173: The Neverending Staircase: The Death of Kathleen Peterson, PART 1

WEBVTT

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Southern Fried True crime covers cases that
are not suitable for young listeners, and

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there may also be some explicit language
used. Listener discretion is advised. Eighteen

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year old Martha Ratliffe just wanted to
go home, but as she approached her

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house with her sister, she immediately
knew that wasn't going to happen. The

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large colonial mansion at eighteen tin Cedar
Street was swarming with unfamiliar people, cops,

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crime technicians, neighbors. Yellow crime
scene tape criss crossed over the front

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yard, barring Martha's entrance. She
later told the Staircases documentary team it was

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the worst thing in the world,
and that's understandable. The one place where

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Martha was always welcome no matter what, was suddenly completely off limits. Unable

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to get inside their home, Martha
to her older sister Margaret, spoke with

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their father, Michael Peterson. He
told them that there had been an accident,

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a tragic accident. He was in
shock, so the details were fuzzy.

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She had fallen down the stairs.
There was nothing he could do,

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but the police were certain he was
involved. Michael assured Martha and Margaret that

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he wasn't. Of course, Martha
believed him, and Margaret too. This

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was Michael, their father, their
caretaker. He wouldn't hurt anyone, let

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alone his beloved Kathleen Peterson. Welcome
to Episode one seventy three, The Never

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Ending Staircase, Part one. Kathleen
Morris Hunt was born on February twenty first,

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nineteen fifty three, to her mother
Veronica and her father John in Greensboro,

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North Carolina. She had two sisters, Candice and Laurie, and one

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brother, Stephen. They grew up
primarily in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. At that

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time, she went by the name
Kathy, and likewise, her sister Candice's

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pet name was Candy. Their childhood
was, by all accounts, a normal,

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upper middle class and happy upbringing.
In her youth, Cathy had a

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wide range of interests, including swimming. At nine years old, she completed

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an intermediate swimming course at the YWCA
and was awarded a Red Cross certificate.

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She was awarded yet another certificate for
her swimming ability the very next year and

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competed on her local swim team.
As a teenager, she really found her

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stride. By age fourteen, she
was already involved in many activities. She

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was a student athlete, a musician, and a library aide. While attending

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high school, she became president of
the debate club and editor of the school

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magazine. In the early sixties,
Kathy was voted Girl of the Year and

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Lancaster Lass. She was also recognized
by the city's Optimist Club for being an

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outstanding student. She volunteered at Saint
Joseph's Hospital. She helped form a youth

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advisory council that contributed to local government
decisions. She was the dictionary definition of

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a well rounded young woman, compassionate, involved, and extremely smart. Kathy

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was so smart that the medium sized
city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, had to

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make changes to accommodate her intellect.
She was the first high school student allowed

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to take advanced Latin classes at the
nearby Franklin and Marshall College. That may

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not sound like such a big deal
now, but in the sixties, not

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many teens were attending college classes,
and definitely not girls. According to author

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Diane Fanning, there was a bit
of rivalry, even jealousy Kathleen and her

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sisters, particularly with Candice, that
would last into adulthood. Kathleen wasn't just

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gifted, she was preternaturally self confident
in a way that was way beyond her

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years and could be off putting to
her siblings. She was a natural leader,

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and she wasn't shy about it.
Later, as a wife and mother,

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she insisted on hosting family events,
not liking to swap years or share

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the honors, much to her sister
Candace's irritation. Laurie seemed to go along

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as the peacemaker, but in her
teen years, that impressive self confidence was

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well earned. Kathleen was smart,
but she also worked really hard. Her

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studies always came first. When she
graduated high school, she was the number

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one student in her class of four
hundred and seventy three students. She was

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even profiled in a publication called the
Whose Who Book of American high school Students.

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And if you're wondering who buys a
Who's Who book for high school students,

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well, the answer is pretty simple
the student's proud parents, and Kathleen's

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parents were incredibly proud, rightly so. After high school, Kathy continued to

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thrive. She attended North Carolina's esteemed
Duke University, where she was the first

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female student accepted into the School of
Engineering. That is an incredible achievement.

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From there, she received her Bachelor
of Science and Civil Engineering. Then she

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received her Master of Science and Mechanical
Engineering, also from Duke. You can

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only imagine the sexism she would have
faced just to attend class. It's probably

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what made her such a tough lady
in her adult years, and she was

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formidable. It was on a visit
home from college that the serious young Kathy

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announced that she was going by her
full name, now Kathleen. With Kathleen's

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glowing resume, it isn't surprising that
her career was also extraordinarily successful. She

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worked up the ranks to executive level
positions at science and tech focused companies like

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Baltimore Air, coil Mark, and
lastly, Northern Telecom, a telecommunications company

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better known as NORTEL. Kathleen began
working there in nineteen eighty four in an

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entry level position. Fifteen years later, in nineteen ninety nine, she was

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promoted to Director of Communications. In
her seventeen years at Nortel, Kathleen received

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countless awards for her leadership ability and
professional success. She traveled the world for

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her work, going to places like
Russia, Ukraine, Vietnam, Malaysia,

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Europe, China and Canada, she
thrived and what was often a boys club,

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earning their respect just as she earned
her accolades and high salary. And

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there's no doubt about it, Kathleen
made good money as Nortel's Director of Communications.

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In two thousand and one, her
yearly salary was one hundred and forty

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five thousand dollars. Today, that's
the equivalent of almost a quarter of a

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million dollars. At this point,
Kathleen lived in Durham, North Carolina,

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where a major US branch of Nortel
was located. In Durham, Kathleen remained

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a natural leader an exemplary citizen in
her community. She was the treasurer for

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the Durham Arts Council and frequently hosted
events for the American Dance Festival as well

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as the Carolina Ballet, and on
at least two occasions, Kathleen wrote to

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her local newspaper, The Herald's Son
to voice helpful opinions. One time,

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in nineteen eighty nine, she advocated
that the local Durham Bulls baseball team keep

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the existing baseball stadium rather than pay
seventeen million dollars for a new one.

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It wasn't a matter of suggesting a
reallocation of funds or just tightening the city's

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budget. Actually, Kathleen was really
concerned that ticket prices would increase and remove

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an affordable option for family fund.
Kathleen cared about the children of Durham,

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all the children. Later in nineteen
ninety one, she attended a dinner to

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help fund public education. During the
mill, thirty seven students put on an

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outstanding performance, singing and dancing a
wonderful cabaret. Kathleen thoroughly enjoyed the concert

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and wrote to the paper about how
great the students did. She called their

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show impeccable. Besides being a great
community member, Kathleen was really just a

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cool person to know. She threw
a great party. She often invited her

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friends over for an evening. During
these get togethers, she would go above

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and beyond, decorating her house to
the nines, cooking the extravagant mills herself,

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whether it was for ten people or
fifty plus. Kathleen was an incredible

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mother. While attending Duke University,
she met her first husband, physicist Fred

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Atwater. They married in nineteen seventy
seven. On April twenty seventh nineteen eighty

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two. They had a daughter named
Caitlin, but when Fred was unfaithful,

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he and Kathleen divorced. She was
devastated by the divorce, but she persevered.

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She had to for her daughter,
Caitlin. So in nineteen eighty six,

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Kathleen and four year old Caitlin were
living in Durham, North Carolina.

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Around this time, Caitlyn became friends
with two little girls who lived down the

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street. Those girls were four year
old Margaret Ratliffe and her little sister,

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three year old Martha Caitlin. Margaret
and Martha became best friends. They loved

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to play with barbies and have sleepovers. One day, Margaret and Martha introduced

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thirty three year old Kathleen to their
adoptive father, forty three year old Michael

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Peter. Michael was a handsome,
charismatic novelist. He was well traveled,

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a Vietnam War veteran, and clever. With his devilish grin and charming demeanor.

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He and Kathleen got on famously.
Kathleen probably liked his sharp mind and

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quick humor. He stood about five
eight to Kathleen's five foot two, so

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they looked like the perfect match in
photos. I've seen one author describe him

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as someone with a Napoleon complex,
but it's not something I see. I

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see a natural confidence much like Kathleen's. He worked out constantly, his fitness

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remaining a priority as a former marine. Kathleen also took care of herself,

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eating right and exercising. So they
were one of those couples that just seemed

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to naturally match. Both of them
were fit, attractive, and gregarious.

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They're always smiling widely in photos and
seemed to be a very tactile couple,

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arms around each other or Kathleen's sitting
on Michael's lap. Their ten year age

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difference was barely even noticeable. Michael
thought Kathleen was a dynamo, a spitfire.

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She was smarter than him and didn't
let him forget it. Some men

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might have shied away from a strong
woman like Kathleen, but not Michael.

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He liked how they sparred, matching
wits time and again. Kathleen and Michael

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truly seemed to fit together like two
puzzle pieces. Years later, Kathleen's daughter

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Caitlin would write about her mother meeting
Michael in a college essay. Michael Peterson

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stopped my mother's tears. I used
to sit at the top of the stairs,

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leaning through the banister and listen to
my mother's sob every night for a

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year. After my father left.
My father had torn her apart, crushing

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her shell and the illusion in which
she lived, destroying her dignity and pride.

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But Mike was able to restore her
strength and confidence and show her that

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she could find true love. From
the beginning, I was in debt to

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Mike and my heart and mind for
bringing back my mother's happiness. Kathleen and

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Michael fell deeply in love, and
they changed each other's lives forever. I'm

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going to pause now for a short
commercial break. Michael Ivor Peterson was born

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on October twenty third, nineteen forty
three, to his mother Eleanor and his

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father, Eugene. Michael was from
Nashville, Tennessee. In nineteen sixty one,

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when he was eighteen years old,
he moved to Durham so that he

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could attend college at Duke University.
According to Michael, even though he went

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to Duke, he wasn't a brainiac
like his future wife Kathleen. He was

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a sea student and proud of it. Instead of worrying too much about classes,

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Michael spent time with his friends and
joined activities he cared about. By

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the end of his time at Duke, Michael didn't have good grades, but

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he still had a lot of accomplishments. He was the president of his fraternity,

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the managing editor for the college's newspaper, and in the student union.

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Despite not being a stellar student,
he was featured in the Who's Who among

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students in American universities and colleges,
an odd coincidence that was similar to Kathleen's

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feature in the high school version of
the Who's Who publication. Not too bad

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for a Sea student. In nineteen
sixty five, Michael graduated from Duke with

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a bachelor's degree in political science.
A year later, on July twenty third,

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nineteen sixty six, twenty two year
old Michael married his first wife,

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twenty three year old Patricia Sue Bachmann. She went by Patty, and Patty

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was a traveler. She was born
in Arkansas, went to high school in

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Pennsylvania College in Texas, and married
Michael in Virginia. Around the time of

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their wedding, Michael became interested in
the media coverage of the Vietnam War.

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Curious, he went to Vietnam to
see what was going on for himself.

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He worked for a US government agency
in Ho Chimen City, which was called

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Saigon. Then, Michael helped research
the effects of mechanized infantry and armor in

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relation to the Vietnam War. The
US government was trying to justify sending more

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tanks, more soldiers, more everything
to Vietnam. Later, Michael explained that

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he believed the research was a facade. The government would send more tanks,

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more soldiers, and more of everything
else no matter what Michael's dat approved.

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After Michael finished his job, he
returned to the States. Then he enlisted

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in the US military, and on
August twenty fourth, nineteen sixty eight,

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Michael returned to Vietnam, this time
as a Marine. He served in Vietnam

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for a few years before retiring from
the military. He was honorably discharged after

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he was injured a landmine accident.
His right leg was so badly wounded he

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was declared permanently disabled, or at
least that's what he told everyone. We'll

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get into that more later. According
to Michael, Vietnam provided him with a

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wealth of new experiences. Several military
medals and the inspiration to write his first

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book. Michael's debut novel was a
paperback called The Immortal Dragon. It's about

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nineteenth century Vietnam and was pretty successful, selling over two hundred and fifty thousand

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copies. He later told The Herald's
son, I wanted to write about the

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war as it really was. War
is an awful thing, and I had

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to show it. Shakespeare had his
King Lear I had my war. Meanwhile,

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Michael's wife, Patty, who had
received her bachelor's in English and her

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master's in education, was a teacher. While Michael was in Vietnam, she

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taught for the US Department of Defense
in Europe. Over the course of her

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life, Patty Peterson would spend thirty
five years teaching for the DoD. After

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Michael returned from Vietnam, he and
Patty lived together in the States, but

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Patty loved Europe and wanted to return. Since Michael had just published his second

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book on the Vietnam War, called
A Time of War. They were doing

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well financially, so Michael and Patty
figured it was as good a time as

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any to go back to Europe.
In nineteen seventy three, they moved to

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Groffenhausen, Germany. Groffenhausen is located
in southwest Germany. It's less than ninety

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miles from Switzerland and also close to
the border of France. While in Germany,

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Michael and Patty had two sons,
first Clayton Sumner on December thirteenth,

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nineteen seventy four, and then Todd
Bancroft on March fourteenth, nineteen seventy six.

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Still working for the U. S. Department of Defense, Patty taught

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at an American military bass elementary school. It was there that she met another

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teacher, Elizabeth Ratliffe, who went
by Liz. Patty and Liz immediately hit

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it off. They became good friends. Liz's husband, George Ratliffe, was

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a retired U. S. Air
Force captain. Michael, as a retired

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US Marines captain, bonded with George
quickly. For years, the two couples

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were best friends. They even lived
near each other. In the early eighties,

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Liz and George welcome two daughters into
the world, one right after the

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other, first Margaret Elizabeth on December
tenth, nineteen eighty one, and then

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thirteen months later, Martha Cataline on
January third, nineteen eighty three, but

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shortly after Martha's birth, tragedy struck
the Ratliffe household. Martha was only six

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months old when George Ratliffe died in
a military excursion. According to Michael's two

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thousand nineteen memoir Behind the Staircase,
George was sent to Central America to help

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the Contras overthrow the Marxist government in
Nicaragua. According to Michael, George suffered

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from an extreme sunburn after a long
run. Due to this stress on his

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00:18:03.039 --> 00:18:07.240
body, he had a heart attack
and died that night. Ultimately, the

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details of George's death have not been
confirmed. Two years after George died,

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in nineteen eighty five, Liz passed
away. Two German medical examiners determined Liz's

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death was caused by a cerebral hemorrhage. But as I'm sure you know,

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we will revisit her death again exhaustively. The important thing to note is that

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Liz was not Michael's first wife.
Many people somehow confused the story that way.

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00:18:36.960 --> 00:18:40.880
In fact, she wasn't even really
Michael's friend. She was more friends

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with Patty, and Michael was close
to George. The couples were close.

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00:18:45.359 --> 00:18:48.519
They had dinners together, weekly vacation
together, and seemed to be each other's

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00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:52.839
family. While in Germany. They
were close enough that in both of their

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00:18:52.839 --> 00:18:57.319
wills, George and Liz chose Michael
Peterson to be legal guardian to their daughters,

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00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:03.519
now orphans, Margaret and Martha moved
in with Michael and Patty's family,

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00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:07.720
just as George and Liz had wonted. Though Liz's family was unhappy about it,

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Lizz's sister would later say they did
come to understand because George and Liz

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00:19:14.200 --> 00:19:18.440
had lived in Germany so long that
they were closer to the Petersons. They

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00:19:18.480 --> 00:19:22.400
were family in a way. It
might have hurt not to raise her nieces,

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00:19:22.759 --> 00:19:26.559
but it's not like they went to
total strangers. But unfortunately, it

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00:19:26.599 --> 00:19:30.240
was around this time, in the
mid nineteen eighties, that Michael and Patty

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00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:36.160
began having marital issues. While we
don't know the nuances of their breakup,

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00:19:36.559 --> 00:19:40.200
we do know that Michael cheated on
Patty multiple times, with both men and

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women. Later, he would identify
as bisexual. Of course, many people

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00:19:45.519 --> 00:19:49.839
say he is gay and was closeted, which would not have been unusual for

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a man of his generation, and
the same goes for being bisexual, But

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00:19:56.000 --> 00:20:00.359
it's important to note that it's obvious
Michael loved women. He married twice.

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00:20:00.799 --> 00:20:03.240
He had children with his first wife, and then fell in love with and

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married Kathleen. After Kathleen died,
he had a decades long relationship with another

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00:20:08.759 --> 00:20:15.000
woman. He was attracted to women. I think he really is bisexual,

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but ultimately it's not anyone else's place
to question how he self identifies. If

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00:20:19.960 --> 00:20:25.079
it was anyone else other than a
man accused of murder, we would consider

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00:20:25.119 --> 00:20:30.400
it wrong to question his sexuality.
But yes, he did keep his sexuality

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00:20:30.480 --> 00:20:36.119
private. He has always insisted he
only had physical relationships with other men,

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00:20:36.640 --> 00:20:41.880
not affairs of the heart, whatever
happened between him and Patty. Author Diane

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00:20:41.880 --> 00:20:47.720
Fanning said that taking in Margaret and
Martha was also a stressor. She didn't

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00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:51.519
sign up for four kids as how
she put it. I am not certain

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00:20:51.599 --> 00:20:56.359
whether the Ratliffs named Michael and Patty
in their wills or just Michael, but

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00:20:56.519 --> 00:21:00.880
I have always read that it was
just Michael, which and of makes sense.

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00:21:00.759 --> 00:21:04.440
When George Ratliffe made his will,
he was close to Michael. By

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00:21:04.440 --> 00:21:08.680
the time Liz changed her will,
she depended a lot on Michael. She

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00:21:08.799 --> 00:21:11.720
hired a nanny to take care of
her little girls so she could work,

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00:21:12.119 --> 00:21:15.799
but she moved just a few doors
down from the Petersons so they could help

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00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:21.920
too. By Michael and Patty's account, he constantly helped Liz around the house

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and helped pick up and drop off
the girls when the nanny wasn't around.

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00:21:26.279 --> 00:21:30.839
It isn't implicitly said, but you
get the sense that Patty was a bit

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00:21:30.880 --> 00:21:34.519
of a strange bird. Diane Fanning
said that she was an academic. She

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00:21:34.599 --> 00:21:40.279
preferred to work late doing paperwork instead
of rushing home to her family, and

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00:21:40.400 --> 00:21:44.359
she was a bit of a dreamer, not really interested in domestic life.

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00:21:45.400 --> 00:21:48.519
She didn't care about cleaning the house
or making dinner. Michael took on those

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00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:53.880
responsibilities and that's just fine. However, it is said that due to her

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00:21:53.920 --> 00:22:00.640
religious upbringing, she only believed in
marrying once. She refused to worse Michael

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00:22:00.680 --> 00:22:03.720
for quite some time, and even
when she did, she never remarried,

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00:22:04.079 --> 00:22:07.880
and she remained close to her ex
husband, not just as a co parent,

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00:22:08.119 --> 00:22:11.640
but as a friend. She would
stand by him for the rest of

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00:22:11.680 --> 00:22:18.079
her life. After their separation,
Michael moved from Germany to Durham, North

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00:22:18.079 --> 00:22:23.200
Carolina with Margaret and Martha, who
were essentially babies. Margaret was about three

258
00:22:23.240 --> 00:22:27.240
years old and Martha eighteen months old
when their mother died, so they were

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00:22:27.240 --> 00:22:33.039
still pretty much toddlers when they moved
with Michael. His sons Clayton and Todd

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00:22:33.480 --> 00:22:37.119
remained with Patty and Germany through their
teen years, which may explain some things

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00:22:37.160 --> 00:22:41.519
about them that I'll get into later. And when Michael moved into his new

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00:22:41.559 --> 00:22:45.000
home in Durham, it just so
happened to be right down the street from

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00:22:45.079 --> 00:22:52.400
Kathleen Hunt Atwater. Kathleen's daughter,
Caitlin, befriended Michael's daughters, and shortly

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00:22:52.440 --> 00:22:56.880
after Kathleen and Michael became smitten.
From the beginning, Kathleen and Michael knew

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00:22:56.880 --> 00:23:03.000
their relationship was special for starters.
They had so much in common. They

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00:23:03.000 --> 00:23:07.720
were both Duke University alumni and of
course huge Duke basketball fans. They were

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00:23:07.759 --> 00:23:12.559
both brilliant, witty, and funny, so their flirty banter came easily,

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00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:18.119
and they were both the opposite of
their former partners. According to Michael,

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Kathleen's previous husband was very controlling and
direct. Contrast, Michael was carefree and

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00:23:26.240 --> 00:23:30.920
Kathleen was calm, whereas Patty could
be harried. It seemed like a match

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00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:36.400
made in heaven. Michael's son,
Clayton, later told documentarians that Michael and

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00:23:36.440 --> 00:23:41.519
Patty's relationship was largely platonic. Clayton
hadn't seen his father be romantically in love

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until he saw Michael interact with Kathleen, his stepmother. He said, Dad

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00:23:48.559 --> 00:23:52.680
and Kathleen just connected on a different
plane. By nineteen eighty nine, Kathleen

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00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:56.920
and Michael had merged their families.
Instead of living on the same street,

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00:23:57.440 --> 00:24:02.799
Kathleen, her daughter Caitlin, Michael
and his two daughters, Margaret and Martha,

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00:24:02.920 --> 00:24:07.839
were in the same house. When
speaking with NBC about the transition,

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00:24:07.400 --> 00:24:12.519
Kathleen's daughter Caitlin explained how excited she
was for her two friends, Margaret and

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00:24:12.599 --> 00:24:17.880
Martha to move in. They all
sat me down and said, how would

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00:24:17.880 --> 00:24:21.000
you like it if Martha and Margaret
came to live with you? And I

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00:24:21.000 --> 00:24:26.519
immediately thought a permanent sleepover. Later, Clayton and Todd came from Germany to

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live with them too. For fourteen
years, all seven of them lived together.

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They were a family. For those
of you with families of your own,

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00:24:34.720 --> 00:24:38.839
I know what you're thinking, that's
two adults and five kids. That's

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00:24:38.839 --> 00:24:42.799
a lot of mouths to feed,
that's a lot of sports and piano practices

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00:24:42.799 --> 00:24:47.319
to drive to, and that's a
lot of money to spend. And you're

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00:24:47.400 --> 00:24:51.440
right, But Michael and Kathleen could
afford their large family, and they were

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00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:56.519
committed to being good parents. They
loved their hectic, lively family life.

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00:24:56.160 --> 00:25:00.759
As I mentioned before, Kathleen was
working her way up the Nortel corporate ladder

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00:25:02.240 --> 00:25:06.400
and Michael had accepted a five hundred
thousand dollars advance for a book deal.

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00:25:07.079 --> 00:25:11.839
In today's money, that's almost one
point three million. In nineteen ninety two,

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00:25:11.920 --> 00:25:15.599
Kathleen and Michael bought a ten thousand
square foot mansion. Michael put down

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00:25:15.599 --> 00:25:19.400
a large deposit, about half of
which he had gotten from his book advance.

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00:25:21.519 --> 00:25:26.359
Located on three wooded acres on sprawling
land in Durham's Forest Hills neighborhood.

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00:25:26.759 --> 00:25:30.880
This house was gorgeous. The home
was older, built in the nineteen forties.

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00:25:32.240 --> 00:25:37.720
It had a colonial fill with white
siding and square shuttered windows. Outside

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00:25:37.799 --> 00:25:41.519
it was glorious, beautiful green foliage
and a large outdoor pool with a water

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00:25:41.559 --> 00:25:47.880
fountain in its center. Inside it
was just as grand, five bedrooms,

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00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:52.000
six bathrooms, a library, a
home gym, and a large kitchen,

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00:25:52.079 --> 00:25:56.599
and other rooms for entertaining. One
of the home's most notable features was a

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00:25:56.640 --> 00:26:00.319
grand spiral staircase leading from the first
floor inch freeway to the second floor,

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00:26:02.000 --> 00:26:04.680
with white trim and dark wood.
It was the first thing you noticed when

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00:26:04.720 --> 00:26:10.079
you walked in the front door.
But this staircase would not become the most

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00:26:10.200 --> 00:26:15.519
important staircase in the Peterson house.
Less noticeable and tucked away near the kitchen

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00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:21.079
was a second staircase and narrow stairwell
that also led to the second floor.

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00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:26.160
The Petersons had paid about six hundred
thousand for this house, but today it

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00:26:26.160 --> 00:26:30.839
would be worth two and two point
six million dollars. For Michael and Kathleen's

308
00:26:30.880 --> 00:26:34.839
big, blended family, this was
the perfect house, but as time went

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00:26:34.880 --> 00:26:40.319
on, not everything was perfect for
the Petersons. Michael's oldest son from his

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00:26:40.359 --> 00:26:45.200
first marriage, eighteen year old Clayton, was struggling in the early nineties.

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Clayton graduated high school in Germany,
then he moved to the US to live

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00:26:48.599 --> 00:26:53.480
with Michael in the fall. Clayton
planned to attend Duke University like his father,

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00:26:55.119 --> 00:26:57.079
but unlike his father, Clayton was
a bit of a loose cannon,

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and on April eighth of nineteen ninety
three, he was arrested for going one

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00:27:02.559 --> 00:27:07.039
hundred miles per hour on Durham City
streets while driving drunk. After some finagling

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00:27:07.079 --> 00:27:11.359
in court that summer, Clayton pled
guilty to a lesser charge. He paid

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00:27:11.359 --> 00:27:17.559
a five hundred dollars fine and was
given a six month suspended sentence plus one

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00:27:17.640 --> 00:27:22.319
year of unsupervised probation. But soon
after Clayton had a second drunk driving arrest.

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00:27:23.000 --> 00:27:27.160
He had also attempted to flee the
police while handcuffed, so instead of

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00:27:27.200 --> 00:27:33.440
attending Duke University that fall, Clayton
spent thirty days in rehab treating his alcohol

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00:27:33.480 --> 00:27:37.160
abuse. The next spring, Clayton
was able to go to Duke as planned.

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00:27:37.559 --> 00:27:42.319
He studied engineering, But even after
multiple runnings with the law, Clayton

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00:27:42.319 --> 00:27:47.720
hadn't cleaned up his act. In
fact, he had done the exact opposite.

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00:27:48.279 --> 00:27:51.839
Before Clayton's year of probation for drunk
driving was up, he was in

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00:27:51.960 --> 00:27:56.960
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show notes. It was April of
nineteen ninety four and nineteen year old Clayton

359
00:30:34.759 --> 00:30:40.400
Peterson was enjoying college, but not
for the academics. He liked a party.

360
00:30:41.160 --> 00:30:45.119
As a result, he had run
into issues with Duke Universities administrators.

361
00:30:45.759 --> 00:30:49.559
Duke had instituted a ban on fraternity
keg parties. They had also forbidden on

362
00:30:49.680 --> 00:30:56.799
campus bonfires due to basketball fans being
destructive during the NCAA March Madness tournament.

363
00:30:56.920 --> 00:31:03.839
Clayton felt these restrictions were ridiculous they
infringed upon his right to party, so

364
00:31:03.960 --> 00:31:07.880
on the weekend of April twenty fourth, Clayton took action. First, he

365
00:31:07.920 --> 00:31:12.240
wrote a tongue in cheek note criticizing
the university's policies. One line of the

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00:31:12.319 --> 00:31:17.799
note said, of course you realize
that this means war. Then he pried,

367
00:31:17.880 --> 00:31:22.200
opened the basement window of the university's
main administrative building, crept into the

368
00:31:22.240 --> 00:31:27.359
registrar's office, left the note nearby
and led the fuse to a homemade pipe

369
00:31:27.359 --> 00:31:33.920
bomb. Clayton had submerged the gunpowder
bomb and a gasolene filled gatorade bottle.

370
00:31:33.559 --> 00:31:38.480
The bomb could have caused a fiery
explosion. Luckily, the fuse didn't work

371
00:31:38.519 --> 00:31:44.160
properly and it didn't detonate, but
it was a close call. The fuse

372
00:31:44.240 --> 00:31:48.359
burned out mere inches away from the
bomb. The Herald's son reported that a

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00:31:48.440 --> 00:31:52.759
Duke University registrar worker found the bomb
at noon that Sunday. They noticed scorch

374
00:31:52.839 --> 00:31:59.880
marks on the carpet leading to the
registrar's office. Following the discovery, university

375
00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:06.160
authorities questioned many Duke's students, including
Clayton. Their investigation led them to search

376
00:32:06.319 --> 00:32:12.160
Michael and Kathleen's home, where Clayton
lived. Sometimes. Michael cooperated fully,

377
00:32:12.480 --> 00:32:17.480
helpfully showing them around. To his
chagrin, the officers discovered Clayton's six additional

378
00:32:17.559 --> 00:32:23.039
explosive devices hidden in a closet.
According to The Herald's son, Clayton had

379
00:32:23.079 --> 00:32:28.519
made these bombs with bottle rocket fuel
from a toy store. A federal agent

380
00:32:28.640 --> 00:32:32.680
testified that two of these bombs were
rigged to shoot arrows outward as they exploded.

381
00:32:34.400 --> 00:32:39.720
Officials also uncovered Clayton's materials to make
at least thirteen more bombs. And

382
00:32:39.839 --> 00:32:45.480
when Clayton broke into the university registrar's
office, he didn't just plan a bomb.

383
00:32:45.920 --> 00:32:51.039
He also stole several items. He
took a camera, blank ID cards,

384
00:32:51.160 --> 00:32:54.519
a card laminator, and a check
book. He intended to use these

385
00:32:54.559 --> 00:32:59.880
things to create fake IDs for an
upcoming vacation. He was going to mar

386
00:33:00.200 --> 00:33:05.240
Beach, a place famous for college
age drinking and debauchery. The police found

387
00:33:05.240 --> 00:33:09.119
these stolen goods in Clayton's Duke University
dorm room about a week after the break

388
00:33:09.160 --> 00:33:15.039
in. In early May of nineteen
ninety four, law enforcement officials arrested Clayton.

389
00:33:15.599 --> 00:33:20.319
He immediately confessed. Duke officials were
glad to have caught the perpetrator before

390
00:33:20.359 --> 00:33:25.920
graduation that Sunday. If they hadn't, the students aka potential suspects would have

391
00:33:27.000 --> 00:33:30.799
left for summer break. According to
the Herald's Sun, Clayton was charged for

392
00:33:30.839 --> 00:33:36.359
three counts related to breaking and entering, as well as possessing an unregistered destructive

393
00:33:36.400 --> 00:33:40.960
device. He faced a maximum of
thirty years in prison and seven hundred and

394
00:33:42.000 --> 00:33:46.400
fifty thousand dollars in fines. Initially, he pled not guilty. As the

395
00:33:46.519 --> 00:33:52.039
legal proceedings began, Clayton's defense lawyer
made the best of a bad situation.

396
00:33:52.720 --> 00:33:55.759
After all, his client had already
confessed to the crime, but it was

397
00:33:55.839 --> 00:34:00.640
sheer luck that Clayton's bomb fuse failed. Someone could have easily been hurt.

398
00:34:01.640 --> 00:34:07.160
Still, the attorney claimed that Clayton
had purposely made sure the bomb didn't work.

399
00:34:07.640 --> 00:34:12.239
According to the lawyer, Clayton wasn't
attempting to destroy campus property or hurt

400
00:34:12.280 --> 00:34:16.039
anyone. Instead, he was trying
to divert attention while he stole the materials

401
00:34:16.039 --> 00:34:21.679
to make the fake ideas. Clayton's
lawyers told the Harold's son. Obviously,

402
00:34:21.719 --> 00:34:25.039
Clayton had absolutely no intention that anyone
would be hurt by any of this.

403
00:34:27.039 --> 00:34:30.360
Michael told a paper there was never
an intent to ignite the bomb. There

404
00:34:30.440 --> 00:34:37.119
was only an apolitical, hedonistic intent
to party. Just to clarify, Clayton

405
00:34:37.159 --> 00:34:40.239
did ignite the views that led to
the bomb, but I suppose that's beside

406
00:34:40.280 --> 00:34:45.800
the point when your son is trying
to escape federal prison. Michael did admit

407
00:34:45.880 --> 00:34:50.480
that his son's actions were ill advised. He told the Harold's son He's guilty,

408
00:34:51.039 --> 00:34:53.599
even though there was never any intent
to hurt either people or property.

409
00:34:53.960 --> 00:34:58.599
Clayton never should have done it.
What he did was stupid and wrong.

410
00:35:00.079 --> 00:35:04.639
While nineteen year old Clayton was in
jail, he underwent a forty five day

411
00:35:04.719 --> 00:35:09.440
court ordered psychiatric evaluation, which determined
he was mentally fit to stand trial.

412
00:35:10.199 --> 00:35:15.840
He tried to get psychiatric treatment from
Duke, but Duke's legal team refused him.

413
00:35:15.679 --> 00:35:22.400
Then Clayton was placed under house arrest
in Michael and Kathleen's home for weeks.

414
00:35:22.639 --> 00:35:27.760
Clayton's case made Durham headlines. Michael
publicly argued that his son's antics were

415
00:35:27.800 --> 00:35:34.880
foolish but excusable. However, federal
agents pointed out Clayton's concerning history. While

416
00:35:34.920 --> 00:35:38.559
attending high school in Germany, Clayton
had blown up a telephone booth with a

417
00:35:38.599 --> 00:35:44.679
homemade bomb. He had also stolen
chemicals from his school. Then he had

418
00:35:44.679 --> 00:35:49.239
tried to ship them to Michael's house
in North Carolina. According to The Herald's

419
00:35:49.280 --> 00:35:54.440
son, Clayton's shipped chemicals were intercepted
by postal inspectors. Asset had leaked out

420
00:35:54.440 --> 00:36:01.199
of the parcel and injured several male
handlers. Maybe Clayton had faced real repercussions

421
00:36:01.239 --> 00:36:06.280
for the German bomb or the dangerous
chemicals he shipped. He never would have

422
00:36:06.320 --> 00:36:09.119
tried it again at Duke, But
after getting away with it, he seemed

423
00:36:09.119 --> 00:36:14.199
to escalate, and Michael did seem
to make a lot of excuses for his

424
00:36:14.320 --> 00:36:17.679
son. You have to wonder if
he felt guilty about the time he lost

425
00:36:17.719 --> 00:36:22.360
as a father to his boys when
he moved back to the US and his

426
00:36:22.440 --> 00:36:28.920
son stayed with Patty, who admittedly
wasn't a strong parent. Clayton Peterson seemed

427
00:36:28.920 --> 00:36:32.199
to be a very troubled young man, a dangerous young man, and he

428
00:36:32.280 --> 00:36:37.800
was about to seriously pay for it. Taking into account Clayton's concerning history and

429
00:36:37.920 --> 00:36:44.079
his numerous DIY explosives, things were
not looking good for him. So he

430
00:36:44.159 --> 00:36:49.599
switched his plea from not guilty to
guilty, avoiding trial. On December twenty

431
00:36:49.719 --> 00:36:53.079
ninth, nineteen ninety four, now
twenty year old Clayton Peterson was sentenced to

432
00:36:53.119 --> 00:36:59.639
four years and one month in prison. At the sentencing hearing, Clayton apologized

433
00:36:59.679 --> 00:37:04.400
for his actions. Four years later
he was released from prison, and in

434
00:37:04.519 --> 00:37:07.079
prison he seemed to have cleaned up
his act. He went on to be

435
00:37:07.199 --> 00:37:14.519
valedictorian at North Carolina State University.
Then he studied engineering and graduate school.

436
00:37:15.360 --> 00:37:21.360
Clayton's illegal antics undoubtedly put Michael and
Kathleen's family through the ringer. Maybe going

437
00:37:21.400 --> 00:37:25.960
through this time together as a united
front brought them even closer because Michael and

438
00:37:27.079 --> 00:37:31.239
Kathleen's relationship was still doing well,
really well. Friends and family said the

439
00:37:31.239 --> 00:37:37.519
couple was strong. They traveled together
frequently, going to places like London,

440
00:37:37.800 --> 00:37:43.679
Paris, Florence, Athens, Venice, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Hanoi.

441
00:37:44.199 --> 00:37:49.280
Martha, their youngest daughter, explained
to documentarians that her parents didn't have

442
00:37:49.320 --> 00:37:53.679
any problems. She said Michael and
Kathleen's relationship was wonderful, beautiful, and

443
00:37:53.840 --> 00:38:00.400
joyful. In an interview for the
documentary The Staircase, Martha said that even

444
00:38:00.400 --> 00:38:05.000
when the couple did fight, it
was lighthearted. For example, Michael would

445
00:38:05.000 --> 00:38:08.559
always come home late from the gym, which frustrated Kathleen. Dinner was ready

446
00:38:08.599 --> 00:38:14.400
and Michael was late again, but
no one ever lost their temper. The

447
00:38:14.519 --> 00:38:17.960
situation just became a running joke,
and in October of nineteen ninety six,

448
00:38:19.400 --> 00:38:23.519
Michael finally officially divorced his first wife, Patty. Then he proposed to Kathleen

449
00:38:23.639 --> 00:38:30.480
on that New Year's Eve. Kathleen's
sister Candace, described Kathleen as glowing on

450
00:38:30.519 --> 00:38:34.840
her wedding day. The following June, she and Michael were married at home,

451
00:38:35.199 --> 00:38:40.280
with Kathleen gliding down the beautiful grand
staircase decorated with flowers. Her daughters

452
00:38:40.280 --> 00:38:45.079
were all bridesmaids. Kathleen would describe
it as one of the happiest days of

453
00:38:45.079 --> 00:38:51.079
her life. The photos of the
event are so lovely, with Kathleen and

454
00:38:51.119 --> 00:38:57.639
Michael gazing adoringly at each other and
the giggling preteen bridesmaids were bursting with happiness

455
00:38:57.719 --> 00:39:01.920
as they posed together. It was
a permanent sleepover for the close knit sisters.

456
00:39:04.039 --> 00:39:07.679
Near this time, Michael began writing
regularly for the local Durham newspaper,

457
00:39:07.960 --> 00:39:12.679
the Herald Sun. He had written
a few things for the paper in the

458
00:39:12.760 --> 00:39:16.719
past. In February of nineteen ninety
six, he wrote a piece criticizing the

459
00:39:16.800 --> 00:39:23.079
Durham education system for failing its black
students, and sometimes Michael was even the

460
00:39:23.119 --> 00:39:28.840
subject of the Herald Sun articles.
In June of nineteen ninety six, journalist

461
00:39:28.880 --> 00:39:34.360
Blake Dickinson wrote a feature on Michael. It outlined that despite being a successful

462
00:39:34.400 --> 00:39:38.559
author, most of Michael's local fame
came primarily from his son Clayton. The

463
00:39:38.639 --> 00:39:45.239
bomb attempt was more newsworthy than Michael's
novels. This is quite a petty piece

464
00:39:45.280 --> 00:39:49.199
of journalism, even if it was
true. Sounds like a writer didn't like

465
00:39:49.320 --> 00:39:53.559
Michael poaching his territory at the paper, and Michael seemed to hit back by

466
00:39:53.599 --> 00:39:58.840
writing even more guest columns. Then, in nineteen ninety seven, Michael began

467
00:39:58.960 --> 00:40:04.119
a regular twice a week column Underham's
Current Events. No one was surprised,

468
00:40:04.320 --> 00:40:08.239
it was a natural progression. In
Michael's column, he wrote about a wide

469
00:40:08.320 --> 00:40:13.960
range of hot button topics, but
he spent most of his time advocating against

470
00:40:14.039 --> 00:40:20.760
racism. He wrote about Durham's white
supremacy, historical lynching, prejudiced public officials,

471
00:40:20.760 --> 00:40:24.400
and more hard subjects. For North
Carolina, a former slave state,

472
00:40:24.840 --> 00:40:30.199
to this day, it has over
forty Confederate monuments, Durham's citizens had strong

473
00:40:30.239 --> 00:40:36.519
feelings about Michael's writing, and he
leaned into that. He used fictional characters

474
00:40:36.599 --> 00:40:40.559
and satirical humor to drive his controversial
points home. He would guest star on

475
00:40:40.719 --> 00:40:45.440
local radio shows to hear what his
readers thought. He held a seminar called

476
00:40:45.719 --> 00:40:52.760
the Ethics of Outspoken Journalism, and
the Haraldson, managing editor deemed Michael's calm

477
00:40:52.960 --> 00:40:59.920
outrageous and irreverent. Overall, Michael's
writing was polarizing. His readers either loved

478
00:41:00.119 --> 00:41:05.960
him or loved to hate him,
and perhaps most notably, Michael's column regularly

479
00:41:06.039 --> 00:41:12.559
criticized the Durham legal system, especially
the police department. Michael wrote about how

480
00:41:12.599 --> 00:41:16.239
they seemed to target black people,
how they let politicians get away with illegal

481
00:41:16.239 --> 00:41:22.199
activity, how Durham had the highest
crime rate in North Carolina. Michael often

482
00:41:22.239 --> 00:41:29.480
sarcastically awarded well known Durham figures stupid
prizes. On numerous occasions, he called

483
00:41:29.480 --> 00:41:32.840
out the police for these stupid prizes. He accused the copse of being rotten

484
00:41:34.079 --> 00:41:39.400
and covering up crime. Unsurprisingly,
the Durham Police Department did not appreciate the

485
00:41:39.440 --> 00:41:45.880
constant criticism. In Michael's memoir Behind
the Staircase, he said that the chief

486
00:41:45.880 --> 00:41:51.639
of police emailed him that the column
hurt police morale. But Michael wasn't worried

487
00:41:51.679 --> 00:41:55.880
about the police department's moral He wanted
justice. The last troll for him happened.

488
00:41:55.880 --> 00:42:00.320
Around nineteen ninety eight, a Dirham
dentist had called the police he had

489
00:42:00.360 --> 00:42:05.559
seen a drug deal happen at the
house next door to his practice. But

490
00:42:05.679 --> 00:42:09.519
this house wasn't just any house,
it was the city mayor's house. Soon

491
00:42:09.599 --> 00:42:15.239
after the dentist called the authorities,
a local gang burned down his dental practice.

492
00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:20.559
Michael thought that the dentist police report
and the subsequent arson were related.

493
00:42:21.559 --> 00:42:25.199
Michael suspected it was all result of
city corruption, as if the mayor had

494
00:42:25.239 --> 00:42:30.079
a drug habit and wanted the dentist
kept quiet. So in August of nineteen

495
00:42:30.159 --> 00:42:35.280
ninety nine, Michael took matters into
his own hands. He resigned from his

496
00:42:35.360 --> 00:42:40.119
calumnist position with the Herald's son and
ran for city mayor himself. Was there

497
00:42:40.199 --> 00:42:45.760
actual corruption in Durham's politics and police
department in the late nineties, It's unclear,

498
00:42:46.400 --> 00:42:52.599
but that's certainly what Michael thought.
He ran alongside four other mayoral candidates,

499
00:42:52.039 --> 00:42:57.719
most of whom were vastly more qualified
than him. There was the incumbent

500
00:42:57.760 --> 00:43:01.280
mayor, Nick Tennyson, on An
Ernie, a Durham City Council member,

501
00:43:01.320 --> 00:43:05.559
and one other man, who,
like Michael, was running for mayor.

502
00:43:05.639 --> 00:43:10.559
With little to no political or legal
expertise, Michael's campaign centered on his desire

503
00:43:10.639 --> 00:43:16.440
to reform Durham City government and the
police department. He wanted to improve crime,

504
00:43:16.760 --> 00:43:22.280
race relations, and the economy,
which honestly is an admirable campaign to

505
00:43:22.400 --> 00:43:29.480
run on. In the Herald Sun's
profile of mayoral candidates, Michael identified as

506
00:43:29.519 --> 00:43:34.840
in between conservative and liberal views.
He listed his hobbies as swimming, weightlifting,

507
00:43:34.920 --> 00:43:38.519
and reading. His hero was FDR
and his favorite book was To the

508
00:43:38.599 --> 00:43:45.719
Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. He left
the prompt self written description of political philosophy

509
00:43:45.840 --> 00:43:50.440
part blank. When asked, why
are you qualified to hold this office,

510
00:43:50.679 --> 00:43:55.719
Michael responded, for two years I
have written almost exclusively about Durham. I

511
00:43:55.800 --> 00:44:00.280
think I have a better understanding of
this city, it's problem and potential than

512
00:44:00.320 --> 00:44:06.119
anyone else. I should be elected
because I have brought forward problems and concerns

513
00:44:06.239 --> 00:44:09.000
no one else has dared to raise, and I have the ability to correct

514
00:44:09.199 --> 00:44:15.760
and solve those problems. But in
September of nineteen ninety nine, Michael's credibility

515
00:44:15.840 --> 00:44:20.840
was tainted and he would lose the
mayoral election partly because of it. To

516
00:44:21.000 --> 00:44:23.639
explain this fully, We'll have to
go back a few years. Remember that

517
00:44:23.760 --> 00:44:29.920
Vietnam leg injury, almost ten years
before Michael ran for mayor. It was

518
00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:34.719
March of nineteen ninety At Hodges,
a columnist for The Herald's son, wrote

519
00:44:34.760 --> 00:44:38.480
a piece on Michael. Michael was, after all, a minor celebrity.

520
00:44:38.880 --> 00:44:45.239
He was known as a Vietnam veteran
and a successful novelist reporter. Hodge's angle

521
00:44:45.360 --> 00:44:49.960
was simple. Michael's fatal injury in
the Vietnam War inspired him to write his

522
00:44:50.039 --> 00:44:54.920
books. In an eight hundred word
article, Michael regaled Hodges with specific details

523
00:44:54.960 --> 00:45:00.679
about how a landmine exploded near him. His right leg was bad wounded.

524
00:45:00.960 --> 00:45:05.760
Another officer died. Michael told him, you never believe you're the one who's

525
00:45:05.800 --> 00:45:08.280
going to be killed. You think
it's going to be a buddy, someone

526
00:45:08.320 --> 00:45:14.840
else, not you. Michael had
a long hospital state in Vietnam, recovered

527
00:45:14.880 --> 00:45:20.400
fully, and was honorably discharged from
the US military with a permanent disability.

528
00:45:20.719 --> 00:45:24.079
He returned from Vietnam well decorated with
a silver star, a bronze star,

529
00:45:24.519 --> 00:45:30.760
and two purple hearts. Fast forward
three years. It was November of nineteen

530
00:45:30.840 --> 00:45:35.800
ninety three. Michael and Kathleen visited
Vietnam. This was the first time Michael

531
00:45:35.840 --> 00:45:38.400
had returned to Vietnam since he served
as a marine in the Vietnam War.

532
00:45:39.239 --> 00:45:44.679
When he returned to the US,
Michael wrote a five part series chronicling his

533
00:45:44.719 --> 00:45:49.920
trip for The Herald's Sun. Throughout
the series, Michael compared his past experience

534
00:45:49.960 --> 00:45:57.000
as in Vietnam to his current from
American soldier to American tourist. The articles

535
00:45:57.039 --> 00:46:01.159
were well written, haunting, and
insightful. In the first of five articles,

536
00:46:01.159 --> 00:46:07.760
Michael described how he watched coffins of
US soldiers get forklifted off an airplane

537
00:46:07.079 --> 00:46:13.159
while he was awaiting his own flight
from California to Vietnam. By chance,

538
00:46:13.559 --> 00:46:17.760
Michael spotted the coffin of a marine
he knew. Ronald Michael wrote, he

539
00:46:17.880 --> 00:46:22.280
was a poster marine, a perfect
physical specimen. We double dated. He

540
00:46:22.360 --> 00:46:27.519
was a great guy. He lasted
two weeks in Vietnam before taking a bullet

541
00:46:27.519 --> 00:46:31.079
to the brain. It was a
poignant way to demonstrate the nerves a young

542
00:46:31.119 --> 00:46:37.559
man must feel as he heads to
war again. He mentions his many military

543
00:46:37.599 --> 00:46:43.320
medals, including the two Purple Hearts. But Michael's five part series wasn't perfect.

544
00:46:43.960 --> 00:46:50.079
Sometimes he wrote with casual racism.
He called Vietnamese women promiscuous and poked

545
00:46:50.119 --> 00:46:53.960
fun at a singer's accent to English. It was unusual for a man so

546
00:46:54.039 --> 00:47:00.239
concerned with Durham's race relations. But
it also sort of reads as something a

547
00:47:00.239 --> 00:47:06.519
man of his generation would consider harmless. He wasn't using racist slurs and would

548
00:47:06.519 --> 00:47:10.559
probably be surprised to know that people
thought his writing was racist. I also

549
00:47:10.679 --> 00:47:15.840
noticed it in his memoirs from his
time in prison. It definitely sometimes reads

550
00:47:16.119 --> 00:47:21.760
as something an old man would say, out of touch with our evolving understanding

551
00:47:21.840 --> 00:47:28.639
of underlying prejudices, and yet he
would probably staunchly deny being racist. It's

552
00:47:28.679 --> 00:47:32.480
complicated for men of his age,
even when they are well meaning. Still,

553
00:47:34.119 --> 00:47:37.079
this series and The Herald's Son helped
Michael nab his job as a biweekly

554
00:47:37.079 --> 00:47:44.000
columnist years later. Plus it was
great publicity for his new book, which

555
00:47:44.079 --> 00:47:47.159
was published the same year as the
series. It, like his other books,

556
00:47:47.280 --> 00:47:51.880
was about the Vietnam War. All
of this is to say, in

557
00:47:52.000 --> 00:47:55.599
Durham, North Carolina, Michael was
known for his status as a decorated Vietnam

558
00:47:55.679 --> 00:48:01.159
veteran. It was his identity what
he talked about. It's what he wrote

559
00:48:01.239 --> 00:48:06.639
his novels about and it was part
of his appeal as a potential mayor.

560
00:48:07.800 --> 00:48:12.840
So when The Herald's son published an
article in September of nineteen ninety nine entitled

561
00:48:13.320 --> 00:48:20.400
Durham mayoral candidate Michael Peterson fabricated war
injury admits falsehood, it changed everything.

562
00:48:21.519 --> 00:48:27.360
Someone had uncovered Michael's military records.
As it turns out, he hadn't narrowly

563
00:48:27.519 --> 00:48:31.599
escaped death while standing near a Vietnamese
landmine in nineteen seventy one. In fact,

564
00:48:31.679 --> 00:48:36.920
he hadn't been in Vietnam in nineteen
seventy one. He left two years

565
00:48:37.000 --> 00:48:42.119
earlier, on September fourth, nineteen
sixty nine. Then he went to San

566
00:48:42.159 --> 00:48:46.280
Diego. In June of nineteen seventy
he was deployed to Atsugi, Japan.

567
00:48:46.960 --> 00:48:52.719
There he provided security as a military
police officer for a naval air station.

568
00:48:53.079 --> 00:48:58.320
While in Japan, Michael did have
a leg injury, but it was from

569
00:48:58.320 --> 00:49:02.000
a car crash. Another car hit
Michael's vehicle head on at a railroad crossing.

570
00:49:04.079 --> 00:49:08.679
Some facets of Michael's original story were
true. The officer Michael was with

571
00:49:09.000 --> 00:49:15.559
did die and Michael suffered severe injuries, including rib fractures, A punctured lung

572
00:49:15.639 --> 00:49:20.760
and a badly wounded right leg.
As he said, he was honorably discharged

573
00:49:20.800 --> 00:49:25.039
and considered permanently disabled. Still,
Michael knew what he did was wrong.

574
00:49:25.559 --> 00:49:30.519
He told the Herald's son, it's
a cover. I admit it. My

575
00:49:30.639 --> 00:49:34.400
second wife she doesn't know. I'm
going to discuss it with her today.

576
00:49:35.320 --> 00:49:39.760
In addition to the false landmine story, Michael's military record also did not indicate

577
00:49:40.119 --> 00:49:45.119
that he had received two Purple hearts. Michael couldn't provide the written certifications that

578
00:49:45.199 --> 00:49:52.000
come with the medals. However,
Michael maintained that he did receive them.

579
00:49:52.079 --> 00:49:57.079
He explained that he had had two
minor wounds caused by shrapnel, and Michael

580
00:49:57.119 --> 00:50:01.599
did possess a medal that he said
represented to purple hearts. But at the

581
00:50:01.719 --> 00:50:07.559
end of the day, Michael had
lied his military career was already fine,

582
00:50:07.000 --> 00:50:13.119
even if his red badge of courage
was a little unexciting. Durham residence were

583
00:50:13.119 --> 00:50:19.800
baffled by Michael's deceit. Why did
he needlessly embellish? Michael's mayoral campaign was

584
00:50:20.000 --> 00:50:25.840
entrenched in demanding honesty from public officials, yet here he was lying for seemingly

585
00:50:25.880 --> 00:50:31.679
no reason. At all except probably
to sell more of his Vietnam War related

586
00:50:31.760 --> 00:50:37.320
novels. It's possible he was not
really considering being a politician who would have

587
00:50:37.400 --> 00:50:43.519
to defend his war record when he
chose to embellish as an author. But

588
00:50:44.400 --> 00:50:47.519
if he would lie about that,
what else would he lie about. In

589
00:50:47.559 --> 00:50:52.639
October of nineteen ninety nine, Michael
lost in the primary elections. His mayoral

590
00:50:52.679 --> 00:51:00.000
candidacy was over incumbent mayor Nick Tennyson
was reelected that November. This was a

591
00:51:00.079 --> 00:51:06.559
tough time for Michael, Kathleen and
their family. Their reputation was more damaged

592
00:51:06.800 --> 00:51:09.599
than it was a few months ago, and for the first time ever,

593
00:51:10.159 --> 00:51:15.320
money was a little tight for the
Petersons. Since Michael quit his position at

594
00:51:15.320 --> 00:51:19.599
the Herald's Sun, he didn't really
have a regular income, but he did,

595
00:51:19.719 --> 00:51:23.480
however, have a military pension due
to his disability, which was forty

596
00:51:23.480 --> 00:51:28.639
five thousand dollars a year. That
would be about seventy five thousand today,

597
00:51:29.199 --> 00:51:34.960
which is not insignificant. I've often
read or heard in documentaries and other podcasts

598
00:51:35.360 --> 00:51:38.360
that Michael had no income, that
he did not work and just lived off

599
00:51:38.440 --> 00:51:45.239
Kathleen. That's not true, but
in comparison Kathleen was the main breadwinner.

600
00:51:46.239 --> 00:51:51.880
After her promotion at Nortel in nineteen
ninety nine, she made a reasonably high

601
00:51:51.880 --> 00:51:55.760
salary, and unlike her husband,
the writer, who puttered around the house

602
00:51:55.800 --> 00:52:00.840
and went to the gym daily,
Kathleen worked grueling out hours at Nortel.

603
00:52:00.800 --> 00:52:06.320
She was always on the clock,
even at home, often bringing homework and

604
00:52:06.360 --> 00:52:10.880
taking calls at night and on weekends. And beyond their extravagant lifestyle, they

605
00:52:10.920 --> 00:52:16.239
had five children, three of whom
still needed college tuition money. Caitlin was

606
00:52:16.280 --> 00:52:21.039
at Cornell, an Ivy League school, and Margaret was at Tulane, a

607
00:52:21.119 --> 00:52:25.719
prestigious private school in New Orleans.
And Martha began Auroba University in San Francisco

608
00:52:25.840 --> 00:52:31.840
the fall before Kathleen's death, another
expensive out of state school. Clayton and

609
00:52:31.880 --> 00:52:37.320
Todd had both already graduated from North
Carolina University and were out of the house,

610
00:52:37.800 --> 00:52:43.159
but they were still financially dependent on
their parents. Patty included Clayton was

611
00:52:43.199 --> 00:52:46.960
going for his master's degree. Michael
and Patty had even thrown an empty nest

612
00:52:47.000 --> 00:52:51.800
party when Martha went off to college
in September of two thousand and one.

613
00:52:52.400 --> 00:52:55.840
During that party, everyone drunkenly wound
up in the swimming pool, and Kathleen

614
00:52:55.920 --> 00:53:00.199
dove into the shallow end, scaring
everyone. Today when Michael had to pull

615
00:53:00.239 --> 00:53:05.000
her out of the pool, she
had a neck injury from the incident,

616
00:53:05.360 --> 00:53:09.480
for which she was still taking valium
and flexoryl a muscle relaccent when she died

617
00:53:09.719 --> 00:53:15.440
that following December. According to an
article from All That's Interesting, Kathleen and

618
00:53:15.480 --> 00:53:20.679
Michael had a few tense moments of
her money, especially after Michael lost the

619
00:53:20.679 --> 00:53:25.079
election, but it's likely that these
weren't shouting matches. That wasn't Michael's style.

620
00:53:25.679 --> 00:53:30.800
His son Todd, told interviewers for
The Staircase that Michael was far more

621
00:53:30.840 --> 00:53:35.360
likely to chuckle and walk off than
engage in an argument. He just didn't

622
00:53:35.400 --> 00:53:39.119
have that temper. Todd said that
as kids, Michael never hit him or

623
00:53:39.159 --> 00:53:44.519
his siblings. He might have spanked
them for disciplinary reasons, but as the

624
00:53:44.599 --> 00:53:50.239
kids got older, Michael stopped.
For all intents and purposes, Michael and

625
00:53:50.320 --> 00:53:55.760
Kathleen's relationship seemed fine. The Peterson
family was fine. Everyone was safe and

626
00:53:55.920 --> 00:54:00.280
healthy. That's all that mattered,
and the rest would figure itself out.

627
00:54:01.039 --> 00:54:07.920
And in a way it almost did. I'm going to pause now for a

628
00:54:08.000 --> 00:54:15.360
final commercial break. On Friday,
December seventh, two thousand and one,

629
00:54:15.760 --> 00:54:21.280
David Pearl Mutt had some good news. David and Michael were co authors.

630
00:54:21.599 --> 00:54:24.679
Three years before, they had written
a book about US Marines called Charlie two

631
00:54:24.719 --> 00:54:30.280
Shoes and the Marines of Love Company. David had recently spoken with Stratton Leopold,

632
00:54:30.400 --> 00:54:35.360
a Hollywood producer. For a while, Stratton had hinted that he was

633
00:54:35.400 --> 00:54:39.119
thinking about optioning Charlie two Shoes in
the film industry, that's when the author

634
00:54:39.159 --> 00:54:44.800
gives someone the rights to make their
book into a movie. It's no guarantee

635
00:54:44.800 --> 00:54:47.480
that you'll get a film, but
it is a very good sign. And

636
00:54:47.679 --> 00:54:52.719
just that day Stratton had pulled the
trigger. He told David the option was

637
00:54:52.760 --> 00:54:58.239
one hundred percent certain. Elated,
David went to call the Peterson household so

638
00:54:58.280 --> 00:55:01.599
he could tell Michael that there book
might become a movie. At about six

639
00:55:01.679 --> 00:55:07.000
pm, Kathleen answered David's call.
They spoke for a while, and David

640
00:55:07.119 --> 00:55:13.840
later reported that everything seemed normal.
After about ten minutes, David asked,

641
00:55:14.079 --> 00:55:16.960
is the old man there? Referring
to Michael, a common joke for many

642
00:55:16.960 --> 00:55:22.159
friends and family due to Mike and
Kathleen's age difference. Kathleen teased that Michael

643
00:55:22.320 --> 00:55:25.320
was there, but he would have
to do some chores before he could talk

644
00:55:25.360 --> 00:55:30.599
to David. Empty the dryer,
mopped the kitchen floor. David said he

645
00:55:30.599 --> 00:55:34.920
could hear Michael laughing in the background. This was normal for Kathleen and Michael.

646
00:55:35.239 --> 00:55:38.559
They were known for their playful teasing. At last, Michael got on

647
00:55:38.599 --> 00:55:43.679
the phone and heard the good news
from David. His financial struggles were over.

648
00:55:43.960 --> 00:55:47.239
A movie was in the works later
that evening. Later that evening,

649
00:55:47.400 --> 00:55:52.800
Michael and Kathleen went to a Christmas
party to celebrate. They danced the night

650
00:55:52.840 --> 00:55:58.519
away before returning home at about one
am on Saturday, December eighth, two

651
00:55:58.559 --> 00:56:04.280
thousand and one, and Kathleen spent
the day bringing Christmas decorations out of storage.

652
00:56:04.800 --> 00:56:07.960
This was their annual tradition. According
to Michael, they went all out.

653
00:56:08.719 --> 00:56:14.559
They had forty eight candles for their
forty eight windows, thirty six nutcrackers

654
00:56:14.639 --> 00:56:19.360
for each step in the hallway,
two large wooden reindeer lawn ornaments adorned with

655
00:56:19.440 --> 00:56:23.199
red bows on their necks, and
an uncountable number of Christmas lights, and

656
00:56:23.400 --> 00:56:29.159
many many ornaments for their twelve foot
Christmas tree. The plan was to set

657
00:56:29.239 --> 00:56:34.000
up all the decorations the next day. That evening, Michael rented the movie

658
00:56:34.039 --> 00:56:38.159
America's Sweethearts from Blockbuster. Around ten
pm. Michael and Kathleen watched it while

659
00:56:38.199 --> 00:56:43.519
drinking wine. Todd stopped by the
Lefa's car at the house. He was

660
00:56:43.559 --> 00:56:46.039
going to a Christmas party in the
neighborhood, but was riding with a friend

661
00:56:46.119 --> 00:56:51.440
because he would be drinking. Todd
said his father and Kathleen looked like they

662
00:56:51.440 --> 00:56:54.760
were in good spirits as they waved
goodbye when he left for the party at

663
00:56:54.800 --> 00:56:59.800
eleven o eight pm. Toward the
end of the movie, Kathleen's co worker

664
00:57:00.000 --> 00:57:05.159
Ellen called Helen and Kathleen made plans
for an eight am conference call the next

665
00:57:05.199 --> 00:57:08.559
morning. On Sunday. Helen told
Kathleen that she would send a follow up

666
00:57:08.599 --> 00:57:14.840
email, and she did at eleven
fifty three pm, but Kathleen never opened

667
00:57:14.880 --> 00:57:20.519
the email. According to Michael,
at midnight, he and Kathleen went outside

668
00:57:20.559 --> 00:57:23.760
and sat by the pool. He
described the night as magical. It was

669
00:57:23.880 --> 00:57:30.440
ununseasonably warm December night, about fifty
five to sixty degrees fahrenheit, or over

670
00:57:30.480 --> 00:57:35.599
twelve degrees Celsius. Many people,
especially those who don't live in the South,

671
00:57:35.800 --> 00:57:39.000
have doubted the story. They think
it was too cold, particularly for

672
00:57:39.119 --> 00:57:43.920
Michael, who was wearing shorts,
but Kathleen was also wearing flip flops.

673
00:57:44.519 --> 00:57:47.719
But as many Southerners will tell you, this is nice weather. My husband

674
00:57:47.719 --> 00:57:52.599
will wear shorts until it gets into
the thirties here. And what's more,

675
00:57:52.039 --> 00:57:58.119
they were smoking. Most people know
Michael smoked a pipe from the Staircase documentary,

676
00:57:58.599 --> 00:58:01.960
but they don't know that Kathleen was
a casual cigarette smoker. And while

677
00:58:02.000 --> 00:58:07.639
Mike puffed his pipe constantly, he
didn't smoke cigars in the house and Kathleen

678
00:58:07.639 --> 00:58:12.239
wouldn't have smoked inside either. Kathleen
did not smoke during the day or even

679
00:58:12.280 --> 00:58:15.119
every day, but she did enjoy
a couple of cigarettes with wine after dinner

680
00:58:15.159 --> 00:58:21.079
sometimes. She and Michael both were
wine connoisseurs and drank it with dinner most

681
00:58:21.199 --> 00:58:24.559
nights, sometimes switching to champagne later. So they would grab a bottle of

682
00:58:24.599 --> 00:58:30.119
wine or champagne, a couple of
glasses, a cigar for Michael and cigarettes

683
00:58:30.119 --> 00:58:34.679
for Kathleen and head down to their
pool. And the pool really was a

684
00:58:34.719 --> 00:58:37.960
showcase. You got to it from
a winding footpath from the house, and

685
00:58:38.039 --> 00:58:43.159
it was surrounded by beautiful foliage even
in the winter, and it was kept

686
00:58:43.159 --> 00:58:46.679
open year round with a fountain going. The Petersons were known to sit by

687
00:58:46.679 --> 00:58:51.360
their pool and gaze at the stars
as they finished their drinks and smoked.

688
00:58:52.400 --> 00:58:57.280
That night, Michael said they were
drinking champagne, celebrating his movie option and

689
00:58:57.400 --> 00:59:01.239
talking about the future. He puffed
on a cigar as Kathleen smoked her cigarettes.

690
00:59:01.679 --> 00:59:06.880
Their two English bulldogs lay at their
feet. A little before two o'clock

691
00:59:06.920 --> 00:59:09.559
in the morning, Michael said that
Kathleen left the pool and went to bed.

692
00:59:10.800 --> 00:59:15.159
She had to get to sleep since
she had that conference call the next

693
00:59:15.239 --> 00:59:17.760
morning. Michael told his wife good
night and said that he would be up

694
00:59:17.800 --> 00:59:22.280
in a bed. He was still
finishing his cigar. Thirty minutes later,

695
00:59:22.440 --> 00:59:28.000
at two thirty am, Michael left
the pool and went inside. At two

696
00:59:28.119 --> 00:59:32.079
forty am, Michael called nine one
one. The dispatcher later said that Michael

697
00:59:32.199 --> 00:59:37.599
was hysterical. I won't read you
the transcript of the call or play it.

698
00:59:37.679 --> 00:59:42.239
I'm sure many of you have heard
it enough times to recite at yourself.

699
00:59:42.760 --> 00:59:45.440
If not, it's very easy to
find online. But I will tell

700
00:59:45.480 --> 00:59:51.119
you about some portions. Michael did
seem out of breath, possibly hysterical.

701
00:59:51.679 --> 00:59:55.320
The first thing he says is eighteen
ten Cedar Street. Please. He said

702
00:59:55.360 --> 01:00:00.400
his wife has had an accident,
but she was still breathing, egged for

703
01:00:00.440 --> 01:00:05.840
help. As the dispatcher calmly asked
the necessary questions, he shouts, she

704
01:00:05.960 --> 01:00:09.880
fell down the stairs. Please come. Like many people who call nine one

705
01:00:09.920 --> 01:00:15.320
one, Michael sounds impatient with the
questions when she asks him how many stairs?

706
01:00:15.360 --> 01:00:19.920
She meant how many did his wife
fall down? But Michael seems to

707
01:00:19.960 --> 01:00:23.400
think she's asking how many stairs were
on the staircase in total. He says

708
01:00:23.519 --> 01:00:29.639
huh, then what, sounding aggravated, and then says, oh, fifteen

709
01:00:29.760 --> 01:00:32.960
twenty. I don't know. I've
seen many true crying people grasp at this

710
01:00:34.000 --> 01:00:37.960
part, saying he sounds flustered like
it wasn't part of the script he had

711
01:00:37.960 --> 01:00:42.239
planned when he called nine one one. To me, he sounds confused as

712
01:00:42.280 --> 01:00:45.199
to why this woman wanted to know
how many stairs they had. I think

713
01:00:45.199 --> 01:00:51.199
this is a misunderstanding and one I've
heard on plenty of other documentaries and podcasts.

714
01:00:51.599 --> 01:00:54.920
Those that think he's guilty and those
that think he's innocent. I'm not

715
01:00:55.000 --> 01:00:59.679
calling anyone out. I just don't
think it's that important. I think it

716
01:01:00.000 --> 01:01:05.039
elite does sound like a misunderstanding.
In general, it's hard to judge nine

717
01:01:05.079 --> 01:01:09.400
one one calls, especially for laypeople. We often feel that the dispatcher isn't

718
01:01:09.440 --> 01:01:15.039
being sympathetic enough, or that the
caller sounds suspicious. It is always a

719
01:01:15.119 --> 01:01:21.920
subjective experience listening to these calls.
What's important to me is that Michael clearly

720
01:01:21.920 --> 01:01:25.239
gives his address right away, something
that even innocent people forget to do.

721
01:01:25.920 --> 01:01:31.400
He also says it's in forest Tills, giving the subdivision. The only thing

722
01:01:31.440 --> 01:01:36.760
I did find odd about Michael's nine
one one call is he never mentions all

723
01:01:36.800 --> 01:01:40.360
the blood. I'm sure you have
also seen the crime scene photos of Kathleen

724
01:01:40.400 --> 01:01:45.000
Peterson at the bottom of the stairs. If not, that's also a quick

725
01:01:45.000 --> 01:01:50.400
google. But I warn you it
is very gruesome. It's one of the

726
01:01:50.400 --> 01:01:54.440
bloodiest crime scenes I've ever seen,
so to me, that is strange.

727
01:01:55.000 --> 01:01:59.840
You would think that in all his
hysteria, he would say, my god,

728
01:02:00.159 --> 01:02:05.079
there's so much blood. But again, nine one one calls are subjective.

729
01:02:05.519 --> 01:02:07.880
To be fair to him, he
called, he gave the address,

730
01:02:08.000 --> 01:02:13.320
right away, and while something it's
strange that he hung up twice, it's

731
01:02:13.360 --> 01:02:16.639
not that strange to me. If
it was my husband dying before my eyes,

732
01:02:17.119 --> 01:02:21.519
I would make sure nine one one
knew the emergency and my address,

733
01:02:21.639 --> 01:02:23.880
and then I would want to do
all I could to help him. I

734
01:02:23.920 --> 01:02:28.320
would want to hold him, not
sit on the phone with nine one one

735
01:02:28.360 --> 01:02:32.960
answering questions. And something that is
rarely mentioned is that Michael ran to get

736
01:02:34.000 --> 01:02:37.039
towels to put under Kathleen's head.
It seems he was trying to help her

737
01:02:37.559 --> 01:02:42.679
as instinct was either to stanch the
bleeding or cushion her head without moving her

738
01:02:42.679 --> 01:02:46.639
body. Many people are trained not
to move someone after a fall in case

739
01:02:46.679 --> 01:02:52.480
they have a neck injury. Considering
Michael's training as a marine, this makes

740
01:02:52.519 --> 01:02:55.760
sense. He would later say he
wiped blood from her face as he was

741
01:02:55.800 --> 01:03:01.880
putting towels under her head, but
did not attempt CPR, which, considering

742
01:03:01.920 --> 01:03:06.599
his marine training, you can see. It's strange. You can read this

743
01:03:06.639 --> 01:03:10.079
scene in all sorts of ways,
which is a harbinger to come for this

744
01:03:10.320 --> 01:03:15.519
entire case. It's all about perception. And six minutes later, when an

745
01:03:15.559 --> 01:03:20.800
ambulance still hadn't shown up. He
calls nine one one back, even more

746
01:03:20.880 --> 01:03:24.880
distressed now shouting that she's not breathing
and please, would you hurry up?

747
01:03:25.280 --> 01:03:30.119
And then he hung up again.
But he doesn't ask about mouth to mouth,

748
01:03:30.320 --> 01:03:34.039
nor does he indicate that he's trying
it. Many people have a problem

749
01:03:34.079 --> 01:03:38.079
with that. That's understandable. But
he would also later say that he knew

750
01:03:38.119 --> 01:03:43.039
she was dying. He had seen
men die in war, and he knew

751
01:03:43.039 --> 01:03:46.639
what it looked like as the light
left their eyes. Less than ten minutes

752
01:03:46.679 --> 01:03:52.639
after Michael's first call, two paramedics
arrival on the scene. They reported that

753
01:03:52.639 --> 01:03:55.480
the front door to the Peterson's home
was open. They noticed it had smeared

754
01:03:55.519 --> 01:04:00.880
blood on it, along with a
couple blood droplets in the walk. Straight

755
01:04:00.880 --> 01:04:05.039
ahead through the front door was the
main staircase that led to the second floor.

756
01:04:05.679 --> 01:04:11.280
To the left, down a hallway
was the enclosed staircase, which also

757
01:04:11.360 --> 01:04:15.199
led to the second floor. This
staircase did not have a spiral. It

758
01:04:15.280 --> 01:04:18.360
went parallel to the hallway, so
at the very bottom of the steps there

759
01:04:18.400 --> 01:04:23.480
was a sharp turn. This allowed
the staircase to open into the hallway.

760
01:04:24.400 --> 01:04:29.159
That's where paramedics found Kathleen. She
was lying at the bottom of the stairwell.

761
01:04:30.000 --> 01:04:32.400
Her legs were out in the hallway
with her torso on the landing of

762
01:04:32.400 --> 01:04:38.280
the stairs and her head toward the
steps, and like I said, there

763
01:04:38.280 --> 01:04:42.679
were towels under her head. Shoes, socks, and paper towels were also

764
01:04:42.800 --> 01:04:45.960
near her body, as if Michael
had grabbed anything and everything to help soak

765
01:04:46.039 --> 01:04:51.239
up the blood. Because there was
a lot of blood, Kathleen's white pants

766
01:04:51.320 --> 01:04:56.920
and blue top were covered in it, and the stairwell there was even more

767
01:04:57.400 --> 01:05:00.599
on the floor, the walls,
and the steps. As I said,

768
01:05:00.920 --> 01:05:06.559
the amount of blood was staggering.
The emergency responders said Michael had a dazed

769
01:05:06.760 --> 01:05:13.400
stare and was audibly sobbing. He
was obviously very very upset. They said

770
01:05:14.559 --> 01:05:18.760
his tennis, shoes and clothes were
covered in Kathleen's blood. Paramedics could not

771
01:05:18.880 --> 01:05:25.800
find Kathleen's heartbeat. Forty eight year
old Kathleen hunt Atwater Peterson was dead.

772
01:05:26.599 --> 01:05:30.239
It appeared to be an accident that
she had fallen down the stairs, but

773
01:05:30.360 --> 01:05:34.760
the first responders were shocked by the
amount of blood present, and some of

774
01:05:34.800 --> 01:05:40.360
them thought the blood was dry,
as if Kathleen had lain in that stairwell,

775
01:05:40.679 --> 01:05:45.599
not for thirty minutes, but for
hours suspicious. They called homicide detectives

776
01:05:45.639 --> 01:05:50.920
to the scene, and the detectives
immediately treated this as a criminal investigation.

777
01:05:51.639 --> 01:05:57.800
However, it's important to note that
not one of the policemen nor the detectives

778
01:05:57.840 --> 01:06:01.280
noted in their reports that they thought
the blood was dry, even though the

779
01:06:01.360 --> 01:06:08.079
detectives were definitely not on the scene
within minutes, even the uniform police trailed

780
01:06:08.079 --> 01:06:13.079
to paramedics by a few minutes.
That detail about dried blood might not seem

781
01:06:13.119 --> 01:06:15.280
like that big a deal, but
it would be a big deal at trial.

782
01:06:15.960 --> 01:06:20.400
It would call into question just how
long Kathleen had lain there. It

783
01:06:20.400 --> 01:06:26.159
would call into question Michael's version of
events. Was she really breathing when he

784
01:06:26.199 --> 01:06:30.760
found her? Law enforcement was allowed
to testify to the dried blood, even

785
01:06:30.840 --> 01:06:35.719
though they neglected to put it in
their reports. That is an extremely important

786
01:06:35.760 --> 01:06:41.239
detail for a police report. And
I'll want to mention one other thing.

787
01:06:41.920 --> 01:06:46.400
It is entirely possible that Michael was
mistaken when he said Kathleen was still breathing.

788
01:06:47.280 --> 01:06:50.719
There are many reasons he could have
thought she was. If he was

789
01:06:50.800 --> 01:06:56.159
moving her head to place towels,
her mouth may have moved and air or

790
01:06:56.199 --> 01:07:00.920
gas left in her body may have
been expelled, or it may have simply

791
01:07:00.199 --> 01:07:05.360
just been wishful thinking. And you
know what, maybe she was still breathing

792
01:07:05.360 --> 01:07:10.239
when he called. Maybe it was
a death rattle, the final gasps.

793
01:07:11.039 --> 01:07:15.039
It is very common when someone dies
we don't have actual proof that the blood

794
01:07:15.119 --> 01:07:20.000
was dry, No photographs actually show
that, no reports in the crime scene,

795
01:07:20.639 --> 01:07:25.599
and we can talk about the possibility
of how long she lived later with

796
01:07:25.760 --> 01:07:30.760
the autopsy, the photos taken or
after she died, and after her body

797
01:07:30.840 --> 01:07:33.719
is moved, and you still can't
exactly tell what, if any of the

798
01:07:33.760 --> 01:07:39.760
blood is dry, just by looking
at these photos. But still, even

799
01:07:39.800 --> 01:07:44.400
when her body is eventually moved,
there is so much blood pooling it splashes

800
01:07:44.440 --> 01:07:49.480
around more, according to some witnesses, making matters worse. Shortly after the

801
01:07:49.519 --> 01:07:55.280
paramedics arrived, a parade of people
entered the home. A fire engine crew,

802
01:07:55.719 --> 01:08:00.639
then police officers. Michael's son Todd
arrived home from the party. Next

803
01:08:00.760 --> 01:08:03.840
a friend of Todd's who is a
med student, then neighbors, friends,

804
01:08:04.039 --> 01:08:10.400
the medical examiner, crime scene technicians, a photographer, and more. There

805
01:08:10.400 --> 01:08:16.000
were conflicting accounts of the crime scene, amateur investigation tactics, misleading clues and

806
01:08:16.119 --> 01:08:21.079
skewed motivations. The crime scene was
not secured for more than an hour.

807
01:08:21.800 --> 01:08:27.239
The police would later defensively say they
weren't used to securing a crime scene.

808
01:08:27.239 --> 01:08:31.840
That big, ten thousand square feet
is not your average house. But it's

809
01:08:31.880 --> 01:08:36.439
not like the whole family was there. Most of the people there were there

810
01:08:36.439 --> 01:08:42.000
people, and they could have called
in more officers if that's what they needed

811
01:08:42.039 --> 01:08:45.680
to secure the scene. It's a
weak excuse for what would be a shitty

812
01:08:45.680 --> 01:08:51.680
crime scene investigation. From the start, police did not believe Michael's version of

813
01:08:51.720 --> 01:08:58.560
events. Over the course of the
next week, investigators found incriminating material on

814
01:08:58.640 --> 01:09:03.199
Michael's computer. It was a lot
of gay horn and also conversations about meeting

815
01:09:03.279 --> 01:09:09.920
up with escorts. The police and
prosecutors would lean heavily on this as evidence.

816
01:09:10.680 --> 01:09:15.359
The police also discovered Kathleen's one point
eight million dollar life insurance policy.

817
01:09:15.000 --> 01:09:20.800
Michael was named the beneficiary, and
the officers were hesitant to support Michael,

818
01:09:21.159 --> 01:09:27.680
the outspoken journalist who wrote disparaging articles
about the Durham Police Department for two long

819
01:09:27.800 --> 01:09:32.840
years. Eleven days after Kathleen's death
on December twentieth, fifty eight year old

820
01:09:32.840 --> 01:09:39.319
Michael Ivor Peterson was indicted for his
wife's murder. He surrendered himself to the

821
01:09:39.359 --> 01:09:45.199
police and was taken into custody.
To news reporters, Michael said, Kathleen

822
01:09:45.319 --> 01:09:48.399
was my life. I've whispered her
name in my heart a thousand times.

823
01:09:48.399 --> 01:09:53.880
She is there and I can't stop
crying. I would never have done anything

824
01:09:53.880 --> 01:09:59.760
to hurt her. He spent the
holidays in jail, and his pitiful children

825
01:10:00.039 --> 01:10:05.760
spent that horrific holiday alone in that
big house by themselves, wearing brave faces

826
01:10:05.840 --> 01:10:11.359
as they put up the Christmas decorations
and decorated the tree that their parents never

827
01:10:11.399 --> 01:10:16.119
got to. Pulling together a Christmas
dinner, opening the presents their mother had

828
01:10:16.159 --> 01:10:23.119
thoughtfully chosen for them. It's truly
heartbreaking to think about it. Caitlin had

829
01:10:23.159 --> 01:10:27.840
lost her real mother, though thankfully
her father would rush to her side.

830
01:10:28.319 --> 01:10:32.279
Todd and Clayton had lost a loving
stepmother, but they also had Patty rush

831
01:10:32.359 --> 01:10:39.159
to be with them, and Margaret
and Martha were devastated. They called Kathleen

832
01:10:39.279 --> 01:10:43.680
mom. She was the first woman
in their lives who had combed their hair,

833
01:10:44.399 --> 01:10:47.399
bought them pretty dresses. They didn't
remember their own mother at all.

834
01:10:47.880 --> 01:10:54.720
And only had faint memories of Patty. Kathleen and Michael were their world,

835
01:10:55.279 --> 01:10:59.880
and now she was gone and he
sat in jail awaiting his bond hearing.

836
01:11:02.279 --> 01:11:08.319
Southern Fridtrue Crime is hosted and produced
by me Erica Kelly. Today's episode was

837
01:11:08.359 --> 01:11:13.359
researched and written by Andrea Marshbank and
me, and of course all editorial opinions

838
01:11:13.359 --> 01:11:17.159
are my own. Join me for
part two of Kathleen Peterson's case next week

839
01:11:17.359 --> 01:11:23.439
as we analyze the crime scene in
detail, outline the police investigation, explore

840
01:11:23.520 --> 01:11:28.920
Michael's potential motives, court experiences,
and more. Southern Frid's original music is

841
01:11:28.960 --> 01:11:32.079
by Rob Harrison of Gamma Radio and
the original graphic art is by Coley Horner.

842
01:11:32.359 --> 01:11:35.800
If you have any case suggestions,
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843
01:11:35.800 --> 01:11:40.119
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844
01:11:40.159 --> 01:11:44.439
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01:11:44.520 --> 01:11:48.600
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worship Dolly Parton, share memes.
I much prefer spending my social media time

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01:12:02.720 --> 01:12:06.720
and our lovely group. We do, of course discuss true crime, not

850
01:12:06.880 --> 01:12:11.199
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857
01:12:33.119 --> 01:12:35.359
much for listening, y'all. Take
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