Michael Peterson (author)

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Michael Iver Peterson (born October 23, 1943 near Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. to Eugen Iver Peterson and Eleanor Bartolino) is a fiction writer and politician. In 2003, he was convicted of the murder of his wife, Kathleen Peterson.

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[edit] Personal life

Michael "Mike" Peterson graduated from Duke University with a bachelor's degree in political science. He attended classes at the law school of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. At Duke he was the president of Sigma Nu fraternity and the editor of The Chronicle. In 1965, Peterson married Patricia Sue Peterson. They had two children, Clayton and Todd. In 1968, he voluntarily enlisted in the Marines but was discharged four years later when a car accident left him with a permanent disability. Michael and Patricia lived in Germany for some time, where they befriended Elizabeth and George Ratliff and their two children, Margaret and Martha. After George's death in Grenada, the Peterson and Ratliff families became very close. When Elizabeth Ratliff died in 1985, her two children became Michael's wards. Michael and Patricia divorced in 1987, Clayton and Todd went to live with their mother, and Margaret and Martha stayed with Michael. In 1989, Michael moved in with Kathleen Atwater, a successful Nortel business executive and socialite. They married in 1997. Kathleen's daughter, Caitlin, joined the extended Peterson family.

[edit] Professional accomplishments

Michael Peterson wrote three novels: The Immortal Dragon, A Time of War, and A Bitter Peace. He was a controversial editorial columnist for the Durham Herald newspaper, expressing opinions about the racial divide that existed in the town where he lived. Over the years, Peterson made various attempts to win public office. It was discovered during his 1999 mayoral campaign that he had lied about his record of military honors.

[edit] Kathleen's death

On 9 December 2001, Michael called the emergency line to report that he had just found Kathleen and suspected that she had fallen down "15 or 20 stairs." Peterson maintained that Kathleen must have fallen down the stairs after consuming alcohol and valium. Toxicology results showed that his wife's blood alcohol content was 0.07 percent. The autopsy report concluded that the 48 year old victim sustained a matrix of severe injuries, including a neck fracture and seven lacerations to the top and back of her head consistent with blows from a blunt object.
Defense experts concluded that the injuries sustained were inconsistent with an accidental fall down the stairs. As Michael Peterson was the only person at the residence at the time of Kathleen's death, he was the prime suspect, and was soon charged with her murder. He plead "not guilty".
The trial drew media attention, as the details of Michael's life emerged. Prosecutors (among them future District Attorney Mike Nifong) attacked Peterson's credibility, focusing on his alleged misreporting of his military service and what they described as a secret gay life he led and kept secret. The prosecution contended that the Petersons' marriage was far from happy, suggesting that Kathleen had discovered Michael's alleged secret gay life and wanted to end their marriage. This scenario was offered as the probable motive for Kathleen's alleged murder. The defense argued that there was no evidence that Kathleen was upset about Michael's bisexuality and that the marriage was very happy.

[edit] Suspicion surrounding Elizabeth Ratliff's death

Elizabeth Ratliff, who died in Germany in 1985, was also found at the foot of her staircase with injuries to the head. An autopsy at the time of her death concluded she had died from an intra-cerebral haemorrhage secondary to the blood coagulation disorder Von Willebrand's disease. By all accounts, including his own, Peterson was the last person to see her alive. Following a court-ordered exhumation of Elizabeth's embalmed body a second autopsy in April 2003, conducted by the same person who had performed Kathleen Peterson's autopsy, concluded instead that she had died due to fractures of the skull caused by a homicidal assault. There were in total seven lacerations to the top and back of her head. The admissibility of this evidence in court was one of the grounds for the subsequent appeal against his conviction, lodged by Peterson's lawyers in 2005.

[edit] Verdict

On October 10, 2003, after one of the longest trials in North Carolina history, a Durham County jury found Michael Peterson guilty of the murder of Kathleen Peterson. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and is housed at the Nash Correctional Institution near Rocky Mount.

[edit] Appeal

Peterson's appeal was filed by his defense counsel Thomas Maher, now serving as his court-appointed attorney, and was argued before the North Carolina Court of Appeals on April 18, 2006. On September 19, 2006 the Court of Appeals rejected Peterson's arguments that he did not get a fair trial because of repeated judicial mistakes. The appeals ruling said the evidence was fairly admitted. The judges did find defects in a search warrant but said they had no ill effect on the defense. Because the Court of Appeals' ruling was not unanimous, under North Carolina law Peterson had right to appeal to the North Carolina Supreme Court, which accepted the case. Oral argument was heard on September 10, 2007. On November 9, 2007 the Court announced that it affirmed the decision of the Court of Appeals. Absent a reconsideration of the ruling or the raising of a federal issue, Peterson has exhausted his appeal of the verdict.

[edit] Suspicions: a documentary of the trial

The court case generated widespread interest in part because of a televised documentary named Soupçons (Suspicions) which detailed Peterson's legal and personal troubles. The six hour documentary was assembled from over 600 hours of footage. It comprises eight segments and is variously known as The Staircase and Death on the Staircase. It was released by Maha Productions in October 2004. It was directed by French filmmaker Jean-Xavier de Lestrade. The documentary offers an intimate depiction of defense preparations for the trial. It also examines the role and behavior of the popular press as it covered aspects of the case. The filmmakers started their project within weeks of the December 2001 death and Peterson's murder indictment; jury selection took place in May 2003 with the case itself going to trial in July 2003.

[edit] Current status of the parties

  • In October 2002, acting as administrator of Kathleen's estate, Caitlin filed a wrongful death claim against Michael. In June 2006, he voluntarily filed for bankruptcy. Two weeks later Caitlin filed an objection to the bankruptcy. On February 1, 2007, Caitlin and Michael settled the wrongful death claim for $25 million, pending acceptance by the courts involved; finalization of the settlement by the court was announced on February 1, 2008. In the settlement, Michael did not admit that he murdered Kathleen. Caitlin is unlikely to ever collect a significant amount of the judgment.
  • Caitlin Atwater attends Cornell University.
  • Peterson's younger son, Todd Peterson, runs an internet site for teenagers.
  • Peterson's daughters, Margaret and Martha Ratliff, attend college. Margaret attends Tulane University and Martha is at University of San Francisco.
  • Following the trial, one of Peterson's lawyers, Thomas Maher, resigned from the firm that bore his name (Rudolf, Maher, Widenhouse & Fialko). He is now Peterson's court-appointed attorney.
  • Lead defense counsel David Rudolf does mention the Peterson case on his website, but only briefly web site.

[edit] External links