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The Staircase: Did Michael Peterson Kill His Wife? | Oz True Crime — Transcript

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0:00[Applause]
0:00On December 9th, 2001, Kathleen Peterson
0:04was found dead at the bottom of a
0:06staircase in her palatial home.
0:08Authorities quickly focused their
0:10attention on her husband, Michael
0:12Peterson. The case continues to make
0:14headlines 18 years later thanks to the
0:16Netflix docue series The Staircase.
0:19shocking allegations that include a male
0:21escort and another suspicious death and
0:25some wild theories including that an owl
0:28an owl may have somehow led to
0:31Kathleen's tragic end. We're going to
0:33talk more about that infamous owl story.
0:36But first, Michael Peterson is here to
0:38respond to those claims and tell his
0:40side of the story. Take a look at how he
0:43got here today.
0:45[Applause]
0:48911. Where's your emergency?
0:50>> 1810 ft of street, please.
0:52>> Michael Peterson places a frantic 911
0:54call.
0:55>> Is she conscious?
0:56>> No, she's not conscious.
0:57>> His wife, Kathleen, lies in a pool of
0:59blood at the foot of their staircase.
1:02Dead. Michael Peterson is indicted for
1:04firstdegree murder. The autopsy reports
1:07the cause of death as blunt force trauma
1:09of the head inconsistent with a fall
1:12downstairs. The trial begins. Michael
1:14pes not guilty. The defense asserts that
1:18Kathleen died from an accidental fall.
1:21There was no weapon and no motive.
1:23Prosecutors claimed Kathleen was beaten
1:26to death by Michael. The alleged
1:27motives, money, and mouse. They claimed
1:30the couple argued after Kathleen
1:32discovered Michael's secret by sexual
1:34life. In the midst of financial
1:36struggles, Michael stood to collect $1.4
1:38million in life insurance. Then the
1:41trial takes a surprising turn. The death
1:44of Michael's friend, Elizabeth Radlin,
1:46in Germany is re-examined. In 1985, she
1:49was found dead at the foot of her
1:51staircase. Michael was the last person
1:53to see her alive. Her body is exumed. An
1:57autopsy performed. Ratliff's death is
2:00found to be the result of a homicidal
2:02assault. Not a brain hemorrhage as first
2:05determined.
2:07Michael Peterson is found guilty of the
2:09murder of Kathleen Peterson and is
2:11sentenced to life in prison without
2:13parole. After eight years in prison,
2:16Michael's conviction is thrown out due
2:18to alleged misconduct by a former state
2:21crime lab blood analyst. He is granted a
2:23new trial. But before the trial begins,
2:26Michael submits an Alfred plea, a way to
2:28plead guilty without having to admit to
2:31the crime. In essence, maintaining his
2:33innocence. He is given a reduced charge
2:36of manslaughter, sentenced to time
2:38served and set free.
2:43Michael Peterson joins us now. Now,
2:45throughout his time in prison, he
2:46continued to claim he was innocent in
2:48the death of his wife, Kathleen, yet you
2:51took the Alfred plea, which forces you
2:54to plead guilty. Why did you decide to
2:56do that?
2:57>> Several things. Uh, one of my sons said
3:01to me, "Dad,
3:04the people that believe you're innocent
3:05will always believe you're innocent. The
3:07people that think you're guilty, they'll
3:08never change their mind. So, what's the
3:10point of fighting on?" And my other son
3:13said, "Dad, you're playing at a crooked
3:15table. You're not going to win." So,
3:19give it up. You're 73 years old. Take
3:21the plea. Let's end it. So, I did. I
3:23took the plea. Hated it, but I do think
3:26it was the best thing. So, let's go
3:28through some of the allegations that
3:29were made at trial.
3:31>> First was that there were communications
3:32between you and a male escort. There was
3:35gay pornography on your computer. The
3:38prosecution alleged that you had argued
3:40with Kathleen over this
3:42>> when she discovered that you had an
3:44interest in men,
3:44>> right?
3:45>> And you know, we you came out as
3:47bisexual since then.
3:48>> Correct.
3:49>> I should just take you back. Were you
3:50sexually attracted to males at the time?
3:53>> Yes. Yes. And since I was a little boy.
3:56Did Kathleen know that you were
3:58attracted to men?
3:59>> No, we never discussed it.
4:00>> Why didn't you discuss something that
4:02you'd felt for decades?
4:04>> Uh, well, because when I found out uh
4:08this attraction, I was 11 years old. I
4:11was living on an army base. My father's
4:12a military officer. And remember the
4:15time we're talking in 1953,
4:17let's say. It was a totally different
4:20climate. And certainly in my generation,
4:22it was not acceptable. So I kept it
4:25hidden.
4:26>> Second big theory.
4:28>> Yeah.
4:28>> Had to do with a barred owl.
4:30>> Concept is that the bard owl would have
4:33attacked her, disoriented her. She would
4:36have entered the home. Ultimately, she
4:38fell hit her head on the staircase. It
4:41might explain some of the the wounds in
4:42her head. What do you think about this
4:45barred owl theory? Well, the first time
4:48I heard it, I was in prison, as a matter
4:50of fact, and uh I didn't put any
4:53emphasis on it or credence to it. We had
4:57owls in the yard. Uh they were in the
4:59trees in the background. They used to
5:00fright, not frighten, they used to
5:01outsmart our dogs all the time. Uh the
5:04dogs would run out, look around, and
5:06they scratch and go back in the house.
5:08Soon as they got back in the house, who
5:11again every day for, you know, a year?
5:14Do you believe that an owl may have
5:16attacked your wife?
5:17>> What made me believe that, not believe
5:19it, we say it's certainly plausible is
5:22because I saw a photograph uh in a
5:25magazine. You can't show them anymore
5:27because of North Carolina law against
5:29autopsy, but it was Kathleen shaved head
5:31with the lacerations and superimposed
5:34over those lacerations were a tal talons
5:38of an owl. And I thought, "Oh my god."
5:42And then she had feathers found in the
5:43palm of her hand. And you think, well,
5:46okay. Did I see the owl do that? Do I
5:50absolutely believe a d owl did that?
5:53No, I don't. I can't say anything. All I
5:56know for sure it wasn't me. It could
5:58have been an intruder. It could have
5:59been a fall. It could have been an owl.
6:03So, a very critical part of the case was
6:06the reality that in 1985, years earlier,
6:09>> Mhm. You'd had a neighbor, Elizabeth
6:11>> Rat Ratliff,
6:13>> who was found at the bottom of her
6:15stairwell
6:16>> with a head injury that had led to her
6:19demise. She had been in Germany, right,
6:21when you guys were living there.
6:23>> The German authorities ruled Elizabeth
6:24died from a stroke caused by a cerebral
6:26hemorrhage. But during Michael's 2003
6:29trial, her body was exumed and a new
6:31autopsy was done in North Carolina that
6:32concluded she had died from a homicidal
6:34assault.
6:37This is a big deal.
6:38>> Oh, yeah. Did you kill Elizabeth
6:40Ratliff?
6:41>> Lord no, she was she was our closest
6:43friend. She and her husband George uh
6:46George died in 1983. He died. Uh
6:51uh Liz never got over that. She just was
6:54she had two infants. She was 42 years
6:56old and she had a a a medical condition
6:59called vonvillbron's disease which is
7:01sort of like hemophilia in which you
7:04bleed
7:05>> without really clotting until much
7:07later. She had a stroke. The German
7:09doctor, German police came and
7:11investigated. The American CI came and
7:14investigated.
7:14>> Why did the US authorities think that
7:16she had been murdered when they redid
7:17her autopsy, assumed her body?
7:19>> What happened was the medical examiner,
7:22the same one who did the autopsy on
7:26Kathleen, was the one that did that
7:28autopsy, and she said, "Oh, same thing."
7:32So, it was just there. was decided to be
7:35a
7:36it didn't really fac it factored in as a
7:38publicity thing. It didn't factor into
7:41anything except in the juror's minds and
7:43they ah another one.
7:45>> Well, Elizabeth had two daughters,
7:47>> correct?
7:47>> You adopted those daughters.
7:49>> I became guardians for them.
7:50>> Some have speculated that you must have
7:52had some romantic involvement with their
7:54mother, Elizabeth.
7:55>> I know they've lived with that. Uh we've
7:57all lived with that for so long. During
7:59the trial, it was so tricky what the
8:02what the prosecution did. They took an
8:05envelope that my daughter Margaret had
8:08licked and they compared her DNA against
8:11my DNA. No match. Not possible that I
8:14was the father. But it has persisted for
8:17oh god 18 years now that I was the
8:21father of of Margaret and Martha and I
8:25had a relationship with Liz. Absolutely
8:28not.
8:29>> What do you have to say to the many
8:30viewers who are saying two women, one
8:34your wife, one a very close friend,
8:37found dead, bottom of stairwells,
8:39similar appearances, similar autopsy
8:41results according to one person. Too
8:44much must couldn't be a coincidence.
8:46>> Well, I understand that. I mean, I do in
8:49fact many times. My god,
8:52how did this happen? Except when you
8:54look at it more clearly. Liz died of a
8:57stroke and was found at the bottom of
8:59the stairs. Kathleen was found in the
9:02stairwell from Nobody knows yet. Whether
9:05it was a fall, whether it was from the
9:08owl, whether it was an intruder, I don't
9:10know. Two entirely different cases.
9:12>> How do you believe your wife died?
9:17>> I may be one of the last to still
9:19believe she fell. Many believe that it
9:21was an intruder. Uh, very possible. I
9:24don't know. All I know is I did not kill
9:26her.
9:27>> Well, if an intruder murdered your wife,
9:30>> getting them off the street would be
9:31valuable.
9:32>> Yes, it would.
9:34>> So, throughout his legal battles,
9:35there's one woman who has stayed by
9:36Michael's side. It's his first wife,
9:38Patricia. She's here today and she's
9:40revealing why she thinks Michael is
9:42innocent. That's next. We're back
9:45talking about the case against author
9:47Michael Peterson. In 2003, Peterson was
9:50sentenced to life in prison without
9:51parole after being convicted of
9:53murdering his second wife, Kathleen, at
9:56the bottom of a staircase in their home.
9:58That conviction was eventually thrown
10:00out. And in 2017, Michael plead guilty
10:03to voluntary manslaughter using an
10:05Alfred plea, which allows defendants to
10:07maintain their innocence while
10:09acknowledging prosecutors have enough
10:10evidence to convict. He was sentenced to
10:13time served, and he was set free. One
10:15woman stood by his side through it all.
10:17It was his first wife, Patricia. Michael
10:20and Patricia Peterson joined me today.
10:22Thank you for coming.
10:23>> My pleasure. A pleasure to meet you as
10:25well, Dr. Oz.
10:27>> You've been married to a man that you
10:28stood next to. You're you were divorced
10:31how long ago?
10:32>> Uh 1996.
10:35>> And through this all, you've been
10:36supportive of him. Were you
10:39at the time that you heard about these
10:40allegations 100% confident that your
10:43husband did not murder his second wife,
10:45Kathleen?
10:45>> I was indeed and I shall always remain
10:47convinced that he would not ever have
10:49taken the life of Kathleen
10:52Vince Peterson.
10:54>> The allegations that the prosecution
10:56were make making at the time involved
10:58several issues. One of them was the fact
11:00that your ex-husband was attracted to
11:03men. Were you surprised when you learned
11:05that Michael had an affinity for men?
11:07Had you sensed even a possibility of
11:09that when you were married?
11:11>> I did not. No.
11:12>> You were still married when Elizabeth
11:15fell down the stairs or had the stroke
11:18or was murdered
11:19>> when her life ended.
11:20>> When her life ended.
11:21>> Yes.
11:21>> Any thoughts of what happened in Germany
11:23in 1985?
11:25>> Certainly. Yes. Uh she and I were
11:28teaching department again department of
11:30defense education Germany, my privilege
11:32and hers. And um I was essentially the
11:35second person on the scene. Also I was
11:37there present the entire investigation.
11:40I did I was sitting essentially from
11:42here to perhaps the camera there when
11:45the the German uh physician knelt down
11:50and inserted a needle into her back
11:52approximately where I'm pointing. Then
11:54he lifted it up into the light and I saw
11:57the the the vial was perhaps this high
12:00and I saw that it was rather a cloudy
12:02liquid. I can attest to that and uh he
12:06did pronounce at the scene that the
12:08cause of death was cerebral hemorrhage.
12:10>> So Michael was raising five kids at the
12:12time of Kathleen's death, including
12:13Kathleen's daughter from a previous
12:15marriage. Her name is Caitlyn. Now she
12:17now believes he killed her mother.
12:20Michael and Caitlyn are currently in a
12:21legal dispute over profits from his
12:23book, Behind the Staircase. And while in
12:25prison, he settled a wrongful death
12:27lawsuit with her for $25 million.
12:30What do you want to say to Caitlyn?
12:33>> Um,
12:35I loved her. I I never I was there every
12:38day after school for her. Uh, we were a
12:41a close family, Margaret, Martha, and
12:43Caitlyn with Kathleen.
12:46We could have been They were sisters.
12:48Everything was fine.
12:51Today, I would still say, "Caitlyn, I
12:53love you. I understand it. Uh, I I what
12:57can I do to make it better for you?"
13:00>> Patricia, can I come back to you one
13:02more series of questions?
13:03>> Please.
13:05>> Did you ever find that Michael had a
13:08temper? Did you ever feel fear when
13:10you're with him when you were married?
13:12>> I did not fear. No. No, I did not. Dr.
13:15Oz,
13:16>> did he ever have behaviors that you
13:18thought could in any way, whether from
13:20past military experience, from uh
13:24frustration over sexual orientation or
13:27any other factor of his life, could have
13:30raised him to a level of rage.
13:32>> No. Firmly no. Then and always. He would
13:37never have brought harm to Kathleen.
13:40They shared happiness, life, philosophy,
13:44intellect, love of their families, then
13:46later their collected, assembled
13:48families.
13:49>> He never would have taken her life as
13:53well. There may have been several
13:54causes. Um, you heard his opinion there.
13:58There may there may have been an the
14:01presence of an owl. We saw the
14:03lacerations.
14:04>> Um, and there may have been an intruder.
14:07A mystery remains. But without question,
14:11Michael did not, nor would he ever have
14:13taken her life for me. In closing, the
14:17most one of the most poignant
14:21messages of his sorrow over the tragedy
14:24of Kathleen's death was in the recorded
14:28911 call. That was sincere. It was
14:32genuine.
14:34It conveyed in his heart, in his mind,
14:36for the length of his life, the depth
14:40and and breadth of that tragedy for him
14:44that he will always bear and that we
14:46will always carry in our hearts for the
14:48death of Kathleen again, the loss of the
14:50mother and for the daughter. Caitlyn,
14:54>> thank you for being here, Michael, as
14:56well. We'll be right back.
14:59[Music]
15:00We're back talking about the death of
15:01Kathleen Peterson who was found at the
15:04bottom of a staircase in her North
15:06Carolina mansion. Now, Oz Team forensic
15:08criminologist Dr. Laura Petler is here
15:10to help explain what might have happened
15:12the night of December 9th, 2001. Now,
15:14Kathleen's husband, Michael, was
15:16originally sentenced to life without
15:17parole for her murder. That conviction
15:19was thrown out because of the state's
15:22bloodstain and analyst was Dwayne Dver,
15:24who was found to have committed perjury
15:26and gave misleading testimony. So, what
15:28did the prosecution argue had happened?
15:30I know you brought a little model here
15:31for us.
15:32>> So, Dr. Oz, besides the fact that Dwayne
15:35Dver's testimony was terrible, the facts
15:37that the prosecution presented made
15:39sense. The first thing investigators
15:42found when they came in the house that
15:44night was that Kathleen Peterson was
15:46dead at the bottom of her stairs. She
15:48had blood on the bottom of her feet that
15:51was dry.
15:53>> Very interesting.
15:54>> Meaning what? That she had stepped in
15:55blood. stepped in blood after she began
15:58bleeding and then is now down again. So,
16:00it's very important to recognize that.
16:03Secondly,
16:06once we look into the stairwell, the
16:09second thing that the the investigators
16:11would have seen is all of this blood
16:13spatter at the bottom of the staircase.
16:16And this isn't just one instance of
16:18blood. This is over overlapping patterns
16:21of blood stains here from repeated
16:25blood a bloodletting event that was
16:27repeated over and over again over and
16:29over and over again onto the wall. The
16:31third thing they noticed was that she
16:33had seven blunt force trauma lacerations
16:36to the back of the head and it didn't
16:38make sense with falling down the stairs.
16:40>> All right. So, walk me through what the
16:41both sides of what they would have done.
16:43So, if she had fallen down the stairs,
16:45the idea was that she had somehow been
16:47walking down here. She had alcohol and
16:48volume in her system. Correct. Right.
16:50She's walking down, she slips, she bangs
16:52her head,
16:52>> falls down, begins to bleed,
16:54>> gets up, steps back in the blood, slips
16:56down,
16:56>> steps in the blood, and goes back down.
16:58And so that's what the defense argued.
17:00The prosecution argued that she was
17:02bludgeoned to death at the bottom of the
17:04stairs.
17:05>> And that's why there were multiple
17:06patterns of blood down here.
17:08>> Correct. Because when you when when
17:10someone is hit in the back of the head
17:11once, it creates the injury. The second
17:14time they're hitting the back of the
17:15head in the same location, the blood
17:17spatters all over the world wall. The
17:19sec the third time it's going to happen
17:20again and again and again. So the
17:22sequence of events is multiple blows
17:24onto the wall.
17:24>> Now Michael's defense offered an
17:26interesting theory having looked at a
17:28lot of blunt trauma to the head cases.
17:30>> They did. One of the most interesting
17:31things about Kathleen Peterson was that
17:33she did not have any skull fractures in
17:37any of the locations where she had the
17:39lacerations. They pulled 10 years of
17:42blunt force trauma beating deaths in
17:44North Carolina. Not one single one of
17:46them was like her case. Every single one
17:48had skull fractures except Kathleen.
17:51>> So what did the defense argue had it
17:52happened?
17:53>> The defense stuck to just a very clean
17:55theory. They said that because she had
17:57the alcohol in her system, because she
17:59had the volume in her system, she came
18:01in, she walked up the stairs, she fell
18:03down, walked in the blood, fell down
18:07multiple times, but they just kept it
18:08very clean. They offered no explanation
18:11for why she had seven gaping lacerations
18:14to the back of her head.
18:15>> But there was a theory offered by a
18:18different lawyer, Larry Pard, that a
18:19barred owl attacked Kathy. And again,
18:23this is what a barred owl looks like.
18:25And they look peaceful like this, but
18:26notice their talents.
18:27>> Yes.
18:28>> You all see those? How? I mean, they're
18:29sharp. And this is not a big barred owl,
18:32right? So, this is a live bard owl. We
18:34wanted to actually show you what it
18:35looked like. You have a bard owl?
18:36>> I do. Her name is Isidora. and she was
18:39born on my farm, fell out of her tree,
18:41broke her wing, came back after she got
18:43better. And I always noticed something
18:45about her. She has feathers on the
18:48bottom of her talons.
18:50>> Oh, yes.
18:50>> And it was interesting because there
18:52were feathers found with Kathleen. They
18:55were not analyzed by the state lab. The
18:57crime lab doesn't have the ability to do
18:59that. But look at those feathers on the
19:03bottom of this beautiful owl's talons.
19:06>> So, what's your take on this theory?
19:08Could Could a bird have gotten enraged,
19:11attacked the Kathleen's head, chased
19:14her, keep attacking it? I mean, that
19:16would make sense why you'd have multiple
19:18bludgeoning like moves and but none of
19:19them penetrated the skull, which would
19:21also make sense.
19:22>> No. And it's highly unlikely, but
19:24because of the feathers and the fact
19:26that the feathers have never been
19:27analyzed can't be ruled out.
19:29>> I I have a picture here of the autopsy
19:31image from the back of Kathleen's head.
19:33So, if you're a criminologist, make
19:35sense of this for us. Okay. So, the fact
19:37that we have multiple lacerations here
19:39is more like this. This this it but it
19:43because it's in this shape, it is
19:45consistent with this the shape of a
19:47talon for sure.
19:48>> That's a that's what a talon looks like
19:49of a barred owl.
19:50>> But these are deep, Dr. Oz. And you know
19:52how how vascular the head is. When the
19:55head splits open like that, it bleeds
19:56everywhere.
19:56>> So, give me But it's deep. But a a b a
19:59owl doing it wouldn't fracture your
20:01skull. And as you pointed out, if it was
20:02done with a I don't know, some an ice
20:04>> light a very light instrument that's not
20:06going to cause skull fractures.
20:08>> And what about the fact that there were
20:09small feathers as you point out? They're
20:10little feathers on the talon.
20:12>> All these little feathers, they were
20:13micro feathers. They were not visible to
20:15the naked eye. And so
20:16>> this is this is from a b owl talons.
20:19Right. And so, you know, these would
20:20have to be analyzed and there's just no
20:22technology at the North Carolina State
20:24Crime Lab to do that.
20:24>> Well, why would she have feathers in her
20:26skull? You know, it's very uncommon at a
20:28crime scene to find feathers in the hand
20:31of any victim. Um, but it could be just
20:35from something so simple as a as a bed
20:37pillow or an upholstered chair,
20:39>> a down pillow.
20:40>> Yes. I mean, it's so simple but
20:42uncommon.
20:43>> Dr. Laura Pedler, thank you very much
20:44for your advice. For an even deeper dive
20:46into the owl theory, head to
20:47dr.com/crcimehunters.
20:50I want to emphasize Michael Peterson
20:51denies any involvement in the deaths of
20:53Kathleen Peterson or his friend
20:55Elizabeth Ratliff. Thank you for
20:57watching. Don't forget to subscribe and
20:58turn on notifications so you never miss
21:00out on new videos to live the good

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