In 2017, Michael is contemplating taking the Alford plea, in which he would have to plead guilty to the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter for a reduced sentence, but he could not be retried. With The Staircase retelling the tale of Michael Peterson and his alleged hand in wife Kathleen Petersons bizarre December 2001 demise, several related matters are coming back into the spotlight. Shortly before Elizabeth passed away, George died of a heart attack during the US invasion of Grenada. I believe that Patty suspected Michaels infidelity with Liz, and with the girls left to Michael, this probably only reinforced her suspicions. As per reports, Elizabeth often had dinner with the Petersons, and Michael would stay back to clean up or tuck her little girls to bed, which is precisely what they unwittingly did on her last evening alive. When the Petersons resided in Germany, Elizabeth had worked in the same school as Michael's then wife Patty. Firth portrayed Peterson for eight episodes of the HBO Max drama based on the documentary of the same name. Some may criticize them as to why they cant see he did it. "I've read 260 autopsies from blunt trauma to the head, and never once did I see any of your people say the inflicted trauma is clearly from a homicidal assault," Rudolf is heard saying in the documentary. I don't speak French. Like Peterson, Ratliff was found at the bottom of her stairs with injuries to her head. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! She edited the scenes of us in the house, you know, meeting with experts, that sort of thing," he continued. 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. After receiving permission from Elizabeth's mother and sister, authorities went ahead with the exhumation. She often ate dinner with the Petersons, and Michael would help her clean up and tuck in her children at bedtime. He did meet with Michael Stuhlbarg who portrayed him in the series and even lent him his real glasses to wear during the film. In the fifth episode, Brunet and Lestrade are seen arguing with their producer over which clip to delete from the documentary. At the time, her death was investigated by the U.S. military police in Germany and an autopsy concluded she had died from an intracerebral hemorrhage. Michael had also been caught in a lie in the press when he claimed he won a Purple Heart in Vietnam when he had not. Rudolf first took issue with some of the smaller details in the series. The prosecution also discovers that back when Michael and Patty lived in Germany, Michael found ANOTHER woman at the bottom of a staircase Elizabeth Ratliff, the biological mother of Margaret and Martha. Therefore, when the Captain suddenly lost his life during a secret overseas operation in 1983, his widows connection with them only furthered she even began relying on Michael for some help in daily chores. Elizabeth Ratliff Wasn't Murdered It's been incredibly infuriating that people keep insisting that Michael Peterson killed Elizabeth. 17 hours ago, by Monica Sisavat On April 16, 2003, the state medical examiner's office carried out a second autopsy on Elizabeth Ratliff's body. Michael and his ex-wife, Patty (Trini Alvarado), had become the legal guardians of Margaret and Martha after both of their parents died. She was not close to her sisters, Appel-Schumacher said on cross-examination, and thought it would be good for the girls to live with the Petersons in Europe if anything ever happened to her. At the time, her death was investigated by the U.S. military police in Germany and an autopsy concluded she had died from an intracerebral hemorrhage. It's believed that Michael was the last person to see her alive. We earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article. ", However, for Michael Peterson's lawyer, David Rudolf, HBO Max's The Staircase fell short at moments surrounding its accuracy, describing moments as "inaccurate," "misleading" and "outright false". Its construction of the case emphasized prejudicial aspects, like the judge allowing evidence of Ratliff's death, which a state medical examiner also deemed a homicide, and the prosecution exposing Peterson's sex life so as to use jurors' potentially anti-gay attitudes against him. At the time of the exhumation, Michael Peterson's lawyer, David Rudolf, requested that a "neutral" pathologist from Texas carry out the second autopsy. On November 25, 1985, she was found dead at the bottom of her staircase surrounded by pools of blood. In 2011, a retrial hearing is granted after Duane Deaver, the analyst that had given the damning evidence against Michael at the first trial, finds himself under investigation. OR after heaving her down the stairs to make sure she indeed was dead, struck her again a few times with the same item as at the front door-he may not even have had to hit her fast, he could do it more slowly which would not end up leaving castoff on the ceiling, which was an issue at the trial-if he had struck her surely there would be castoff on the ceiling, but they were figuring on it being done in a fast frenzy-he then changed clothing and got rid of the clothing and the item he struck her with. Rudolf is highly skeptical of the documentary crew following their every move but eventually has to relent. So Im sure there is some emotion heard in the 911 call, Im sure he did love Kathleen and Elizabeth. The Staircase airs Thursdays on HBO Max and Sky Atlantic. Elizabeth Ratliff and her husband, George Ratliff, were close friends of Michael Peterson and his first wife Patricia Peterson when they lived in Germany in the 1980s. The widow grew even closer with the Peterson family. The autopsy report found that Elizabeth Ratliff had died in 1985 from “blunt force trauma to the head” by a “homicidal attack,” rather than of a brain hemorrhage while . On November 25, 1985, Elizbeth Ratliff was found dead at the bottom of her staircase, in an eerily similar way to the way Michael Peterson's wife, Kathleen Peterson was found on December 1, 2001. document.write('Tuesday, August 19, 2003 Posted: 10:40 PM HKT (1440 GMT)
<\/span>'); It was after she left the project that she first sent him a letter. Elizabeth Ratliff became good friends with Michael Peterson after meeting his first wife, Patty, when the women worked together at a school in Germany. To quote, 'help him' on his appeal. That's number one. The night before Elizabeth's death, Michael Peterson and his wife had dinner with Elizabeth and her two young daughters. "First of all, Sophie didn't edit any of the courtroom scenes. Occasionally wiping tears from her eyes, Appel-Schumacher testified about the large amount of blood she and her husband cleaned up after Ratliff's body was moved. In HBO Max's The Staircase, Brunet (played by Juliette Binoche) appears throughout the series, at first working to edit the documentary film released in 2004 and later as Peterson's romantic partner. Meanwhile, Michael's defense attorneys hire their own blood spatter experts, who testify that the blood patterns are just not consistent with a brutal strike to the head. The best face wash for every single skin type. Although I do feel that the police did not act in all honesty with some of their actions, I do feel that no matter what, the jury saw through the shoddy case and found him guilty anyway. Her life was thus incredibly different from her Rhode Island farm upbringing, especially as shed eventually found herself working at an elementary school at the Rhein-Main Air Force Base in West Germany. They believe their adopted father is innocent of killing both of their moms, according to the documentary. He was granted a new trial in 2011, which was scheduled to begin in May 2017. Since her husband's death, Peterson would come over to visit her every evening after dinner, according to "The Staircase." A medical examiner who examined her body at the scene concurred that the death was probably an accident. It wasn't until after Kathleen's death in December 2001 that the circumstances surrounding Elizabeth Ratliff's fall and subsequent death were re-evaluated. In that case, it's thought that Ratliff succumbed to her blood clotting disorder via an intra-cerebral hemorrhage and then fell down the stairs after she was already deceased. "And you never saw any kind of indication that she had any kind of romantic relationship with Michael Peterson?" As it came to light that Kathleen was not the first woman associated with Michael to be found dead at the bottom of the staircase, Elizabeths remains were exhumed for more information. After her death, German officials concluded that Ratliff died of a cerebral hemorrhage which led to her falling down the stairs. "What's the fucking grounds?" Although Ratliff lost a lot of weight and mourned her husband's death deeply, Appel-Schumacher said Ratliff's mood lifted during 1985. 43-year-old Elizabeth Ratliff was found dead in her home in Graefenhausen, Germany. Elizabeth Ratliff's daughters continue to believe Mike Peterson. 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. However, there are no skull fractures, which is practically impossible. "It was a great blow to both of us, for which I feel not guilt, but sorrow," he continued. At least, until tragedy struck. Elizabeth's death was initially ruled an accident, but when her body was exhumed during the trial for a second autopsy in April 2003, the coroner found sufficient evidence to categorize it as a homicide. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. This meant he admitted the evidence against him would likely lead to a finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt but he did not have to admit he committed the crime. In the end, Michael Peterson was convicted of murdering Kathleen Peterson. 1 day ago. Peterson agreed to an Alford plea, which enables him to maintain his innocence in the death of his wife Kathleen Peterson in 2001. 1 day ago, by Chanel Vargas She refuses to binge-watch anything. Appel-Schumacher recalled that Ratliff had a severe headache four days before she died, severe enough that she made an appointment to see a doctor the following week. Elizabeth Ratliff, shown in the Netflix docu-series "The Staircase.". } else if ( host.indexOf("asia.cnn.com") != -1 ) { Rudolf calls witnesses including the lead investigator from The Innocence Project and manages to convince the judge that Deaver lied about his qualifications on the stand. 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. In shock of what just transpired, Michael returned home where he would await news of Liz being found dead. document.write('Tuesday, August 19, 2003 Posted: 1440 GMT
<\/span>'); We never charge him another cent and the appeal was done on a court-appointed basis.". 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. defense lawyer Thomas Maher asked. The two were buried side by side after Ratlitt died. Elizabeth Ratliff, 43, was a close Peterson family friend who died in Germany in 1985. Meanwhile, in France, two filmmakers are searching for their next project. He has since insisted she was completely okay when he walked out the door, yet the following morning, the girls nanny found her dead at the bottom of the stairs Elizabeth passed away on November 25, 1985. However, back in Germany Michael Peterson's BFF Elizabeth Ratliff also happened to die in another "freak staircase accident" in 1995. Newsweek reached out to HBO and director Antonio Campos's representatives. Upon examination, forensic pathologist Deborah Radisch, who also worked on Kathleen's case, said that Elizabeth's injuries were inconsistent with an accident. While looking for something in the study or den, Kathleen either stumbled upon the emails exposing Michaels bisexual desires either on the computer or possibly a hard copy of something. But as Michael, again could not have this harmful information that could ruin his reputation get out, he flew into a rage again striking Kathleen as she was headed out the door, thus leaving the drops of blood on the porch which was what initially led to the owl theory (an owl latched onto Kathleens head with its sharp talons-crazy I know). Ultimately, Michael decides not to move to Paris in order to start a new life elsewhere with Sophie, and their relationship ends. }else { 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. 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