Always overnight pads have up to a 2x larger back for up to 10 hours of protection. It catches leaks, so you can catch zzzzs. Because my morning starts before morning starts. Always one plus one equals too little too late a sockabamboom 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 strikes twice in the same place . Do you . Now, Michael Peterson sits down with us to refute the prosecutions case. Including that other supposedly damn death. They said, my god, there was blood everywhere. Well, no. The German Police didnt see any blood. The American Military didnt see any blood. And then a clash outside the courtroom. Pleading guilty actually, were not youre pleading guilty. Here again, dennis murphy. But, if kathleen was bludgeoned to death as prosecutors thought, problem. Investigators hadnt found the murder weapon. Prosecutors believed it was a hollow fireplace tool called a blow poke, seen here in family photographs. It had been given to kathleen by her sister, candace, as a gift. Id given it to her about ten years prior. Thats for sure. And that thanksgiving when i was at her house, the i definitely saw it by the fireplace. Reporter 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 steps and there were multiple lacerations . No. Were you able to determine in your opinion what the manner of her death was . The manner of death in this case is homicide. Reporter injuries that were eerily similar to those suffered by the Peterson Family friend from germany all those years before, Elizabeth Ratliff. And the jury, almost in a trial within a trial, heard that story. The longago friends from germany testifying to their suspicions about Michael Petersons involvement in another stairway death, another one with so much blood. The blood was up so high, that i couldnt figure out how did the blood got up there. Reporter Michael Peterson was the last person known to have see his friend, elizabeth, alive, just 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 court, suffering as prosecutors labeled their dad a 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 recently 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 back to the very beginning, to the Moment Police arrived at the is scene and recognized him as the same Michael Peterson who liked to publicly criticize them in the local paper. You think the cops had it in for you, thats what set this in the motion . Oh absolutely, no question about that. That framed the narrative. They were delighted that something really bad had happened and wouldve been even more delighted if i had anything to do with it. Reporter michael says the prosecution theory of what happened that night is total fiction. Starting with the 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 were described as that she goes to your office, logs in. And then lo and behold, theres the traffic from brad, the escort. Thats it exactly. Oh, i dont hes not only cheating on me. Hes cheating on me with a guy. Right. That was one of their theories. Reporter but just a theory. Michael points out that the prosecution never offered proof that kathleen saw anything compromising that night. So this whole story about she stumbled on this information. Oh yeah. No. Absolutely not. Of course not. Reporter michael insists the supposed fight never happened, though he doesnt deny he did try to set up that sexual encounter. In fact, he readily admits a sexual interest in both women and men. So you are bisexual . Yeah. I first knew this when i was maybe 11. I was madly in love with this girl, oh melanie grant. And it was during some masturbatory fantasy that certainly there was melanie. But then there was this the shortstop on my ball team. And its like, whoa, wait a minute. How did how did he get a part in this fantasy, huh . Where did this one come from . Id never had a male manonman, male thought in my life. Reporter throughout his marriage to kathleen, michael admits he did seek male companionship from time ttime. But says it by no means affected his feelings for his wife. Did i want a boyfriend . No. Um did i want to spend the night with one . Did i wanna cuddle . Did i wanna have a candlelit diner . No. Never. Never. Never. For me, it was strictly sex. Had nothing to do with love or a relationship. Reporter moreover, michael says his interest in men wasnt exactly hushhush in the family. Perhaps kathleen had a hunch. This is not a family secret . No. No. My sons no. Its not. Its not. Was it known to kathleen, michael . I think it was one of these things that was not discussed but known. It was dont ask, dont tell . Yeah. Exactly. And of course, when i was growing up, there wasnt any dont ask, dont tell. It was dont, period. Had she known that there were assignations, that there were hookups, what did how do you think she wouldve taken it . I wish i had told her. I mean, thats one my regrets regrets. I wish i we had discussed it. We didnt. I was afraid not that she would leave me, she wouldnt that she just wasnt she was the most openminded, liberal, intelligent woman. Reporter as for the other piece of the prosecutions motive, that the petersons were on the edge of financial ruin oh, that was bull. A lot of money out on cards. Total expensive schools that were bleeding them. The wonderful house was something of a money pit. Whats your reaction to all of that stuff . Well, my reaction is exactly what the prosecution proved. Reporter in court, the financial expert who testified about their debts also noted that in the end the petersons were still worth 1. 5 million dollars. I had money. And its not a matter it was not a financial problem. Reporter but what about that dramatic trialwithinatrial the jury had seen . Michael, implicated in not one murder, but two that friend, Elizabeth Ratliffs, death long ago in germany. So there you are in the court of Public Opinion this guy with two important women in your life and theyre both dead in a heap at the bottom of the stairs. Exactly. Absolutely. Has to be guilty. Youre a writer of fiction. Your editor would probably take that kind of coincidence out of the book. Well, he would say, well, you know, come up with another one. She died in the bathtub or something. But no. But youre not immune to the irony of this, huh . No. Of course not. But at the time because in in the course of this investigation didnt even occur to me. Honest to god, it never even occurred to me. Did you kill her . Liz . No. Of course not. Reporter and those witnesses who said Elizabeth Ratliffs blood was all over the staircase walls, michael insists their memories are wrong. They said, my god, there was blood everywhere. And, well, no. There wasnt. The German Police didnt see any blood. The german doctor didnt see any blood. The American Military didnt see any blood. Why didnt they see any blood . And if you saw all this blood, why didnt you Say Something at the time to someone . Reporter he is certain Elizabeth Ratliff died of a stroke. As for how his wife, kathleen, died years later, michael cant say for sure. But he thinks his first instinct was the right one. I guess maybe im the last person to believe it. I think she fell down the stairs. I dont know. Reporter michael believes alcohol must have played a role in her fall, and even though her blood alcohol levels werent off the charts, he says, there may have been another contributing factor. A few months before her death, shed suffered an injury diving into their swimming pool. And her doctor put her on several prescription meds. Do you remember her being wobbly in the weeks that followed . Oh, my god, yeah. She had to wear a neck brace. She they put her on percocet to begin with. Then they brought valium. She was on flexeril which is, apparently, a muscle relaxant oh yeah. She was in a great deal of pain all the time. Reporter for Michael Peterson, the trial was hard enough to bear, but the family spilt made it even worse. There was kathleens daughter, caitlin, across the room in the prosecutions camp. And behind him the whole time, his girls, margaret and martha. They were sisters. They loved one another. They helped one another. And thats been the biggest, to me, the sadness that everything that kathleen wanted to make happen and did happen as far as the family was torn asunder. Reporter michaels story is one he says those closest to him have known for years. That information reporter a story his lawyers were about to present to the jury. And they had an ace up their sleeve, a moment straight out of perry mason. One that would leave mouths agape in the courtroom. Thats a blow poke isnt it . Coming up, the alleged coming up, the alleged murder weapon found. What will it reveal . And then they said we have a verdict, your heart stops. 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Internet that puts you in charge. That protects whats important. It handles everything, and reaches everywhere. This is beyond wifi, this is xfi. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Xfinity, the future of awesome. Reporter what had happened on that back staircase . From almost the moment he was retained, defense attorney david rudolf thought Michael Peterson was innocent. No one thought michael couldve ever harmed kathleen. And indeed, there was never a shred of evidence that they had ever had so much as a loud argument. Reporter in court, he laid out a straightforward scenario for the jury. The truth is that Kathleen Peterson, after drinking some wine and some champagne and taking some valium tried to walk up a narrow, poorly lit stairway in flipflops and she fell and she bled to death. Reporter 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 the kind of pride that you just dont fake. Reporter under crossexamination, even brad the escort said peterson had told him how much he loved his wife. In his emails 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 expert who reviewed her autopsy reports and said it wasnt a murder. Is blood in all of the ventricles of the brain consistent with a stroke from Natural Causes . Expert it is consistent. Reporter then, there was the Mount Everest of the case the forensics, explaining to the jury all that blood in the peterson stairwell. The defense would call dr. Henry lee to the stand. Reporter the defense called celebrity forensic expert dr. Henry lee, of o. J. Case fame, to show the jury in theatrical fashion just how kathleen, falling, then staggering about, coughing up blood, could have accounted for the spray. An injured person can walking, can move, can shake their head. Obviously, the blood all around was due to her being alive and moving around for some period of time. It didnt have to do with what inflicted the wounds. Reporter 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 dry when First Responders arrived, well, michael never said he knew what time kathleen fell. And as for those drops of blood in the house and on the walkway outside suggesting 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. Reporter but what about those ghastly lacerations on kathleens head which the states medical examiner attributed to a beating . Defense attorney rudolf notes what he didnt find though the cuts were deep, there were no skull or bone fractures. There was absolutely no fractures anywhere. No fractures to her fingers, to her arms to her skull. And there was absolutely no injury to the brain. And thats just almost an impossibility if what youre doing is beating somebody with a metal object. Reporter and 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 blowpoke, only police never found it. Almost three months into the trial, one of michaels sons made a stunning discovery in the petersons basement. He immediately runs up to margaret who was at the house and said, margaret, i think i i i think i found the blowpoke. Reporter the film crew reporter getting the lead detective to agree that there was no evidence at all that the petersons blowpoke was used to commit a savage crime. See any dents in there . Even like a tiny little indentation . It doesnt appear to have any dents in it. That was the blowpoke. Well, if it is, then what was the murder weapon . Reporter lawyer david rudolf thought hed peppered reasonable doubt all the way through the states 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. Reporter but after sitting through the trial, kathleens sister candace thought that the brotherinlaw 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 hed already found another woman dead at the bottom of a staircase . No. Did i know he lied about his military awards . 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 firstdegree murder. Its guilty. And i just as soon as we heard the first juror say, guilty i was just was weeping, like i was like being taken over by grief and shock. Is there anything you would like to say before the Court Imposes judgment. Id like to say reporter Michael Peterson turned to his kids he said, its okay. Its okay. I think on his part he was just trying to calm himself down but also i think he felt like his role was to protect us. I was the only continuity in their life. And just to see them and i thought, hey, its you know, its its okay. And i could. And i could do it. Reporter Michael Peterson turned back to face the judge for the reading of the sentence. The defendant is imprisoned in the North Carolina department of corrections for the remainder of his natural life without the benefit of parole. I believed that michael was innocent. I continue to believe michael is innocent. Uh, and i thought we won that trial. So when that guilty verdict came out i was pretty devastated. Reporter for kathleens sister, candace, the verdict was nothing to celebrate. It makes me cry. Cried when i heard it. I mean, i was happy we were getting justice. But theres no joy in this. Theres theres just great sadness. Reporter the peterson children resigned themselves to the harsh reality that prison was now their fathers 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 just so