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The medical examiner found Kathleen Peterson and Elizabeth Ratcliffe suffered similar blows to the head, including seven lacerations which were sustained by blunt force trauma. There were also multiple questions put forward about what happened on the evening Kathleen Peterson died, due to the "Owl Theory" that suggested she may have been attacked by the bird and died from her wounds or, what Michael Peterson claimed, that she fell to her death. 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. However, things changed once her embalmed body was exhumed nearly two decades later, in April 2003. Candace makes an impassioned plea for a dismissal, but the judge overrules her. So much so, that the court in Durham ordered the exhumation of Ratliff's body from her grave in Texas. It's believed that Michael was the last person to see her alive. "I was sitting here directly observing when the German medical examiner took the spinal tap and held the contents up so that he could view [it]," said Patty. So you know, the bottom line of all of that, is it creates this impression that this Academy Award-winning director, a documentarian was twisting his film for a completely unethical purpose to help the subject. Following Kathleen's death, which didn't look much like the accident Michael Peterson made it out to be, police almost immediately zoned in on him as the prime suspect. "There was nothing out of place, except that she was no longer living," she recalled almost two decades later. She was found by her children's nanny, Barbara Malagnino, who sought help from Patty shortly after making the grim discovery.. } Elizabeth Ratliff, shown in the Netflix docu-series "The Staircase.". Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! "We made plans to live in Paris. They argued as he would not agree to this. In 2017, he entered an Alford plea to the reduced charge of manslaughter, meaning he admitted the evidence against him would likely lead to a finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt but he did not have to admit he committed the crime. Their lead analyst, Duane Deaver (Myke Holmes) leads the charge in recreating the scene to prove the prosecution's case. What happened to Elizabeth Ratliff? It's believed that Michael was the last. There is also an alternate theory put forth by Petersons neighbor Larry (Joel McKinnon Miller) that Kathleen was viciously attacked by an owl. "Rather, they are indicative of multiple blunt force impacts, either from blows to the head caused by a blunt object or by the head being forcibly struck against a hard surface," Radisch concluded. Amongst them is the 1985 death of Elizabeth Ratliff, primarily because of the way she was found and how her two orphaned daughters soon ended up being adopted by the Petersons. At the age of 43, Elizabeth Liz Ratliff had created a good life for herself as a teacher for military children, signifying that she often got the chance to travel across the globe for work. Please select the topics you're interested in: Would you like to turn on POPSUGAR desktop notifications to get breaking news ASAP? He was sentenced to time already served and freed from prison. Cosmopolitan participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. Right about the time the trial ended, they didn't start putting the cuts together," Rudolph explained. It's believed that Michael was the last person to see . Michael ultimately takes the Alford plea, which involves the defendant acknowledging there is enough evidence to find him guilty of charges while also maintaining innocence, and is sentenced to time already served. Inevitably, the series includes elements of fiction, particularly the flashback scenes to Kathleen (Toni Collette) and Michael Peterson's marriage and the days leading up to her death. We didn't get paid anything for the appeal. German investigators ruled Ratliff had died due to a cerebral hemorrhage. He did meet with Michael Stuhlbarg who portrayed him in the series and even lent him his real glasses to wear during the film. 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. As it came to light that Kathleen was not the first woman associated with Michael to be found dead at the bottom of the staircase, Elizabeths remains were exhumed for more information. The similarities between the deaths of Elizabeth Ratliff and Kathleen Peterson raised eyebrows among the Durham authorities. The DAs case focuses mainly on Michael Petersons lifestyle. U.S. Army doctor Dr. Larry A. Barnes carried out an autopsy on Elizabeth and confirmed that a cerebral haemorrhage was her cause of death. She'd reportedly died from an intracerebral hemorrhage, secondary to a blood clot disorder. I'm too old. And as far as the girls, Margaret and Martha, Michael was the only parent they had been around the longest, they knew of their birth mothers death but couldnt associate with it as they were so young when it happened. "The blood was all the way up the staircase.". host = new String(location.hostname); Margaret and Martha would be raised by Michael and his second wife, Kathleen Atwater, whom he met in 1986. After seeing much of The Staircase on Netflix and seeing Michaels narcissistic and cocky personality I believe he tried to make her believe she was crazy to think that or try to make up a story, as that was what he did for a living so it would be easy for him to come up with excuses easily. Get all your true crime news from Oxygen. As Peterson was being investigated for the staircase death of his wife in the early 2000s, Ratliffs body was exhumed in Texas in 2003. It has been quite a ride, so before we discuss how it ended, lets look at how we got here. At their request, Ratliff's body was exhumed in Texas in April. Whether or not Michael Peterson killed Elizabeth Ratliff remains unknown. The two were buried side by side after Ratlitt died. Elizabeth now feeling frustrated and not wanting to continue being alone with 2 small children told him she was going to go tell his wife that her daughter Margaret was Michael's daughter (as you can see the incredible similarities between she and Michael as well as his boys Todd & Clayton with Patty) https://flic.kr/p/JR7p1K "My opinion is that this is the scene of a beating, that this scene is not unlike many scenes I've been to," Deaver concluded. The DA contracts the SBI (North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation) to recreate the scene and figure out exactly how the murder took place. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. The prosecution used the evidence to draw parallels in court but never formally charged Michael with Elizabeth's death. Their mom, Patty, decides to relocate back to NC to be near Michael and the boys. To begin with, he said that the scene where he was introduced to Michael Peterson (played by Colin Firth) in a diner while eating pastrami did not happen in real life. On November 25, 1985, Elizbeth Ratliff was found dead at the bottom of her staircase in an eerily similar way to the way Kathleen Peterson was found on December 9, 2001. Netflixs new series The Staircase chronicles the trial of author Michael Peterson, whose wife Kathleen was found dead at the bottom of a staircase in her Durham, North Carolina home in November 2001. Michael moved back to the United States, taking his adopted daughters with him, and met Kathleen Peterson in 1986. 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. The final episode of the series is told through three time periods 2001, the day before Kathleens death, 2011, the night before Michaels retrial, and 2017, when Michael is contemplating the Alford plea. Peterson had been at her house the night before her death. Regina Green, an old family friend of Peterson pointed out in "The Staircase" how much Ratliff and Petersons first wife Patricia looked alike. believed to have been the last person to see her alive, carried out a second autopsy on Elizabeth Ratliff's body. defense lawyer Thomas Maher asked. As both their families grew, so did the bonds between them. At the time, the German police ruled her death an accident, and an autopsy concluded that she died of a brain hemorrhage. On November 25, 1985, Elizbeth Ratliff was found dead at the bottom of her staircase, in an eerily similar way to the way Michael Peterson's wife, Kathleen Peterson was found on December 1, 2001. The prosecutors have also hypothesized that Elizabeths perplexing 1985 passing inspired Michael to fake Kathleens accident in 2001, yet there has never been any direct evidence to back it up. There was a substantial amount of blood around the staircase, Witness Cheryl Appel-Schumacher testified during Petersons 2003 trial that the blood reached all the way up the staircase. As we see in The Staircase, it's very clear that Michael Peterson is distressed at the thought of his family friend's body being dug up and re-examined. When he separated from his wife, he brought his sons and the Ratliff children to the United States. Together, they go to the Durham Herald Christmas Ball. Elizabeth Ratliff's children Margaret (Ratliff) Blakemore and Martha Ratliff. Elizabeth was just 43 years old when she died on November 27, 1985. Michael Stuhlbarg portrayed Peterson's lawyer David Rudolf in the series. After her death, German officials concluded that Ratliff died of a cerebral hemorrhage which led to her falling down the stairs. 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. But if he lied about something that big what else did he lie about? In her opinion, the seven lacerations on her head indicated blunt force trauma. Liz Ratliff also died under mysterious circumstances. Although the original autopsy concluded Ratliff died of a brain aneurysm, the coincidence of Peterson being the last known person to see two different women alive before they both wound up dead. She filed a . Warning: This article contains spoilers about The Staircase on HBO Max. After Vietnam, retired Marine Captain Michael joined Patty in Germany and the couple quickly became good friends with Elizabeth Ratliff and her husband George, also a Captain in the military. Upon examination, forensic pathologist Deborah Radisch, who also worked on Kathleen's case, said that Elizabeth's injuries were inconsistent with an accident. In her opinion, the seven lacerations on her head indicated blunt force trauma. Seeing Margaret everyday no doubt caused her much stress and probably was the reason for many arguments that eventually led to the divorce. Elizabeth Ratliff and her husband, George Ratliff, were close friends of Michael Peterson and his first wife Patricia Peterson when they lived in Germany in the 1980s. Her life was thus incredibly different from her Rhode Island farm upbringing, especially as shed eventually found herself working at an elementary school at the Rhein-Main Air Force Base in West Germany. Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. How is The Last of Us TV series different to game? On the night of her death, Todd pops by and sees Michael and Kathleen watching a movie and having a lovely evening together. I do not think that the girls could mentally handle it if they allowed their minds to go to the place of believing he did it. They believe their adopted father is innocent of killing both of their moms, according to the documentary. His only respite is his new relationship with Sophie, the documentary editor, and her letters. 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. 1 day ago. So much so, that Elizabeth Ratliff's body was exhumed and a second post mortem carried out by the Durham Medical Examiner. Killen ordered attack on civil rights worker, jury hears, Father convicted of murdering 9 of his children, Gov. 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. If you've reached episode three of Netflix's latest true crime addition, The Staircase, you'll have discovered one of many plot twists in the documentary series. She edited the scenes of us in the house, you know, meeting with experts, that sort of thing," he continued. As Todd tries to explain social media followers to Clay and Martha finally comes out to Margaret, the family tries desperately to maintain a sense of normalcy. One year on, how to donate to help Ukraine. The Staircase will be your new fav true crime show, The legal age you can get married has just changed, Charles & Camilla break major royal tradition, Courteney Cox speaks on Harry magic mushroom claim, Harry 'adding at least one more chapter' to memoir, Dylan responds to being misgendered on Instagram. The SBI, the organization that recreated the crime scene, is placed under investigation for unethical practices, which opens up another opportunity for an appeal in Michael's case. I believe they had been around Michael long enough to possibly take on his ability of telling stories, the more they told themselves he did not do it or that he could not have done it, the more they believed it. 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 homicide. Like Peterson, Ratliff was found at the bottom of her stairs with injuries to her head. Like Peterson, Ratliff was found at the bottom of her stairs with injuries to her head. Death: July 29, 2018, Durham, North Carolina, USA (end-stage liver disease from alcoholism) Bio: Assistant District Attorney / Prosecutor Cullen Moss Born: July 8, 1975 Birthplace: Buffalo, New York, USA Jim Hardin Born: February 1957 Birthplace: Durham, North Carolina, USA Bio: District Attorney / Lead Prosecutor Rosemarie DeWitt In the fifth episode, Brunet and Lestrade are seen arguing with their producer over which clip to delete from the documentary. "Once the trial started, they hired [film editor] Scott Stevenson to edit the trial footage. And no questions were raised when her close friend Michael Peterson adopted her daughters, Margaret and Martha. The prosecution shockingly reveals to the jury that, at age 43, Ratliff turned up dead at the bottom of her stairs in 1985, some 16 years earlier. "I don't know that you could possibly make a more serious and damaging claim against a documentarian than that, especially when it's completely and utterly false and demonstrably false. Michael Peterson is believed to have been the last person to see her alive. Michael is having a rough time in prison. In The Staircase, Patty recalls how they would all eat together and how Michael would regularly stay behind to help Elizabeth clean up and put her daughters to bed. The medical examiner rules that the cause of death was blunt force trauma. Whether the evidence about Elizabeth Ratliff's death had a particularly swaying influence on the jury or not is impossible to know - but Michael Peterson was convicted of murdering Kathleen Peterson in October 2003. A widow, Elizabeth raised two daughters and her family grew close with the Petersons. "Number two, she left the project in October of 2003. 1 week ago, by Kelsie Gibson It's all in the documentary, it's there. The Scene of Her Death The 43-year-old died in 1985 in Germany and was found at the bottom of her stairs by her children's nanny, Barbara Malagnino. Michael, a Vietnam War vet, bonded with Elizabeth's husband George, who was a captain in the military. That is f***ing defamation because Sophie was off the project," Rudolf said. } else if ( host.indexOf("edition.") Earlier Monday,jurors heard testimony froma blood spatter expertwho examined blood stains in the stairwell where Kathleen Peterson died. 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. The filmmakers, with Michael's permission, are granted 24/7 access to document the entire process from prepping for the trial, the trial itself, and after the jury verdict is announced. Elizabeth Ratliff, a family friend of Michael Peterson and his first wife, Patricia, died in 1985, just two years after her husband, George.