Michael "MP" Peterson (24 September 1952 - 29 March 2012) was a professional Australian surfer. De Lestrade and his crew are given unprecedented access to Peterson and his defense team as they documented the arduous and lengthy legal proceedings over a period of more than 15 years. In the end, Peterson entered an Alford plea to the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter. Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. He was considered one of the best surfers in Australia during the early to mid-1970s and was recognised for his deep tube riding skill, . According to Bustle, Peterson's son Clayton now lives in Maryland with his two children. The film was the winner of the Best Documentary Feature at the 2001 Academy Awards. "But I wouldn't say I worry about my dad. They then moved to Germany, where Patty Peterson worked as a teacher for the U.S.. He was a Ford guy and in particular, a red F-150 guy. Tim Guinee portrays Bill Peterson in HBO Max's The Staircase, Michael Peterson's brother. Ratliffs body was exhumed and a second autopsy was performed, with the medical examiner concluding that her death was a homicide. They married in 1965 and moved to Durham, North Carolina, and had two sons together, Clayton and Todd Peterson. Parker Posey as Freda Black in The Staircase. Collette is best known for starring in the films Muriel's Wedding and Knives Out. As he had already served time for his first conviction, he did not have to serve any more time in prison. This case consumed these people's lives . However, months into the case, the prosecution stopped working with the filmmaker. He was fired from the job in 2011 after it was discovered that he had falsely represented evidence. Her system had only trace amounts of Valium and a blood alcohol level below the state's legal limit to drive -- so she certainly wasn't too drunk to walk. This meant that he had pleaded guilty because the prosecution had enough evidence to find him so, though he asserted his innocence. Olivia DeJonge portrays Caitlin in the series. He also continued to stand by his father's side throughout his trial. And while the camera focuses its lens primarily on Peterson, a menagerie of other key figures are also featured, including all five of his children. But the series' chilling events have left some viewers wondering, "Where is Michael Peterson now?" Despite being convicted of murdering his wife in 2003 and being sentenced . Michael Petersons defense team, however, did not pursue this theory as grounds for a re-trial. Join thousands of others and start your morning with our Fact Of The Day newsletter. We want our readers to trust us. As told in the film, Butler made a confession which he claimed was coerced, and he was eventually acquitted. Jesus Christ died to save us from our sins and we need him as our Lord and Savior. Peterson was eventually convicted of first-degree murder and imprisoned. Lawyer David Rudolf (L) Novelist Michael Peterson (R) addresses reporters after his court hearing in Durham County, N.C., on Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. What happened that night is still a huge mystery. Michael and Patty, along with their young boys, reportedly resided in Germany for quite a while around the 1980s, where they befriended their closeby neighbors, George and Elizabeth Ratliff. The company had just laid-off 45,000 employees and Kathleen was worried that she herself would lose her position by the end of 2001. Patrick Schwarzenegger and Dane DeHaan portray Michael Peterson's sons, Todd and Clayton, from his first marriage to Patricia Sue. Australian actor Olivia DeJonge plays the role of Caitlin Atwater, Kathleen's daughter from a previous relationship. She had been a friend of the Petersons. The suspicious circumstances led the cops to believe that it was a murder. Making distraction rewarding since 2017. In 2019, Michael Peterson also made a two-part appearance onDr. Phil. Colin Firth and Toni Colette as Michael and Kathleen Peterson in HBO Max's The Staircase. Privacy Policy and After over a decade in prison, he submitted an Alford Plea (where a criminal defendant pleads guilty to an offense while maintaining their innocence and acknowledging there is enough evidence to potentially convict) to the reduced charge of manslaughter in 2017. They discovered a collection of gay pornography in his possession, and found that he had been emailing with a 28-year-old male escort, according to CNN. Titled Behind the Staircase, all the profits made out of book sales is donated to charity. The defense also called two forensic witnesses as they continued their push to challenge the integrity of the investigation conducted by SLED and other officials. In light of new developments surrounding the case, de Lestrade made a new installment to The Staircase saga in 2012, entitled The Last Chance. Reportedly in his late forties now, Peterson works as an Electrical, Digital, and Printed Circuit Board (PCB) engineer, per The Cinemaholic. At the time of her death, Kathleen Peterson was worried about her job security. To avoid this, David Rudolf, the lead lawyer for the defense, suggested that the film crew actually be hired as a part of the defense team, so that client privilege would still apply and they would not be required to give up the tapes. Though there hasn't been a more recent update on how Todd is handling things, it seems as though he has done just that: moved on with his life far from the cameras. He wrote that his firm was hired "about a week after Kathleen's death, when it became clear that the police believed Michael was responsible." In short, that means he accepted that it would be possible to convict him based on the evidence, even though he insisted he did not do the crime. The house is currently owned by a psychic, who ironically was not aware of the houses history or the Peterson case when he purchased it. And I saw him in clips in and around the court room/house during all the later Appeal stuff. He came to know SLED agent David Owens after the murders and said he told Owens to reach out to him if he ever needed answers from the family and couldnt get in touch with someone else. Lawnmower and tractor rides with his Grandchildren were sure to take place when they came out to visit. Peterson later submitted an Alford plea, which entails that he plead guilty due to the evidence against him, but is still about to assert his innocence. After all, as examined in The Staircase, they were thrust into the limelight not just because of her brutal demise but also because the familys patriarch immediately became the prime suspect. Daily chores and tending to livestock filled most of his days on the farm. Although it was initially presented as a single feature-length documentary film, it was released as two new episodes of The Staircase when it aired on American television. "Based on our investigation, I believed that Michael had nothing to do with Kathleen's death," Rudolf wrote. That's why David Rudolf and his defense experts were forced to concede that IF Kathleen Peterson fell down, she fell backward, hit her head, then got up and fell back down again -- got up and fell back, got up and fell back -- and each fall produced one or two lacerations. After being released on bail to await a new trial, Peterson is urged by his legal team to submit an Alford plea, which he did in lieu of standing trial. Before he made The Staircase, Jean-Xavier de Lestrade directed the documentary Murder on a Sunday Morning, which follows the case of Brenton Butler, who was accused of murdering a tourist in Florida in the year 2000. Sabrina is an editorial assistant for Womens Health. Martha reportedly lives in Colorado, though some sources state she resides in Utah, and Margaret in California. At just 20, he was later sentenced to four years at a federal penitentiary. Rosemarie DeWitt as Candace, Kathleen Peterson's sister in HBO Max's The Staircase. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. Details On His Past, 'The Staircase': Unpacking The Peterson Family, Where Is Michael Peterson From The Staircase Now, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. He graduated from Atwater High School in 1981. He pleaded not guilty to the charge but was convicted at trial. Whether or not Michael planted the flip-flops for effect, Kathleen Peterson was NOT wearing them when paramedics first arrived at 1810 Cedar. It was just to look at the way the justice system would treat the case, and it took 17 years.. Despite Claytons troubled past, including a 4-year stint in federal prison for planting a bomb in a campus office as a 19-year-old freshman at Duke University, he has managed to build a good life for himself. And although some viewers of "The Staircase"might have expected his two other daughters, Margaret and Martha, to follow suit especially considering the similarities between the deaths of their biological mother, Elizabeth Ratliff, and their adopted mother, Kathleen Peterson, roughly 17 years later they seemingly never wavered in their support, or their opinion that Kathleen's death was an accident. My mom never told me how her best friend died. The completed miniseries first aired later that year on French television station Canal+, where it was released with the title: Soupons (meaning: Suspicions). Murderers are not nice people, and neither is Michael Peterson. Those memories and his message will last a lifetime for generations to come. After losing his fake ID, Peterson apparently broke into the university building to steal $1,700 worth of equipment so he could create a new ID for a trip to Myrtle Beach, according to News & Record. ", Per Bustle, it seems that Michael Peterson's sons and daughters have continued to stand by their father and remain in each other's lives. In 2010, it came to light that SBI analyst Duane Deaver, who had been one of the crucial witnesses in Petersons case, was suspended, owing to his questionable work ethic. Comments, Durham,North Carolina Though Michael Peterson's adopted daughters, Martha and Margaret Ratliff, had the largest presence in The Staircase of all the Peterson children, his sons were regular attendees in the courtroom, too. His mother is Michael's first wife, Patricia Patty Sue, per The Cinemaholic. During the initial murder trial, the prosecutors brought up Michael Petersons bisexuality. The eight-part series, which premieres on Thursday, May 5, and will be airing weekly, brings to the small screen the gripping and controversial case of Michael Peterson. Newsweek has everything you need to know about the cast of The Staircase and their real-life characters. The Sun pointed out that the mansion was puton the market in 2020, noting that Peterson sold it in 2004.). Rudolf said, "She fell, and she bled to death.". Michael Stuhlbarg portrays David Rudolf, Michael Peterson's lawyer in HBO Max's The Staircase. The once-giant in the field became a major casualty of the dot-com crash. He has two children and lives in Baltimore, Maryland, as he told The News & Observer in 2016. The case was eerily similar to what happened to Kathleen nearly two decades later. Where Thanks for your time! According to a 2018 write-up by Bustle, the lives of Michael Peterson's children changed literally overnight following the death of his second wife, Kathleen Peterson. During the investigation, detectives discovered that Michael Peterson was secretly hiding his bisexuality. He is probably the strongest person that I've ever met. He was clearly very supportive of his brother. Ratliff, too, had been found at the foot of the staircase with head injuries, the prosecution claimed that Peterson might have been involved in it too, considering that he was, reportedly, the last person to have seen her. Want to tell us to write facts on a topic? In 2017, David Rudolf, one of the defense attorneys working on the case, told the News & Observer that Todd now lives in Tennessee. I knew that she was going to take it badly, but I had no idea about the insane lengths she would go to just to get revenge and mess with my life. Historys most fascinating stories and darkest secrets, delivered to your inbox daily. As a 2018Heavy explainer noted, Caitlin Atwater, now Caitlin Clark, was the only one out of her siblings to share her belief that Michael Peterson was guilty. At first, Candace believed Peterson's innocence, but as viewers will come to see in HBO Max's The Staircase, she changed her view and became one of his strongest opponents. Moreover, during his failed 1999 Durham mayoral bid, it was found by local reporters that his claim of receiving two Purple Hearts was also bogus.