Michael peterson gay
Michael Peterson was accused of killing his wife, Kathleen. He said she sense down the stairs. (Photo: Netflix)
Does a defendant’s sexuality have any place in a murder trial?
If you’re a true crime fan, you know there’s no shortage of books, documentaries, podcasts and original reporting dedicated to the victims of violent crimes and the people who commit those crimes. At the same time, we understand that cases that fetch the most attention are usually ones that are committed against white, middle class, cisgender people. Meanwhile hate crimes, including murders of gay, trans and non-binary people are on the rise. Queer Crime is a monthly column focusing on true crime with an LGBTQ+ spin whether it’s the victim or the perpetrator.
This month, we’re looking at one of the most well-known cases in the last couple decades thanks to the 2004 documentary The Staircase. In 2003, Michael Peterson was convicted of murdering his wife, Kathleen after she was found dead at the bottom of the stairs in their home. After multiple appeals, he was granted a new trial in 2011. In 2017, he entered an Alford plea to the reduced charge of manslaughter which allowed him to maintain his innocence but
Chapter 3: A Striking Coincidence
In 1985, Liz Ratliff, a friend of Michael and his first wife, Patti, died in Germany from a cerebral hemorrhage. Her nanny found her in the morning, lying at the foot of the stairs leading to the second floor. Her two children, Margaret and Martha, were asleep upstairs.
This became the linchpin for the prosecution’s theory that Michael had murdered Liz Ratliff as well as Kathleen Peterson. Although the German police, a German physician, the United States Army military police, and an autopsy had all concluded that Liz had died of natural causes, the fact that Michael had dropped her off at her house the nighttime before, coupled with the fact her body was found by the nanny at the foot of a set of stairs, was enough for the prosecution to seek to exhume Liz’s body for another autopsy.
Logically, the prosecution’s theory made no meaning. There was no evidence that Liz had been murdered. Even if she had, there was no evidence that Michael was responsible. He was asleep at his house, with Patti, when Liz’s body was found by the nanny. There was no motive, and there was no evidence that Liz had been anything other than Patti’s best acquaintance (although t
With every episode of The Staircase on HBO Max, more and more details and jaw-dropping twists and turns continue to participate out in the story and criminal case against Michael Peterson.
On December 9, 2001, Michael Peterson's wife, Kathleen Peterson was launch dead at the bottom of their staircase with severe injuries. Peterson was charged with her murder, convicted at trial, and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
He was released in 2011 on bond ahead of a retrial but in February 2017, Peterson submitted an Alford plea to the reduced accuse of voluntary manslaughter, definition he admitted the evidence against him would likely lead to a conclusion of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt but the did not have to admit he committed the crime.
Flash-forward to the introduce day and true-crime enthusiasts want to know every possible detail about Peterson's life and personal relationships—like, does he have a new wife? Newsweek has everything you need to know about his connection history:
Does Michael Peterson Hold a New Wife?
No, Michael Peterson does not hold a new wife today.
The woman who The Staircase viewers may be mistaking for Peterson's new
"It is obvious that if the wealthy, known, white writer Michael Peterson hadn't been bisexual, the case would never possess come to court."
-- Jean-Xavier de Lestrade
Along with documenting history, Jean-Xavier seems determined to revise it, by playing quick and loose with the actual order of events leading up to Michael Peterson's conviction for first degree murder.
In an aim to make a motion picture about homophobic State authorities prosecuting a man merely because he's gay, Lestrade amazingly omits two years of Peterson's repeated denials of being gay -- or bisexual, or of having engaged in extramarital affairs of any sort.
Perhaps the filmmaker truly believes Durham's police department, District Attorney's office and courthouses, are all made up of anti-gay, right-wingers. Perhaps. But Jean-Xavier knows Mike Peterson wasn't charged with killing a gay lover -- he was charged with killing his wife.
Presumably Peterson's sexual orientation is not a relevant part of the story.
Yet, after diligently searching for a worthy project, Peterson's sex life was the very thing that started Lestrade's cameras rolling on what was -- according to Peterson -- an ordinar
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