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. We didn't get paid anything for the appeal. Michael moved back to the United States, taking his adopted daughters with him, and met Kathleen Peterson in 1986. Elizabeth was just 43 years old when she died on November 27, 1985. Authorities in Germany had determined that Ratliff's death was the result of a fatal stroke that sent her toppling down the stairs. ", However, for Michael Peterson's lawyer, David Rudolf, HBO Max's The Staircase fell short at moments surrounding its accuracy, describing moments as "inaccurate," "misleading" and "outright false". But yet, they [in The Staircase on HBO Max] somehow create the impression that Michael was hiding this from me until four weeks before the trial. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. He was granted a new trial in 2011, which was scheduled to begin in May 2017. It was after she left the project that she first sent him a letter. But, in February, just months before the scheduled retrial, Peterson submitted an Alford plea to the reduced charge of manslaughter. He hires David Rudolf (Michael Stuhlbarg) whose price tag is as big as his reputation. Peterson subsequently ended up raising Ratliff's young. "There was no pool of blood.". Those who were there in the aftermath of Elizabeth's death were called as witnesses, and the the state pathologist took to the stand to confirm Elizabeth Ratliff had sustained similar injuries to the ones Kathleen Peterson suffered. They call him "Dad" and have supported him without wavering since the second woman they called "Mom"--Kathleen Peterson--was found dead at the bottom of a flight of stairs. At their request, Ratliff's body was exhumed in Texas in April. There is also an alternate theory put forth by Petersons neighbor Larry (Joel McKinnon Miller) that Kathleen was viciously attacked by an owl. Occasionally wiping tears from her eyes, Appel-Schumacher testified about the large amount of blood she and her husband cleaned up after Ratliff's body was moved. Her name was Elizabeth Ratliff (shown above in the blue shirt) and she died at the age of 43. The defense will cross-examine Deaver Tuesday. However, things changed once her embalmed body was exhumed nearly two decades later, in April 2003. The medical examiner found Kathleen Peterson and Elizabeth Ratcliffe suffered similar blows to the head, including seven lacerations which were sustained by blunt force trauma. . Patricia has always vehemently backed him up. A widow, Elizabeth raised two daughters and her family grew close with the Petersons. Chief among them: A close friend of Peterson's, Elizabeth Ratliff, had also been found dead at the bottom of a staircase, in 1985. That was then confirmed by another doctor and the military police. She continued: "Rather, they are indicative of multiple blunt force impacts, either from blows to the head caused by a blunt object or by the head being forcibly struck against a hard surface. Shortly before Elizabeth passed away, George died of a heart attack during the US invasion of Grenada. Cat is Cosmopolitan UK's features editor covering women's issues, health and current affairs. German officials declared that she died of a cerebral hemorrhage at the scene of her death. I spoke with a German investigator. Get the daily inside scoop right in your inbox. With two young children (Martha, the youngest, was just months old when her father passed away), Elizabeth relied on Michael and Patty's support more than ever. "We made plans to live in Paris. She'd reportedly died from an intracerebral hemorrhage, secondary to a blood clot disorder. Although I do feel that the police did not act in all honesty with some of their actions, I do feel that no matter what, the jury saw through the shoddy case and found him guilty anyway. 1 day ago. Investigators exhumed her grave in Bay City, TX. However, in reality, Rudolf stated he traveled to Germany to investigate what happened to Ratliff and knew about her death a year and a half before the trial. Then I went and realized, no, I can't. The Staircase is the latest true-crime drama to land on HBO Max and viewers are still trying to process the jaw-dropping story of Michael Peterson who, in 2003, was found guilty of killing his wife Kathleen Peterson at their home on December 9, 2001. The details of Elizabeth Ratliff's second autopsy were submitted as prosecuting evidence in Michael Peterson's trial for the murder of his wife, Kathleen. "She wasn't actively dating, if that's the question," Appel-Schumacher said. Elizabeth Ratliff, a 43-year-old widow who taught second grade at a U.S. Department of Defense School, was found dead at the bottom of a flight of stairs on November 25, 1985. He paid that, or his brother paid it and that was it. In that case, it's thought that Ratliff succumbed to her blood clotting disorder via an intra-cerebral hemorrhage and then fell down the stairs after she was already deceased. DURHAM, N.C. An autopsy report released Monday says Elizabeth Ratliff, a friend of novelist Mike Peterson who died 18 years ago, was the victim of a homicide and not a stroke as originally . The critically acclaimed documentary of the same name came out in 2004 a few years after the trial and is now available to stream on Netflix, while this fictionalized version tells the tale of The. However, there are no skull fractures, which is practically impossible. 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. he spits. Colin Firth & Toni Collette on 'The Staircase' and What They Hope Audiences Take Away From It. So that's why today I'm very uncomfortable because I feel that I've been betrayed in a way.". I can't live in Paris. However, Rudolf and the real Lestrade have both taken issue with how Peterson's romance with Brunet has been portrayed, believing some scenes implied her relationship with Peterson impacted her neutrality whilst editing the documentary. RELATED: Colin Firth & Toni Collette on 'The Staircase' and What They Hope Audiences Take Away From It. Sign up for our Celebrity & Entertainment newsletter. Peterson agreed to an Alford plea, which enables him to maintain his innocence in the death of his wife Kathleen Peterson in 2001. However, Rudolf did state he offered to come on board as a "technical consultant" for the series to consult on the courtroom and lawyer scenes but was not contacted by the team behind The Staircase. Like Peterson, Ratliff was found at the bottom of her stairs with injuries to her head. There was a substantial amount of blood around the staircase, Witness Cheryl Appel-Schumacher testified during Petersons 2003 trial that the blood reached all the way up the staircase. He said: "I went to Germany, I investigated that whole thing. It is only natural that a mother want custody of her children, but why not the girls as their mother was supposedly her best or very close friend?? Appel-Schumacher said the blood was mostly on a wall adjacent to the staircase and it stretched from the top landing to the bottom. The nanny who found Elizabeth Ratliff's body in 1985 also took to the stand at Michael Peterson's murder trial and testified to witnesses about a large amount of blood at the scene. Stuhlbarg is seen above with Tim Guinee and Colin Firth in a scene from "The Staircase" in which the men prepare for Peterson's trial. "It is further my opinion that these injuries were incurred while Mrs. Ratliff was alive and are of sufficient severity to have caused her death.". "I don't know that you could possibly make a more serious and damaging claim against a documentarian than that, especially when it's completely and utterly false and demonstrably false. "Even from this distance I could see that it did not look clear, and that's when he made the statement, right there by her body in my presence, that she had died of a cerebral haemorrhage.". "It was a platonic relationship," she told documentary makers. The final episode of the series is told through three time periods 2001, the day before Kathleens death, 2011, the night before Michaels retrial, and 2017, when Michael is contemplating the Alford plea. And no questions were raised when her close friend Michael Peterson adopted her daughters, Margaret and Martha. They wanted to reassess her injuries, to make sure her death really was the tragic accident it had been accepted as for 17 years. The prosecution calls Kathleen's sister Candace to the stand, and she tears Michael a new one again. Elizabeth's death is a tragedy, but whether it was brought upon by an ill-fated accident or contemptuous murder, we'll never know. Coverage of the latest true crime stories and famous cases explained, as well as the best TV shows, movies and podcasts in the genre. Now fast forward to 2001-the night Michaels second wife, Kathleen dies. But if he lied about something that big what else did he lie about? Killen ordered attack on civil rights worker, jury hears, Father convicted of murdering 9 of his children, Gov. "Her injuries are indicative of multiple blunt force impacts". She was found dead at the bottom of a staircase, Ratliff was found tilted sideways at the bottom of a wooden staircase inside her home, according to "The Staircase.". 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. Tragedy struck, however, in 1983, when Elizabeth's husband George was killed in a secret military operation overseas. Elizabeth Ratliff, a family friend of Michael Peterson and his first wife, Patricia, died in 1985, just two years after her husband, George. The night before Elizabeth's death, Michael Peterson and his wife had dinner with Elizabeth and her two young daughters. As HBOs hit limited series The Staircase comes to a close, it is time to take a look back and assess what we just witnessed. A friend of Elizabeth Ratliff's also testified about a bloody death scene. I talked to the witnesses, I got the German police report and the DA's file. He was sentenced to time already served and freed from prison. They believe their adopted father is innocent of killing both of their moms, according to the documentary. At the time, the German police ruled her death an accident, and an autopsy concluded that she died of a brain hemorrhage. As both their families grew, so did the bonds between them. Thats where she first came across Captain George Ratliff, a navigator, only to tie the knot with him in 1981 before welcoming two adorable daughters into their lives Margaret and Martha Ratliff. After Kathleen's death, her two sisters, Candace (Rosemarie DeWitt) and Lori (Maria Dizzia) firmly believe Michael at first, but quickly switch sides, along with Caitlin, and stand with the prosecution. The Real Housewives of Atlanta The Bachelor Sister Wives 90 Day Fiance Wife Swap The Amazing Race Australia Married at First Sight The Real Housewives of Dallas My 600-lb Life Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Period. What we do know is that he was found guilty of the first degree murder of his wife, Kathleen. When re-examined, Elizabeth's relationship with Michael's family and the details of her passing thicken the plot of this engrossing true-crime case. two adorable daughters into their lives Margaret and Martha Ratliff. (We'll get back to that.). Candace makes an impassioned plea for a dismissal, but the judge overrules her. An autopsy on the body of Elizabeth Ann McKee Ratliff, 43, was performed by the state medical examiner's office April 16 at the request of Durham District Attorney Jim Hardin, who contends that. In her opinion, the seven lacerations on her head indicated blunt force trauma. Rudolf pointed out how in one scene, Peterson's brother is seen selling the Peterson family belongings in order to pay for his appeal, an "offensive" detail Rudolph wants to correct. Elizabeth's death was initially ruled an accident, but when her body was exhumed during the trial for a second autopsy in April 2003, the coroner found sufficient evidence to categorize it as a . On November 25, 1985, she was found dead at the bottom of her staircase surrounded by pools of blood. Elizabeth Ratliff, shown in the Netflix docu-series "The Staircase.". It also includes imagined dialogue for dramatic purposes but stays grounded in court documents, meticulous research by the team behind the show, and of course, content from Lestrade's 13-part documentary. When watching The Staircase, it might be hard to keep track of the complicated Peterson family tree. 13 hours ago, by Njera Perkins When producer Denis Poncet (Frank Feys) and director Jean-Xavier de Lestrade (Vincent Vermignon) come across the Peterson story, they wonder if there is a story there. Noticing the uncanny similarities with Kathleen's case, prosecutors took a closer look at Elizabeth's death in 2003. "Because I know all aspects of his personality. , Awesome, Youre All Set! Just four days before her death, she was complaining of severe headaches. 11 hours ago, by Monica Sisavat Elizabeth Ratliff became good friends with Michael Peterson after meeting his first wife, Patty, when the women worked together at a school in Germany. Appel-Schumacher recalled that Ratliff had a severe headache four days before she died, severe enough that she made an appointment to see a doctor the following week. She often ate dinner with the Petersons, and Michael would help her clean up and tuck her children to sleep. }else { Peterson and friends maintained that their friendship was purely platonic. Both Peterson and his wife raised his two daughters, Margaret and Martha,as if they were their own. "I've read 260 autopsies from blunt trauma to the head, and never once did I see any of your people say the inflicted trauma is clearly from a homicidal assault," Rudolf is heard saying in the documentary. I'm too old. She also remembered the copious amounts of blood near the staircase at the scene of Elizabeth's death. Ok so here is my theory for the Michael Peterson case-while I do not think he is a serial killer who always plans to kill women by the same method of throwing them down the stairs, I do think he has the personality of flying into a rage which ended with the deaths of 2 women and here is how I think it happened: 1985-Germany-Michael was carrying on an affair with family friend, Elizabeth Ratliff (he claims they never did but then he did look elsewhere who knows how many times during his marriages for other partners to satisfy his sexual desires, and as we cannot ask Elizabeth, I would say his ability to lie and tell stories, definitely does not add anything to his credibility. The two families were close friends while living in Germany, and Michael was the last person who'd seen Elizabeth alive following dinner at the Ratliff home one night, Michael offered to stay behind and help Elizabeth put her girls to bed. During Michael's trial, Cheryl Appel-Schumacher, one of the late schoolteacher's friends, recalled that Elizabeth had severe headaches a few days before she was found dead. Right about the time the trial ended, they didn't start putting the cuts together," Rudolph explained. But the autopsies were enough to convince Kathleen Peterson's daughter Caitlin to change her mind about her stepfather. The medical examiner rules that the cause of death was blunt force trauma. Covering the hottest movie and TV topics that fans want. Shortly after Michael and Patty married, Michael went to fight in Vietnam while Patty headed to the Rhein-Main Air Base near Frankfurt, where she worked as a second-grade teacher. So why would you? In shock of what just transpired, Michael returned home where he would await news of Liz being found dead. A quick recap for those who arent familiar with the case: He wasconvicted of first-degree murder in 2003 and spent nearly a decade behind bars. During her testimony, Appel-Schumacher told Hudson that Ratliff was happily married to George Ratliff, who died in a secret military operation overseas in 1983, and was devastated when he died. I believe that the 2 were out by the pool having a glass or 2 of wine as they often did. Jean and Sophie dont know what to think anymore. Do any of us? As we see in The Staircase, it's very clear that Michael Peterson is distressed at the thought of his family friend's body being dug up and re-examined. Elizabeth's updated autopsy report indicated that she died from homicidal assault. Jennifer McHugh is a Los Angeles-based writer. What else did he lie about their adopted Father is innocent of killing both of their moms according... 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