Page 201 - Forensics News Today

Carolina courtroom all these years later. >> the district attorney was one 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 responsibility. i got two grandsons now, four and six. do i wanna drag this out for a couple more years? no. >> so you didnt -- you didnt wanna spin that wheel again, huh? >...

Placed under house arrest. his every move monitored by an electronic ankle bracelet. 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 ...

Prosecutors thought peterson had ferreted the blow poke out of the house that night after the attack... if he had, that could explain those blood drops on the walkway. >> blood dropping from the murder weapon, as it was potentially disposed of somewhere outside the dwelling. >> reporter: but the state thought some of its most powerful evidence was what the medical examiner found on the top of kathleens head, seven tears to the scalp. >> do you recall any case where someone died falling down step...

♪ a sock-a-bam-boom ♪ whos in the room? ♪ love is dangerous ♪ but driving safe means you pay less ♪ ♪ switch and save ♪ yes, maam excuse me, miss. ♪ does this heart belong to you? ♪ ♪ would you like it anyway? [ scatting ] >> id seen falls. it did not look like a fall. >> prosecutors have charged kathleens 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...

Dont fake. >> reporter: under 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...

Like his wife, kathleen. it was the bow that wrapped up the states case. >> do you really believe that lightning strikes twice in the same place? do you? >> reporter: so there was the prosecutions case for conviction, blood evidence, a staged scene, and the trigger, the violent confrontation between husband and wife that resulted when a secret appetite for men was exposed. >> reporter: the states case lasted more than two months. and each day, michael petersons girls, margaret and martha, sat in...

No. hes a writer of fiction, and thats what i found. he makes things up as he goes to suit the situation. >> reporter: when the case went to the jury, three days passed without a verdict. finally on day four -- >> they came out and one of them said, you know, "we have a verdict." your heart stops. >> reporter: a hush, then, the clerk began to read -- >> we the twelve members of the jury, unanimously find the defendant to be guilty of first-degree murder. >> its guilty. and i just -- >> as soon a...

Coming up, michael makes a choice that rocks everyone in the case. >> that was, wow. >> including michael himself. >> that was the most difficult decision i ever made in my life.

Did an owl do it? i cant tell you that. >> reporter: in the summer of 2009, petersons attorney neighbor helped him file a motion requesting a new trial based on the owl theory. but the trial judge dismissed it. the owl theory was dead in court but lives on still in the court of public opinion. >> there were people a lot smarter than me who absolutely convinced that this is what happened. >> reporter: so with the motion denied, with the owl hooted out of court, it really did seem finally to be th...

In the planning but the quiet and tolerance countries in shock. rob: joining us to weigh in is steve rogers, former member of the fbi joint terrorism task force. a very well-planned coordinated attack a long time in the making. >> who else is involved? these individuals had weapons, ieds, law enforcement agencies, around the world, coordinating a lot of information to see if these individuals are part of a greater cell, a lot of forensics on the evidence they now have and one of the benefits of ...