Stolen valor, closeted homosexuality, greed. Guilty! His son Todd has even come out against his dad. The owl theory is compelling, but he got away with it before. Follow the money!
36,43 Enter Dr.Henry Lee. LOL! I love this guy. He has spent decades living in the USA and yet he speaks the most hilariously bad English. Listening to him is a joy because he sounds so funny.
Kathleen's sister: "My father wanted his daughters to be well-educated..." Kathleen's sister (earlier in episode): "When I finally seen Michael..." Sorry, dad.
im only halfway into this but i just had to say how remarkable the resemblance is between the two women, not only in how they died but very much so lookswise as well, they could have been sisters!
Newsflash- you don't get bloodsplatter like a Pollack painting from falling down some stairs and hitting your head ! or lacerations all over your skull. This makes me wonder about Dr Henry Lee's other 'expert' opinions
The fact that Dr. Lee was involved as part of the defense team was a big part of my thinking that Michael was innocent...now I don't know what to think. As for the amount of blood, my son fell down the stairs and got a cut to the scalp. He bled like a stuck pig! And the stairs were bare in Michael's house so she could have received several lacerations. But enough to make her bleed to death after she fell down just a few steps? Smh, i don't know...
Linda Roy It doesnt matter how many stairs she "fell", pay attention to the video of the staircase, those stair steps were round-edged, there is no way that a simple fall from that staircase could have caused all the blood (spattered high up on the wall) and all those deep lacerations, so deep that the skin around the lacerations could be flapped over.
I was unsure about this one for a long time. But after watching and reading everything I could find about the case, I am certain: He's guilty. And he's a sociopath, which is why those close to him believe him to be incapable of murdering Kathleen. The evidence is less convincing than the inconsistencies and oddities in his story, which one can find only by examining the case closely. Because he's a good liar, for sure. But he made more than a few mistakes.
Thank you! He makes my skin crawl he's such a sociopath. Even in The Staircase (a biased in Peterson's favor doc, IMHO) his brother and attorney don't seem convinced he is innocent, just that they don't want the only living parent sent to prison! BTW: can you tell me what you've read? I've only watched a variety of things here on YT. I also don't think money or anything was the motive: I think they had an argument and she said something that made him snap -- either about their relationship, him needing an actual job, or something about how he'd forgotten to load the dishwasher again -- people like him SNAP and kill in fits of rage; I think he is that sort of sociopath and less of the cunning, planning variety. I think that's how Elizabeth was killed too.
zeldablue what creeps me out is that the family lived in the house while keeping that blood-drenched staircase exactly as it was. For years! It would be like Lizzy Borden keeping the sofa that her father was hacked to death on.
If you've seen the crime photos of the Peterson house, you know how gruesome that staircase was. I couldn't live in that house, no matter how nice it was. Even if it was closed off. Just knowing what happened there would turn me off, never mind keeping it the way it was.
Linda Roy Yeah. And just I would think the blood would start to smell and attract pests? The idea of walking past a crime/accident scene every morning to get my coffee or whatever would be more than upsetting.
What this documentary doesn't cover is that Deaver, the prosecution's lead blood spatter expert over-exaggerated his qualifications, training and experience. It was also found that another man had been imprisoned for 17 years because of Deaver's testimony. Michael Peterson was released in 2011 and is under house arrest, and has to wear a tracking anklet.
I hate this new chapter! And I hate Deaver as much as I hate Peterson. I saw that he had petitioned the court to have the ankle bracelet removed. Also, that he has requested a public defender. I'll admit to being cynical, but I feel that IF an attorney thought Peterson was innocent, one would represent him at no cost or at the public defender fee. To me, it says a lot that his former atty nor none of his former fabulous friends have stayed at his side.
zeldablue To be fair, even a lawyer has to make money and can take on so many pro bono cases...and this new trial would require a lot of time and effort no matter who defended him. Still, it is interesting that his previous attorney won't take the case. Do you know if he will take no part in it at all?
Linda Roy You do make a good point -- I don't know exactly what the circumstances are as to why he doesn't have the former atty. And no, I don't know whether he will be invlved in any way. I just read a story in a NC paper that he had to request a public defender.
He did not marry her because of love or her beauty but of her money;He was bi-sexual and in their marriage there were cracks because of their sexual relationship,that was an open secret!I don´t believe in this "soul-mate" thing,there was greed,sex and financial problems,especially on his side,she was financing everything and he didn´t have an income for years!
Why is his sexuality a cause for him to be evil? Grow up you bunch of childish homophobes and make a contribution to this post that actually holds a tincture of merit.
Owl theory: In late 2009, Peterson's attorneys raised a new theory of Kathleen Peterson's death, that she had been attacked by an owl outside, fallen after rushing inside, and been knocked unconscious after hitting her head on the first tread of the stairs. The owl theory was raised by Durham attorney T. Lawrence Pollard, who was not involved in the case at the time but approached the police suggesting an owl might have been responsible. He raised this possibility after reading the SBI evidence list and finding a "feather" listed. - Wikipedia
Content Angel Many TV shows, such as Dominick Dunne's Power, Privilege and Justice, are popular because, even though they depict horrific events such as gruesome murders, they also portray a simplistic comforting world where everything is black and white and everyone is either a hero or villain. That's great entertainment but in the real world life is a lot more complex and all people have flaws and weaknesses and fall short of the hero myth. In this case, due to government's failures, apparently Michael Peterson is now out of jail and awaiting a new trial, in which many questions will be asked and many different answers given, and the whole thing will be characterized superficially in the "mainstream" media in whatever way the establishment decides. Regardless of what actually happened to Kathleen Hunt Atwater Peterson, in the new trial victory will go to whomever is able to convince the judge and jury of their version of the tragic story. Doubt is the first essential step to a better understanding of the truth. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”
Was that "Owl Theory" ever investigated...and the forensic evidence reviewed again to see if it supported that theory? I'm inclined to think it was not an owl: but if the issue has been raised, perhaps it should at least be ruled out. When I looked at the diagrams of the lacerations to the victim's head....my instant reaction was that the lacerations did have a rather bizarre pattern. After hearing the "Owl Theory", I looked at them again. From what I know about wounds and owls (I am a health professional and live in a rural area where owls are common) I'm now thinking maybe it should be considered....and if not confirmed, at least ruled out.
the last doco i watched about this there had been a theory she may have went outside into the front yard and been attacked by an owl. they had found a feather that could only be seen under a microscope from her hair that came from an owl. they showed footage from the area where several others had been attacked by them....but idk
What about the owl? We went over this case study and its a great example of what bias can influence, and how sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. It would be nice and neat to say it was him but there has been some clear conclusive evidence to the contrary.
This dickhead also testified in the defense for OJ Simpson, that record alone says it all about the integrity of his "professional expertise" and his dignity as a human being. With the right price, this courthouse prostitute "dr." will do more than just spit, the pipsqueak also will blow, suck, swallow anything you pay him to do.
Hey Everyone, It's Dr. Henry Lee!! -- AKA: The courthouse prostitute. With the right price, this courthouse prostitute "dr." will do more than just spit, the pipsqueak also will blow, suck, swallow, anything you pay him to do.
Xiaomin L Feador I will have to say you're right on that. I can't believe a man with so much education, training and experience on that very subject would seriously propose something that just totally goes against the grain of common sense and logic. Bizarre. I guess it comes down to dollars and cents.
IF dead people could see and hear what's going on among the living, Kathleen must be bitterly disappointed at her family (especially her sister and her own daughter). My blood is splashed all over the damn wall, over 7 feet high, you people believed that i fell to my bloody death? Really sister? Really my dear girl? I didn't know you two were that dumb.
Xiaomin L Feador what's wrong with you the sister knew it was him ! so did the daughter! Her husband killed her ,the only ones that think it was a accident was his kids from a different marriage!
Interesting doco called "The Staircase" investigates this case very closely. I think it ran for 8, one hour episodes. "The Staircasë 2" implicates both the forensics laboratory of the police department of North Carolina, and Duane Deaver, its chief - Michael Peterson, released from jail after serving eight years of a life sentence, pending a retrial.
I've kinda of been keeping an eye on whether or not he'll get a re-trial but haven't heard anything. I loved "The Staircase!" With my ADD, it's hard to me to want to watch a very long documentary like that one, but I couldn't stop watching! Since we both saw it, do you think he's guilty? As for me, I really don't know.
Linda Roy I'm not sure either. The blood stains say he did it but....................I don't think I would have found him guilty based on the doco, but I guess we don't get the full story on t.v. The guy who made the documentary went back to interview the jurors 2 years later & I was shocked at how they reached their verdict. It was really based on his lifestyle as opposed to the actual crime.
It's been so long since I saw the documentary but I cannot recall seeing the defense's animated version of the fall. For some reason, I'd always thought she had fallen down more stairs than the 2 or 3 that were shown...I do remember the photographs of her head though, not the cgi ones that were in this show. Gruesome.
Keep in mind that doc was made by acquaintances of Mr. Peterson. They weren't objective, outside observers who just happened to be in town when the trial started. It's a biased doc. For example they omit facts like Todd, the oldest son, arriving at the crime scene before the rescue team that night! Even so, I couldn't believe what I was seeing: this guy was such an obvious manipulator it was very frustrating to see so many people affected by him or unable to expose him. That said, yeah, that "expert" for the prosecution is a scumbag for the lives he ruined in other cases and for abusing his role. He will not have his old attorney for the retrial (if it even occurs) and to me, that speaks volumes. That defense attorney made So MUCH money the first trial that if he truly felt his client was innocent, he would still represent him even if he were unable to pay. Attorneys can be scumbags, but there are also many, many cases where they will represent clients they believe in either for public defender fee or even nothing.
queensword One of my problems with the makers of The Staircase 1 and 2 is that they strongly imply Peterson is just an innocent man-of-the-world being persecuted for having a potentially non-traditional marriage. The prosecution is routinely portrayed as being a bunch of country bumpkin rubes who spend their spare time searching for satanic cults,killing black cats and examining newborns for the mark of "666". Now, it IS true that juries convict or acquit for non-evidence based reasons, however, 2 out of 12 jurors isn't a significant sample of the jury to prove they were biased. It just shows two of them were willing to be interviewed by those filmmakers. Sadly, it is true that bisexuals and homosexuals are discriminated against in our justice system but I think it's shitty that Peterson is trying to claim discrimination as if he were "out". At best he was a closeted bi. Peterson is trying to claim he cannot be tried for murder because the jury pool and prosecutors are small-minded: not his peers, but people beneath him. Peterson seems unwilling to comprehend that once one is caught in too many lies -- especially after publicly admonishing others for less -- one's peers might just see his real character, straight, bi or homosexual.
That's what I thought too -- and I kept wondering what exactly made him look so bad -- could it just have been his strange baldness pattern? (It's like he lost it all at the hairline -- all around his head. One of the first things that struck me in the photos of him, with Kathleen, was how vain he seemed. Most straight, married men of of his status can look very good without trying *that* hard. He seemed insecure to me.
That's exactly how i feel at the sight of his wrinkled face. Especially when the old jerk speaks to the camera "I love Kathleen, i whisper her name in my heart a thousand times", EWWW!
