"Number two, she left the project in October of 2003. He was granted a new trial in 2011, which was scheduled to begin in May 2017. So much so, that the court in Durham ordered the exhumation of Ratliff's body from her grave in Texas. , Let's Break Down The Staircase's Deeply Frustrating 13 Episodes, The "Bel-Air" Cast Weren't Surprised by the Show's Success: "A Huge 'I Told You So' Moment", "Outer Banks" Had No Business Making Rafe Look This Fine With a Buzz Cut, Jazz Catches Hilary in a Lie in This Exclusive "Bel-Air" Season 2 Sneak Peek, Selena Gomez Says She Avoided Her "Wizards of Waverly Place" Costars After Series Due to Shame, "The Last of Us" Stars Storm Reid and Bella Ramsey Hit Back at Homophobes: "Don't Like It, Don't Watch", Jessica Chastain Tripped Over Her Dress at the SAG Awards, but It Didn't Take Away From Her Big Win, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Like Peterson, Ratliff was found at the bottom of her stairs with injuries to her head. The go-to source for comic book and superhero movie fans. Stuhlbarg is seen above with Tim Guinee and Colin Firth in a scene from "The Staircase" in which the men prepare for Peterson's trial. Regardless, Rudolf believes the damage has been done, describing it as "defamation" towards Brunet and de Lestrade. In the footage, Michael also admits Kathleen never knew about his affairs with men or that he was bisexual. And she said to me, 'So you're going to be content just being an old grandfather?' Patty described what she saw when she entered the house. After receiving permission from Elizabeth's mother and sister, authorities went ahead with the exhumation. He explained that he first met Peterson at this house in Durham, North Carolina, and holding a meeting in a diner with a client would just never happen. As Peterson was being investigated for the staircase death of his wife in the early 2000s, Ratliffs body was exhumed in Texas in 2003. The Staircase addresses both of those theories, and just like the documentary of the same name by Oscar-winning filmmaker Jean-Xavier de Lestrade on which the show is based, whether you believe Michael Peterson is a killer is your own decision to make. They believe their adopted father is innocent of killing both of their moms, according to the documentary. Following Kathleen's death, which didn't look much like the accident Michael Peterson made it out to be, police almost immediately zoned in on him as the prime suspect. "There was no pool of blood.". Click Here to try 4 Free Trial Issues of Time! Elizabeth's death is a tragedy, but whether it was brought upon by an ill-fated accident or contemptuous murder, we'll never know. Michael Stuhlbarg portrayed Peterson's lawyer David Rudolf in the series. Get all your true crime news from Oxygen. Bill Peterson (Tim Guinee), Michaels brother, is his biggest ally and works with the lawyers and the family to try and keep everything in order while it feels like chaos. Like Kathleen, she'd been found at the bottom of a staircase. He said they wanted the same medical examiner who claimed that Peterson's wife wasn't accidental to perform the autopsy rather than a neutral pathologist in Texas as he suggested. Michael placed two 911 calls, and emergency services attended the scene soon after. Nearly two decades before Michael's wife, Kathleen, was found lifeless at the bottom of a staircase, there was a woman named Elizabeth Ratliff, whose death would become crucial to the prosecution's story. She was the first woman in Michael Peterson's life found dead at the bottom of a staircase, and featured in the aptly titled Netflix series "The Staircase.". Kathleen even has a brief run-in with Freda Black. Appel-Schumacher said the blood was mostly on a wall adjacent to the staircase and it stretched from the top landing to the bottom. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! Some speculate that Michael shared an illicit affair with Elizabeth. He later adopted Ratliff's two daughters, Martha and Margaret. The best face wash for every single skin type. During Michael's trial, Cheryl Appel-Schumacher, one of the late schoolteacher's friends, recalled that Elizabeth had severe headaches a few days before she was found dead. Both the German officials as well as the United States military police conducted investigations into Elizabeths case, and their autopsy ruled her manner of death an accident. Shed reportedly died from an intracerebral hemorrhage, secondary to a blood clot disorder. Elizabeth Ratliff's daughter, Martha and Margaret Ratliff stood by Michael Peterson and believed him to be innocent. Netflixs new series The Staircase chronicles the trial of author Michael Peterson, whose wife Kathleen was found dead at the bottom of a staircase in her Durham, North Carolina home in November 2001. I'm too old. Around that same time, Elizabeth and George grew close to the Petersons, their neighbors, bonding over Michael being a Vietnam War veteran and his then-wife Patricia being her coworker. There were also multiple questions put forward about what happened on the evening Kathleen Peterson died, due to the "Owl Theory" that suggested she may have been attacked by the bird and died from her wounds or, what Michael Peterson claimed, that she fell to her death. After knocking Kathleen out (with what exactly, there are so many possibilities-afterall if all your kids were no longer living at home, would they be able to identify what things were or werent missing? However as Kathleen was not having any of it, I believe she decided to storm out and go to a relatives house or even a hotel, just to get out as some people do in the onset of a huge argument-just need to get out even to go for a drive. When they meet, they fall in love, and she leads the charge on the Owl Theory. 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. Elizabeth Ratliff, a family friend of Michael Peterson and his first wife, Patricia, died in 1985, just two years after her husband, George. The Staircase airs Thursdays on HBO Max and Sky Atlantic. The medical examiner found Kathleen Peterson and Elizabeth Ratcliffe suffered similar blows to the head, including seven lacerations which were sustained by blunt force trauma. The medical examiner found Kathleen Peterson and Elizabeth Ratcliffe suffered similar blows to the head, including seven lacerations which were sustained by blunt force trauma. The author's ex-wife Patty maintains that their relationship was platonic and that her ex-husband is innocent. However, things changed once her embalmed body was exhumed nearly two decades later, in April 2003. Candace makes an impassioned plea for a dismissal, but the judge overrules her. Elizabeth was just 43 years old when she died on November 27, 1985. The 43-year-old died in 1985 in Germany and was found at the bottom of her stairs by her children's nanny, Barbara Malagnino. The similar nature of Elizabeth's and Kathleen's deaths was enough to leave the jury serving on Michael's trial in Durham significantly suspicious. His children, who all decided not to attend the hearing, see the news break on television but decide to keep their distance to try and maintain normalcy in their own lives. The coroner determined that she fell down the stairs after the brain bleed caused her immediate demise. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. Michael ultimately takes the Alford plea, which involves the defendant acknowledging there is enough evidence to find him guilty of charges while also maintaining innocence, and is sentenced to time already served. Elizabeth Ratliff, shown in the Netflix docu-series "The Staircase.". Editor Sophie Brunet (Juliette Binoche) finds herself so entranced with Peterson she begins reaching out to him via letters to prison. Rudolf is highly skeptical of the documentary crew following their every move but eventually has to relent. "I don't know that you could possibly make a more serious and damaging claim against a documentarian than that, especially when it's completely and utterly false and demonstrably false. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. Do any of us? And no questions were raised when her close friend Michael Peterson adopted her daughters, Margaret and Martha. Peterson agreed to an Alford plea, which enables him to maintain his innocence in the death of his wife Kathleen Peterson in 2001. They fought and it turned physical. 1 day ago, by Njera Perkins The defense will cross-examine Deaver Tuesday. And as far as the girls, Margaret and Martha, Michael was the only parent they had been around the longest, they knew of their birth mothers death but couldnt associate with it as they were so young when it happened. Margaret and Martha lived with Michael Peterson but were never adopted by him. On November 25, 1985, Elizbeth Ratliff was found dead at the bottom of her staircase in an eerily similar way to the way Kathleen Peterson was found on December 9, 2001. They argued as he would not agree to this. I do however wished that Michaels lawyer wouldve let him testify because the jurors would've seen his true colors, but as seen in The Staircase on Netflix, even his lawyers knew his personality as they stated it would not be in his best interest to take the stand because his personality would be off-putting to the jury (Im not quoting, but basically they knew the jury would hate him). It's believed that Michael was the last person to see . The jury finds Michael guilty and sentences him to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He hires David Rudolf (Michael Stuhlbarg) whose price tag is as big as his reputation.
