Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

The Michael Peterson Story

Michael Iver Peterson (bornOctober 23, 1943) is an American novelist who was convicted in 2003of murdering his second wife, Kathleen Peterson, on December 9, 2001.After eight years, Peterson was granted a new trial after the judgeruled a critical prosecution witness gave misleading testimony. In2017, Peterson submitted an Alford plea to the reduced charge ofmanslaughter. He was sentenced to time already served and freed.

Peterson's case is the subject of thedocumentary miniseries The Staircase, which started filming soonafter his arrest in 2001 and followed events until his eventualAlford plea in 2017. In 2019, he released his own account of his lifesince his wife's death in an independently published memoir, Behindthe Staircase.

Personal and professional life

Michael Iver Peterson was born nearNashville, Tennessee, the son of Eugen Iver Peterson and EleanorPeterson (née Bartolino). He graduated from Duke University with abachelor's degree in political science. While there, Peterson waspresident of Sigma Nu fraternity and was editor of The Chronicle, thedaily student newspaper, from 1964–1965. He attended classes atthe law school of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

After graduating, Peterson took acivilian job with the U.S. Department of Defense, where he wasassigned to research arguments supporting increased militaryinvolvement in Vietnam. That year he also married Patricia Sue, whotaught at an elementary school on the Rhein-Main Air Base inGräfenhausen, West Germany. They had two children, Clayton and Todd.In 1968, Peterson enlisted in the United States Marine Corps andserved in the Vietnam War.[citation needed] In 1971, he received anhonorable discharge with the rank of captain after a car accidentleft him with a permanent disability.

Years later, during a mayoral campaign,Peterson claimed he had won a Silver Star, a Bronze Star with Valor,and two Purple Hearts. He had all the medals, but said he did nothave the documentation for them. Peterson claimed he had received onePurple Heart after being hit by shrapnel when another soldier steppedon a land mine, and the other when he was shot. He later admitted hiswar injury was not the result of the shrapnel wound in Vietnam, butwas the result of a car accident in Japan, where he was stationedafter the war as a military policeman. The Raleigh, North CarolinaNews & Observer said records did not contain any mention of thetwo Purple Hearts that Peterson said he had received. However,military files verified that he received a Silver Star and the BronzeStar Medal with Valor.

Peterson and his first wife Patricialived in Germany for some time. There they befriended Elizabeth andGeorge Ratliff and their two children, Margaret and Martha. AfterGeorge's death, the Peterson and Ratliff families became very close.When Elizabeth Ratliff died in 1985, Michael became the guardian ofher two children. After Michael and Patricia divorced in 1987,Clayton and Todd lived with Patricia, and Margaret and Martha stayedwith Michael, who then moved to Durham, North Carolina. Clayton andTodd later also joined their father.

Peterson wrote three novels based"around his experiences during the Vietnamese conflict"—TheImmortal Dragon, A Time of War, and A Bitter Peace. He co-wrote thebiographical Charlie Two Shoes and the Marines of Love Company withjournalist David Perlmutt, and co-wrote Operation Broken Reed withLt. Col. Arthur L. Boyd. Peterson also worked as a newspapercolumnist for the Durham Herald-Sun, where his columns became knownfor their criticism of police and of Durham County District AttorneyJames Hardin Jr. Hardin was the prosecutor of Peterson for the murderof his second wife, Kathleen.