"Her injuries are indicative of multiple blunt force impacts". What are the side effects of antidepressants? We never charge him another cent and the appeal was done on a court-appointed basis.". They believe their adopted father is innocent of killing both of their moms, according to the documentary. 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. There are theories he had been in an illicit relationship with Elizabeth, although this is something his first wife Patty strenuously denies. All Rights Reserved. Although the 13-part programme centres around the mysterious death of Kathleen Peterson at her home in Durham, North Carolina, she wasn't the only woman linked to Michael Peterson to have been found dead at the bottom of a staircase. 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). Cat is Cosmopolitan UK's features editor covering women's issues, health and current affairs. As seen on The Staircase, both girls publicly supported Peterson during his trial and became inconsolable when he was convicted. The DAs case focuses mainly on Michael Petersons lifestyle. An autopsy concluded Elizabeth died from a. So much so, that the court in Durham ordered the exhumation of Ratliff's body from her grave in Texas. Clayton has been in some trouble in the past, but has since been trying to turn his life around. His children, who all decided not to attend the hearing, see the news break on television but decide to keep their distance to try and maintain normalcy in their own lives. 43-year-old Elizabeth Ratliff was found dead in her home in Graefenhausen, Germany. Now, if you wish to learn more about this nearly four-decade-old matter, including the undeniable suspicions surrounding the same, dont worry; weve got all the essential details for you. Patty described what she saw when she entered the house. German investigators ruled Ratliff had died due to a cerebral hemorrhage. (We'll get back to that.). Their lead analyst, Duane Deaver (Myke Holmes) leads the charge in recreating the scene to prove the prosecution's case. }else { Viewers new to The Staircase story may have been surprised to learn Peterson dated Sophie Brunet, the editor of Lestrade's first documentary. Although she died in 1985, the death of Elizabeth Ratliff played a key role in Michael Peterson's trial after he was accused of murdering his wife Kathleen Peterson on December 9, 2001. Brunet also stressed in the same article that her relationship with Peterson began later than depicted in the series and that her editorial decisions were not affected. ", Her death was eventually ruled a homicide. if ( host.indexOf("europe.cnn.com") != -1 ) { Ultimately, Michael decides not to move to Paris in order to start a new life elsewhere with Sophie, and their relationship ends. 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. Now at this time a few things couldve happened-whatever he struck her with at the front door, he now needed to get rid of, so as she lay dying at the bottom of the stairs, he changed out of any bloodied clothes and got rid of them with the item he struck her with. Since his guilty conviction, much has happened in Michael Peterson's case, from a retrial in 2011 to being officially released from prison in 2017 after entering an Alford Plea to the reduced charge of manslaughter. You know, I mean, all you have to do is watch the documentary to know that that's not true. Elizabeth Ratliff's Time of Death According to David Rudolf, the biggest flaw in the prosecution's theory regarding ER's death is the timeline and moreover that no one observed rigor mortis when they arrived on the scene. It's all in the documentary, it's there. What happened to Elizabeth Ratliff? However, there are no skull fractures, which is practically impossible. Elizabeth Ratliff, shown in the Netflix docu-series "The Staircase.". However, it was carried out by Durham-based state pathologist Dr. Deborah L. Radisch. David Rudolf represented Michael Peterson in the real-life murder trial depicted in the HBO Max series "The Staircase." 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 . What's eerily coincidental is the nature of her death: Elizabeth was found at the bottom of a staircase in her home with severe injuries to her head. Patricia has always vehemently backed him up. She was found by her children's nanny, Barbara Malagnino, who sought help from Patty shortly after making the grim discovery.. "It is further my opinion that these injuries were incurred while Mrs. Ratliff was alive and are of sufficient severity to have caused her death.". Their blended family included Michaels two sons from his first marriage, Clayton Peterson (Dane DeHaan) and Todd Peterson (Patrick Schwarzenegger), Kathleens daughter from her first marriage, Caitlin Atwater (Olivia DeJonge), and Michael's two adopted daughters, Margaret Ratliff (Sophie Turner) and Martha Ratliff (Odessa Young). Ok so here is my theory for the Michael Peterson case-while I do not think he is a serial killer who always plans to kill women by the same method of throwing them down the stairs, I do think he has the personality of flying into a rage which ended with the deaths of 2 women and here is how I think it happened: 1985-Germany-Michael was carrying on an affair with family friend, Elizabeth Ratliff (he claims they never did but then he did look elsewhere who knows how many times during his marriages for other partners to satisfy his sexual desires, and as we cannot ask Elizabeth, I would say his ability to lie and tell stories, definitely does not add anything to his credibility. One year on, how to donate to help Ukraine. He said they wanted the same medical examiner who claimed that Peterson's wife wasn't accidental to perform the autopsy rather than a neutral pathologist in Texas as he suggested. . His appeal is rejected, but the documentary is a huge hit and renews interest in his case. Michael had two biological sons, Todd and Clayton, with his first wife, Patty. As Peterson was being investigated for the staircase death of his wife in the early 2000s, Ratliffs body was exhumed in Texas in 2003. Peterson subsequently ended up raising Ratliff's young. The last person believed to see her alive was Michael Peterson the night before when their families had dinner together in her home. During Michael's trial, Cheryl Appel-Schumacher, one of the late schoolteacher's friends, recalled that Elizabeth had severe headaches a few days before she was found dead. When the Petersons resided in Germany, Elizabeth worked in the same school as Michael's then-wife, Patty. 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. She refuses to binge-watch anything. She agrees to help them and tips them off that the SBI is very corrupt and should be looked into. Here's the OTHER Death at the Center of Netflix's The Staircase. Todd, who used to be the responsible son, now seems to be falling apart as Clay, who used to be the irresponsible one, has fallen into the role of caretaker. Michael and his ex-wife, Patty (Trini Alvarado), had become the legal guardians of Margaret and Martha after both of their parents died. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! he continued. Jean and Sophie dont know what to think anymore. When producer Denis Poncet (Frank Feys) and director Jean-Xavier de Lestrade (Vincent Vermignon) come across the Peterson story, they wonder if there is a story there. What we do know is that he was found guilty of the first degree murder of his wife, Kathleen. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. ), 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. They argued to keep the clip showing Peterson interacting with his son, Clayton Peterson (Dane DeHaan), whereas their producer wanted to include a scene that covered evidence presented at Peterson's trial that Kathleen Peterson may have been strangled. I feel here is where things took a turn. It is only natural that a mother want custody of her children, but why not the girls as their mother was supposedly her best or very close friend?? 1 day ago, by Chanel Vargas Some speculate that Michael shared an illicit affair with Elizabeth. "There are many things in the first five episodes, which I've seen that are inaccurate, misleading, and outright false," Rudolph told Newsweek. Appel-Schumacher will return to the stand for more questions from the defense when the hearing continues Wednesday at 3 p.m. Three, she never wrote to Michael while she was working on the project, never ever, ever. host = host.toLowerCase(); Who was Elizabeth Ratliff, and how did her 1985 death become part of Michael Peterson's trial? A few people have suspected an affair between Michael and Elizabeth turning sour as his motive for murder, but the novelists former wife Patricia has always vehemently backed him up. 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. 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. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. 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