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they made us a family. >> not only did she raise these children and have quite an accomplished corporate career, dinner 50, she would do it. >> but, in the wee hours of a winter night. >> i found them at the base of the stairs. >> kathleen peterson, dead. >> was this a fall, or was this murder? >> a mystery we covered for more than a decade comes to a shattering and. >> it did not look like a fall. >> michael peterson, under suspicion, then, a bombshell revelation about another woman from his past. >> this was on the floor, and there was a puddle of blood under the staircase. >> -- a...

>> reporter: a decade after he was arrested for killing his wife, kathleen, michael peterson was back in a north carolina courtroom arguing for a retrial on the grounds that the state's crucial blood pattern expert had given false testimony against him. but as far as kathleen's sister, candace, was concerned, prison was where peterson deserved to rot. >> my sister's dead for eternity. oh, no, no, no. he murdered my sister. he took the prime of her. he needs to be held accountable for what he did. >> reporter: but peterson's attorney, david rudolph, was just as determined to free his client fro...

>> did duanedeaver misrepresent himself to the jury? >> yes. >> reporter: and there it was. michael peterson's 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 dad's getting out. we're gonna have our dad back." >> reporter: for the peterson children, now there was only joy. >> lots of hugs. lots of -- happy, happy photographs. so we're all, like, jumping up into the air in a silly picture of just so -- so happy. >> reporter: 24 hours after the judge issued his decision sharply criticizing th...

Said, and you have all the ingredients for a fatal confrontation. >> it got out of control, and michael peterson snapped. and he was the only one who could have done it, according to the prosecution. >> reporter: further evidence that michael attacked kathleen ferociously, the prosecution stated, was as clear as the spray of blood up the staircase walls. >> the amount of blood, the positioning of the blood, the location of the blood, it was overwhelming. >> in general terms, the greater the force, the smaller the drop. >> reporter: to take the jury vividly up the back stairs, the prosecution c...

>> did duane deaver misrepresent himself to the jury? yes. did duane deaver's testimony make a difference in this case? yes. >> reporter: and there it was. michael peterson's 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 dad's getting out. we're gonna have our dad back." >> reporter: for the peterson children, now there was only joy. >> lots of hugs. lots of -- happy, happy photographs. so we're all, like, jumping up into the air in a silly picture of just so -- so happy. >> reporter: twe...