11x22 - A Novel Idea

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At their
wedding. they vowed

to stay together till
death did them part.

And they kept that vow.

But were other wedding
vows broken before that?

In some marriages, it's

difficult to tell which partner
is the most accomplished.

This was certainly true
of Michael and Kathleen

Peterson of Durham,
North Carolina.

Michael was a decorated
veteran of the Vietnam w*r,

and a best selling author.

He wrote
a book called The Imortal

Dragon, which was
very well done.

And A Time For w*r,
which was well done,

and that book made it onto the
New York Times bestseller list.

His wife, Kathleen,
was a vice president

at Nortel Networks an
international communications

firm.

Kathleen Peterson
had been worth $2.5 million

on paper, and a brilliant woman.

She was the very first
woman ever accepted

to the School of Engineering
at Duke University.

It was an amazing
accomplishment.

They each had grown children

from previous
marriages and lived

in a luxurious 10,000
square foot home.

But the Peterson's
storybook marriage

ended on a Sunday night
in December of 2001

when Michael called
police at 2:00 AM.

What is your emergency?

My wife had an accident.

- She's still breathing.
- What kind of accident?

She fell down the stairs.

She's still breathing.
Please come.

How many stairs?

Oh, fifteen,
twenty, I don't know.

Please get somebody
here right away.

When paramedics arrived,

they found Kathleen
Peterson dead at the bottom

of the stairs.

And we found
no life signs, no pulse,

no respiratory rate, or effort.

The cardiac monitor
was showing asystole.

It was really
nothing left for us

to do, as far as life saving.

Paramedics naturally asked

Michael Peterson what happened.

He said he was outside,
smoking his pipe by the pool,

and Kathleen was upstairs
working on the computer.

Michael said he came
inside 45 minutes later

and found Kathleen unconscious
at the bottom of the stairs.

He thought that the
combination of alcohol

and her flimsy sandals most
likely caused her fall.

He didn't
personally witness her falling,

because he was at the pool area.

However, she must have
fallen because when he came

into the home, she was already
the bottom of the stairwell.

Toxicology tests revealed

Kathleen's blood
alcohol level was .07.

It was below the legal limit.

But she had been drinking,
which adds to one's belief

that the possibility of falling
in such a manner exists.

And a computer forensic expert

confirmed that Kathleen
had been on the computer

earlier that evening,
just as Michael said.

The forensic guys were

able to go into that hard drive
and suck it right out there,

which made me realize nothing
is ever gone in my computer.

But police
and forensic scientist

were suspicious for
a number of reasons.

Deaths due to falls downstairs

are pretty uncommon, and I've
never seen a scene photograph

from fall down the stairs
with that much blood.

Kathleen Peterson's
death was a major news story

in Durham, North
Carolina, since she

and her husband were well
known and well liked.

I think it's a
big shock, because people who

live in peaceful areas tend
to think, it can happen here.

We are protected.

This is a good neighborhood.

Bad things don't happen.

But unfortunately bad
things happen everywhere.

Although her death
appeared to be an accident,

police kept all options open.

Investigators learned
a suspicious piece

of information.

That Michael's 25-year-old son
Todd was already at the scene

when paramedics arrived.

Suspicious because, Todd
Peterson didn't live at home,

yet he was there at


And investigators learned that
Todd didn't like Kathleen.

Todd was obviously
jealous of his stepmother.

It was our understanding
that he did not

feel like she should be
married to his father.

He really liked to have
the attention of his father

to himself.

Michael said he called his son

after he contacted paramedics.

Todd however, refused
to speak to police.

He was asked
several times, actually,

did he want to give us a
statement on what he observed

and what he saw that night.
And he refused to do that.

Todd acted
more like a person who

didn't want anybody
to know anything.

And Michael wasn't much better.

Then investigators noticed

several inconsistencies
at the scene.

Paramedics said that
Kathleen's blood

didn't look fresh
when they arrived.

It had started to congeal, like
had been there for some time.

And the wall but
the staircase looked

like had been washed
with detergent.

This smearing on the wall

would suggest, to
even a lay person,

that it look like
somebody tried to clean

up some blood on the wall.

Even more suspicious,
on top of the washed area

was blood spatter.

Investigators
noticed another clue.

There was blood on the
bottom of Kathleen's feet.

This tells you
right there, that at some point

she had stood up and
that's how she got

the blood on the
bottom of her feet.

Investigators
found two large blood

drops outside, on
the back patio.

And a blood stain on the
side door of the house.

When I saw
the blood drops and blood

on the door, of course you
start getting red flags.

And your antenna starts
going up on, wondering,

maybe this is not
going to turn out

the way it was called in as.

Also, Michael Peterson
story was a little confusing.

He said he was with
Kathleen, by the pool having

a drink together around 1:00 AM.

He said Kathleen
left to go upstairs

to work on the computer, while
he stayed outside smoking

his pipe for about 45 minutes.

But this was December, and
Michael was wearing nothing

more than shorts and a t-shirt.

So investigators brought in
forensic meteorologist Bill

Haggard.

Using data from five
weather reporting stations,

Haggard determined that
the outside temperature

at the Peterson's
home was between 51

and 55 degrees Fahrenheit.



Haggard did not believe
Peterson could comfortably

sit in temperatures like
that for 45 minutes.

There is a thing
called the comfort zone, which

is established by the
Department of Energy.

I would not ordinarily want to
sit beside a pool in the middle

of the night, in
shorts and a t-shirt,

even under the
warmer conditions.

Kathlleen Peterson's autopsy

revealed seven deep lacerations
on the top of her skull,

inconsistent with a fall.

And in Kathleen's brain
tissue, was a troubling clue.

Doctors found red
neurons, meaning

they were shriveled with
very little cytoplasm.

Normal neurons are round
with more cytoplasm.

Finding red
neurons in someone's brain

tissue tells you that the
person had an episode of lack

of oxygen, at least two,
to four, to six hours,

before they actually
suffered whole body death.

The conclusion is she was
att*cked, she was beaten,

but then she lived for a
long enough period of time

for these red neurons
to show up or develop

by the time she died.

And it
contradicted Michael's story

that he found Kathleen's
body 45 minutes

after she went into the house.

The medical examiner ruled
Kathleen's death a homicide.

Now all eyes turned
to Michael Peterson.

Kathleen was my life.

I whispered her name in
my heart a thousand times.

She is there.

But I can't stop crying.

I would never have done
anything to hurt her.

But his son', Todd's,
unusual behavior at the scene

that night, also
raised suspicions.

Investigators wondered,
what was he hiding?

Best selling author,
Michael Peterson,

was now a suspect
in his wife's death.

While searching the
Peterson home computer,

forensic experts
discovered an inconsistency

in Michael's story.

Kathleen sent an
email to her coworker

around midnight, placing her
inside at the computer an hour

or so earlier than Michael
originally claimed.

And investigators also
found something unexpected.

Thousands of gay
pornographic images.

In Michael's desk were email
exchanges between Michael

and a male prost*tute,
making plans to meet for sex.

Evenings aren't great for me.

I'm married.

Very happily married,
with a dynamite wife.

Yes, I know, I'm very bi and
that's all there is to it.

The emails also revealed

Michael had a prior sexual
relationship with another man,

a local college lacrosse player.

Was it possible that Kathleen
discovered these materials

while using the computer
on the night of her m*rder.

It was, to me disturbing,

and certainly I believe
that it would've

been disturbing to
his wife to see.

Investigators looked
into the Peterson's finances.

And that too was revealing.

Surprisingly, Michael
hadn't generated

any income in more
than two years.

Kathleen was
supporting the entire household

with her income from Nortel.

That would include
all the children,

their educational experiences,
as well as the expenses

of running a household
of that size.

With three girls in college,

their credit card debt
soared to $143,000.

And Michael's two
grown sons were

asking for financial
support as well.

Kathleen's Nortel stock, at one
time was worth $2.5 million,

but because of a drop
in the stock price,

it was now worth
less than $50,000.

And perhaps most
revealing of all,

Michael was the
beneficiary of Kathleen's

$2 million life
insurance policy.

Money and sex
is the oldest motives you could

ever find, and Michael
Peterson had one of each.

While all this provided motive,

it wasn't evidence of m*rder.

So investigators
analyzed the clothing

Michael was wearing on the
night of his wife's death.

They found watermarks on the
front of Michael's shorts

that looked like he had tried
to remove some of the blood.

So what did blood spatter
expert Duane Deaver do?

His experience and
training prompted

him to look between the
legs of Michael's shorts.

That's where he
found blood splatter.

That is
something that I see many times

in beating cases.

Because generally when
you're standing over a victim

and you're beating them, a
lot of the impact spatter

will come directly
back on the individual,

and will go into the
crotch area of their pants.

Using a blood soaked sponge,

and dressed in similar
clothing, Deaver

attempted to simulate the
position the k*ller would need

to be in to create the
same type of blood spatter.

The test results matched
Michael Peterson's shorts.

The individual
wearing those shorts had most

likely been standing over
someone as they beat them,

allowing the blood to come
up through the opening

in the legs.

Forensic experts say
this couldn't have resulted

from handling Kathleen's
body after her death.

And it was clear that the
bloody shoe print found

on the back of Kathleen's
pants, matching Michael's shoes,

was a result of the beating.

They shoe track was

another one of
those aha moments.

He had blood on the
bottom of his feet

and he steps on the back of
her when she was face down.

It would seem, for someone

to do that to their spouse,
that they were probably

in some type of a rage and could
not control their behavior.

Since there was
no blood spatter found

on Todd Peterson's
clothes, prosecutors

do not believe he had anything
to do with the m*rder.

Just as the forensic
experts we're concluding

their investigation, they
uncovered one final piece

of evidence against
Michael Peterson.


Michael and his first wife

are living in Germany, they're
close friend, Liz Ratliff,

a widow, was found dead at the
bottom of a flight of stairs.

It gave me chills.

It was just incredible that two
of these could be so similar.

We looked at Kathleen Peterson

and looked at Liz Ratliff,
they could pass for sisters.

Michael was the last person

to see Liz Ratliff alive.

She was a wealthy woman, and
she named Michael in her will.

Ms. Ratliff
left Michael Peterson

in charge of her children,
as well as in charge of all

her personal property in
the event that she died.

Which of course did happen.

Originally, her
death was ruled an accident.

But officials
exhumed Liz Ratliff's

body to conduct a new autopsy.

Dr. Radisch found
lacerations on Mrs.

Ratliff's head, seven of them.

Just like Kathleen Peterson.

Her death,
it's not a result of a fall

down the stairs.

And my conclusion,
and my opinion,

is that she was also beaten.

Lightning doesn't
strike in the same place twice.

It just simply doesn't happen.

I would never
have done anything to hurt her.

I am innocent of these charges,
and we will prove it in court.

In the death
of Kathleen Peterson,

there was an enormous
amount of forensic evidence,

all pointing to Michael
Peterson as the k*ller.

The m*rder w*apon
was never found.

But the lacerations
on Kathleen's skull

indicated it was narrow
and slightly rounded.

In some family pictures,
investigators saw an instrument

known as a blow pipe in front
of the Peterson's fireplace.

But after Kathleen's death
is was no longer there,

or anywhere else in the house.

I'll be honest with you.

I do very, very
thorough searches.

We searched the entire
premises of that house very

thoroughly on two
different occasions.

Well you don't always

have the luxury of finding the
m*rder w*apon in every case.

Just like a lot
of cases you don't

have the luxury of having DNA.

Prosecutors believe
Kathleen's m*rder took place

several hours before
Michael called 911.

Around midnight,
Kathleen went upstairs

to use her husband's computer
to check her business email.

She seldom did
this, but had left

her own computer laptop at work.

And prosecutors think Kathleen
found the emails in Michael's

desk drawer detailing
a h*m* tryst he

had planned with
a male prost*tute.

She also may have found the
gay pornographic images.

The evidence suggests Kathleen
went downstairs and confronted

Michael, the man she was
supporting financially.

And he exploded.

Kathleen probably turned to
go back upstairs when Michael

picked up the blow
pipe by the fireplace,

and beat her over the
head, stepping on her back

and leaving a shoe print.

As she lay unconscious,
Michael removed his shoes,

so he wouldn't track blood
throughout the house.

And for the next
couple of hours,

attempted to stage the scene.

He put Kathleen
sandals hear her body,

and tried to wash the
blood from the wall.

And then realized
Kathleen wasn't dead.

She stood up and got blood
on the bottom of her feet.

Michael struck her again,
producing the blood spatter

on the inseam of his
shorts and near the top

of the wall he had just cleaned.

Her Brain cells died
from lack of oxygen

long before she expired.

Proof she lay bleeding
on the floor for hours.

Someone, no one knows who, took
the blow pipe out the back door

dropping blood on
the slate walkway.

And Michael tried to remove some
of the blood from his clothes

before calling 911.

He may not
know what blood spatter is,

but he knew that these little
spots on the front of his pants

were probably not good.

And so he poured
the water on there

to get rid of these things.

But yet, he couldn't see
what was in the crotch

and on the back of his pants.

I would never
done anything to hurt her.

Dispite his repeated denials,

Michael Peterson went on
trial for his wife's m*rder.

The verdict was as expected.

State of North Carolina
versus Michael Iver Peterson,

we the twelve
members of the jury

unanimously find the
defendant to be guilty

of first-degree m*rder.

He

Outsmart just about anybody.

Maybe that had to do
with his personality,

maybe his chosen occupation.

But he did try out
smart people in Germany.

And he tried to outsmart
people here in Durham.

He tried outsmart
the jury actually,

but it simply didn't work.

Peterson was
sentenced to life in prison.

Prosecutors say he'd gotten away
with m*rder 16 years earlier,

in Germany.

But better scientific
analysis prevented him

from getting away
with it a second time.

I got it right first.

I'm convinced that
he k*lled his wife

and I'm convinced he
k*lled Elizabeth Ratliff.

The forensics
back that decision 100 percent.

The forensic
evidence in this case

was written in Kathleen
Peterson's blood.

And the people that
processed that scene

did the job that
needed to be done,

to put a guilty
person behind bars.

I guess the biggest smoking

g*n in this case would
be the red neurons.

Neurologists and
pathologists recognize

the significance of that.

He was a fictional writer

and he knew how to
compose a fictional plot.

And I believe that in
regards to Kathleen's

death, that's
exactly what he did.

He tried to portray
her death as something

that was fiction
instead of fact.