Inside, he and Kathleen have quite a makeup session after their own argument the night before at dinner. Cosmopolitan, Part of the Hearst UK Fashion & Beauty Network. Some may criticize them as to why they cant see he did it. In response, Michael Peterson's lawyer, David Rudolf, argued he had never seen such inflammatory wording used in an autopsy before. } else if ( host.indexOf("edition.") She often ate dinner with the Petersons, and Michael would help her clean up and tuck in her children at bedtime. Great, Click the Allow Button Above She filed a . He was released on bond in 2011 pending a retrial. Ratliff, a close Peterson friend,wasthought to have died from a fall down a set of stairs until Peterson's wife Kathleen died in a similar manner in December 2001. Get all your true crime news from Oxygen. Just like with Peterson's wife Kathleen, she suffered lacerations to the head which were attributed to her fall. Bill Peterson (Tim Guinee), Michaels brother, is his biggest ally and works with the lawyers and the family to try and keep everything in order while it feels like chaos. In 1985, a few years after George Ratliff's death, Elizabeth was found at the bottom of the stairs by the nanny, Barbara Malagnino. First, her death was ruled natural After her death, German officials concluded that Ratliff died of a cerebral hemorrhage which led to her falling down the stairs. At the time, the German police ruled her death an accident and an autopsy concluded that she died of a brain hemorrhage. The couples lived close; just down the road from each other in the town of Graefenhausen. Jean-Xavier de Lestrade's The Staircase alludes to the haunting centre of novelist Michael Peterson's infamous murder case. When watching The Staircase, it might be hard to keep track of the complicated Peterson family tree. In 2017, he entered an Alford plea to the reduced charge of manslaughter, meaning he admitted the evidence against him would likely lead to a finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt but he did not have to admit he committed the crime. Rudolf is highly skeptical of the documentary crew following their every move but eventually has to relent. Firth portrayed Peterson for eight episodes of the HBO Max drama based on the documentary of the same name. The defense maintains that the deaths are only similar on the surface, and Peterson plans to prove that to the judge--and the jury, if he rules against them--if necessary. Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. two adorable daughters into their lives Margaret and Martha Ratliff. Furious she confronts Michael with her findings. It's all in the documentary, it's there. . Both declined to comment directly on Rudolf's statements. Elizabeth Ratliff and. if ( host.indexOf("europe.cnn.com") != -1 ) { Repeating testimonythe judgeheardThursday and Friday without the jury being present, witness Peter "Duane" Deaver said he concluded that Kathleen Peterson was beaten with a blunt object and was struck a minimum of four times. Peterson's lawyers took issue with the examiner's assessment. As per reports, Elizabeth often had dinner with the Petersons, and Michael would stay back to clean up or tuck her little girls to bed, which is precisely what they unwittingly did on her last evening alive. Netflix's 'The Staircase': How did Elizabeth Ratliff really die? Both Peterson and his wife raised his two daughters, Margaret and Martha,as if they were their own. Editor Sophie Brunet (Juliette Binoche) finds herself so entranced with Peterson she begins reaching out to him via letters to prison. Prosecutors say the similarities are too many to be coincidental. He was sentenced to time already served and freed from prison. //-->. Therefore, when the Captain suddenly lost his life during a secret overseas operation in 1983, his widows connection with them only furthered she even began relying on Michael for some help in daily chores.