"I looked around and there was a lot of blood on the floor. Michael Iver Peterson (born October 23, 1943) is an American novelist who was convicted in 2003 of murdering his second wife, Kathleen Peterson, on December9, 2001. Those who were there in the aftermath of Elizabeth's death were called as witnesses, and the the state pathologist took to the stand to confirm Elizabeth Ratliff had sustained similar injuries to the ones Kathleen Peterson suffered. Elizabeth's updated autopsy report indicated that she died from homicidal assault. She was found by her children's nanny, Barbara Malagnino, who sought help from Patty shortly after making the grim discovery.. More importantly, both Margaret and Martha Ratliff, whose custody was awarded to the Petersons as per their biological mothers final will, also support their father through and through. Prosecutors have ridiculed the claim, and Deborah Radisch, who conducted Kathleen's autopsy, says it was unlikely that an owl or any other bird could have made wounds as deep as those on her scalp. [20][21] On March 2, 2017 (following his Alford plea), Peterson's attorney filed a motion to allow him to pay for a bird expert at the Smithsonian Institution to examine feather fragments found in Kathleen's hair to determine whether or not she had been attacked by an owl. All Rights Reserved. 3 days ago, by Joely Chilcott The difference between a Queen and a Queen Consort. It had been a gift to the Petersons from Kathleen's sister but was missing from the house at the time of the investigation. We anticipate change, identify future opportunities and are excited by the potential that tomorrow brings. The murder weapon was never identified. Michael Peterson killed Elizabeth Ratcliff and Kathleen Peterson. [17][24][25], Deaver was fired from the SBI in January 2011, after an independent audit of the agency found he had falsely represented evidence in 34 cases, including withholding negative results in the case of Greg Taylor, a North Carolina man who spent seventeen years in prison on a murder conviction based on Deaver's testimony. . for those who arent familiar with the case: He wasconvicted of first-degree murder in 2003 and spent nearly a decade behind bars. There was a lot of blood on the walls . Radisch's reported concluded that Elizabeth Ratliff's death had actually been as a result of a "homicidal assault", and not an accident as was previously determined. By being summoned to the scene in Germany and living at the scene in Durham, the Defendant is then present on the scene . found sufficient evidence drawn from the results of the second autopsy, along with new witness statements describing the scene,[10] to overturn the earlier findings and list Ratliff's cause of death as "homicide". What's the deal with Pret's new club subscription? Elizabeth Holmes has 11-year jail sentence delayed, Woman leaves husband over 'inattentive parenting', Women awoke to naked man beside her on the train, Cosmopolitan, Part of the Hearst UK Fashion & Beauty Network. [22], In August 2010, following a series of newspaper articles critical of the SBI, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper led an investigation which resulted in the suspension of SBI analyst Duane Deaver, one of the principal witnesses against Peterson, after the report found his work among the worst done on scores of flawed criminal cases. Michael placed two 911 calls, and emergency services attended the scene soon after. Upon examination, forensic pathologist Deborah Radisch, who also worked on Kathleen's case, said that Elizabeth's injuries were inconsistent with an accident. Because Peterson had already served more time than the sentence (98.5 months), he did not face additional prison time. Now, if you wish to learn more about this nearly four-decade-old matter, including the undeniable suspicions surrounding the same, dont worry; weve got all the essential details for you. Our culture embraces individuals, in all their daring, passionate, ambitious glory. Peterson lived next door to Ratliff when she died. In her opinion, the seven lacerations on her head indicated blunt force trauma. At the time, the German police ruled her death an accident and an autopsy concluded that she died of a brain hemorrhage. Some may criticize them as to why they cant see he did it. Noticing the uncanny similarities with Kathleen's case, prosecutors took a closer look at Elizabeth's death in 2003. Patricia Peterson and Elizabeth Ratliff had worked together at an elementary school on a U.S. Air Base and lived close by with their families in the town of Graefenhausen. Elizabeth Ratliff's Time of Death According to David Rudolf, the biggest flaw in the prosecution's theory regarding ER's death is the timeline and moreover that no one observed rigor mortis when they arrived on the scene. 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. ", Her death was eventually ruled a homicide. [16][17] A re-examination of the hair in September 2008 had found two more microscopic owl feathers. Although forensic expert Henry Lee, hired by Peterson's defense, testified that the blood-spatter evidence was consistent with an accidental fall down the stairs, police investigators concluded that the injuries were inconsistent with such an accident. Suspicion surrounding Elizabeth Ratliff's death, Neurosurgeon and owl expert Alan van Norman, Patrick T. Redig, a professor of veterinary medicine at the University of Minnesota, and Kate P. Davis, the director of Raptors of the Rockies, signed affidavits claiming that the evidence and injuries are consistent with an attack by an owl, possibly a. The 43-year-old died in 1985 in Germany, found at the bottom of her stairs by her children's nanny Barbara Malagnino. Like Peterson, Ratliff was found at the bottom of her stairs with injuries to her head. Despite Michael Peterson's lawyer, David Rudolf, requesting that a "neutral" pathologist from Texas carried out the autopsy, the District Attorney had Dr. Deborah L. Radisch, the state pathologist, do it instead. WildBlue Press", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Peterson_trial&oldid=1152187173, 20th-century American non-fiction writers, United States Marine Corps personnel of the Vietnam War, American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, Duke University Trinity College of Arts and Sciences alumni, Overturned convictions in the United States, People convicted of murder by North Carolina, Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by North Carolina, CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2020, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2018, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Motion for new trial denied by Durham County Superior Court on March 10, 2009, "The Staircase Murders" - 2007 TV Movie written by Aphrodite Jones, This page was last edited on 28 April 2023, at 18:49. It's believed that Michael was the last person to see . At A+E Networks EMEA, we share stories that matter. Learning is part of the journey at A+E Networks EMEA and youll be offered personal and professional development opportunities throughout your career with us. 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. In the first three episodes of The Staircase on HBO Max, there have been subtle mentions of a woman named Elizabeth Ratliff, and in Episode 4, audiences learn a little bit more about her. [7] Kathleen's daughter, Caitlin, and Kathleen's sister, Candace Zamperini, both initially proclaimed Michael's innocence and publicly supported him alongside his children, but Zamperini reconsidered after learning of Michael's bisexuality, as did Caitlin after reading her mother's autopsy report. It's believed that Michael was the last person to see her alive. In the documentary, Michael remembers he and his then-wife, Patricia, had dinner at the Ratliff home and he stayed behind to help Elizabeth put Martha and Margaret to. Peterson was reportedly the last person to see her alive. [2] The Staircase, a 2022 miniseries featuring Colin Firth and Toni Collette, also covers the murder case and its aftermath. Forensic tests revealed that it had been untouched and unmoved for too long to have been used in the murder. On February 1, 2007, Caitlin and Peterson settled the wrongful death claim for $25 million, pending acceptance by the courts involved; finalization of the settlement by the court was announced on February 1, 2008. The News & Observer, Durham's local news outlet, reported how "Margaret and Martha Ratliff wrapped their arms around each other and mourned" upon hearing their father's guilty verdict. He killed George Ratcliff by poisoning with arsenic, had an affair with Elizabeth, she was about to out him to his wife and he cleverly killed her, making it look like she fell down stairs. But they need to put themselves in their shoes, think if you already came from a broken home, wouldnt you try to believe in every last possibility that your parent could not do something so horrific, even if similar circumstances also involved that parent many years before? [CDATA[// >