Great, Click the Allow Button Above At the time, the German police ruled her death an accident, and an autopsy concluded that she died of a brain hemorrhage. by Lindsay Kimble The deceased's injuries were "inconsistent with a fall down a set of stairs", state pathologist wrote in her report. Elizabeth Ratliff Wasn't Murdered It's been incredibly infuriating that people keep insisting that Michael Peterson killed Elizabeth. Ratliff's two young daughters ended up living with Michael Peterson, and he raised them in North Carolina with his two sons from his first marriage. Michael's adopted daughters also believe that he did not kill their biological mother. Chief among them: A close friend of Peterson's, Elizabeth Ratliff, had also been found dead at the bottom of a staircase, in 1985. In The Staircase, Patty recalls how they would all eat together and how Michael would regularly stay behind to help Elizabeth clean up and put her daughters to bed. Did Michael Peterson Kill Elizabeth Ratliff? When the Petersons resided in Germany, Elizabeth worked in the same school as Michael's then-wife, Patty. Warning: This article contains spoilers about The Staircase on HBO Max. Her life was thus incredibly different from her Rhode Island farm upbringing, especially as shed eventually found herself working at an elementary school at the Rhein-Main Air Force Base in West Germany. 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 homicide. 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. Brunet also stressed in the same article that her relationship with Peterson began later than depicted in the series and that her editorial decisions were not affected. If you've reached episode three of Netflix's latest true crime addition, The Staircase, you'll have discovered one of many plot twists in the documentary series. The family gathers in the courtroom for the retrial hearing. 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. Elizabeth Ratliff's Time of Death According to David Rudolf, the biggest flaw in the prosecution's theory regarding ER's death is the timeline and moreover that no one observed rigor mortis when they arrived on the scene. Whether or not Michael Peterson killed Elizabeth Ratliff remains unknown. 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. Regardless, Rudolf believes the damage has been done, describing it as "defamation" towards Brunet and de Lestrade. 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. She agrees to help them and tips them off that the SBI is very corrupt and should be looked into. Just like with Petersons wife Kathleen, she suffered lacerations to the head which were attributed to her fall. But, in February, just months before the scheduled retrial, Peterson submitted an Alford plea to the reduced charge of manslaughter. By signing up, I agree to the Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive emails from POPSUGAR. She was found by her children's nanny, Barbara Malagnino, who sought help from Patty shortly after making the grim discovery. After seeing much of The Staircase on Netflix and seeing Michaels narcissistic and cocky personality I believe he tried to make her believe she was crazy to think that or try to make up a story, as that was what he did for a living so it would be easy for him to come up with excuses easily. //-->. It has been quite a ride, so before we discuss how it ended, lets look at how we got here. There is also an alternate theory put forth by Petersons neighbor Larry (Joel McKinnon Miller) that Kathleen was viciously attacked by an owl. Peterson was the. Ratliff taught second grade at a U.S. Department of Defense School. An autopsy concluded Elizabeth died from a. Odessa Young and Sophie Turner as Elizabeth Ratliff's daughters Martha and Margaret. But they need to put themselves in their shoes, think if you already came from a broken home, wouldnt you try to believe in every last possibility that your parent could not do something so horrific, even if similar circumstances also involved that parent many years before? Now at this time a few things couldve happened-whatever he struck her with at the front door, he now needed to get rid of, so as she lay dying at the bottom of the stairs, he changed out of any bloodied clothes and got rid of them with the item he struck her with. On November 25, 1985, Elizbeth Ratliff was found dead at the bottom of her staircase in an eerily similar way to the way Kathleen Peterson was found on December 9, 2001. He continued: "In other words, by that point, Michael didn't have any assets and the court appointed us to represent him on appeal and paid U.S. court-appointed rates. Get all your true crime news from Oxygen. And she said to me, 'So you're going to be content just being an old grandfather?' Here's the OTHER Death at the Center of Netflix's The Staircase. Authorities in Germany had determined that Ratliff's death was the result of a fatal stroke that sent her toppling down the stairs. She often ate dinner with the Petersons, and Michael would help her clean up and tuck her children to sleep. So that's why today I'm very uncomfortable because I feel that I've been betrayed in a way.". She even scheduled a doctor's appointment out of concern, and had an appointment the next week. In 2003, Michael Peterson was convicted of killing his wife Kathleen Peterson after she was found dead in a pool of blood at the bottom of the staircase in their home on December 9, 2001. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. He said they wanted the same medical examiner who claimed that Peterson's wife wasn't accidental to perform the autopsy rather than a neutral pathologist in Texas as he suggested. But as Michael, again could not have this harmful information that could ruin his reputation get out, he flew into a rage again striking Kathleen as she was headed out the door, thus leaving the drops of blood on the porch which was what initially led to the owl theory (an owl latched onto Kathleens head with its sharp talons-crazy I know). 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.". 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 Colin Firth & Toni Collette on 'The Staircase' and What They Hope Audiences Take Away From It. Amongst them is the 1985 death of Elizabeth Ratliff, primarily because of the way she was found and how her two orphaned daughters soon ended up being adopted by the Petersons. 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. German officials declared that she died of a cerebral hemorrhage at the scene of her death. So. The Staircase addresses both of those theories, and just like the documentary of the same name by Oscar-winning filmmaker Jean-Xavier de Lestrade on which the show is based, whether you believe Michael Peterson is a killer is your own decision to make. In 2011, a retrial hearing is granted after Duane Deaver, the analyst that had given the damning evidence against Michael at the first trial, finds himself under investigation. Michael had two biological sons, Todd and Clayton, with his first wife, Patty. All Rights Reserved. You know, I mean, all you have to do is watch the documentary to know that that's not true. And you can quote me on that. Instead, they used her death as an example of an incident that could have helped him "fake" Kathleen's accident. }else { , Awesome, Youre All Set! So you know, I'm sorry that I have to say this, but I think Antonio Campos [The Staircase on HBO Max director] went way beyond what was ethical for him as a filmmaker to do just in order to either sell this film, or to pump its ratings, and that in my judgment is despicable. It was after she left the project that she first sent him a letter. 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. believed to have been the last person to see her alive, carried out a second autopsy on Elizabeth Ratliff's body. "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.". When they meet, they fall in love, and she leads the charge on the Owl Theory. Peterson agreed to an Alford plea, which enables him to maintain his innocence in the death of his wife Kathleen Peterson in 2001. They fought and it turned physical. In shock of what just transpired, Michael returned home where he would await news of Liz being found dead. The prosecutors have also hypothesized that Elizabeths perplexing 1985 passing inspired Michael to fake Kathleens accident in 2001, yet there has never been any direct evidence to back it up. RELATED: Colin Firth & Toni Collette on 'The Staircase' and What They Hope Audiences Take Away From It. "Prosecutors spent thousands of dollars transporting her boy 12,000 miles from Bay City, Texas to Chapel Hill," Defense AttorneyDavid Rudolf said on "The Staircase." The prosecution shockingly reveals to the jury that, at age 43, Ratliff turned up dead at the bottom of her stairs in 1985, some 16 years earlier. Radisch's reported concluded that Elizabeth Ratliff's death had actually been as a result of a "homicidal assault", and not an accident as was previously determined. When the Petersons resided in Germany, Elizabeth had worked in the same school as Michael's then wife Patty. David Rudolf represented Michael Peterson in the real-life murder trial depicted in the HBO Max series "The Staircase." He hires David Rudolf (Michael Stuhlbarg) whose price tag is as big as his reputation. "I was sitting here directly observing when the German medical examiner took the spinal tap and held the contents up so that he could view [it]," said Patty. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. How much, I can't say," Appel-Schumacher testified outside the jury's presence. No, the will of the Ratliffs stated the girls would be left in the care of Michael Peterson. . It was a unanimous decision by all 12 jury members. The Staircase airs Thursdays on HBO Max and Sky Atlantic. "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. Noticing the uncanny similarities with Kathleen's case, prosecutors took a closer look at Elizabeth's death in 2003. Although Ratliff lost a lot of weight and mourned her husband's death deeply, Appel-Schumacher said Ratliff's mood lifted during 1985. Jean-Xavier de Lestrade's The Staircase alludes to the haunting centre of novelist Michael Peterson's infamous murder case. Netflix's 'The Staircase': How did Elizabeth Ratliff really die? Michael ultimately takes the Alford plea, which involves the defendant acknowledging there is enough evidence to find him guilty of charges while also maintaining innocence, and is sentenced to time already served. She edited the scenes of us in the house, you know, meeting with experts, that sort of thing," he continued. On November 25, 1985, Elizbeth Ratliff was found dead at the bottom of her staircase in an eerily similar way to the way Kathleen Peterson was found on December 9, 2001. } else if ( host.indexOf("edition.") Netflixs new series The Staircase chronicles the trial of author Michael Peterson, whose wife Kathleen was found dead at the bottom of a staircase in her Durham, North Carolina home in November 2001. Shortly before Elizabeth passed away, George died of a heart attack during the US invasion of Grenada. In HBO Max's The Staircase, Brunet (played by Juliette Binoche) appears throughout the series, at first working to edit the documentary film released in 2004 and later as Peterson's romantic partner. They were 2 and 1 years old when Ratliff died. "Once the trial started, they hired [film editor] Scott Stevenson to edit the trial footage. Inside, he and Kathleen have quite a makeup session after their own argument the night before at dinner. 10 votes, 25 comments. "I could not give her what she really needed and deserved, and that would be a full-time partner living with her in Paris. Michael Peterson and his first wife, Patricia Peterson, were among the many people who filled the foyer that Monday morning 18 years ago, the witness testified. "And you never saw any kind of indication that she had any kind of romantic relationship with Michael Peterson?" Todd, who used to be the responsible son, now seems to be falling apart as Clay, who used to be the irresponsible one, has fallen into the role of caretaker. The DAs case focuses mainly on Michael Petersons lifestyle. "She hadn't gotten to the point where she was seeing other men?" 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. The series takes great inspiration from de Lestrade's documentary and even includes the director (played by Vincent Vermingon) and his documentary team. He and Patty later adopted two young daughters, Martha and Margaret Ratliff, after their mother, Elizabeth Ratliff (a Peterson family friend), died in Germany in 1985. Peterson subsequently ended up raising Ratliff's young. 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. The widow grew even closer with the Peterson family. Why? Although the 13-part programme centres around the mysterious death of Kathleen Peterson at her home in Durham, North Carolina, she wasn't the only woman linked to Michael Peterson to have been found dead at the bottom of a staircase. 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. He was sentenced to time already served and freed from prison. After her death, German officials concluded that Ratliff died of a cerebral hemorrhage which led to her falling down the stairs. "It was a platonic relationship," she told documentary makers. A medical examiner who examined her body at the scene concurred that the death was probably an accident. Jean-Xavier de Lestrade's The Staircase alludes to the haunting center of novelist Michael Peterson's infamous murder case. "We made plans to live in Paris. Now as both Elizabeth and her husband were both deceased, the girls Margaret and Martha would surely be left in the care of one of their relatives? document.write('Tuesday, August 19, 2003 Posted: 1440 GMT
<\/span>'); Elizabeth died in 1985. At the time, her death was investigated by the U.S. military police in Germany and an autopsy concluded she had died from an intracerebral hemorrhage. Furious she confronts Michael with her findings. Elizabeth Ratliff Autopsy - 4 Autopsy Report -- Elizabeth Ratliff Just four days before her death, she was complaining of severe headaches. The story follows author Michael Peterson (portrayed by Colin Firth) who finds his wife, Kathleen (Toni Collette) dead at the bottom of the staircase in their Durham, NC home in 2001. Their blended family included Michaels two sons from his first marriage, Clayton Peterson (Dane DeHaan) and Todd Peterson (Patrick Schwarzenegger), Kathleens daughter from her first marriage, Caitlin Atwater (Olivia DeJonge), and Michael's two adopted daughters, Margaret Ratliff (Sophie Turner) and Martha Ratliff (Odessa Young). All external sites will open in a new browser. He did meet with Michael Stuhlbarg who portrayed him in the series and even lent him his real glasses to wear during the film. But if he lied about something that big what else did he lie about? They believe their adopted father is innocent of killing both of their moms, according to the documentary. Their mom, Patty, decides to relocate back to NC to be near Michael and the boys. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. 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. Later, Jean-Xavier shows Sophie the latest footage of his chat with Michael, where he explains his bisexuality. Tragedy struck, however, in 1983, when Elizabeth's husband George was killed in a secret military operation overseas. Upon examination, forensic pathologist Deborah Radisch, who also worked on Kathleen's case, said that Elizabeth's injuries were inconsistent with an accident. 11 hours ago, by Monica Sisavat In response, Michael Peterson's lawyer, David Rudolf, argued he had never seen such inflammatory wording used in an autopsy before. Seeing Margaret everyday no doubt caused her much stress and probably was the reason for many arguments that eventually led to the divorce. It took weeks for all the blood to be cleaned up, according to "The Staircase. Michael is having a rough time in prison. The last person believed to see her alive was Michael Peterson the night before when their families had dinner together in her home. One year on, how to donate to help Ukraine. Old when Ratliff died of a cerebral hemorrhage which led to her fall Staircase ''. Clean up and tuck her children 's nanny, Barbara Malagnino, who sought help Patty. 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