Page 196 - Forensics News Today

My father really would have known i felt that way. so i was really, really stressed out about that. >> how hard is it for you to be here today? >> very. >> do you want to believe that your dad is responsible for your mothers disappearance? >> do i want to believe it? >> yes. >> no. >> lets assume that your dad, in fact, did kill your mom, would you want to see him punished for it? >> no. not particularly. >> prosecutor lewin knew the ambivalence of the family members did not help his case. but -...

They knew what they wanted him to say. >> reporter: they accuse the investigators of planting details about the crime in dasseys mind to get the answers they wanted. for example, remember steven averys dna found on the car hood latch? the attorneys say investigators asked dassey leading questions to confirm that his uncle had looked under the hood of the car. >> reporter: dasseys attorney say in that same interview the investigators used another crucial detail they learned about the case from th...

Cross-examination, even brad the escort said peterson had told him how much he loved his wife. >> in his e-mails unlike most of my clients he indicated that he had a great relationship. most clients dont want to say anything about the relationship. he indicated he had a warm relationship with his wife and nothing would ever destroy that. >> reporter: michael hadnt killed kathleen, the defense argued, and he certainly didnt kill family friend, elizabeth ratliff. they called their own medical expe...

>> did duanedeaver misrepresent himself to the jury? >> yes. >> reporter: and there it was. michael petersons conviction was tossed out. his family was overwhelmed. >> i was weeping with joy and shock and could not believe that there was hope. >> i was like, "my dads getting out. were gonna have our dad back." >> reporter: for the peterson children, now there was only joy. >> lots of hugs. lots of -- happy, happy photographs. so were all, like, jumping up into the air in a silly picture of just ...

But that hardly mattered to his girls, margaret and martha. for them, the dark cloud that lay over the family name for nearly a decade had lifted. >> "were part of the peterson family. and we are not afraid to say it." we so were stigmatized before, you know, and, like, hiding it. >> reporter: still, the second trial loomed. but working in michaels favor was the fact that the prosecutor would have to try a very different much weaker case. duane deaver had been fired from his job and some of the ...

>> the search warrant that resulted in the seizure of the computer was found to be invalid. >> reporter: furthermore, that dramatic trial within a trial about michaels long-dead friend in germany? well, a change in north carolina state law regarding the admissibility of evidence meant a second jury might not hear that story either. >> the male escort is gone, the death in germany is gone, the expert blood testimony is gone. youre left with the autopsy pictures. >> reporter: yeah? >> the medical ...

Hundred percent willing to go to trial, they felt they had a strong case. >> reporter: but as the trial approached, michael found himself rethinking a possible plea deal and how it would affect his family. >> and im all the time thinking, you got some responsibili responsibility. i got two grandsons now, four and six. >> so you didnt -- you didnt wanna spin that wheel again, huh? >> exactly. my son -- claytons the one who said it perfectly. he said, "dad, youre playing a game at a crooked table....

Decades. >> here i have two women add socioiat socioiated ci . >> coming up.oiat soci for investigators a risky move. >> a lot of people were very antsy about that. >> will it pay off. >> her fingernail polish was still on. her dress perfectly in place. >> im thinking my case is getting a whole lot better. >> when dateline continues.

Killer. >> they would accuse my father of double murders, or the wife murder, or the staircase murders? >> and we couldnt stand up and say, "wait a second. this isnt true." >> reporter: michael peterson did not testify at 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 kathleen. so at a certain point, you think, well, this is just -- crazy. >> reporter: to understand the case, he says, you have to go b...

It was remarkable. >> reporter: they were stunned. the body was practically intact. >> her fingernail polish was still on. her dress was still perfectly in place. >> reporter: the m.e. took a closer look at the injuries to elizabeths head. she was finding lacerations, deep gouges in the scalp. seven of them. >> seven lacerations. you could -- black: it was amazing -- >> count them. >> it was uncanny. the lacerations were very similar to the ones that had been perpetrated upon kathleen peterson. ...