,588 SO THIS IS WHAT’S CALLED A DISCOVERY VIOLATION. 660 00:30:56,588 --> 00:30:59,591 THERE’S A RANGE OF SANCTIONS FOR A DISCOVERY VIOLATION. 661 00:30:59,591 --> 00:31:01,860 THE ULTIMATE SANCTION BEING 662 00:31:01,860 --> 00:31:04,262 STRIKING THE WITNESS’ TESTIMONY. 663 00:31:04,262 --> 00:31:07,198 IF THE JUDGE STRIKES DUANE DEAVER’S TESTIMONY, 664 00:31:07,198 --> 00:31:10,001 THE PROSECUTION’S CASE IS GOING TO FALL APART. 665 00:31:15,740 --> 00:31:18,543 Narrator: OVER A MONTH INTO THE MICHAEL PETERSON TRIAL, 666 00:31:18,543 --> 00:31:20,979 STATE BLOOD SPATTER EXPERT DUANE DEAVER 667 00:31:20,979 --> 00:31:24,883 STANDS ACCUSED OF MISHANDLING KEY EVIDENCE. 668 00:31:24,883 --> 00:31:27,752 DEAVER ADMITTED THAT HE TESTED THE SHIRT 669 00:31:27,752 --> 00:31:30,688 OF MICHAEL PETERSON AND FOUND NO BLOOD SPATTER, 670 00:31:30,688 --> 00:31:32,991 BUT THE DEFENSE NEVER GOT THAT REPORT. 671 00:31:32,991 --> 00:31:37,695 AND THAT PROMPTED THE DEFENSE TO SUBMIT A MOTION 672 00:31:37,695 --> 00:31:43,167 TO DISMISS ALL OF DEAVER’S TESTIMONY FROM THE TRIAL. 673 00:31:44,168 --> 00:31:47,238 Dimond: THE JUDGE ULTIMATELY DECIDES THAT THIS WAS JUST 674 00:31:47,238 --> 00:31:52,510 AN HONEST MISTAKE, AND DEAVER’S TESTIMONY STANDS. 675 00:31:52,510 --> 00:31:54,612 Narrator: WITH THE BLOOD ANALYSIS BEHIND THEM, 676 00:31:54,612 --> 00:31:57,649 THE PROSECUTION CALLS STATE MEDICAL EXAMINER 677 00:31:57,649 --> 00:32:00,151 DR. DEBORAH RADISCH. 678 00:32:00,151 --> 00:32:01,319 SHE TESTIFIES 679 00:32:01,319 --> 00:32:03,955 TO KATHLEEN PETERSON’S TOXICOLOGY REPORT, 680 00:32:03,955 --> 00:32:07,258 WHICH SHOWS TRACES OF VALIUM AND ALCOHOL. 681 00:32:07,258 --> 00:32:10,862 HER BLOOD ALCOHOL WAS 0.7. 682 00:32:10,862 --> 00:32:14,365 WITH THAT BLOOD ALCOHOL, SHE HAS NOT MET THE THRESHOLD 683 00:32:14,365 --> 00:32:16,301 FOR IMPAIRED DRIVING IN THIS STATE. 684 00:32:16,301 --> 00:32:18,803 SHE WAS NOT INTOXICATED. 685 00:32:18,803 --> 00:32:20,605 SHE WAS NOT STUMBLING DRUNK, 686 00:32:20,605 --> 00:32:25,476 AS MR. PETERSON ATTEMPTED TO PORTRAY HER. 687 00:32:25,476 --> 00:32:26,945 Narrator: RADISCH THEN DETAILS 688 00:32:26,945 --> 00:32:29,847 KATHLEEN’S EXTENSIVE INJURIES. 689 00:32:29,847 --> 00:32:32,383 THEY ARE MOST CONSISTENT WITH THE TYPES OF INJURIES 690 00:32:32,383 --> 00:32:38,790 YOU WOULD SEE IN ATTEMPTING TO FEND OFF AN ATTACK. 691 00:32:38,790 --> 00:32:42,827 I THINK IT WOULD BE UNLIKELY TO OCCUR AS A RESULT OF A FALL. 692 00:32:42,827 --> 00:32:46,397 DR. RADISCH ALSO TESTIFIED THAT IN KATHLEEN’S CLENCHED HANDS, 693 00:32:46,397 --> 00:32:49,100 THERE WERE SEVERAL STRANDS OF HAIR. 694 00:32:49,100 --> 00:32:53,604 DNA TESTS LATER DETERMINED THAT THOSE WERE HER OWN HAIRS. 695 00:32:53,604 --> 00:32:59,110 NOW, THAT’S NOT THAT UNUSUAL WITH VICTIMS OF AN ASSAULT. 696 00:32:59,110 --> 00:33:01,346 PROSECUTORS BELIEVE THAT IT’S POSSIBLE 697 00:33:01,346 --> 00:33:04,115 WHILE MICHAEL WAS ATTACKING HIS WIFE, 698 00:33:04,115 --> 00:33:08,052 SHE WAS CLUTCHING HER HEAD FOR PROTECTION. 699 00:33:08,052 --> 00:33:11,756 Narrator: HARDIN THEN QUESTIONS RADISCH ABOUT HER CONCLUSIONS. 700 00:33:11,756 --> 00:33:13,558 IN MY OPINION, THE MANNER OF DEATH 701 00:33:13,558 --> 00:33:16,794 IN THIS CASE IS HOMICIDE. 702 00:33:16,794 --> 00:33:18,763 Karas: NOW IT’S DAVID RUDOLF’S TURN TO GET UP 703 00:33:18,763 --> 00:33:20,698 AND CROSS-EXAMINE DEBORAH RADISCH. 704 00:33:20,698 --> 00:33:23,101 HE IMMEDIATELY BEGINS TO POKE HOLES 705 00:33:23,101 --> 00:33:26,637 IN THE PROSECUTION’S THEORY ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED. 706 00:33:26,637 --> 00:33:28,940 Maher: IF THERE WAS A FIGHT AND ANGER INVOLVED 707 00:33:28,940 --> 00:33:32,076 AND MICHAEL STARTED ATTACKING KATHLEEN 708 00:33:32,076 --> 00:33:34,879 WITH THE INTENT TO KILL HER, YOU WOULD EXPECT THERE 709 00:33:34,879 --> 00:33:36,681 TO HAVE BEEN MORE DAMAGE, YOU KNOW, 710 00:33:36,681 --> 00:33:38,683 SKULL FRACTURES, THINGS OF THAT NATURE. 711 00:33:38,683 --> 00:33:40,151 AND THERE WEREN’T. 712 00:33:40,151 --> 00:33:42,754 Karas: DEFENSE ATTORNEY DAVID RUDOLF 713 00:33:42,754 --> 00:33:44,489 PULLS OUT A DOZEN BINDERS 714 00:33:44,489 --> 00:33:47,492 FULL OF CASE DESCRIPTIONS, 715 00:33:47,492 --> 00:33:50,728 257 FATAL BEATINGS 716 00:33:50,728 --> 00:33:53,798 IN THE LAST DECADE IN NORTH CAROLINA. 717 00:33:53,798 --> 00:33:57,168 RUDOLF WANTS TO KNOW HOW IS IT POSSIBLE 718 00:33:57,168 --> 00:34:00,171 THAT THERE’S NO SKULL FRACTURE OR BRAIN TRAUMA 719 00:34:00,171 --> 00:34:02,340 IN KATHLEEN PETERSON 720 00:34:02,340 --> 00:34:06,044 WHEN 257 OTHER BLUNT-FORCE-TRAUMA CASES 721 00:34:06,044 --> 00:34:08,746 HAVE ONE OR THE OTHER OR BOTH. 722 00:34:08,746 --> 00:34:10,915 SHE DOESN’T HAVE AN ANSWER FOR THAT. 723 00:34:14,352 --> 00:34:17,822 THIS IS THE WAY HE CHALLENGED HER CONCLUSION 724 00:34:17,822 --> 00:34:21,993 THAT THIS WAS A HOMICIDE AND NOT AN ACCIDENT. 725 00:34:21,993 --> 00:34:24,929 IT WAS VERY COMPELLING. 726 00:34:24,929 --> 00:34:28,666 Narrator: THEN ON AUGUST 22nd, JUDGE ORLANDO HUDSON 727 00:34:28,666 --> 00:34:32,136 ANNOUNCES A LONG-AWAITED AND CRITICAL DECISION. 728 00:34:32,136 --> 00:34:35,940 HE DETERMINES THAT THE 1985 DEATH OF LIZ RATLIFF 729 00:34:35,940 --> 00:34:39,944 WILL BE ADMISSIBLE IN THE PROSECUTION’S CASE. 730 00:34:39,944 --> 00:34:42,647 Fanning: IT WAS A BATTLE THE PROSECUTORS WANT. 731 00:34:42,647 --> 00:34:46,150 THEY OFTEN MADE COMMENTS TO THE EFFECT 732 00:34:46,150 --> 00:34:50,088 LIGHTNING JUST DOESN’T STRIKE TWICE. 733 00:34:51,923 --> 00:34:54,125 Narrator: WITH NO ADDITIONAL FORENSIC EVIDENCE 734 00:34:54,125 --> 00:34:55,827 OF LIZ RATLIFF’S DEATH, 735 00:34:55,827 --> 00:34:58,796 PROSECUTORS TURN TO EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY 736 00:34:58,796 --> 00:35:02,066 AND CALL AMYBETH BERNER TO THE STAND. 737 00:35:03,734 --> 00:35:06,537 Dimond: AMYBETH BERNER WAS ONE OF LIZ’S BEST FRIENDS. 738 00:35:06,537 --> 00:35:09,807 AND SHE AND HER HUSBAND RUSHED TO THE SCENE THAT DAY. 739 00:35:09,807 --> 00:35:13,144 BERNER TELLS THE JURY THE MOMENT SHE SAW HER FRIEND 740 00:35:13,144 --> 00:35:16,981 CRUMPLED AT THE BOTTOM OF THAT STAIRWAY, SHE WAS SUSPICIOUS. 741 00:35:16,981 --> 00:35:20,184 AMYBETH AND HER HUSBAND DECIDED RIGHT THERE AND THEN 742 00:35:20,184 --> 00:35:23,654 THAT THEIR FRIEND LIZ HAD SUCCUMBED TO FOUL PLAY. 743 00:35:23,654 --> 00:35:26,557 BUT THE QUESTION IS, WHO WOULD WANT TO HURT HER? 744 00:35:26,557 --> 00:35:29,927 Narrator: BERNER EXPLAINS THAT AS THE TRAGEDY SUNK IN, 745 00:35:29,927 --> 00:35:33,164 HER CONCERNS ABOUT MICHAEL WERE RAISED. 746 00:35:35,133 --> 00:35:37,335 Fanning: MICHAEL CAME OVER TO THE HOUSE 747 00:35:37,335 --> 00:35:40,605 AND HE WAS TAKING CHARGE OF THE SCENE, 748 00:35:40,605 --> 00:35:42,540 ALMOST LIKE IT WAS HIS HOME. 749 00:35:42,540 --> 00:35:47,044 AND WHEN MICHAEL PETERSON TOLD THEM THAT SHE HAD FALLEN 750 00:35:47,044 --> 00:35:50,915 DOWN THE STAIRS, THEY PRETTY MUCH TOOK HIM AT HIS WORD. 751 00:35:50,915 --> 00:35:53,484 Narrator: THE PROSECUTION THEN PRESENTS A LETTER 752 00:35:53,484 --> 00:35:57,622 WRITTEN BY A NEIGHBOR OF LIZ RATLIFF IN GERMANY. 753 00:35:57,622 --> 00:35:59,857 THERE WAS A WITNESS WHO SAW A MAN 754 00:35:59,857 --> 00:36:03,261 RUNNING FROM THE HOUSE SOME TIME THE NIGHT BEFORE. 755 00:36:03,261 --> 00:36:06,664 SHE COULD NEVER REALLY IDENTIFY WHO IT WAS. 756 00:36:06,664 --> 00:36:08,699 BY EVERY ACCOUNT, IT APPEARS THAT MICHAEL PETERSON 757 00:36:08,699 --> 00:36:13,638 WAS THE LAST PERSON TO SEE LIZ RATLIFF ALIVE. 758 00:36:13,638 --> 00:36:15,540 Narrator: WHILE HARDIN DOESN’T EXPLICITLY 759 00:36:15,540 --> 00:36:18,543 ACCUSE PETERSON OF KILLING ELIZABETH RATLIFF, 760 00:36:18,543 --> 00:36:21,746 HE MAKES HIS POINT ABUNDANTLY CLEAR. 761 00:36:21,746 --> 00:36:26,350 BOTH WOMEN HAD SEVEN DEEP GASH LACERATIONS 762 00:36:26,350 --> 00:36:28,186 IN THE BACK OF THEIR SCALP. 763 00:36:28,186 --> 00:36:31,989 BOTH WOMEN HAD DIED BY FALLING DOWN THE BOTTOM 764 00:36:31,989 --> 00:36:34,725 OF A STAIRCASE AND BLEEDING TO DEATH. 765 00:36:34,725 --> 00:36:36,260 AND OF COURSE, BOTH WOMEN, 766 00:36:36,260 --> 00:36:39,664 THEIR CONNECTION WAS MICHAEL PETERSON. 767 00:36:43,768 --> 00:36:45,169 THE TRIAL OF MICHAEL PETERSON, THE NORTH CAROLINA AUTHOR 768 00:36:45,169 --> 00:36:48,539 ACCUSED OF MURDERING HIS WIFE, IS NOW IN ITS 12th WEEK. 769 00:36:48,539 --> 00:36:50,007 AND IT CONTINUES TO BE AS COMPELLING 770 00:36:50,007 --> 00:36:52,310 AS ANYTHING THE DEFENDANT COULD HAVE WRITTEN. 771 00:36:53,711 --> 00:36:55,146 Narrator: MICHAEL PETERSON’S DEFENSE ATTORNEYS 772 00:36:55,146 --> 00:36:56,714 ARE CHALLENGING THE STATE’S EVIDENCE 773 00:36:56,714 --> 00:36:58,883 BY CALLING A WORLD-RENOWNED 774 00:36:58,883 --> 00:37:02,420 BLOOD SPATTER EXPERT TO THE STAND. 775 00:37:02,420 --> 00:37:06,324 DR. HENRY LEE IS A ROCK-STAR FORENSIC FELLOW. 776 00:37:06,324 --> 00:37:09,360 HE IS BROUGHT IN TO STRENGTHEN MICHAEL PETERSON’S CASE 777 00:37:09,360 --> 00:37:11,996 THAT THIS WAS JUST A TERRIBLE ACCIDENT. 778 00:37:14,765 --> 00:37:17,401 DR. LEE BELIEVES THAT KATHLEEN FELL 779 00:37:17,401 --> 00:37:19,403 AT LEAST A COUPLE OF TIMES, AND THAT THERE WERE 780 00:37:19,403 --> 00:37:22,873 MULTIPLE IMPACTS THAT WOULD ACCOUNT FOR THE LACERATIONS. 781 00:37:22,873 --> 00:37:27,044 Dimond: THE DEFENSE SAYS SHE’S FALLING, SHE’S THRASHING, 782 00:37:27,044 --> 00:37:29,380 SHE’S CLUTCHING AT THE WALLS 783 00:37:29,380 --> 00:37:31,115 AND SHE’S TRYING TO RIGHT HERSELF. 784 00:37:31,115 --> 00:37:35,019 AND IN THOSE ACTIONS, SHE IS SPEWING HER BLOOD EVERYWHERE -- 785 00:37:35,019 --> 00:37:38,889 HIGH, LOW, ON THE STAIRS, ON HERSELF. 786 00:37:38,889 --> 00:37:41,158 Narrator: LEE BELIEVES THERE MAY BE ANOTHER SOURCE 787 00:37:41,158 --> 00:37:43,961 OF THE SPATTER FOUND ON THE WALLS. 788 00:37:43,961 --> 00:37:47,999 IF YOU HAD CUT YOUR HEAD AND GOTTEN BLOOD IN YOUR MOUTH 789 00:37:47,999 --> 00:37:51,002 AND WERE COUGHING, YOU WOULD BE APPLYING FORCE TO BLOOD, 790 00:37:51,002 --> 00:37:53,804 AND IT WOULD CAUSE BLOOD SPATTER. 791 00:37:56,440 --> 00:37:58,142 Narrator: TO ILLUSTRATE THE THEORY, 792 00:37:58,142 --> 00:38:02,246 LEE PREPARES AN UNUSUAL DEMONSTRATION. 793 00:38:02,246 --> 00:38:04,115 Dimond: DR. LEE PUT A BIG, WHITE POSTER BOARD 794 00:38:04,115 --> 00:38:05,483 IN FRONT OF THE JURY 795 00:38:05,483 --> 00:38:09,553 TO INDICATE TO THEM HOW ERRATIC BLOOD SPATTER COULD BE 796 00:38:09,553 --> 00:38:12,123 FROM COUGHING OR SNEEZING. 797 00:38:12,123 --> 00:38:14,992 RUDOLF IS HOLDING A WHITEBOARD. 798 00:38:14,992 --> 00:38:17,928 HENRY LEE TAKES A SLUG OF KETCHUP 799 00:38:17,928 --> 00:38:22,333 AND THEN SPITS IT OUT ONTO THE WHITEBOARD. 800 00:38:22,333 --> 00:38:26,203 AND RUDOLF KIND OF GOT CAUGHT IN THE DEBRIS FIELD. 801 00:38:26,203 --> 00:38:27,972 IT WAS A VERY DRAMATIC PRESENTATION. 802 00:38:27,972 --> 00:38:31,642 I REMEMBER WATCHING THAT GOING, "OH, MY GOD." 803 00:38:31,642 --> 00:38:34,245 THE SPATTER DID KIND OF LOOK LIKE SOME OF THE SPATTER 804 00:38:34,245 --> 00:38:38,382 AT THE SCENE, SO HE MADE HIS POINT THAT IT’S POSSIBLE. 805 00:38:38,382 --> 00:38:41,085 Narrator: NOW IT’S DISTRICT ATTORNEY JIM HARDIN’S TURN 806 00:38:41,085 --> 00:38:43,788 TO QUESTION THE DEFENSE EXPERT. 807 00:38:45,623 --> 00:38:50,194 HENRY LEE HAS TESTIFIED IN HUNDREDS OF CASES. 808 00:38:50,194 --> 00:38:52,463 HE HAS SOME NOTE. 809 00:38:52,463 --> 00:38:54,465 I READ EVERYTHING THAT I COULD POSSIBLY FIND 810 00:38:54,465 --> 00:38:57,802 THAT HE HAD WRITTEN, SO I KNEW GENERALLY 811 00:38:57,802 --> 00:39:00,438 HOW HE WAS GOING TO OPERATE. 812 00:39:00,438 --> 00:39:03,574 Karas: D.A. HARDIN CROSS-EXAMINED HENRY LEE. 813 00:39:03,574 --> 00:39:05,810 AND HE WANTED TO POKE HOLES IN HIS THEORY 814 00:39:05,810 --> 00:39:08,612 THAT THIS IS AN ACCIDENT. 815 00:39:08,612 --> 00:39:10,448 I MEAN, I GOT HIM TO A POINT WHERE, YOU KNOW, HE SAID, 816 00:39:10,448 --> 00:39:14,685 "THIS IS WHAT I BELIEVE IT IS AND THIS IS MY OPINION." 817 00:39:14,685 --> 00:39:18,856 "BUT CAN YOU EXCLUDE THAT THIS IS A BLUDGEONING DEATH?" 818 00:39:18,856 --> 00:39:21,359 AND HE SAID, "NO." 819 00:39:21,359 --> 00:39:26,430 BASICALLY CONCEDING THAT IT’S POSSIBLE IT WAS A HOMICIDE. 820 00:39:26,430 --> 00:39:30,334 HOWEVER, DR. LEE MAINTAINS THAT THE SCENE TO HIM 821 00:39:30,334 --> 00:39:33,270 LOOKED MORE LIKE AN ACCIDENT THAN A HOMICIDE. 822 00:39:33,270 --> 00:39:36,540 Narrator: HARDIN THEN ASKS LEE WHAT EVIDENCE HE HAS 823 00:39:36,540 --> 00:39:39,777 TO SUPPORT HIS BLOOD-SPATTER DEMONSTRATION. 824 00:39:39,777 --> 00:39:42,179 Hardin Jr.: WELL, HE SAYS ALL THE BLOOD SPATTER ON THE WALL 825 00:39:42,179 --> 00:39:46,450 WAS ASPIRATED FROM HER LUNGS AND HER MOUTH, 826 00:39:46,450 --> 00:39:48,252 AND THAT’S WHAT CAUSED IT. 827 00:39:48,252 --> 00:39:50,654 BUT THE AUTOPSY CLEARLY SHOWED THAT THERE 828 00:39:50,654 --> 00:39:55,426 WAS NO BLOOD WHATSOEVER IN HER AIRWAY, NONE, ZERO. 829 00:39:55,426 --> 00:39:57,695 SO THAT JUST COULDN’T HAVE HAPPENED. 830 00:40:00,364 --> 00:40:04,001 Narrator: RUDOLF THEN CALLS ANOTHER EXPERT TO THE STAND. 831 00:40:04,001 --> 00:40:07,471 THE DEFENSE NEEDED TO SUPPORT THEIR ACCIDENTAL FALL THEORY, 832 00:40:07,471 --> 00:40:10,408 PARTICULARLY TRY TO EXPLAIN THE WOUNDS. 833 00:40:10,408 --> 00:40:16,814 FARIS BANDAK, A BIOMEDICAL ENGINEER, COMES IN TO TESTIFY. 834 00:40:16,814 --> 00:40:21,986 WE WANTED TO SEE IF -- IF A SCENARIO OF A FALL IS POSSIBLE, 835 00:40:21,986 --> 00:40:27,124 AND IN FACT IF IT’S REALISTIC, AND IN FACT IF IT’S LIKELY. 836 00:40:27,124 --> 00:40:31,262 AND SO WE DEVELOPED THIS SIMULATION. 837 00:40:31,262 --> 00:40:34,098 Karas: HE, YOU KNOW, HAD A COUPLE OF SCENARIOS 838 00:40:34,098 --> 00:40:37,435 OF HOW KATHLEEN COULD HAVE FALLEN ON THE STAIRS, 839 00:40:37,435 --> 00:40:40,404 WHERE SHE WOULD HAVE IMPACTED, HIT HER HEAD. 840 00:40:40,404 --> 00:40:43,841 AND SO HE’S OFFERING THE JURY A PLAUSIBLE THEORY. 841 00:40:45,042 --> 00:40:47,211 Narrator: LINKING THE TESTIMONY OF HENRY LEE 842 00:40:47,211 --> 00:40:50,314 AND FARIS BANDAK, THE DEFENSE ATTEMPTS 843 00:40:50,314 --> 00:40:54,952 TO FULLY EXPLAIN EXACTLY HOW KATHLEEN DIED. 844 00:40:54,952 --> 00:40:56,854 Dimond: THE DEFENSE THEORY OF WHAT HAPPENED 845 00:40:56,854 --> 00:41:00,691 IS THAT KATHLEEN PETERSON OVERCELEBRATED 846 00:41:00,691 --> 00:41:02,259 WITH HER HUSBAND THAT NIGHT, 847 00:41:02,259 --> 00:41:05,796 HAD TOO MUCH TO DRINK, HAD A VALIUM IN HER SYSTEM. 848 00:41:05,796 --> 00:41:07,698 AND WHEN SHE WENT INSIDE, 849 00:41:07,698 --> 00:41:10,768 SHE HAD ON A PAIR OF FLIMSY FLIP-FLOPS. 850 00:41:10,768 --> 00:41:16,106 AND WHEN SHE HIT THAT WINDY, DARK, NARROW BACK STAIRCASE, 851 00:41:16,106 --> 00:41:18,742 SHE JUST SLIPPED AND FELL. 852 00:41:18,742 --> 00:41:20,911 SHE PROBABLY LAY THERE AND BLED FOR A WHILE. 853 00:41:20,911 --> 00:41:24,248 AND THEN SHE STOOD BACK UP AND TRIED AGAIN 854 00:41:24,248 --> 00:41:29,887 TO GO UP THE STAIRS, AND SLIPPED IN HER OWN BLOOD, 855 00:41:29,887 --> 00:41:33,791 AND THEN BLED OUT AT THE BOTTOM OF THE STAIRS. 856 00:41:33,791 --> 00:41:35,793 Narrator: NEXT TIME, ON THE CONCLUSION 857 00:41:35,793 --> 00:41:39,563 OF "AN AMERICAN MURDER MYSTERY: THE STAIRCASE"... 858 00:41:39,563 --> 00:41:44,034 THERE WERE SO MANY REASONS TO STAY RIVETED TO THIS CASE. 859 00:41:44,034 --> 00:41:48,372 IT HAD MANSIONS, MONEY, SEX, POWER, BETRAYAL. 860 00:41:49,373 --> 00:41:51,976 Narrator: THE DEFENSE ENTERS A SURPRISING NEW EXHIBIT. 861 00:41:51,976 --> 00:41:53,911 IT WAS SITTING IN A DARK BASEMENT, 862 00:41:53,911 --> 00:41:57,948 COVERED WITH DEAD BUGS AND COBWEBS. 863 00:41:57,948 --> 00:42:00,718 IT WAS THE "PERRY MASON" MOMENT. 864 00:42:00,718 --> 00:42:04,021 Narrator: THE TRIAL BUILDS TO A MOMENTOUS CONCLUSION. 865 00:42:04,021 --> 00:42:06,657 Judge Hudson: HAS THE JURY REACHED A UNANIMOUS VERDICT? 866 00:42:06,657 --> 00:42:08,859 YOU COULD HEAR A PIN DROP. 867 00:42:08,859 --> 00:42:12,396 Narrator: LATER, CONFOUNDING NEW EVIDENCE EMERGES... 868 00:42:12,396 --> 00:42:17,234 PAGE FOUR, FIRST LAB REPORT, MICROSCOPIC FEATHERS. 869 00:42:17,234 --> 00:42:20,337 IT’S POSSIBLE THIS WAS AN OWL ATTACK. 870 00:42:20,337 --> 00:42:21,839 Narrator: A DISCREDITED WITNESS 871 00:42:21,839 --> 00:42:24,174 THROWS THE VERDICT INTO QUESTION. 872 00:42:24,174 --> 00:42:27,845 THE STATE’S BLOOD EXPERT IS A FRAUD. 873 00:42:27,845 --> 00:42:31,048 IT WENT BACK TO SQUARE ONE. 874 00:42:31,048 --> 00:42:34,985 MICHAEL PETERSON HAD A SHOT AT GETTING OFF. 875 00:42:34,985 --> 00:42:38,589 Narrator: ...CULMINATING IN A FINAL FIERY SHOWDOWN. 876 00:42:38,589 --> 00:42:40,291 THERE WAS NO TIP ON THAT BLOW POKE. 877 00:42:40,291 --> 00:42:42,526 WHERE THE HECK WAS THE HOOK TIP? 878 00:42:42,526 --> 00:42:44,562 I THINK IN THE BACK OF MY SISTER’S HEAD.