The two families were close friends while living in Germany, and Michael was the last person who'd seen Elizabeth alive following dinner at the Ratliff home one night, Michael offered to stay behind and help Elizabeth put her girls to bed. Elizabeth's Ratliff's sudden death in November 1985 became of great significance in the case against Michael Peterson during his trial for the murder of his second wife, Kathleen Peterson. 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). Liz Ratliff also died under mysterious circumstances. So Im sure there is some emotion heard in the 911 call, Im sure he did love Kathleen and Elizabeth. I believe that Patty suspected Michaels infidelity with Liz, and with the girls left to Michael, this probably only reinforced her suspicions. Michael wasn't accused of murdering Elizabeth outright, but the fact that her daughters who he, again, adopted after her death were the recipients of a hefty life insurance policy was enough to cast doubt in the jurors of his case. The coroner determined that she fell down the stairs after the brain bleed caused her immediate demise. His analysis of the crime scene suggested that most of the blood splatter on the . They argued as he would not agree to this. Both declined to comment directly on Rudolf's statements. Meanwhile, in France, two filmmakers are searching for their next project. Peterson was the. The similarities between the deaths of Elizabeth Ratliff and Kathleen Peterson raised eyebrows among the Durham authorities. An autopsy concluded Elizabeth died from a. Just four days before her death, she was complaining of severe headaches. When re-examined, Elizabeth's relationship with Michael's family and the details of her passing thicken the plot of this engrossing true-crime case. The North Carolina medical examiner performed an autopsy and concluded that she died from blunt force injuries and that it was the result of a homicide. Lestrade appears throughout the series, filming Michael in the most mundane and dramatic of moments, capturing his family and his entire trial, appeal, and release. After seeing much of The Staircase on Netflix and seeing Michaels narcissistic and cocky personality I believe he tried to make her believe she was crazy to think that or try to make up a story, as that was what he did for a living so it would be easy for him to come up with excuses easily. "There are many things in the first five episodes, which I've seen that are inaccurate, misleading, and outright false," Rudolph told Newsweek. So why would you? 'The Staircase' Ending Explained: What Is the Truth? Colin Firth as Michael Peterson in "The Staircase." host = new String(location.hostname); Authorities in Germany had determined that Ratliff's death was the result of a fatal stroke that sent her toppling down the stairs. Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. The widow grew even closer with the Peterson family. Often, he'd help with the dishes or read to Ratliff's two young daughtersbefore returning home, according to the documentary series. At least, until tragedy struck. Above, the real David Rudolf (R) and Michael Peterson (L) appear in court. Furious she confronts Michael with her findings. Why would you do that just to sort of create a negative impression about Michael Peterson?". The night before Elizabeth's death, Michael Peterson and his wife had dinner with Elizabeth and her two young daughters. There is also an alternate theory put forth by Petersons neighbor Larry (Joel McKinnon Miller) that Kathleen was viciously attacked by an owl. In 2003, Michael Peterson was convicted of killing his wife Kathleen Peterson after she was found dead in a pool of blood at the bottom of the staircase in their home on December 9, 2001. Get all your true crime news from Oxygen. Whether the evidence about Elizabeth Ratliff's death had a particularly swaying influence on the jury or not is impossible to know - but Michael Peterson was convicted of murdering Kathleen Peterson in October 2003. He hires David Rudolf (Michael Stuhlbarg) whose price tag is as big as his reputation. Michael struggles with life outside of prison and sees his children are struggling as well. 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. On the prosecution side, Durham County District Attorney Jim Hardin (Cullen Moss) and Assistant District Attorney, Freda Black (Parker Posey) take on the case. No, the will of the Ratliffs stated the girls would be left in the care of Michael Peterson. When he separated from his wife, he brought his sons and the Ratliff children to the United States. When the prosecution learned of Elizabeth's death and identified the coincidence that she, too, had died as a result of falling down the stairs, they called for her body to be exhumed from the grave in Texas where she was buried. (We dont know if this is factual or just a dramatized coincidence.) She was found dead at the bottom of a staircase, Ratliff was found tilted sideways at the bottom of a wooden staircase inside her home, according to "The Staircase.". The Real Housewives of Atlanta The Bachelor Sister Wives 90 Day Fiance Wife Swap The Amazing Race Australia Married at First Sight The Real Housewives of Dallas My 600-lb Life Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Firth portrayed Peterson for eight episodes of the HBO Max drama based on the documentary of the same name. The filmmakers, with Michael's permission, are granted 24/7 access to document the entire process from prepping for the trial, the trial itself, and after the jury verdict is announced. by Lindsay Kimble Appel-Schumacher said the blood was mostly on a wall adjacent to the staircase and it stretched from the top landing to the bottom. Some speculate that Michael shared an illicit affair with Elizabeth. Whether or not Michael Peterson killed Elizabeth Ratliff remains unknown. Elizabeth Ratliff, a 43-year-old widow who taught second grade at a U.S. Department of Defense School, was found dead at the bottom of a flight of stairs on November 25, 1985. "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. The Scene of Her Death. Shortly after Michael and Patty married, Michael went to fight in Vietnam while Patty headed to the Rhein-Main Air Base near Frankfurt, where she worked as a second-grade teacher. 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. Regina Green, an old family friend of Peterson pointed out in "The Staircase" how much Ratliff and Petersons first wife Patricia looked alike. Earlier Monday,jurors heard testimony froma blood spatter expertwho examined blood stains in the stairwell where Kathleen Peterson died. Patty described what she saw when she entered the house. Rudolf is highly skeptical of the documentary crew following their every move but eventually has to relent. The North Carolina medical examiner performed a second autopsy and concluded that Ratliff was beaten to death and that the German authorities missed the signs. 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. Her husband, George Ratliff, died shortly before her in a secret military operation overseas in 1983, according to CourtTV. Both Peterson and his wife raised his two daughters, Margaret and Martha,as if they were their own. 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. After Vietnam, retired Marine Captain Michael joined Patty in Germany and the couple quickly became good friends with Elizabeth Ratliff and her husband George, also a Captain in the military. ", 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". I don't speak French. German officials declared that she died of a cerebral hemorrhage at the scene of her death. With The Staircase's true-crime drama available to watch on HBO Max now and the original The Staircase documentary streaming on Netflix, it is ultimately up to viewers to form their own opinion on what they believe happened on the evening Kathleen Peterson died. 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 . After receiving permission from Elizabeth's mother and sister, authorities went ahead with the exhumation. Cat is Cosmopolitan UK's features editor covering women's issues, health and current affairs. As Todd tries to explain social media followers to Clay and Martha finally comes out to Margaret, the family tries desperately to maintain a sense of normalcy. How is The Last of Us TV series different to game? Now fast forward to 2001-the night Michaels second wife, Kathleen dies. I believe that Kathleen excused herself to go get ready for a meeting the next morning. We charge Michael a fee for the trial. He paid that, or his brother paid it and that was it. "The worst of it, at least so far, is in Episode Five, when they paint a picture of Jean-Xavier, the director, and Sophie, conspiring to cut out a certain scene in order to make the documentary more favorable to Michael. DURHAM, North Carolina (Court TV) -- Author Michael Peterson is charged with killing his wife in their home here 18 months ago, but it was the death of a neighbor in Germany 18 years ago that took center stage at Peterson's first-degree murder trial Monday. 2023 Vox Media, LLC. Chief among them: A close friend of Peterson's, Elizabeth Ratliff, had also been found dead at the bottom of a staircase, in 1985. 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? . He also said thatthe person wearing apair of bloody shorts and bloody sneakers--both belonging to Michael Peterson--had to be present in the stairwell or just outside when Kathleen Peterson's head or a pool of her blood were hit with great force. Despite the evidence submitted during the trial, Elizabeth Ratliff's daughters, Margaret and Martha - who had been brought up by Michael and Kathleen - stood by their adoptive father and continued to protest his innocence. } Noticing the uncanny similarities with Kathleen's case, prosecutors took a closer look at Elizabeth's death in 2003. To begin with, he said that the scene where he was introduced to Michael Peterson (played by Colin Firth) in a diner while eating pastrami did not happen in real life. "The blood was all the way up the staircase.". "Because I know all aspects of his personality. And then when the appeal was over, for the next, whatever, eight years, I represent them for free, and never charge them a penny, I paid my own expenses. So much so, that Elizabeth Ratliff's body was exhumed and a second post mortem carried out by the Durham Medical Examiner. ), I believe Michael and Elizabeth were upstairs in her home, possibly having a romantic interlude, when the conversation turned more serious as Elizabeth asked Michael to leave his wife (Patty) at the time. He was released on bond in 2011 pending a retrial. Con Girl: Where is Samantha Azzopardi now? Elizabeth Ratliff's daughter, Martha and Margaret Ratliff stood by Michael Peterson and believed him to be innocent. In the end, Lestrade and Brunet won and the scene with Clayton Peterson was included in the documentary instead. "Once the trial started, they hired [film editor] Scott Stevenson to edit the trial footage. Speaking to Newsweek, Rudolf raised several concerns he had about the show's accuracy, including its representation of Lestrade and documentary editor Sophie Brunet, and some small details in the earlier episodes. 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. 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. She was very happy while planning a party she threw for Appel-Schumacher and her new husband two nights before she died, the witness recalled. 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. Thats where she first came across Captain George Ratliff, a navigator, only to tie the knot with him in 1981 before welcoming two adorable daughters into their lives Margaret and Martha Ratliff. 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. The defense maintains that the deaths are only similar on the surface, and Peterson plans to prove that to the judge--and the jury, if he rules against them--if necessary. he spits. 1 week ago, by Joely Chilcott Ratliff's two young daughters ended up living with Michael Peterson, and he raised them in North Carolina with his two sons from his first marriage. 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