of man, facing mother nature. steve patterson, nbc news. >> [screaming] apologies for the nightmare, that is a whole other level. on that a very disturbing note, i can't even say i will wish you all the good night, because i have just given you a horrible one. from all of our colleagues across the networks of nbc news, thank you for staying up late with me, i will see you at the end of monday. >> it has been 15 years of it's been 15 years of frustration, of tears, frustration, tears, fighting for what we wanted. how long can you keep reliving a sister's murder? >> it all began when this bestselling author married this elegant executive. >> they brought us together.

they made us a family. >> not only did she raise these children and have quite an accomplished corporate career, dinner 50, she would do it. >> but, in the wee hours of a winter night. >> i found them at the base of the stairs. >> kathleen peterson, dead. >> was this a fall, or was this murder? >> a mystery we covered for more than a decade comes to a shattering and. >> it did not look like a fall. >> michael peterson, under suspicion, then, a bombshell revelation about another woman from his past. >> this was on the floor, and there was a puddle of blood under the staircase. >> -- appear today the same, way to minnesota shaded -- with >> one of the? odds >> yes, what are the odds? >> a trial, one expert -- >> this is the scene. >> would make a slam dunk case for peterson's guilt. >> the tourist or captivated by his testimony. >> but were his dramatic

experience legit? >> it is designed to get a result, does not scientifical. >> michael peterson on the quest that might finally lead to the truth. >> there was no -- >> a writer at the center of a store even he could not make up. i'm lester holt, and this is dateline. here is dennis murphy with down the back staircase. >> you might take him for a retired english professor from one of the universities. preppy, witty, back then a sparkling storyteller, welcoming so many of the best dinner tables. but nowadays, in this part of north carolina, michael peterson is known at the novelist he is, but as that, man the notorious, husband the one with a wife dead at the bottom of a staircase. >> you are not only the prime,

suspect you are the only suspect. >> there was massive amounts of blood, how do you explain? was this a fall? or was this murder? >> exactly. what did happen on that staircase? and, what is the truth about michael peterson? a man once sentenced to die in prison for the commission of a homicide, his always maintained was nothing but an accident. innocent, but, the mount novelist nurse for wealthy irresistible appeal of the story line he says he got swept off in. >> sex, money, murder, my goodness, what more could you add? >> one of the most compelling stories we have ever covered as you have never heard it before. >> people believe in you, always believe in you -- >> michael peterson in his own words. on the merits, the final house, the blood spatter expert who wasn't, and the family friend found that in another staircase far away in a time and place.

>> lightning doesn't strike at the same place twice. >> there's even a theory about an owl. >> whodunnit? >> it is just awful. >> we are going to need some time here. it is both complicated, and a simple question. >> so if i were to ask you as i do right now, did you -- on the stairway of the house and cause her death? >> no. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> let's go back to the, night early december 2001, and stroll up the triumph way of the house in one of durham's better neighborhoods. michael and his wife kathleen are outback by the pool as the story goes, finishing off a bottle of wine. in the living room, the christmas tree is already up, the peterson children expected home for the holiday. >> christmas was vague for kathleen. >> oh, god, lord, yes. valentine's day, halloween, she made a celebration of everything, everything. >> kathleen's daughter caitlin

stepped over, says her mom was always happiest at the holidays. >> she loved christmas, she loved playing christmas music from the start of december all the way through new years. >> it was the kids who brought kathleen and michael together, his marriage has started to fall apart, she was separated. michael was raising his two boys and young girls margaret and martha. the girls became neighborhood playmates with kathleen's daughter caitlin. >> they played, oh my, god barbies, and all the time. all the time. and then, kathleen came over one, night and -- >> as the kids spent more and more time together, so did michael and kathleen. it wasn't long before they approached the kits about becoming a family together. >> they sat me down, and said, kaitlan, how would you like it if martha come to live with you? i immediately thought, a

permanent sleep over. >> that is exactly how michael presented it to his two girls. >> i think he put it, we are going to have a long sleep over. and we said, yes. >> her younger sister martha. >> of course with kathleen, play barbies and be a family together. >> so michael and his four kids kathleen and her daughter became a blended family. he was a former u.s. marine, a full-time writer, who like to draw on his wartime experiences in vietnam. one of his vietnam books got a big advance, money that went towards buying that fine house. >> he said i'm thinking about moving into this house, and drove us over, we did not go, inside we just looked and we thought, oh my goodness, this is amazing. >> they're in his office, he wrote his war stories, and turned out sharp elbowed comments on city politics for the local paper, sticking the

eye stuff. he had even been a losing candidate for mayor of durham county. kathleen meanwhile was a top sales executive at hotel, she received a masters -- and had even appeared on the cover of the intercity magazine. >> she was a smart, smart woman. but, she was funny, sensual, had this marvelous sense of life, vitality -- >> just the swirl of the local society right? >> yes. >> charity, both parties, nice dinners, she did all of it. smart friends at the table. >> absolutely, she would invite people over, she would do the, meals she would do the deserts. she did it all. >> so michael it was all too happy to say yes, after years of living together, kathleen suggested the couple make it official. >> so we got, married as it was a gigantic wedding. there must have been 150 people

there. it was just wonderful. >> i always thought, this is what i will register as the happiest day of my life. >> kathleen's younger sister candace says, kathleen was over the moon as well. >> she was thrilled to be hearing michael, all three girls were bridesmaids in her wedding, i will remember the wedding the three ghosting, and we are going to the chapel. the day they married, my sister glowed. >> and, candace watched in amazement us over the next several years, kathleen did it all. >> not only did she raise these children, and half quite an accomplished corporate career, dinner for 50, she would do it. >> and so, it was, on that mild december evening 2000 and, one with kathleen juggling all. she had been preparing for the holidays, fending off the latest crisis network. michael says, she made dinner, they sat down to watching, movie then headed out back to enjoy a midnight glass of wine. >> we went to the pool, and we talked. >> what time would you guess

you were out there? ten, 11 at night? >> 12, something around there. >> within one in conference call scheduled, kathleen turned in first. >> she said i have to go in. i have to go to sleep. i have a conference first thing in the morning. she gets up from the pool, and goes, up and says i will see you later. >> an hour went by, maybe two, michael says he may have dosed off. he went back inside the house, sometime after two a.m., there was kathleen at the bottom of the stairs, a ghastly sight. >> i saw her lying in the back of the staircase, and there was blood, everywhere. >> what kind of accident? >> she fell down the stairs. >> was she breathing? >> she was at the time. >> is she conscious? >> what? >> no, she's not conscious. >> i mean, i had seen enough. i knew she was dying.

>> please, get somebody her read, wait please. >> okay, somebody is dispatching an ambulance. >> calling them again, but apparently only two minutes later but it seemed like forever. >> a long few minutes, but nothing compared to the many many years of questions that would follow. what had happened on that back staircase, now pooled with blood? the answer would be in the eye of the beholder. coming up -- when a husband called an accident, an investigator would see very differently. >> i have seen falls, i've seen family members fall, and to me it did not look anywhere like a fall. >> and then -- >> the chief of police came a couple days before, said mike -- the moral of the police, the environment -- >> so if you see the cops giving you and the family some attitude, you think you understand why. >> that is what i thought. >> when dateline continues. ers.

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i know there's conflicting information about dupuytren's contracture.

i thought i couldn't get treatment yet? well, people may think that their contracture has to be severe to be treated, but it doesn't. if you can't lay your hand flat on the table, talk to a hand specialist. but what if i don't want surgery? well, then you should find a hand specialist certified to offer nonsurgical treatments. what's the next step? visit findahandspecialist.com today to get started. i know there's conflicting information about dupuytren's contracture. i thought i couldn't get treatment yet? well, people may think that their contracture has to be severe to be treated, but it doesn't. if you can't lay your hand flat on the table, talk to a hand specialist. but what if i don't want surgery? well, then you should find a hand specialist certified to offer nonsurgical treatments. what's the next step? >> michael peterson told us he visit findahandspecialist.com today to get started.

dennis murphy: michael peterson told us he'd come upon the unimaginable-- had come upon the unimaginable, his wife kathleen at the bottom of their back staircase covered in blood. emt saw michael cradling his wife, weeping so hard he had to be pulled away. >> that was the worst. i mean, that was worse than anything in war, worse than anything. you expect that, this is entirely different. i was not ready for the south all. >> did anything explain itself to you? as you are looking at her -- >> she fell down the stairs, she's at the bottom of the stairs, you automatically response that she fell down the stairs. >> detective -- was called to the cedar street mansion in the wee hours, we first spoke to him more than a decade ago. >> so first officers had already arrived at the peterson house. >> right, first officer arrived,

the ems or i've done -- >> the medical examiner was called in this well, he looked at the victim, and said that they fall down the stairs was possible. >> he could see some lacerations or feel some lacerations on the back of the patients had, and he stated this could be the result of a fall. >> by dawn, news of kathleen's fall started ripping through the family. details were still vague when family members reached michael squirrels, margaret and martha at college. >> she said, something has happened. >> your mom has fallen down the stairs, we know it was an accident, you should come home. >> by the time kathleen's daughter caitlin got the word, it was as shocking as it was definitive. her college roommate deliver the news. >> she looked at me straight in my eye, she said kaitlyn, it is your mom, she is dead. those words still ring clearly in my head. >> kathleen's sister candace could not believe what she was hearing. michael called her directly. >> it was still vague, we

couldn't tell if she fell down the stairs, or fell off a ladder, but there is no question, i could say are you sure she is dead? >> yes, michael was sure. candace headed to her sister's house. >> the whole thing was sealed off with crime scene tape, this is a mansion, a huge property. so the police kept saying you may not want to go in, there is so much blood, this is really awesome really scary. >> the police were not exaggerating, when candace finally got inside, she says, michael brought her to the back staircase where it happened. >> my sister's blood is washed and pooled up against the wall. i mean, her blood was everywhere. >> the image would be seared in her mind, it did not look good. she could not go there. >> i still wanted to believe it was an accident. i don't think something horrible happened. >> but all that blood up the walls, could it all be from a fall down the stairs? that is precisely what was nodding at the detective. >> i have seen files, i have

seen family members fall, and to me it did not look anywhere like a fall. >> something to him seemed off about kathleen's body position as well. >> her body was definitely not in the position that it would be in if she came to a final resting position after the fall. >> they processed the scene, photographing the stairwell, documenting the pool of blood and spray up the wall. outside, chops on the walkway, and a smear on the front door. in the kitchen, bloodstains on the counter, and underneath a drop of blood on the counter, and right beside, it an open one bottle and two glasses. >> it was very time consuming, you do not want to go through it real speedy, you want to make sure that you cross all your teeth and dot all your eyes. >> it would take investigators a couple of days to go through the 9000 square foot state, while they did, michael and the kids took refuge at any brush house. >> i just spent most of the

time in bed. margaret came in, martha, kaitlin, everybody, everybody. >> he says from the moment the police arrived at the house, they were aggressive towards him, and his family. but, even his case of shock and grief, peterson says, you thought he knew why. >> i had some really negative comments, really, really been hammered. >> you let out that the cops. >> big-time. >> accusations of the city cops range from their failure to get a handle on drug trafficking, to only solving a small fraction of crimes. >> the chief of police had even mea culpa days before, saying mike you don't know how much damage you have done to the morale of the police. >> so if you see the cops giving you and your family some attitude, you think you understand why? >> sure, understood, i understood. i got it. >> but he says, one of his sons read the police's behavior differently.

he thought the police were zeroing in on his father from the get-go. >> he immediately called my brother, his uncle, who is an attorney in reno, and said uncle bill, kathleen instead, they think mike did it. and my brother got on the phone, he said i'm representing michael peterson, do not talk to him. >> michael's daughters were also worried. they knew very well their father relished being the provocateur. now, the police were swarming their house, walking the yard, looking under bushes and trees. >> i remember feeling that something was going badly with the police. >> michael called a family meeting. >> he sat down with us, he said, you know, girls, i do not know what is going on, but it seems bad. i just want you to know, i did not do anything wrong, i did not do anything. >> i said, of course dad, we know. >> but, police were not so sure. they seemed intent on peeling away the veneer of the peterson's marriage.

what was going on behind the closed doors in the mansion on cedar street? >> they were asking me a question about michael and kathy's relationship, if i knew anything, i thought they were happily married. she was very much in love with him. >> but the detectives were beginning to believe the perfect marriage was anything but. >> coming up. despite that gorgeous house, maybe they were not exactly ruling indo. >> if he was not writing a book, or had -- he had no income. >> there was a lot of financial problems, i sensed, i sensed the stress of that. >> and then, what the autopsy revealed. >> i saw seven huge lacerations, basically scalped her, it was murder. that one picture, that was it. >> when dateline continues. tinues i run it daily. weekdays... weekends... sometimes after a big snack. you might think that's wasteful, but it's not. 'cause even half loads use 80% less water than handwashing.

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dennis murphy: michael peterson says for free help, he was certain that his wife kathleen's death had certain that has wife kathleen 's death had been a terrible accident, a slip and fall down the back staircase after a night of drinking, but as days passed, he started to realize that not only did police thing kathleen's death was a case of murder, but also that he was the prime suspect. >> well, that is just, nonsense i was not a murder, because when you are innocent, nothing can happen. >> but it was hardly nonsense, to detective holland of the durham police department. from the start, he was investigating not an accident, but what he believed was a

suspicious death, and for good, recently he fell to take a close look at michael peterson. reasons he said, had nothing to do with peterson's very public criticism of the police. >> he may have had some issues with the pd, i -- my perception of that is that i don't pay much attention to, it i don't like politics anyways, therefore did not affect me one way or the other. >> the detective wanted to know more about what was going on inside the peterson home. >> in addition to the forensic evidence you are gathering, you have to ask this question, what is going on in this marriage? that is a big part of the investigation. >> right. >> detectives pulled aside kathleen sister candace to ask if she had noticed any trouble in her sister's marriage. >> the police took me in a police van to interview me privately. >> in her grief, she was hesitant to say anything bad about her not widowed brother in law. she had always liked him. >> he was a fun person, to sit and chat, with across the

dinner table, who is interesting, he's a little bit arrogant about his intelligence, but a very smart man. when i found out my sister was, that i was his biggest offender. >> she told investigators, everything was fine between michael and kathleen, it was only later she started replaying conversations in her head, and she wondered if the couple had been fighting. kathleen certainly seemed stress. >> she was a very very concerned about her job stability at her company, and, they were making layoffs. >> according to, candace job insecurity could not have come at a worse time. her sister told her, the financial pressures on their lives or mounting. she and -- work mounting credit card, debt and the big house side turned into a -- and, they had invested heavily in her company's tech stock, only to lose in the dot-com bubble burst. then, there were three big college tuitions bills. >> we have three kids going to college, and good colleges,

expensive private colleges. >> kathleen's daughter from her first marriage kaitlin remembers it as well. >> there was a lot of financial problems, i sense, did i sense the stress of that as well. >> and when investigators looked at the couples credit reports, they saw what kathleen sister feared. >> and we're living above their, means if he was not writing a, book or didn't have royalties coming, and he had no income. >> and according to kathleen sister, michael's double in local politics had brought even more stress to the marriage. when he ran for mayor, he had been called out publicly a, liar the war action novelist claimed to have been awarded a purple heart, only he hadn't. he got her not by taking -- in vietnam, but in a car accident in japan. >> when it became public about his, lies did cause kathleen's these friendship she had to decide whether to stand by michael, or keep these friendships. these friendships, they are lost. >> so in the true state of the

peterson's marriage was murky, investigators thought the story told in blood was becoming clearer. not only was there more of it in the stairwell than detectives would expect to see with a fall, but according to m emts, much of it was dry when they arrived. >> so you have to wonder when the victim actually goes down those stairs? >> right, how long she had been there? >> a blood pattern expert analyzed the scene, when he completed his initial findings, police suspicions were confirmed. >> he told me that he felt strongly that this was a homicide. >> just a few days before christmas, michael peterson was charged with the murder of his wife. >> they had the grand jury, and of course i was indicted, and so i turned myself in. >> as the officer's book to michael into the county jail, the blended family formed a unified block of support. >> my mother would just be

absolutely appalled, this is the last thing she would have ever wanted to happen to her husband. >> it was hardly the christmas that the peterson family had so look forward to. kathleen, dead, their father in jail. >> it was just as kids, in the house, by ourselves, trying to piece together christmas. >> but soon, another bombshell, and this one would blow the family apart. two months after christmas, the coroner released the result of the official autopsy. >> multiple lacerations to the back of the head. severe, long, linear, lacerations. >> not consistent with the fall? >> not consistent with a fall. >> if kathleen sister candace had been harboring suspicions about what had really happened to her sister, the medical examiner's report was the thing that pushed her over the edge. >> how is their seven huge lacerations that basically

scalped her? she was murdered. that one picture, that was it. >> after reading the autopsy report herself, kathleen's daughter caitlin agreed with her aunt, she called her stepsister margaret. >> i said, you need to read, this you need to understand that mom did not die from falling down the stairs, she was beaten to death. >> but caitlin's childhood playmates, her step sisters margaret stood strong with their father. >> and told me that he did not, do it and i believe, him i trust him. >> the stepsisters never spoke again. kaitlan removed her belongings from the house. >> i have lost obviously far more than just my mother, i did lose martha and margaret and michael in may, family my home. >> could the family agony get any worse? well, it could, and by a wide margin, because now investigators were picking through michael peterson's past, turning the clock back some 20 years, and, taking a peek at his previous life and ocean

away. what they would discover is beyond eerie. >> how could michael have found two women dead at the bottom of a staircase? >> coming up. >> she is saying something, -- i don't know, she is screaming. and so, i put some clothes on, and i go to the house, and in fact this is dead. >> that at the bottom of the stairs. >> at the bottom of the stairs. >> the story, disturbingly familiar, and so or the suspicions. >> if you fell down the stairs, why would there be blood squirted on the side walls, it did not make any sense to me. >> when dateline continues. hen dateline continues ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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here is what is happening. ahead of the -- is turning against moscow, curling the invasion, quote, a rocket to enrich russia's elite. you've got a progression accuse

the russian military of attacking his troops, he is reportedly advances in russia. and saturday marks the one year anniversary of the supreme court's decision to overturn roe v. wade. and then event friday, president biden promised to protect women's reproductive rights and early in the day, he signed an executive order strengthening access to contraception. and now, back to dateline. now, back to dateline. >> in police work a good tip can make your day, it can also make your life a lot more complicated. just such a tip came to the desk of the detective working the kathleen peterson case. >> i think it was two or three days after kathleen's death is when i first had contact with the family members. >> and just who was a little bit rally? to answer that question, we have to turn the clock back

almost 20 years in michael peterson's life. go across the atlantic to germany. in the early 19 80s, michael peterson was living with his first wife near a u.s. air force base outside frankfort. their good friend elizabeth lived nearby. >> lists has two children, and she teach in school, good many friends -- >> on november 24th 1985, elizabeth went to the peterson's for dinner, later, michael peterson says he drove her home. >> she got, on went upstairs, -- >> the next morning, michael says he was fast asleep when elizabeth nanny came running with urgent news. >> i am upstairs in bed, and she is saying something that you know, she is dead, or hurt, or she is screaming, so i put some clothes on, and i go over to the house, and in fact list is dead. >> dead at the bottom of the

stairs. >> bottom of the stairs. >> another good friend in the circle, amy beth and her husband was summoned to elizabeth town house. she asked michael what happened? >> he said, she probably had an aneurysm like her father. >> when i started to think about someone falling down the stairs, i thought, well, that is possible, those stairs are pretty steep, and you, know they are slippery, they are wood. >> but, amy beth says, as she looked around, she noticed blood, not just where she lay, but high up along the staircase was as well. too much blood, she, thought for slip and fall. >> if you fell down the stairs, why would there be blood squirted up the side of the walls? it did not make any sense to me. >> and she says, there were household details out of order, like the table that lists set out every night with gross breakfast plates, it was bare. need snow boots she routinely left by the front door, still on her feet.

>> liz never wore her boots in the house, she always took her boots off, and that was another clue to me that something was wrong. it is obvious she was either running from someone, or trying to escape. >> -- full-fledged investigation would ensue, but as she tells, it michael peterson spoke to the authorities that they, relating that elizabeth had a hereditary bleeding disorder, perhaps she had a stroke and fallen down the stairs. the questions amy beth expected to be asked, never were. >> i wondered, why are they not talking to people? why they're not asking questions? no one did. >> later that day, michael peterson phoned her family in the u.s. with the dreadful news. margaret blair's elizabeth sister. >> he said, margaret, it has been an accident. liz fell down the stairs and died. what are you saying? i just totally went numb. i mean, my sister, he is saying she died. she is young, she has two beautiful children, babies

really. >> those baby girls, they are martha and margaret. michael took custody of the girls after the accident in germany, and then, michael along with his first wife, later with kathleen raced him as his own. >> he was saying that our birth mother was like a sister, she was a closest friend in the world, and it was said in our mothers will that we would go to mike and paddy when they passed away, and so that saw it as his responsibility, and took us in, and we stayed with him for her whole lives. >> well, actually, you know, i can understand how that could happen. this was her world now. and, trusted them. >> elizabeth body was flown to texas for burial, at the funeral, margaret was desperate to hear further details from michael peterson about her

sister's passing, but to her surprise -- >> michael was very aloof, and a very strange. >> did he speak? >> no, he didn't say a lot that all. he didn't talk about what happened to liz. >> but, any questions regarding foul play in's death were laid to rest by the results of an autopsy performed at the u.s. military hospital in germany. elizabeth died, the examiner said, from a brain hemorrhage, natural causes. so, the story laid buried for nearly two decades. but when detective hollander, his head spun. >> i was overwhelmed with, here i have two women who appear to have died the same way, two women that are associated with one person. >> detectives wanted to take a little deeper, what would they find? >> coming up -- for investigators, a -- >> a lot of people were very and see about it. >> will it pay off?

>> her fingernail polish was still on, her dress was still perfectly in place. >> i'm just thinking, my case is going to look a lot better. >> when dateline continues. line continues every day i prayed that they would remove it. my tip is be careful what you wish for. that chest tube hurt a lot more coming out... then it did going in. (announcer) you can quit. for free help, call 1-800-quit-now ♪♪ allergies don't have to be scary. (screaming) defeat allergy headaches fast with new flonase headache and allergy relief! two pills relieve allergy headache pain? and the congestion that causes it! flonase headache and allergy relief. psst! psst! all good!

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certified to offer nonsurgical treatments. what's the next step? >> as time went by, margaret visit findahandspecialist.com today to get started. dennis murphy: as time went by, margaret blair had come to accept michael peterson's blair had come to accept michael peterson's explanation of her sister's death u.s.

before, a tumble down the stairs in a germantown house. >> i just believed what i was told about the hemorrhage, and presuming that a doctor had you know, made this diagnosis. >> but when she learned that kathleen had also been found dead at the bottom of his staircase, margaret began wondering anew about how her sister died. she started reaching out to elizabeth old friend from germany. >> when i spoke to her friend, i found out that blood had been jumping down the walls. well, that does not happen when you have a hemorrhage. >> authorities in north carolina were thinking the same thing. if foul play had been involved in elizabeth's death, it might also have been in their case. the only way to know for sure, was to take up elizabeth's grave. former assistant district attorney -- >> we decided that it probably would be worthwhile to try and exhumed the body, to determine whether the findings in germany were accurate or not.

>> to do that, they would have to get the okay from elisabeth's daughters. the girls, who believe in their father's innocence as fiercely as they mistrusted the authorities, struggled with a decision. >> the hardest thing i've ever had to do, was to write off on the exit mission of our birth mother. >> but ultimately, they agreed. >> i signed off on, it because we wanted to be like, there is no way this could have happened, please look at the evidence. i will do this to free our dad of these accusations. >> on a beautiful blue sky day, remains of elizabeth are exhumed from the resting place in texas. reporter julia sims of nbc affiliate w r l tv have been covering the story since the beginning. >> the bill started holding right as they started pulling that casket right out of the ground.

a lot of the people were very and see about, that what they were going to find. >> her body was driven to north carolina, where it would be studied by the same medical examiner who had ruled kathleen peterson's death a homicide. >> it was a riskier, wasn't it? if you open that coffin, and found that the authorities in germany had been correct, and the death was natural causes, -- >> we just decided it needed to be done. roll the dice basically. exactly. >> but the detective appeared through a morgue window as the top was part of her coffin. >> it was so airtight, it was hard to use a crank to use the casket to open. once it was raised, you can see part of her face, and hair, and it was -- >> they were stunned. the body was practically intact. >> her fingernail polish was still -- her dress was still perfectly in place. >> they took a closer look at the injuries to her head, she was finding lacerations, deep

gouges in the scalp, seven of them. >> seven lacerations? >> it was uncanny. the lacerations were very similar to the ones that had been perpetrated upon kathleen peterson, and her findings, she made the decision that she had been murdered. >> investigators thought they -- in-depth, they thought kathleen peterson and elizabeth could have been twins. >> i'm just thinking my case is looking a whole lot better. >> kathleen's sister thought that peterson had killed both women. >> i have a better chance of being struck by lightning then finding to people who are intimately know at the bottom of the staircase. >> but your mother and margaret, the whole thing seemed absurd. the fact that michael was being accused of killing kathleen, the woman they call mom was bizarre enough, but now, they're both mom as well? what would their father have gained by killing elizabeth?

>> he would have gotten to screaming kids out of it, and that is it. there is nothing, there is no reason for it. >> for the investigators in north carolina, though the death in germany became a strong building block under circumstantial case for murder. and what's more, detectives learned that michael peterson had a secret, life secrets -- we're about to spill out in the durham courthouse. >> coming up, enter brad, the male escort. >> whatever services did you perform? >> wow, that is pretty broad. >> and then -- >> at the end of it, where are his pence at the time of that impact -- to the source of blood, when there was impact. >> i remember the jurors were captivated by his testimony, and it all seemed to make perfect sense. >> when dateline continues. teline continues she's been looking for. sotyktu is the first-of-its-kind,

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michael peterson would stand trial for the death of his wife kathleen, he pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. >> i'm innocent of these charges and we will prove it in court. >> with gavel-to-gavel coverage on live tv, the state versus michael peterson was a national spectacle. >> was it surreal, michael, to be in the courtroom charged with murder? >> it was surreal from the first moment. it was surreal beyond surreal. i do not know. reporter julie estimates cover the proceedings in court. >> every single day of that trial the courtroom was packed, and not packed with just, media, not packed with just, lawyers but people off the street, people took a vacation to come in and watch that trial.

>> and michael peterson did not shy away from all the attention. in fact, he allowed a documentary crew to film him every step of the way. the only audience that mattered was the 12 person jury, and when the trial began, the prosecution introduced them to the man behind the mask, the person they saw as the real michael peterson. >> this case is about pretense and appearances. it is about things not being as they seem. >> scratch beneath the glossy veneer, the beautiful, house the sparkling dinner parties, and prosecutors will tell the jury they would find a marriage in shambles. more than the couples money problems, more than the loss of social standing, after michael got cut out lying about his military record. there was what investigators found when they searched his home office. >> it was so different than what everybody that knew michael peterson believed him to be. as far as a family man, a happily married man, he was

jaw-dropping. >> while kathleen toiled away to her executive job and paid couples mounting bills, michael's writing career was hitting a wall. >> he had free time on his hands, and we believed that he, somewhere along the way, began to form relationships with men that he particularly met on the computer. >> not women, but men. the prosecution's theory was this. the night kathleen died, she went into michael's office to retrieve an email about that we're conference call the next morning, there in his office, the prosecutors believe, she stumbled upon email exchanges between her husband and an escort. >> the emails were very specific about what they had planned on doing, and what they wanted to do with each other. >> very graphic steamy stuff. >> they were. >> the escorts username, soldier top brad. you have great reviews, and i would like to get together, peterson in one email. i have never done escort, but

used to pay to -- super mature guy who played lacrosse. i'm very by, and that is all there is to it. >> what types of services did you perform? >> wow, that is pretty broad. >> in a sensational revelation, the prosecution called brad the escort to the stand. >> what types of sexual activities? >> just about anything underneath the sun. >> on the witness stand, the escort told the jury that just three months before kathleen's death, he and michael peterson had arranged to meet. >> we were to hook up. >> what were y'all planning on -- >> the hookup never happened, but combine that with the other combustibles in the couple's life, the prosecution, said and you have all the ingredients for a confrontation. >> it got out of control, michael peterson snapped, and he was the only one who could have done it according to the prosecution. >> further evidence that michael attacked kathleen ferociously, the prosecution, stated was as clear as the spray of blood on the staircase

walls. >> the amount of blood, the positioning of the, blood the location of, the blood it was overwhelming. >> in general terms, the greater the force. >> to take the jury vividly up the backstairs, the prosecution called the states blood pattern expert dwayne, he told the jury, with, certainty that kathleen peterson had been beaten to death. you testified the chocolate pattern high up the walls was just what you would expect to see with a weapon rising, striking, and casting of blood with each new blow. >> i believe there is a minimum of four players that have occurred in this. >> what is more, he testified, this bloodstain was found on the inside of peterson's, shorts he had done tests that he says proves the only way it could have gotten there was if peterson had been standing over his wife beating her. >> an individual wearing these fans at the time of that impact was in close proximity to the source of blood when it was

impacted. >> i remember the jurors were captivated by his testimony, and it all seemed to make perfect sense. >> then, there was all that dried blood the emts noticed around kathleen's body, suggesting she may have been attacked well before peterson called 9-1-1. >> according to prosecutors, lab test backed that up. kathleen -- had produced something called red neurons, which they say form after oxygen is withheld from the brain for at least two hours. >> that gives mr. peterson at least two hours to do things, before the 9-1-1 call is placed. >> what was he doing during all that time? the state argued he was staging the scene, detective saw what they thought were white marks on the, stairs to them it was an attempt to clean up, and, there were those 21 classes on the kitchen counter, suggesting an evening of may be too much drinking, followed by a tumble down the stairs. the thing was, kathleen's fingerprints were not on either

glass, in fact, the prosecution said kathleen's blood alcohol content was low enough that she could have passed a roadside breathalyzer test. >> she was not, john she was not intoxicated, she did have a little in her system, but not enough arguably to have caused her to not be able to walk upstairs. >> was the writer of fiction making up yet another story? covering up order as an accident? >> coming up. michael peterson speaks out about it all, including his interest in sex with men. he says, others knew all about it. >> this is not a family secret? >> it is not. >> and then, why he thinks costly most likely felt after a recent injury, he says she was on major meds. >> do you remember her being wobbly? >> yes. >> when dateline continues. hen dateline continues because she needs to be here for to take care of me. (announcer) the people you love are worth quitting for.

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prosecutors have charged kathleen's husband, michael, with murder, telling the jury about his connection to another suspicious stairway death 20 years earlier in germany. >> do you really believe that lightning strikes twice in the same place? >> michael peterson sat down with us to refute the prosecution's case, including that other supposedly damning death. >> there is somebody out there with blood, well, know, the german police did not see any, blood the military did not see any blood -- >> and then, a clash outside the courtroom. >> plead guilty. >> you are pleading guilty. >> dennis murphy. >> prosecutors were laying out their case against michael peterson for the murder of his wife kathleen, but, if kathleen were -- problem, investigators had not found the murder weapon, prosecutors believed it was a humble fireplace tool called a -- scene here in family photos.

it had been given to kathleen by her sister candace as a gift -- >> i had given it to her about ten years ago, and that thanksgiving when i was at her house, i definitely thought by the fireplace. >> prosecutors thought peterson had -- out of the house that night after the attack, if he had, that could explain those blood drops on the walkway. >> blood jumping from the murder weapon as it was potentially disposed of somewhere outside the dwelling. >> but the state thought, some of its most powerful evidence was what the medical examiner found on the top of kathleen's head, seven tears to the scalp. >> do you recall any case where someone died falling down the stairs and then multiple lacerations? >> no. >> we able to determine -- what the manner of her death was? >> the manner of death in this case is homicide. >> injuries that were eerily similar to those suffered by the peterson family friend from

germany all those years before. elizabeth, and the jury, almost in a trial within a trial heard that story. the long ago france from germany testifying about their suspicions of michael peterson's involvement in another stairway, death another one with so much blood. >> the blood was up so high that i couldn't figure out how did the blood get up there. >> michael peterson was the last person known to have seen his friend elizabeth alive, just like his wife kathleen. it was the -- that wrapped up the states case. >> do you really believe that lightning strikes twice in the same place? do you? >> so there was the prosecution's case for conviction, blood evidence, a stage seen, and the violent confrontation between a husband and wife that resulted when a secret appetite for men was exposed. the states case lasted more than two months, and each day, michael peterson's gross

margaret and martha sat in court suffering as prosecutors labeled their dad a killer. >> they would accuse my father of double murder, or the wife, murder the staircase murder, and we couldn't stand up and, say wait a, second this is not true. >> michael peterson did not testify in his trial, but, he did sit down with us to answer questions about all the evidence against, him nothing was off limits. >> i know i did not kill, so at a certain point, you think, you are crazy. >> to understand the case, he says, he would have to go back to the very beginning, to the moment police arrived at the, scene and recognized him as the say michael peterson who liked to publicly criticize them in the local paper. >> you think the cops had it in for you? you think that's what set in motion? >> absolutely. no question. they were delighted when something really bad can happen, and would have been more

delighted if i had anything to do with it. >> michael says the prosecution theory of what happened that night's total fiction, starting with a trigger, that explosive fight he and kathleen supposedly had after she saw those emails in his home office. >> so the prosecution version of this evening you, describe she goes to your office, locked in, and lo and behold there is a city -- >> that is exactly it. >> he's not only shooting, on his shooting meet with a guy. >> that was one of their theories. >> but, just a theory, michael points out that the prosecution never offered proof of kathleen seeing anything compromising that night. >> so the store of she stumbled on this -- >> absolutely, no of course not. >> michael insist the supposed fight never happen, though he does not tonight he did try to set up that sexual encounter, in fact, he rapidly amid a sexual interest in both women, and men. >> so your bisexual? >> yes. >> i first knew this when i was

maybe 11. i was madly in love with this girl,, melanie grant, and it was during some fantasy that certainly there was, melanie but there was the shortstop on my ball, team and i was like wait a minute -- >> how did he get a part of this tennessee, i had never had a male thought in my life. >> throughout his marriage to kathleen, michael admits he did seek male companionship from time to time, but says that by no means it affected his feelings or his wife. >> that i want a boyfriend? no. did i want to spend the night with, him did i want to cuddle, when did i want to have a candlelit dinner? no. for me, it was strictly sacks. i had nothing to do with love, or a relationship. >> moreover, michael assesses interest in man was not exactly

a hush in the family, perhaps kathleen had a hunch. >> this is not a family secret? >> no. no. >> was it known to kathleen? >> i think it was one of the things that was not discussed, but, no -- >> did not ask, do not tell? >> exactly. of course, when i was going, up there was a don't ask don't tell, it was don't, period, had she, known that there were -- that there were hookups, how do you think she would think of it? >> i wish i had, told her i mean that is one of my regrets, i wish we had discussed it, we didn't, i was afraid, not that you would leave, me she wouldn't, but she just was the most open minded liberal intelligent woman. >> as for the other piece of the prosecutions motive, not the petersons or on the edge of financial ruin -- >> there is a lot of money out on cards, expensive schools that were bleeding into the wonderful house, what is your reaction to all of the stuff?

>> well my reaction is exactly what the prosecution proved -- >> in court, the financial expert who testified about their, that's also noted that in the, and the petersons were still worth one and a half million dollars. >> i had money, it was not a, financial crime. >> but right about that dramatic trial within, a trial the jury had seen, michael implicated not one, murder but two, that friend elizabeth ratcliffe's death long ago in germany. >> so there you are in the court of opinion, this got with to import women in your life, both are dead in stairs. >> exactly, -- >> you are a writer affection, your editor would probably take that -- >> he would say, well, -- she tied in the bathtub or something, but you are not immune to the irony of this? >> no, of course. not >> because in the course of this investigation -- >> on us to, got it never occurred to me. >> did you kill? >> liz? no. of course not.

>> as for those witnesses who said elizabeth rattle of what's all over the staircase walls, michael insist their memories are wrong. >> they said, my god, there was blood everywhere. and, well, no, there wasn't. the german police did not see any blood, the chairman doctor did not see any, blood the american military did not see any blood, why did they not see any blood? if you saw all this blood, why did you not say something at the time to someone. >> he is certain elisabeth ratliff died of a stroke, as for how his wife died years later, michael cannot say for sure, but he thinks is the first instinct was the right one, i guess maybe i'm the last person -- i think she fell down the, stairs i do not know. >> michael believes alcohol must have played a role in her fall, and even though her blood alcohol levels squared off the, charts he says there may have been another contributing factor, a few months before her death, she had suffered an injury diving into the swimming

pool, and a doctor put her on several prescription meds. >> you remember her being wobbly in the weeks -- >> she had to wear in a, case they put home perks that to begin with, and then valium, she was on -- which is a muscle relaxant, yes, she was under a great deal of pain all the time. >> for michael peterson, the trial was hard enough to bear, but the families split made it even worse. there was kathleen's daughter, kaitlyn, across the room in the prosecutions -- and behind, him the whole, time is gross margaret and martha. >> they were, sisters their loved one, another they helped, another and that has been the biggest sadness, everything that kathleen wanted to make, happen and did happen, as far as the family, was torn. >> michael's story is when he, says those closest to him have, known for years, a story of his lawyers were about to present

to the jury and they had an ace up their sleeve, a moment straight out -- of one that would leave -- in the courtroom. >> that is a low blow, isn't it? >> coming up -- wait a minute, i think -- >> the alleged murder weapon found. what will it reveal? and then -- >> they said we have a verdict, your heart stops. >> when dateline continues. hen dateline continues are the only ones clinically proven to prevent pain from muscle-induced joint stiffness and strain. so you can stay pain free. sometimes, the lows of bipolar depression feel darkest before dawn. with caplyta, there's a chance to let in the lyte. caplyta is proven to deliver significant relief across bipolar depression. unlike some medicines that only treat bipolar i, caplyta treats both bipolar i and ii depression. and in clinical trials, movement disorders and weight gain were not common.

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askdennis murphy: what hadyta. happened on that back staircase? back staircase? from almost the moment he was retained, defense attorney david ridden thought that he was innocent. >> no one thought michael could have every heart -- harm kathleen. indeed, there was never a shred of evidence that they had ever had so much as a loud argument. >> in court, he laid out a straightforward scenario for the jury. >> the truth is that kathleen peterson, after drinking someone and some champagne, and taking some volume, try to walk up a narrow, poorly lit

stairway in flip-flops. she fell and she bled to death. >> just as the prosecution had, the defense put the couples marriage front and center. telling the jury it was more or less perfect. >> everywhere they went, people noticed. michael looking at kathleen with a kind of pride that you just don't fake. under cross examination, even bradley escort said that he told him how much he loved his wife. >> and his emails, unlike most of my guys, he had a great relationship. most of my clients don't want to talk about the relationship. he said he had a good relationship with his wife and nothing would destroy. that >> michael had killed kathleen, the defense argued. and he certainly didn't kill family friend, elizabeth ratcliffe. they called their own medical expert, reviewed her autopsy reports, and said it wasn't a murder. >> his blood and all of the ventricles of the brain

consistent with a stroke from natural causes? >> it is consistent. >> then, there was the mount everest of the case. the forensics. explaining to the jury all of that blood in the peterson stairwell. >> we call dr. henry lee to the stand. >> the defense called celebrity doctor henry lee, oj case fame, to show a theatrical fashion just how kathleen had fallen and stay green about, coughing up blood, could have accounted for the spray. >> walking, move. can shake their head. >> obviously, the blood all around who was due to her being alive and moving around for some period of time. it didn't have to do with what inflicted the wounds. >> the blood on his shorts, that could have happened, the defense said, while michael peterson was cradling his wife. the fact that some of the blood was dried when first responders wrapped, well, michael never said he'd nucleotide kathleen

fell. as for those drops in the house and on the walkway outside, suggested he staged the scene, the defense said none of that could be trusted. >> the blood in that area had been completely altered. the scene at the house had been completely contaminated. >> but what about those ghastly lacerations on kathleen's head, which estates medical examiner attributed to a beating? >> defense attorney rudolph knows what he didn't find. because we're deep, therefore no skull or bone fractures. >> there is absolutely no fractures anywhere. no fractures to her fingers, to her arms, to her skull. there was absolutely no injury to the brain. that is just almost an impossibility if what you're doing is beating somebody with a metal object. >> for a final exclamation point, the defense had a perry mason moment up its sleeve. the prosecution had insisted

throughout, the murder weapon used to bludgeon kathleen peterson was the fireplace bar. only place never found it. almost three months into the trial, one of michael suns made a stunning discovery in the petersons basement. >> he runs up to margaret, who is in the house and said, market, i think i found the poker. >> that's a blow poke, isn't it? >> and, court the defense played the moment, getting the lead detective to agree that there was no evidence at all that the petersons blow polk was used to commit a savage crime. >> see any dense in there? tiny little indentation? >> doesn't appear to have any dance. >> that was the blow poke. well, if it is, then what was the murder weapon? >> lawyer david rudolph that he peppered reasonable doubt all the way through the state circumstantial case. the peterson camp was confident. >> we were so positive that he was going to get off because in

our minds, it was the clearest thing in the world. >> but after sitting through the trial, kathleen's sister, candace, thought the brother-in-law she once admired, was both a killer and a liar. >> did i ever think he was capable of murdering my sister? no. did i know he found another woman dead on the staircase? no. did i know he lied about his military wards? no. he's a writer of fiction. that's what i found. he makes things up as he goes to sue the situation. >> when the case went to the jury, three days passed without a verdict. finally, on day four -- >> but they came out and one of them said, we have a verdict. our heart stopped. >> a hush, from the clerk had to read it. >> we 12 members of the jury find the defendant to be guilty of first degree murder. >> says guilty. >> a soon as we heard the first jurors say guilty, i was

weeping like i was being taken over by grief and shock. >> so anything you want to say before the court but that into the stretch from? >> michael pearson turned to his kids. >> he said, it's okay. it's okay. i think on his part, he was trying to calm himself down. but also, he felt his role was to protect us. >> i was only trying [inaudible] and to see them. i said, it, it's okay. and i could. i could. >> michael peterson turn back to face the judge for the reading of the sentence. >> the defendant is in prison in north carolina department and will remain first natural life, without benefit of pearl. >> i believe that michael was innocent and i continue to believe michael is innocent. i felt we won that trial. when that guilty verdict came out, i was pretty devastated.

>> for kathleen sister, candace, the verdict was nothing to celebrate. >> makes me cry. cry when i heard it. i was happy we were getting justice. but there's no joy in this. there's just great sadness. >> the peterson children resigned themselves to the harsh reality that prison was now their father's home. they sold the dream house on cedar street and tried to get on with their lives. they visited their dad whenever they could. >> i would stop every time i left. you hold it together for dad, why would you cry in front of death? that's not going to help him. when you leave, you're sobbing in your car. >> they watched his lawyer filed a series of failed appeals. >> we would have hope for every single appeal and every single time we would get beaten down. >> his case went all the way up to the north carolina supreme court and was rejected. michael says he never lost

hope. >> i told everybody, i'm not going to die in prison. >> the odds were certainly stacked against him. then, life can take some very strange twists and turns. >> coming up -- a wild new theory about what happened to kathleen. >> the outflow down and landed on kathleen's head. >> the fresh evidence backing it up. >> you have to magnified 400 times just to see. >> when dateline continues. ...this is not your grandpa's crabfest... ...unless grandpa's got flavor. dayumm! crabfest is here for a limited time. welcome to fun dining. the day you get your clearchoice dental implants makes every day... a "let's dig in" day... mm. ...a "chow down" day... a "take a big bite" day... a "perfectly delicious" day... - mm. [ chuckles ] - ...a "love my new teeth" day.

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classified documents trial be delayed until december 11. the trial was set for mid august previously. now, back to dateline. y.viousl now, back to dateline.>> there o idle away your golden years. north carolina's national correctional institution isn't one of them. that is where michael peterson, father, novelist, and what killer according to his jury of his peers, was. just a missile block with other felons. >> they meant it. they did. they did everything they could to make that happen. >> after he exhausted his appeals, it looked as if president was where he would stay. but out in nevada, michael has a look like younger brother, bill peterson, who is also an attorney. >> a lawyer who say, that's it. martha. >> that's when the real hard work started.

out of money, out of lawyers. that is when the burden fell on me and whoever would help me. >> bill peterson spent hours and durham county courthouse combing through the district attorney's pile high boxes of evidence. was there something that had been overlooked? he wasn't the only supporter nursing alternate theories of kathleen peterson's death. there is a neighbor on cedar street, an attorney who had an intriguing idea for what he believes happened that night. his scenario of an accidental death has come to be known as the owl theory. >> you've seen owls in the area. he thought this was very plausible. he put it together the whole theory himself. >> here's how the neighbors their egos, according to brother bill. kathleen, who spent the day putting at christmas decorations goes out that night while michael is back by the pool. she's checking on her lawn display beneath the trees. >> the admiral flew down and landed on kathleen's head and tore her scalp in a manner that

would be consistent with the illustrations that were found on her scalp. >> leading, kathleen leaves blood on the door and she struggles into the house, getting only as far as the staircase, where she joins the defenses depiction of falling, passing out, coming to, and rising again only to fall for the final time. the whole theory was not completely new. it had been floated years earlier. >> cops are making a big joke of this. putting a big picture of the owl interests wanted list. >> without any forensic evidence, the defense didn't want to confuse the jurors. the peterson jury never did hear about an owl directly. five years into peterson sentence, the neighbor that was advocating for him, was still looking for something to back it up. sure enough, there it was in the original case notes file. a mention of a feather. >> you have to magnify 400

times just to see but. >> tim thompson, owner of associated microscopes, was asked by that neighbor to examine a slide of that feather. >> they grow under the clause of an animal. when they attack something, they leave behind these small particle feathers. >> thompson peered through his microscope, studying bloody strands of hair found clash in kathleen peterson's. her tangled in her hair was not one but two minute bird feathers. surprise, he says to the detectives and an assistant d.a. washing in another room. >> i think they were surprised because the lab had not found the second father. >> bill peterson was interested in the results to. >> a review of the slides show what? traces of bird feather? >> yes. yes. exactly right. in her hair. another very, very compelling fact. >> it was most compelling about the idea that an l attack kathleen, supporters, that was

how it accounted for the distinctive lacerations on her scalp. had the three main talents of an owl, like these, caused this bleeding hedman just whip down. symmetrical tears. >> we had a thorn theologist a said these tears are consistent with an animal claw. >> the trident like clause? >> yes. as we all know, scalpels cause plenty of leading. she panicked. obviously, run in the house to get away from the owl. she did. ran down the stairwell. >> if an all attacked a human sounds like urban legend, don't tell that to byron unger. he owned a company 20 miles away from the peterson home. he was leaving home with his manager one night when an apple swoop down from the trees and swiped his colleague on the head. the surveillance camera caught the entire freakish event. if that weren't strange enough, it happened to byron himself just two weeks later. >> i've never been hit so hard by something.

it felt like a baseball that. probably five feet to the ground. >> now to? >> on the ground. scattered me on the ground. i was bleeding so bad i thought i lost my eye. >> his wife, waiting for him in the car, dialed 9-1-1. >> my wife, they didn't leave her. if not as crazy when i said i was attacked by a bird, final. >> show me where on your pet. >> the talents got me right here. and all the way up in my hair. all this was black and blue. what was that in my face and all over here was hit by talons. >> is that what happened to kathleen peterson? >> critics see problems with and idea that an owl attack kathleen. problems like why isn't there more of a trail of blood from the front door to the staircase? wouldn't michael have heard kathleen being attacked? kathleen sister, candace, doesn't believe it for an instant. >> i'm supposed to believe an owl ripped apart? there's no ripping on her arms of an owls talons. the thing is so ludicrous. >> even michael peterson

understands the skepticism. >> who done it? >> just awful. >> he says the evidence is worth considering. >> there are feathers. where were they? in kathleen's hand. >> the strands of her hair? >> was trans of her hair. does that mean an owl didn't? i don't know. >> but you think? >> i'm surprised to hear you say it's not as ludicrous. >> no, no, no. i've seen the photographs. there's a possibility? certainly, it's possible. i don't know. then i will do it? i can't say anything. >> it is summer of 2009, peterson's attorney helped him file a motion requesting a new trial based on the our very. but the trial judge dismissed it. the l theory was dead in court, but lives on still in the court of public opinion. >> there are people that smarter than me who are absolutely convinced this is what happened. >> so, with a motion denied, the al hooded out of court, you really did seem finally to be the last chapter for that

novelist. but a development wasn't store that would call the heart of the case into question. no one, not even michael peterson, could have seen it coming. >> coming up -- dramatic revelations about the scientific evidence against peterson. did the blood expert manipulate one of his experiments? >> his assistant does a jake. >> happy and some downs? >> exactly. >> when dateline continues. es get all-day and all-night heartburn acid prevention with just one pill a day. choose acid prevention. choose nexium. (christine) what you're doing is not just hurting you. if you can't make up your mind to quit for yourself, do it for those who love you. (announcer) you can quit. for free help call 1-800-quit-now. >> by 2010, seven years after

michael peterson's conviction, his daughter, martha, had given up hope that her father would ever be released from national correctional institution. >> debt was probably going to be in prison until he died. this was a reality that was never going to change. >> and michael cellblock, an interesting story was circulating.

a series of articles had been published in the news and observer, alleging misconduct. state bureau of investigations crime lab, the espy i. >> in prison, you don't care much about international fares, political -- they don't have any effect. the s b eye, who were behind many guys being in there, under mastication? we want to hear about that. >> it turns out, one of the experts at the center of the storm is a name you have heard before. special agent dwayne. you remember? >> my pinion is, this is the state. >> he was a star witness in the peterson trial. the blood pattern expert that put michael peterson in the staircase, bludgeoning his wife. reporter, julie since -- >> you talk to the jurors here. how important was the blood expert? >> it was critical. here's a guy that has been doing this for years but the state. look at what his experiment showed.

it has to be the truth. >> he had been key in other cases. the newspaper recounted the story of a man who was sent to prison for murder after the lab report suggested a stain on the man's car was the victims blood. >> it turned out not to be blood. >> no. no. duane deaver no and didn't disclose it? >> duane deaver knew that it was not blood and didn't disclose it. >> that means conviction was overturned. >> he's innocent of the charge of first-degree murder. >> and there's more about questionable conduct linked to duane deaver. the newspaper investigation suggested that the methodology behind some of the blood pattern experiments he was involved in was flawed, designed to produce pro prosecution results. like this test. conducted a 2000 and murder case. duane deaver videotaping the experiment, was attempting to match a bloodstain on a shirt of the accused.

>> that's a rare. >> that's right. >> just like movies. >> right. >> if the attorney, dave rudolph, said it doesn't look like objective science. >> they come to the belief that someone is guilty. they don't have the evidence that they think they need to convict the person. so, they make it up. >> reynolds signed back on to the case, this time without pay. and began to dig. he discussed -- discovered that at the peterson trial, duane deaver had not been truthful about his professional experience on the stand. >> he said he had been involved in 500 cases. involving blood spatter. >> it was a true? >> no. in fact, he had been involved 54 cases. he said he had written 200 reports involving blood spatter analysis. not true. he said he had been to the scenes of -- 15 times. in fact, he had never been to the scene of a fall. >> what's more, remember the conclusion of duane deaver?

that the blessing of peterson shorts had proven he had been standing over's wife beating her? >> he was wearing these pounds at the time of the impact, in close proximity to the source of blood when it was impacted. >> turns out, he conducted an experiment pretrial and it was videotaped as well. watch. on the second attempt, peterson said it looked as a deeper and another asian caught the results they wanted. >> his assistant does a little check. >> and happy and zone downs? >> exactly. exactly. >> we got him. >> got you, moment. >> lynn peterson's brother, bill, saw the videos, he couldn't believe it. >> it's all reverse and need staff. it's all designed to get the result. to me, it's not scientific at all. >> for michael's defense, the implication was clear. the jury had been duped. after all, it is closing argument, the state had even played up duane deaver its credibility to get a

conviction. >> duane deaver just a liar and he has no reason to come up here lie to. >> who are you going to trust? duane deaver, of course. he would never lie. it turned out, he did lie. >> defense attorney rudolph find -- turned into motion for neutral. the judge, this time, was ready to listen. >> coming up -- >> yet another jolt for michael's children. >> i was weeping, and shock. >> and a critical decision that could change everything. >> i said, that's not going to happen. i won't do it. >> when dateline continues. line continues i don't. new cascade platinum plus... with double the dawn grease fighting power and double the scrubbing power. for a no rewash clean... and a cabinet ready shine. upgrade to new cascade platinum plus. dare to dish differently. ♪ ♪ ♪

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dennis murphy: a decade after he was arrested for killing arrested, for killing five kathleen, michael peterson was back in a north carolina courtroom, arguing for a retrial on the grounds that the states crucial blood pattern expert had given false testimony against him. but as far as kathleen sister, candace, was concerned, prison is where peterson deserved to brought. >> my sister is dead for eternity. no, no, no. he murdered my sister.

he took the prime of her -- he has to be kept accountable for what he did. >> rudolph was just as determined to free his client from prison. over the course of a seven-day hearing, rudolph methodically dissected the original testimony of blood pattern expert duane deaver. >> did duane deaver represent himself to desert -- jury? yes. did duane deaver's testimony take a difference? yes. >> and his back -- preacher testimony, the judge ruled that peterson was allowed into trump. there was, michael peterson's conviction was tossed out. his family was overwhelmed. >> we being enjoy in shock could not believe that there was hope. >> i was like, my dad's getting out. we are going to have our dad back. >> for the peterson children, now, there is only joy. >> lots of hugs.

lots of happy, happy photographs. we are all jumping up into the air in a silly picture and just so, so happy. >> 24 hours after the judge issued his decision sharply criticizing the blood pattern experts on the case, 63-year-old michael peterson was released on 60,000-dollar bond. >> i remember our date. december the 15th. my kids are there. mike ransom had been warned. a sweet little baby. aiko there hold him cry. it was wonderful. >> you are meant to time prison. >> that was the plan. absolutely. >> now, you're outside. >> now, i'm not. >> i have waited over eight years -- 2988 days, as a matter of fact. i counted, for an opportunity to have a re-trial.

i want to thank judge hudson for giving me that opportunity so that i can vindicate myself and prove my innocence in a fair trial this time. >> so, michael peterson was out of prison, but not exactly free. the state had promised to try him for murder again. and he was placed under house arrest. his every move was motor deterred by a monitored ankle bracelet. that partly mattered to his daughters. to that, the dark of that late over the family name for a decade had left it. >> you're part of the peterson family and were not afraid to say it. we were so stigmatized before and hiding at. >> still, the second trial bloomed. working in michael spavor was the fact that the prosecutor would have to try a very different, much weaker case. duane deaver had been fired from his job. some of the states critical blood evidence would be inadmissible. >> i think their case is very,

very badly compromised because of duane deaver. he was all over the crime scene. >> there is another important victory for peterson's side. >> what types of sources did you perform? >> wow. that's pretty broad. >> brad, they escort, a centerpiece of the prosecution's case, would it be part of a second trial either the judge set. desperate had been revealed in a surge that was deemed illegal. >> the search warrant that resulted in the seizure of the computer was bound to be valid. >> furthermore, that dramatic trial within a trial, about michaels long dead friend in germany, a change in north carolina state black regarding the admissibility of evidence meant a second jury might not hear that story either. >> we'll escort is gone, the death in germany is gone, expert blood testimony is gone, you're left with the autopsy pictures, the medical examiner's testimony, and maybe the prosecution's theory for a

motive. is that enough? >> the stars seemed to be aligning for michael peterson. perhaps indication was there. one final twist was on the way. >> i said, that was not going to happen. i'm going back to prison before that happens. i won't do it. >> coming up -- >> michael makes a choice that rocks everyone in the case. >> that was wow. including michael himself. >> that was the most difficult decision that make my life. >> when dateline continues. dateline continues

and this is ready to go online. any questions? -yeah, i got one. how about the best network imaginable? let's invent that. that's what we do here. quick survey. who wants the internet to work, pretty much everywhere. and it needs to smooth, like super, super, super, super smooth. hey, should you be drinking that? -it's decaf. because we're busy women. we don't have time for lag or buffering. who doesn't want internet that helps a.i. do your homework even faster. come again. -sorry, what was that? introducing the next generation 10g network only from xfinity. >> michael peterson stays in the future starts now.

the mansion on secure street were long gone. as he waited trial number two, he passed his days in a durham condo writing about his experiences in prison. meanwhile, the prosecution was forging ahead. a new trial was scheduled for spring 2017.

as it got closer, the reality hit daughters martha and margaret. >> that was devastating for me. it was pretty much a nightmare to live the first trial and i have to go through that the second time would be even more worse of a nightmare. >> i can't go through that again. i can't go through another guilty verdict. >> kathleen sister, candace, knew a second trump would dredge up all the pain again. but there is no way she was backing down. >> i have to relive how my sister died. she died one of the worst, worst ways. she was beaten and she knew the person. the person she loved was beating her. there was no way i'm not going to get justice for her. >> but there was one other option that could avoid a trial. something that had been floating a few years earlier. the dea and the defense could hammer out a plea deal whereby peterson could walk away with time served. but the negotiations went

nowhere. >> candace, no. under no circumstances. he must stand up and say he's guilty. i said, that's just not going to happen. that will never happen. never ever. i would go back to prison before that happened. >> so, it seemed the hopelessly divided families were destined to face off again on opposite sides of a north carolina courtroom all of these years later. >> the district attorney, one hunted percent, was going to go to trial. they felt they had a strong case. >> but as the trial approached, michael found himself rethinking a possible plea deal and how it would affect his family. >> i'm thinking, you have responsibility. you have your grandsons now. >> you don't want to spend that bill again. >> exactly. my son, clayton is the one that said it perfectly. he said, dad, you're playing a game of cricket table. the other against you. pick up the chips and go home. >> that is what michael peterson agreed to do. >> i was surprised. we're all prepared to go to

trial again and the district tierney heard from michael peterson's attorney and they wanted to make a plea. that was, well, he's gonna say the word guilty? okay. we will take the play. >> well, there was a little complicated. peterson was going to take what is referred to as an alford plea. and alford plea is when you don't admit guilt, but you acknowledge there is enough evidence there that a jury could convict you. in the books, it goes down as a guilty plea. >> in february 2017, 73-year-old michael peterson arrived at the durham county courthouse for what would be the final chapter of this saga. he was there to take that alford plea, pleading guilty for tim voluntary manslaughter. kathleen's daughter, kaitlyn, came to durham to see it happen. of course, kathleen sister, candace, was there. she ran into michael's chief defender outside the

courthouse. >> david, good to see you today. pleading guilty. pleading guilty. thank. that's what i always wanted. >> actually, we're. not >> your pleading guilty. guilt. >> michael peterson, he liked to walk around and proclaim his innocence. but he can't. you can play with these words, that he can play with the facts. >> the courtroom was eerily reminiscent of the 2003 trial, packed with tv cameras. >> everyone is a little older, but so much is the same. the motion, the tension, the anger. all of it was still there. >> how does mr. pitch simply to the charge involuntary manslaughter? >> he enters a plea of -- >> mr. heeter's, and you're pleading to voluntary manslaughter. that is a class death eleni. do you understand, sir? >> yes, sir. >> do you know personally plead guilty to the alford plea?

>> yes. >> that was one of the most difficult decisions i made my life. >> that's gonna give kathleen's family and opportunity for a victim impact statement. >> right. >> michael peterson, you are pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter. you will be treated as guilty for hurting my sister kathleen and you will be a convicted felon forever. >> it was very cathartic to say this is what i felt. we weren't quitting until we heard that word, guilty. we thought we were going to hear from another cultures. we got to hear michael say, guilty. >> michael peterson, not only can you wear the scarlet letter a for adultery, but also the black liturgy for killed. not for justice but justice. >> michael peterson was sentenced to time served. his daughter say it long last they can properly grave kathleen's death together. >> i think a big piece that is important to our family is to be able to say goodbye to mom

and to be able to honor her memory and let her go in peace. >> they have accepted that their father is, once again, a convicted felon, but a free man who still maintains his innocence. >> your plea allows you to take the position, you take it all these years, michael. >> exactly. >> and yet, on the letters of the criminal justice system, you are? >> guilty of manslaughter. >> it is an ending that neither side had hope for. balance of that with some much loved and so much loss and an imperfect conclusion. >> hello, i'm craig melvin. and this is dateline. >> i don't feel so many people think steven avery is innocent. >> it's emotional. it made it look like he was a nice person. what's happening is wrong.