All language subtitles for Death on the Staircase - 09 - The Last Chance (2013)

This programme contains some strong language and
scenes which some viewers may find upsetting.

INAUDIBLE

After a sensational five-month long trial,

Michael Peterson will soon learn
the fate that awaits him.

The 12 members of the jury
are now in their fifth day

of deliberations.

Will they find that Michael Peterson

used a blow poke to brutally
murder his wife Kathleen?

Or will they instead believe
the defence's theory, that she

fell down the stairs in the
couple's Durham mansion?

A verdict is expected
in the next few hours.

Has the jury reached a unanimous verdict

on the issue that was submitted to them?

- Yes.
- All right. If you will give that sheet to the deputy, please.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you
have returned the following verdict -

State of North Carolina
versus Michael Iver Peterson.

"We, the twelve members of the jury,

"unanimously find the defendant to
be guilty of first degree murder."

This, the 10th day of October, 2003,

signed by foreperson Christian Lion Jones.

Is this your verdict, so say you all?

- ALL: Yes.
- Juror number one, Mr Harrison, would you please stand.

Mr Harrison, your foreperson has returned

for your verdict that the defendant
is guilty of first-degree murder.

Is this your verdict and do
you still assent thereto?

- Yes.
- Thank you. Juror number 12, Mr Hall.

Mr Hall, your foreperson has
returned for your verdict that

the defendant is guilty
of first-degree murder.

Is this your verdict and do
you still assent thereto?

- Yes.
- Thank you.

Ms Clerk, the defendant is imprisoned in the
North Carolina Department of Corrections

for the remainder of his
natural life without parole.

When the jury came in, it
didn't just disappoint me.

It shook the foundations of my
beliefs in the justice system...

..in human beings, in my own abilities...

..in, erm, my judgment...

..in my sense of reality.

I think that what happened today
is that an innocent man was

found guilty based on speculation
and conjecture and feelings

and that is so incredibly troubling to me.

I didn't do anything. I am innocent.
I was wrongly convicted.

I didn't harm Kathleen
and I didn't believe,

until the jury clerk read the
sentence, that I would be convicted.

My immediate reaction was, "Let's end it."

And I told David that I
didn't want an appeal.

I wanted to just end it right now.
Forget it.

Enough was enough. We had
all suffered enough.

That wonderful - awful -
line from Romeo and Juliet,

"All are punished."

I don't know what we
were being punished for.

I don't why my children had
to suffer what they did.

Why they were being punished.

But I did feel that, "Let
this end right now."

I have been here almost 3,000
days, over eight years.

When I first got here, I thought,
"I'll be out in a couple of years."

We appealed and we kept appealing
and every one of them failed.

And after eight years, I'm still here.

And I began to think I may die in here.

It's been almost ten years
since Kathleen died.

But... Well, there's this wonderful
photograph in my locker of her.

Every time I open it I see it. And, er...

it's of Kathleen in the
Imperial Gardens in Tokyo.

And she's looking for Japanese,
because there aren't any...

in downtown Tokyo, because
it's not cherry blossom time.

And that's how it always was with her.
We were always joking.

And we were always laughing.

So, even though it's been ten
years, it's just like yesterday.

She's just as alive to me,

and I love her as much today
as I did ten years ago.

- '911, what's your emergency?'
- '1810 Cedar Street. Please!'

- 'What's wrong.'
- 'My wife had an accident. She's still breathing.'

'What kind of accident?'

'She fell down the stairs. She's
still breathing, please!'

- 'Is she conscious?'
- 'What?'
- 'Is she conscious?'

'No, she's not conscious.' Please!'

- 'How many stairs did she fall down?'
- 'What?'
- 'How many stairs?'

- 'Stairs!'
- 'How many stairs? Calm down, sir. Calm down.'

'No... 15, 20, I don't know. Please!

'Get somebody here right away, please!'

'OK, somebody's dispatching the
ambulance while I ask you questions.'

'It's at Forest Hills, OK? Please, please!'

REPORTER: Durham Police, this
morning, are investigating

the death of a prominent city resident.

Officers called this morning to
the home of Nortel executive

Kathleen Peterson, who was
found dead in her Forest Hills

mansion after apparently
falling down the stairs.

Kathleen Peterson's
husband, Michael Peterson,

is a former columnist for the
Durham Herald-Sun newspaper.

He also ran an unsuccessful mayoral
bid in 1999 and just last month

failed in a bid for a seat
on the Durham city council.

We believe that she was beaten, that
she was stunned and was bleeding.

That she probably recovered

and struggled in the doorframe
with Mike Peterson, to a degree.

And that he then had to
bludgeon her on multiple

occasions after that.

And that she, basically, bled to death.

REPORTER: Michael Peterson's
supporters can't believe

he's charged with the murder
of his wife Kathleen.

Kathleen Peterson's biological
daughter Caitlin Atwater

served as the main spokesperson
for the Peterson family.

She stood shoulder to shoulder
with Peterson's biological sons

and their sisters, adopted by
Kathleen and Mike Peterson.

My mother and Mike had an
absolutely loving relationship

and there is no way that either of them

would ever wish any sort
of harm on the other one.

In my mind, if Mike finds Kathleen
at the bottom of the stairs,

it's a reasonable assumption on his
part that she fell down the stairs.

REPORTER: Peterson's attorney, David
Rudolf, says the authorities seem to

have jumped to conclusions
about Kathleen's death.

Kathleen and I were in
here watching a movie.

I'd gone to Blockbusters and rented a video

and we were watching American Sweethearts.

And I think it was probably
around about 11 o'clock that

the movie ended and we took our
glasses and we came in here.

I think there was...

I'm not sure... we probably
had another bottle...

I know we were drinking
two bottles that night.

It was a nice night. I guess
it was 55, 60 degrees.

Very nice night. And I'd gone outside.

We were just talking and finishing
our drinks and then she said,

"I gotta go in because I've got the
conference call in the morning."

I stayed right here. Don't think
I said anything special to her,

certainly not thinking this was the
last time I was going to see her.

And the last I saw her was when I was there

and she was just walking here.

And... that's it.

That was the last time
I saw Kathleen alive.

No, she was alive when I
found her, but barely.

'OK, is she awake now? Hello?'

(SOBBING)

'Hello?'

It's impossible for me to believe,

if that's the back of her head,
that that could be caused from a

series of missteps, or
fall, down 15 flights.

I mean 15 different stairs.

I can't see that happening.

The medical examiner doesn't believe
that it was possible either.

This had to occur from multiple
inflictions of blunt force trauma.

It just never occurred to Michael
Peterson that people wouldn't

believe him when he said that
she fell down the stairs.

That's really what this is all about.

He thought he'd get away with it.

I remember Dad actually explaining it to us

and he was just like, he was in shock,

and he was just shaking, and he was like,

"I didn't do it. You have to believe me."

And we were like, "Dad, we believe you.
This is horrible.

"How can we not believe you?"

We didn't even know any details
yet and we were just like,

"We believe you, we believe you.

"We know it's not true. This is horrible."

It was just so upsetting.
I couldn't believe it.

But it was so hard to think about that

because, at the same time, we
were thinking about our mother.

It was like two bombshells,
I guess, hitting us.

We had a wonderful life.

There were five children,
Kathleen, and myself.

Two of the children were mine from
my first wife, Clayton and Todd.

There were two wonderful
girls, Margaret and Martha,

who came to me when their
father and their mother died.

And then there was Kathleen's child,
from her first marriage, Caitlin.

We lived together for 14 years,

and we were happy every one of those years.

I started to have doubts, of course.
I mean, how can you not

when you're hearing all
these rumours going around

and things like that.

But it was the physical
evidence that allowed me

to actually go back and look
at the situation as a whole.

Because reading the autopsy report,
I think was the point at which

I was convinced that my
mother had been murdered.

Obviously the horrific intensity of
the wounds and the fact that I just,

to me, could not physically come up
with a way that you could get seven

deep lacerations on the back of your
head by falling down the stairs.

And she goes, "Margaret, did you
look at the autopsy report?"

And I said, "Yes, I looked
through them thoroughly."

And she said, "There's no way Mom

"could have just fallen down the stairs.

"There's no way." And I was like,
"You're not a doctor, Caitlin."

One of the hardest things to
deal with was losing Caitlin.

And so quickly too. Just like that.
Just never see her again.

It's never just Caitlin,

it's Margaret, Martha,
Caitlin in a picture.

And it never was anything
different than that.

We just had just a long
history, and she's our sister.

I did consider Martha
and Margaret my sisters

and my mother considered
them her daughters,

but my goal, my strength in
life is completely opposite.

It's in seeking justice for my mother.
That's what I'm here for.

- Good morning, to each of you.
- ALL: Good morning.

In a very real sense, this case is
about pretence and appearances.

It's about things not being as they seem.

The defendant says that
Kathleen Peterson's death was

caused by a tragic accidental
fall down stairs in their home.

And we say, on the other hand,
that she died a horrible,

painful death at the hands of
her husband, Michael Peterson.

This is one of the first
photographs taken of her

as she's lying on a steel gurney
in the Medical Examiner's office

after they've shaved her head

so that they can determine
where the wounds are.

This is where the rubber meets
the road, ladies and gentlemen.

They say it's an accident that
was caused by a couple of falls

in that stairway and we say it's not.

We say it's murder.

Agent Duane Deaver is the blood
spatter expert who's going to

talk about how he contends Kathleen
was impacted in this area.

Duane Deaver finds what he will
call are several points of origin.

And what he will also say is that,
from his perspective, this was

very, very important because
it was above the floor.

It was above the step area.

He will say that it's positioned in such

a manner that these can't be due to
an accidental impact on the stairs.

Can you imagine somebody beating
somebody over the head,

whacking them as hard as they
can - because you don't whack

somebody like this when
you're trying to kill them.

Imagine that there's no skull fracture.

There's no brain contusions.

There's no swelling of the brain.

There's none of the internal
haemorrhages, subdurals,

things like that, that you would
see from that kind of injury.

No, none of them.

Because the truth is not that
Michael Peterson decided to

beat Kathleen Peterson to
death with a blow poker

in the stairway of his home
after spending a quiet evening.

That's not the truth of what happened.

The truth is that Kathleen
Peterson, after drinking some wine

and some champagne and taking some
Valium, tried to walk up a narrow,

poorly lit stairway in flip flops
and she fell and she bled to death.

Everyone who really knew
that relationship...

Everyone... knew that
they loved each other.

Everyone who knew them knows that
Michael Peterson had nothing

to do with the death of Kathleen Peterson.

One of the most awful things that
could ever befall somebody is

to think to yourself,

"The only way I'm ever going to
get out of here is in a coffin."

And that thought - I won't say
it occurred to me often -

but every so often it would
flit across my mind.

And I would think to myself,
"Boy, he's there until he dies."

And it was only when all this
publicity started coming out about

Deaver that I started feeling like
maybe, maybe there was a chance.

The decision... Judge Calvin E
Murphy rules that Gregory F Taylor

has proved by clear and convincing evidence

that Gregory F Taylor is innocent of
the charge of first degree murder

of Jacquetta Thomas on September 26, 1991.

A Wake County man, who spent
17 years in prison, has been

exonerated by the North Carolina
Innocence Commission in Raleigh.

Greg Taylor, who had been condemned
to life in prison in 1993,

is now a free man.

The commission's three-judge panel
centred around the testimony

of one SBI agent - Duane Deaver.

Deaver admits to having
misrepresented blood test

results in the Taylor case.

The SBI has announced plans for
an internal investigation.

Deaver is a major character
in the emerging story

of the SBI's troubles.

At the bureau's crime labs, where
Deaver had been a key agent

and trainer, analysts charged with
using science to solve crimes

have hidden test results or
concocted bizarre experiments

to shore up a prosecutor's case.

I interviewed Tonya Rogers,

who was one of jurors in the
Michael Peterson trial.

She said that Deaver's testimony
was the most important evidence

presented at the trial.

Ms Rogers said that, during
the jury's deliberations,

they started off split, 6-6 or
8-4, but as they talked the most

powerful evidence that moved the
jury to come 12-0 for a conviction

was that bloodstain on the inside
of Michael Peterson's shorts.

The jury was convinced by Deaver's
testimony that the only way

the bloodstain could have arrived
there was through an assault.

When I heard what Deaver had
done in the Greg Taylor case,

it became clear to me that I might
be able to finally prove that

what he had done in Michael's
case was the same sort of thing.

In other words, ignore the
facts, ignore the science,

and do what you need to
do to get a conviction.

Ten years ago next Friday,
Kathleen Peterson was found

dead at the bottom of a
staircase in their home.

Almost two years after that,
her husband Mike Peterson was

found guilty of murder and
sentenced to life in prison.

Now Mike Peterson hopes a hearing
that could begin next week

will give him a new chance at freedom.

The district attorney's
office has seen some turnover

since Peterson's murder trial in 2003.

The original DA, Jim Hardin,
is now a superior court judge.

Freda Black, the assistant DA at the time,

is no longer with the
district attorney's office.

Tracey Cline, who is Durham's current
DA, will represent the State.

Some of the key players
have remained the same -

Orlando Hudson, Durham County's
Superior Court Judge, and

David Rudolf, who is taking on the
case pro bono, are back on the case.

Oh, wow, it's Ron Guerette!

Martha, Ron Guerette just walked in.

- Oh my God. Hi!
- Hey, girl.

I'm going to get up and hug you.

I'm on the phone with
Martha, with my sister.

- You're not a kid any more.
- Good to see you. I know!

- What have you been up to?
- Just working in this crazy world.

Yeah, I know what you mean.

He's trying to come back
from his near-bankruptcy

in 2003 as a result of working
on your father's case.

- Still working on it.
- Wow, it's been eight years.

I can't believe it.

- You've gone from a little kid to a young lady.
- Little kid?

- I was, like, 20!
- You were still a little kid.

- Yeah, I'm turning 30 on Saturday.
- Is that right?

- Yeah, it's been ten years.
- Wow!
- Yeah.

Yeah, because Mom died on the
9th and I turned 20 on the 10th

- and...
- Oh, that's right!

- Crazy.
- That is crazy.
- Yeah, I'm married now.
- Are you?

Well, congratulations.

'Well, one thing about Radisch, Deaver

'and Butts is they have been
in this very courtroom before.

'They have. They've testified in
front of people just like you.

'Agent Deaver, Doctor Radisch, they
are tried and true. Tried and true.

'Because they work for us.

'Now to hear them tell it,
that scene was altered.

'if you believe that, you're
just going to have to believe

- 'that Duane Deaver is just a liar.'
- Pleasant memories?

'He has no reason in the world
to come up here and lie to you.'

- Wow, that one...
- Where she says you have...
- Where she says they'll

be back in the courtroom again
- it just gave me chills.

And you have to believe that
Deaver's a liar. Guess what?

And he tried to get himself
vindicated by blaming it

on the SBI in general
and that got him fired.

Well, after editing that stuff
for you for the Deaver clips,

my husband watched it too and
he goes, "This guy's an idiot."

- Yeah. I know.
- Greg Taylor was let out.

- How long was he in prison?
- 17 years.

- Yeah, he was in there for quite a while.
- Oh, my God.

That's terrible.

Like, it's just a little lie that

put someone away for 17 years.

That's devastating. God.

Greg Taylor. I live in
Durham, North Carolina.

49 years old.

When I was 29 years old, I was
arrested for first-degree

murder and tried and convicted April 1993.

I was 31 years old at the
time and I was married, had

a nine-year-old daughter and after
that things just kind of fell apart.

In the beginning you think that
the next appeal you'll be free or

the next motion filed in court and
then when those things let you

down, you come to realise that if
you've been let down so many times

so far, there's nothing to stop you
from being let down in the future.

And it just went on interminably
until finally when I had exhausted

all my appeals and I realised that
the chances were very good that

I was going to die in prison and I
had to learn how to deal with that.

I don't have faith in the system like

I used to have, but I still believe
- I hope -

that justice will finally
prevail after eight years.

And I'll get out of here.

I want people to see what Duane Deaver did.

I want all of it to come out.

I want people to see what
that man did not just to me,

but to other people.

He'd say these ridiculous things and
I just would not pay any attention.

I wouldn't even listen anymore,
thinking that nobody could believe

this nonsense of hitting Kathleen
42 times or whatever it was.

This re-enactment that he did.
It was just all a lie.

So, at the time, I just thought,
well, this is just stupid,

nobody's going to believe this.
But they did.

I do think that it's Michael's last chance.

It's been eight years.

He is now 68 years old and all
of his appeals have been denied

and this is really the best
opportunity that we're going

to have to prove that he should
never have been convicted.

19, please.

All right, Mike. They're saying
that they took your clothes

over yesterday to have them prepared.

Come on with me, please.

I remember just a couple of nights
ago, I dreamed I was there,

old man, lying on a gurney
at the end of a corridor.

You go to central prison and you die.

And you die alone, no family, no-one.

And you die on a gurney.

And I remember having
that dream and waking up

thinking, "No!" But it was
a pretty scary dream.

Mike, is this going to be
good enough for you today?

Is it what you want to wear?

OK. That sports coat? That shirt? Belt? OK.

INAUDIBLE EXCHANGE

- Sorry.
- MICHAEL LAUGHS

Judge, Mrs Zamperini wants to be heard.
And she is a victim, Judge,

because I believe that Mr Peterson was
convicted of first degree murder.

Her sister was murdered,
according to a jury.

So Mrs Zamperini would like to be heard

if the court is inclined just
to give her a few minutes.

- All right.
- Thank you, Your Honour.

Yes, sir.

Good morning, um, Judge Orlando.

I think you're aware that
I am Kathleen's sister.

In this court, that is very rarely heard.

KATHLEEN is a victim of murder.
We have rights in this state.

That is why there's a
judge in this courtroom

to make sure victims' rights are heard.

That is, in my opinion, the
judge's sole responsibility,

to make sure that there is clear,
fair, quality representation

for the victim, dead or alive.

My sister has lied in her
grave for ten years.

This Friday, ten years, she was murdered.

SHE BANGS THE TABLE Ten years,
I've been without my sister.

Ten years, her daughter hasn't had her.

And, ten years, the rest of us have
been alive and had our freedom.

But not Kathleen. Not Kathleen.

She wanted to live and she deserves

and should get the best,
best legal representation.

And there is no way I feel, sir,

that you can have this district
attorney represent my sister's rights

and feel you are doing the best
job by the citizens of this state

in having her represent and not the
Attorney General's office step in.

She is not prepared. It is
clear she is not prepared.

The office is not prepared.

Thank you very much, sir.

All right. The court, in its discretion,

will deny the motion to continue.

The court is ready to proceed.

Your Honour, the key issue
during Mr Peterson's trial

was what happened in the stairway.

There was only one witness
called by the state

who claimed to be able to say
what happened in the stairway.

And that was SBI agent Duane Deaver.

He testified that the bloodstain
patterns in the stairway

proved that there had been a beating.

He testified that the bloodstains
on Michael Peterson's shorts -

and, in particular, there was
a stain inside the shorts -

and on his shoes proved that he
inflicted this alleged beating,

because he claimed he could tell
that the wearer of those items

was in close proximity to Kathleen
Peterson when her head was impacted.

But we don't have to take my word

for whether Mr Deaver
was a critical witness.

We can listen to district
attorney Jim Hardin.

'Now what does Duane Deaver find?'

This is the first area that he contends

is the first point of impact.

This is above the 15th step.

It's off the wall. It's off the
riser and it's out in space.

Impact spatter in the
crotch area of these pants,

in the back side of this right leg.

Duane Deaver said the only way that
can happen is if he's standing

over her with his leg
above her striking her.

'Now why do we know there
was a second assault?'

Because Duane Deaver says, and
this is absolutely critical,

Duane Deaver sees blood spatter
on top of the clean-up.

There's only one way that can happen.

If there's a second assault.

'He assaulted her,

'she went down,

'he continued to assault her, '

and that's when the
premeditation formulated.

And, of course, the only thing Mr Peterson
was charged with was first degree,

so, without premeditation,
the state's case failed.

And the state relied upon Duane
Deaver during the trial.

'There's been no evidence in this case'

that anything that was done to
that scene altered the walls.

Nobody was walking on the walls.

'There's been no evidence,
no credible evidence,

'that anybody did anything
to the stairwell.'

Well, if you believe that,

you're just going to have to believe
that Duane Deaver is just a liar...

and he has no reason in the world
to come here and lie to you.

'Agent Deaver, Dr Radisch, '

they are tried and true,

tried and true, cos they work for us.

What we didn't know then
about Duane Deaver,

but we do know now, is
that Duane Deaver had

a pattern and practice of preparing
misleading expert reports,

of doing shoddy and
scientifically invalid work,

of presenting misleading
testimony under oath.

He did it in 2010

at the Innocence Commission
Hearing, State vs Greg Taylor.

We never asked for a perfect trial.
We hoped to get a fair trial

and I know that this court did its best...

- ALARM WAILS
- ..to give us a fair trial.

ALARM CONTINUES

Thank you very much. I think that's my cue.

- It's Candace.
- Yeah, I'm sure that's right.

ALARM CONTINUES

WOMAN: Yeah, leave the building.

VOICES ON RADIOS

PEOPLE CHATTER MAN: Everybody, move back.

- Back of the lot!
- Move back, move back!
- Man, let's move.

Let's go, man.

- It's a bomb threat.
- Are you serious?
- It's a bomb threat.

- It's a bomb threat?
- Yeah.
- Oh... Oh, my God.

It was surprising to see that >

40% of Hardin's closing statement
was about Duane Deaver.

It was about his research,

- his testimony, and...
- That was pretty shocking.

I don't think they had anything
else that made it first degree

- and that was all Deaver.
- That was it. Exactly.

- Made me feel sick to my stomach.
- I know.

- Ten years a-wasted.
- Yeah.
- Nine years a-wasted.

- Mike, there you go.
- OK, thank you.

- Don't drop the plate.
- No, I got it, I got it.

My God, I'm wearing this
ten-pound boot on my foot!

- HE LAUGHS
- I can barely move!

What was so nice was to see
everybody and my children there.

I can't really talk to them.
That's not allowed.

I certainly can't touch
them or interact with them,

so that's very hard,

but it's wonderful to
know that they're there.

Should be in one of these here.

- Dad, we're here! We're here! Oh, my God!
- I know!

- Dad, we love you!
- Oh, my God!

- Oh, my God!
- I have never been so tired in my life.

- BILL:
- I can relate!
- Oh, God!

- But everything's OK?
- Yeah.
- You like LA?
- Yeah, I love LA.

- And you love Boulder?
- I don't love it, but it's good.
- You look great.

- Thank you.
- You look...
- Margaret's helping me with fashion tips.

LAUGHTER

- Well, what did you think of Candace?
- HE LAUGHS

- Wow, how was that?
- Dad, are you safe?

I'm afraid she's going to hunt you down!

And I told you that from the
beginning - don't hate.

- Don't get caught up in it. And you could see that in her face...
- Yeah.

- ..and her eyes...
- And her hands.

- Just CONSUMED by hatred.
- Yeah.

And yes, you know, I understand it.

But she can't be the only victim, you see.

You guys are victims. I'm a victim.

Um... You don't have to be
there all day, every day.

I want to, it's fascinating!
I'm so angry at Deaver!

I just want to see all the
crap that's talked about him.

- SHE LAUGHS
- You know, sometimes I wonder,

- "Where was I during some of that trial?"
- I know!
- Yeah!

- I don't remember some of that stuff.
- Yeah.
- He was so...
- He was so boring!

- Yeah, he was gross.
- He was just boring and gross.

- Supercilious, a know-it-all...
- Yeah!
- He was really terrible.

Oh, I... Yeah, I hated him so much.

Oh, God, lord!

- OK. No more crying.
- Whatever! That's going to make us cry more.

THEY LAUGH

We'll see you tomorrow!

- I love you, Dad!
- Bye-bye.
- Bye!

- He does look very tired.
- Yeah, I know.

- I don't remember how we got in.
- What's the...?

You know, we don't know
really what happened,

and so we have to live with
the mystery of her death

and trust that our dad didn't
kill her at the same time.

So it's kind of a hard position to be in...
I think... or it's a position

that would, you know, bring
up a lot of stuff, so, um...

So I've never doubted my
dad's innocence, but...

it's just, it's... just kind of...
I don't know, a hard place to be.

Um...

I was looking at here - photographs
that were taken from his computer

and most of them are of
homosexual military men

and they're all different types
of things that they're doing,

you know, multiple partners, but
they're all portrayed as being

gay military men, um, performing
sexual acts on each other.

It's not the type of thing your typical,
average citizen would want to access.

Not if they want to portray themselves

as someone that has this perfect marriage

or however he wants to make his life
seem so perfect, um, with his wife.

I loved Kathleen. Kathleen loved me.

I could not love anybody else.

She could not love anybody else.

That's the faithfulness that we...
meant to one another.

It transcended body.

It was much deeper than that.

- I loved her spiritually...
- HE TAPS HIS CHEST

..as well as physically, so I saw
no, nor did she see, any problem.

She would've been infuriated
by learning that her husband,

who she truly loved, was bisexual.

We believe that, once she
learned this information,

that an argument ensued
and a homicide occurred.

- State your name, please.
- Brent Wolgamott.

- How old are you, sir?
- I'm 28 years old, ma'am.

Do you remember when you
were contacted by a person

- with the name "mpwriter"?
- Yes, ma'am.

Did you all actually discuss
what you were going to do

when you were to get together
on September 5, 2001?

- Yes, ma'am.
- And what we're y'all planning on doing?
- Er, having sex.

- What type of sex, sir?
- Um...
- Do you know?

- Can I say it? I guess, anal sex.
- OK.

- Did you get together with him on September 5, 2001?
- No, ma'am.

- Well, what happened?
- I had a very long day

and, when I got up there that night,

I just said, you know what, I'll
talk to him when I come back.

I'm just tired and I want to go
to Palm Springs, so I didn't go.

We found out he's bisexual. We found
out that he'd had correspondence

with a male, military
prostitute kind of guy.

We found out crazy stuff. I mean,
lots of crazy, crazy stuff,

but none of it really shocked me at all.
I mean, it was more like,

"Oh, great, this is going to
be terrible for the case,"

you know, "jurors hate this stuff,
especially in Durham," um, but...

Yeah, it wasn't like, um...

I was never presented with
anything that made me

think twice about my dad.

Did Michael Peterson
ever do or say anything,

either on the phone or in an e-mail,

that indicated that he was not
in love with Kathleen Peterson?

To the contrary, unlike most of my clients,

he indicated that he had a great
relationship. Most clients don't

want to say anything about their
relationship. He indicated he had

a warm relationship with his wife and
nothing would ever destroy that.

To think that he had this secret
life going on is baffling

and it makes me think there are so
many things I didn't know about him

and it cancels out all trust I have in him.

Parent figures have always
been difficult for us.

Just having such a
tumultuous experience of...

losing our birth parents.

Living with Patty and our
dad was really tumultuous.

We were kind of tossed around a lot

and then we moved in with Kathleen and Dad

and Kathleen had a daughter, Caitlin.

And, you know, we weren't
anybody's natural children,

so we kind of...

had... parent issues most
of our lives, I guess.

THEY LAUGH

- Um...
- I think, yeah,

the thing that makes me so sad is
that our two constants, really...

I mean, Dad was the only continuity
we've had in our lives for parents.

Um...

And so I feel like that's why we
have such a strong bond with him,

um, and with each other, but
also Mom, Kathleen, it's..

She really was the first person who
took us in and combed our hair.

I just know that, um, my mom died
in '85 from a brain haemorrhage.

She had been having many headaches before.

I mean, there's... Many
people have said this.

That, um, she called her mother
complaining of headaches.

She hated doctors, like I
don't like doctors either!

Neither does Martha, um...

So she didn't want to go see one no
matter how much, you know, Dad...

Um, Mike and Patty, I
guess, um, told her to go

and she basically died before she
even hit the bottom of the stairs.

NEWS ON TV

'The murder case against Michael
Peterson doesn't just involve

'his wife any more - it involves
a friend who died 18 years ago.'

'Elizabeth Ratliff was a
friend of Michael Peterson.

'In fact, Peterson was with Ratliff

'the night before she was
found dead in Germany.

'Ratliff's body was discovered at
the bottom of the staircase in 1985

'and prosecutors have implied that
the circumstances of her death

'mirror those of Michael
Peterson's wife Kathleen.'

The two daughters that were
adopted by Michael Peterson

were the daughters of Elizabeth Ratliff,

that woman that died 18
years ago in Germany.

They were raised by Michael Person,
raised as his own daughters,

and they refer to him as Dad
and, as I told you before,

those two girls, who are now
grown up and in their twenties,

are supporting Michael Peterson.

So while prosecutors, on the
one hand, say Michael Peterson

is responsible for killing
their biological mother

and for killing their step-mother
who was helping to raise them,

they are saying no.

There's an autopsy report that says,
"Cause of death - natural causes."

- "The stairway killer." Is that the idea?
- That's what they'll try...

- He found a way to kill women 17 years apart.
- Right.

Once it became clear to us
that the prosecution was going

to try and use this evidence in Germany,

we went to Germany ourselves.

'We spoke with Patty Peterson,

'who had been there with Liz the
night before she died and who was

'at her house with Michael that
morning that her body was found.'

There was nothing out of place,
except she was no longer living.

Everything was as if one would've
walked into a normal home.

- You know, there was no pool of blood, there were no...
- Spatters?

I mean, there could have
been a few spatters here,

but so small that they did
not register with me.

She was turned sideways.

- She was turned on her side facing upwards.
- Facing that way?

Yes, like that.

In the very beginning, I was surprised

when people made a connection
between Liz and Kathleen,

because there was no connection.

Liz had had a stroke. She was found
at the bottom of the stairs.

Kathleen fell down the
stairs, I firmly believe.

I saw no connection between those,

but now, of course, knowing
how it was presented.

"This person murdered, found
at the bottom of the steps.

"This person murdered, found
at the bottom of the steps."

Anybody would understandably
come to that conclusion.

Three, two, one.

The DA thinks that there's enough
similarity between the two deaths

that they've had Ratliff's body
exhumed from a cemetery here in Texas

and brought to the medical
examiner's office in Chapel Hill.

It was, like, my worst
nightmare when I was little.

You know, you'd have nightmares of, like...

your mother, your parents coming back alive

and, like, what they would
look like, you know,

just typical childhood nightmares
and it was like it was coming true.

They spent thousands of dollars

transporting her body 1,200 miles
from Bay City, Texas, to Chapel Hill

in order to allow the very same
medical examiner, who had already

concluded that Kathleen Peterson's
death was not accidental,

to perform that autopsy in the hopes
of coming to the same conclusion.

I expect him to be found guilty

of killing his wife and I think,
after the autopsy tomorrow,

people will have... issues, I
think, with the result of that,

as far as his involvement with
the death of Elizabeth Ratliff.

'They didn't prove that Elizabeth
Ratliff had been murdered,

'but just the jury hearing about
all this created this impression'

that Michael Peterson must've
been responsible in some way.

'This is just too big a coincidence.'

In my opinion, the cause
of death of Mrs Ratliff

was blunt trauma of the head.

- JIM HARDIN: - Do you also have an opinion
as to the manner of Mrs Ratliff's death?

- In my opinion...
- Objection.
- Overruled.

In my opinion, the manner of death
in Mrs Ratliff's case was homicide.

Court is now in recess for ten minutes.

'When I found out the evidence
of Liz Ratliff's death'

'and that it was very similar
to my mother's death, '

there was a possibility that I had
been living with a man for 13 years

who had possibly committed murder
18 years ago and, all this time,

there was this big secret,
something I didn't know about him,

and that's very scary.

DOOR RATTLES LOUDLY

Step right over here.

DOOR BANGS AND SQUEAKS

So what do you have?

You have two women murdered on
or pushed down, whatever...

- Oh! - ..two staircases, two different
countries... - Take it easy.

..and one man present with them each time.
Both ruled a homicide.

The second thing is the
blood wiping on the walls.

The medical examiner testified,
and I read last night,

that Kathleen Peterson laid there
and was bleeding for a time -

she couldn't say how long - for a
period of time before she died.

But it's clear evidence that somebody
was wiping the blood off the walls.

And then, how do you get past
the blood spatter on his shoes?

And then, the bloody footprint
on the back of her leg.

And judge, I went back and I looked
at the photographs in this case.

I don't know how high that
ceiling is in that home,

but anybody with common sense would
know that the blood on that ceiling

and on the wall did not come
from falling down the steps.

I grew up in a house that had steps.
I've fallen down the steps.

My mother's fallen down the steps.

Separate and apart from
anything Mr Deaver did,

Mr Labor and Mr Epstein
indicate in their report

that this was clearly not
a fall down the steps

and furthermore, Judge Hudson,

they indicated from wearing
the pants of Michael Peterson

that the spatter inside of those
pants came in an upward direction,

and found that, in their opinion,

- Mr Peterson was standing over the body of this young lady...
- Not true.

- That's just not true.
- ..when that spatter went inside of his pants.

Your Honour, at this time,

the defendant would call
Mike Klinkosum to the stand.

In 1991, Greg, um, and his
acquaintance Johnny Beck

had been out in Raleigh that evening

and had been seeking drugs and drinking.

They had been together, because
Johnny knew where to get drugs

and Greg had the money and so
they were doing drugs together

and they ended up driving down

into a cul-de-sac on Blunt
Street, here in Raleigh,

and they sat there for a while
and smoked some more crack

and, then, at one point, when
they were getting ready to leave,

Greg decided, because he had
a four-wheel drive vehicle,

that he would go down this
dirt path out into this field.

And when he did, he got his car
stuck in a ravine out in the field.

As so, as they walked back into
the cul-de-sac on Blunt Street,

they noticed... And this
was in the early hours.

They noticed, um, what Greg at
first thought was a roll of carpet

lying in the road in the cul-de-sac

and it was really Johnny who
determined that it was a body.

And because they had been out using drugs

and Greg still had some marijuana on him

and didn't have a driver's licence,
they just decided to leave it be.

And later that morning, he
went back to the cul-de-sac

and he walked up to the police

and told them that that was
his truck in the field.

And they asked him to come down to be
questioned and he agreed to do that

and, at that point, um, things
started rolling against him.

They had found stains on the
fender and the fender liner

that law enforcement
thought might be blood.

So they sent these stains

to the SBI lab for testing
in the serology section.

The report that was generated

and signed by Agent Deaver
from the SBI lab said that

there were chemical indications
for the presence of blood.

That's what was written in the lab report.

What was not turned over or disclosed
was the fact that Agent Deaver

had gotten a negative result on the
Takayama test, which indicated

that he could not confirm that those
two stains were in fact blood.

And the lab report that was
given to defence counsel,

given to the prosecutor and
introduced into evidence,

Duane Deaver's lab report, did
it say anything about the fact

- that an additional test had been done?
- No.

What was the result of that trial?

Um, Mr Taylor was convicted
of first degree murder.

- And what was his sentence?
- Er, he was... Life in prison.

Did you see in the report
where Agent Deaver stated,

in his opinion, there is
nothing scientifically wrong

with what they reported and
they did not hurt anybody

by not reporting negative results.
Do you see that?

Greg Taylor is the prime example.

He spent 17 years in prison
for a murder he didn't commit

and if the results of
the confirmatory test,

the Takayama test, had been turned over,

I think that would have made
a large impact on the jury,

because, at his trial, the prosecutor,

um, in his closing argument,

several times referred to
the blood on the truck.

I think, even later, some
jurors gave their opinion

that the blood on the truck was a
major factor, um, in their decision.

It never occurred to anybody.

We thought they hadn't done all
the testing they should've done.

Er, we thought the testing
was probably not accurate,

but it never occurred to anybody
that they had done the testing

and just hidden the results.
Um... they're scientists

and scientists are supposed
to be about the facts.

They're not supposed to take sides.
They're supposed to

reveal everything they
find and not have bias,

but the fact that they held back
these confirmatory tests was...

was absolutely biased in
favour of the prosecution

in the way they conducted, er,
they prepared that final report.

So I was shocked, really.

We were all shocked.

You know, how could a lab do that?
You'd expect...

I'd expect it from a prosecutor
or a policeman or an attorney,

maybe a judge or whatever,
but from a lab, you know?

You know, where's the...
the sense of fairness?

Why do they feel like they have
to do something like that?

Um, you know, when I think about, you
know, all the years that I lost,

because of this, what I missed of
my daughter growing up, you know.

I missed her tenth birthday. I
missed her high school graduation.

I missed her college graduation.

I missed her getting married.

I missed the birth of my grandson.

You know, she was 26 years
old when I was released

and I missed all that. I look at
her today like she's a stranger,

cos I don't know how she
came to be about herself.

- Do you know which direction to go?
- Um...

HE GASPS

- Say hi?
- How are you doing?
- Say hi? Hi, Grandpa!

How you doing?

HE CHATTERS TO THE BABY, BECKY LAUGHS

- His first visit to jail.
- But he's been to prison twice already!

- Dada!
- He's seen you twice at Nash.
- In prison! That's right. Right!

His first time to jail, though.

The first through-the-glass
conversation! All those

little memories that you write down
in the baby scrapbook, you know!

- In his baby book!
- SHE LAUGHS

Oh, for God's sake!

- Oh, it's good to see you! God!
- You too, Dad.

THEY LAUGH

Oh, Christ! Now your ears
go back beautifully!

Yeah, everything's great.

- Work's going well, all this is good.
- He's a darling.

You know, down here with family,
it's stressful but, you know,

- it's nice to see everybody.
- Oh, yeah!

So do you think he looks like anyone yet?

- I think his ears are a little like mine.
- They are!

I said that to Margaret the other day,

because we were looking at you in
court from the back and I look at him

from the back and your ears
look the same from the back.

I had gorgeous small ears when I was young.

- Is he going to have hair or not?
- I don't know.

- One of these days.
- Some day! Some day!

When you see Margaret, would you
please wish her a happy birthday?

- That poor child.
- I know.

You know, I wrote about this day with her.

I was there when she was born.

Well, I wasn't in the room, but
I took her to the hospital

in 1981, drove her in a snowstorm to go to,

you know, Wiesbaden hospital.

And then, I was there every
birthday after that.

Every single birthday she ever had,

I was there until, I guess it
was about the 18th birthday.

Then she went to college. And
then there was the 20th birthday.

- Yeah, that one kind of sucked.
- Kind of sucked?(!)

Yeah, you remember that? Watching
the grid search of the house.

And then here it is, her 30th birthday.
Oh my god.

So maybe this is the last
I'm going to see of Dorian

until you bring him down for our
ice cream and tattoo outing.

Well, we'll see.

- So I'll see you Tuesday morning.
- Yup.

You're going to watch me
hobble down the stairs, OK?

God almighty! Christ. Don't let
them film me going down the stairs!

THEY CHUCKLE

Jesus. No filming going down the stairs!

I love you.

- Love you, Dad.
- Bye bye.

Come on, wave.

Bye bye!

- Bye, Dad. Love you.
- Oh, shit.

♪ Happy birthday to you

♪ Happy birthday to you

♪ Happy birthday dear Margaret

♪ Happy birthday to you. ♪

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

It was snowing, gently falling
everywhere and after many,

many hours of intensive labour, I
was at your birth mother's side.

Margaret at long last emerged.

She was exquisitely beautiful and
she looked exactly the same.

Lovely red strawberry blonde hair.
To Margaret, much love.

May the future bring you much
happiness and continued fulfilment.

We love you, dearest Margaret.

APPLAUSE

Thanks for coming, guys.

I hope your thirties are
freaking awesome! >

APPLAUSE

My 20th birthday sucked so
hardcore and my 30th birthday

is so much better, so thank
you guys for coming.

It's gonna just be a lot
better from now on. I hope.

So to all of you guys and to Dad, too.

Place your left arm on the Bible,
raise your right arm and swear

the testimony you're about to
give the court and the jury

in the case now being heard to be the
truth and nothing but the truth,

- so help you God.
- I do.
- Please be seated.

Did there come a time

when you were asked to conduct a review

of the SBI laboratory?

Yes,

in early March of 2010 we
agreed to conduct a review

of all serology files with
similar reporting sequences

as had appeared in the Taylor case.

The purpose of the report was to see

if there had been any cases of injustice.

Did you find that there were
at least a number of agents,

not just agent Deaver, who
were producing lab reports

that didn't have all of the tests
that they had actually run?

We identified 230 cases where
not all the tests were reported

in the final report that
was issued by the lab.

You would see a presumptive
positive and a negative Takayama

shown in the notes and then
you would see a final report

that simply reported the
presumptive positive.

And of the five cases that
were categorised by you all

as the most serious of all
the cases you looked at,

who was the agent on each of those cases?

Special Agent Deaver.

Were those the only instances
where you found that agent Deaver

had failed to put down what
his lab notes reflected?

- No, I believe the final total was 34.
- 34 cases?
- That's correct.

Thank you very much. Please answer
whatever questions the DA may have.

I appreciate it.

I got this group of French
people who are following me

around with a camera.

I think they want to film inside there.

- I don't know if you're...
- If it's OK with you it's OK with me.

- It's OK with me.
- Oh, you've come to share lunch with me!

- No!
- You were going to bring your own.

No, no, I'm not sharing anything with you.

Why are you hobbling around
like you're 80 years old?

- Jeez, 80?!
- 90.
- How about 200?

- Ask them what I looked like yesterday.
- Why, what's going on?

Well, I'm hardly the
Princess and the Pea here.

- You know, the story of the Princess and the Pea?
- Yes.

I've been in prison for eight years.

We don't have orthopaedic
mattresses or anything.

- They don't have the foam?
- No, it's pretty terrible.

I'm so used to prison
luxury conditions, you see,

that coming to the jail, sleeping
on cold concrete - maybe that's it.

Maybe that's it.

It's sort of like going from the
Westin with their Heavenly beds

to Motel 6.

So, she is not calling Deaver.
She is not calling any experts.

Uh, she's going to call
a couple of witnesses.

I think she's going to try to get
into evidence that Deborah Radisch

thought it was a homicide,
but neither of those things

has any bearing on it.

- As you say, that's for a retrial.
- Right, right.

I don't want to get too far
out ahead of ourselves here,

but if we get a new trial,
then the question becomes,

can they even retry you,

given the fact that Deaver
was all over that scene?

I mean, ALL over the scene, and
remember the photo glitches

and him smelling the wine and...

Yes, he's the one that did that!

- All of it. He did all of it!
- Such bullshit.

He did all of it. Get a
good close-up of him.

THEY CHUCKLE

Oh, another close-up right there.

How the man got away with
it, for as long as he did,

that's really a crime, because
you wonder how many other cases

there are - not high-profile cases -

but other cases in which the
man probably testified.

He made the difference of
sending them either to prison

or getting them much more time.

And I just cannot even imagine
that anybody would do that,

but he's done it for, gosh, over 20 years.

In September 2007, Dr Turner
killed his wife Jennifer Turner

and several months after the killing,

Dr Turner was indicted by
the Davie County Grand Jury

for first-degree murder.

What does Dr Turner say had
happened between him and his wife?

Well, the killing occurred in
an outbuilding of the property

that Dr Turner and his wife had
shared until they became separated

about 18 months before the killing.

Inside the building, there were tons
of stuff just lying all around.

One of the things that was lying
around was a large seven-foot -

I mean, for lack of a better term
- Viking spear

that had about a 16-inch
blade on the end of it

and Mrs Turner picked up the spear

and attacked him with it, driving
it through his leg near his groin,

through and through twice
and stabbing it on his arm.

At that point in time,
he went into his pocket.

He had a pocket knife with him
and he used the pocket knife

to defend himself and in doing so,

inflicted the wounds that killed her.

Did he in fact have wounds on
his leg that were consistent

with what he had said happened?

Yes, he lost about a quarter
of his blood volume

and one of those wounds
was about 1.5 centimetres

from his femoral artery, which they
also concluded would have killed him

if it had hit him.

I'm going to show you what has
been marked as exhibit 27.

What was the initial opinion
that Agent Thomas had

with regard to the shirt that
Dr Turner had been wearing?

Uh, this transfer bloodstain pattern
was consistent with a bloody hand

being wiped on the surface of the shirt.

What does the second report say?

It says, "it is consistent
with a pointed object,

"consistent with a knife being wiped
on the surface of the shirt."

Was there any indication
in that second report

that there had been a significant change?

No, there wasn't.

What special agent Thomas
testified about is that the SBI

and Special Agent Deaver,
who was working with him,

had been presented with a new scenario.

That, in essence, he had inflicted
those wounds on himself

and entirely staged the scene.

Following that, they, when looking
at the shirt, could it possibly

have been because someone was
wiping a knife off on the shirt?

Was that what he got out of that
meeting that Agent Deaver attended?

Yes.

Then it says, "I'm going to meet with Duane

- "to do the actual reconstruction."
- Yes.

- Who's filming this?
- Special Agent Deaver.
- He's present there?

He's filming it, yes.

I think what they were
trying to do is put blood

on just the outside layers
of the knife in the hopes

that it would somehow duplicate
the initial stain, even though

he didn't know a scenario where that
would occur in actual real life,

where you only have blood on
the absolute edges of a knife.

Nice good curve. Turn your wrist in.
Even better, yeah.

'All right then, you might get
some just lightly on the fingers'

and just kinda... up, up.

'Beautiful. That's a wrap, baby.'

Not in any effort to recreate any scenario

of what actually happened that
night, but just to create a stain

that might look like another
stain, that might refute

what our experts said about
what that stain was.

'There's a bloodstain
expert, Stewart James.'

He's universally regarded as one
of the handful of top two or three

experts in this field.

He takes the video of the
Kirk Turner blood experiments

where Gerald Thomas wipes the shirt
and Duane Deaver is filming it

and he shows this video at
professional conferences,

both in the United States and abroad.

The reaction in the community
of bloodstain pattern analysis,

he says, is shock, that everyone
just looks at these experiments

and says, "That is a bunch of malarkey."

It's sort of what's happening
in Mike Peterson's motion

for appropriate relief right now.
You can sort of know

all of these anecdotal things and
you can experience individual cases

like we did with Dr Turner and
other cases, but once you see

all of those things synthesised
and brought together

and woven into the same tapestry,
it's pretty devastating

to see what can pass for science
and justice in a courtroom.

Thanks, I appreciate it.

Am I going to get a lunch today, deputy?

We're working on it.

This woman stabbed him with a
spear and then he cut her throat.

You know, this is not a good
marriage here, but anyway...

But then when I read that Duane
Deaver believed that the man

had taken a spear and
put it through his leg,

I mean, it just boggles the mind,

that anybody would come up with that.

I got an orange. Oh!

You ought to feel how
cool this sandwich is.

Just feel how cold that is.

Mrs Sutton, have you been
qualified as an expert witness

in the field of bloodstain
pattern analysis?

Yes sir, I have.

I want to show you what
Mr Deaver testified to

at Mr Peterson's trial.

I'm gonna ask of you to describe the
types of experiments that you used

and what the results were, generally.

Test 1 was to place a source of
blood a certain distance above

a horizontal or above the ground
and impact it with test shoes on

and to take a look at those spatters

to determine if they were comparable
to what I found on the real shoes.

The wearer of these shoes -

these shoes were actually directly
below the source of blood,

which in my opinion is the
back of the head of the victim

when it was impacted.

Is there anything about these
experiments that you saw

that in any way supports
Mr Deaver's opinion?

No. The experiment won't show that at all.

What the experiment shows is
that if you impact a sponge,

it'll create spatter.

That's a given in my field.
That's a recreation.

That's trying to make a
set of circumstances

and get a desired outcome.

It's not what I would
classify as an experiment.

'The opinion is that these pants are
consistent with impact spatters

'that result from a forceful impact'

and that the individual

wearing these pants at
the time of that impact

was in close proximity to the source
of blood when it was impacted.

Was that experiment that you
just saw acceptable within

the bounds of bloodstain pattern analysis?

No. The first thing that
really struck me was

as soon as he stepped into the stairway

he pulled the short leg open.
That's not fair.

If the question is, can I take
a step into the stairwell,

hit somebody, and get spatter
back into my shorts,

then I have to do it with as
natural a motion as possible.

One thing I did notice,

the target was placed more towards
the centre of the landing

as opposed to back where the area
of origin was actually calculated.

And of course, that's so that
you can have one leg up.

That certainly could be
one explanation, sure.

If it was back further, somebody
would be standing on the landing.

They wouldn't have their
leg up, would they?

I agree with that and it would also
be difficult to hit that sponge.

Are the experiments that you
used consistent with what others

in the field use to conduct
analysis of bloodstain patterns?

Yes, they are.

Is it consistent with the
methodology that you learned

- 15, 16 years ago?
- Yes, it is.

- Is that true?
- No, sir.

Is his methodology, as you
saw in these experiments,

what others who are competent in
the field of bloodstain analysis

use to analyse crime scenes?

No, sir.

Happy birthday.

I'm glad you were able to finally get here.

Can't shake hands.

Remain seated, come to order,
court is back in session.

Could you please state your name

and spell your last name for
the court reporter, please?

Ronald Thomas Guerette. G-U-E-R-E-T-T-E.

Before becoming a private investigator,

what was your profession?

I was a police officer in
Colorado for a couple years.

Then I was a police officer in
Charlotte for about ten years.

When did you first get involved in the case

State vs Michael Peterson?

About a week after December the 9th.

Of what year?

- Umm, ten years ago.
- 2001?
- 2001.

In connection with this
hearing, did you review

all of the discovery that was provided

by the state of North Carolina
in response to the orders

- that were issued by Judge Hudson?
- I did.

Well over 100,000 pages, many,
many CDs, and disks, and...

- And you reviewed all of that?
- Unfortunately.

All right. Did you review some
reports that Duane Deaver

- either authored or was mentioned in?
- Yes, sir.

On how many cases of bloodstain
pattern analysis or evaluations

have you actually worked?

I don't know for sure, but it
would be somewhere around 200

that I have written reports on myself.
Now, that doesn't include

the number of cases that I have
looked at as part of my training.

And I continue to provide help
to others who are in training.

I help them with their cases

and I wouldn't necessarily
write a report on that.

Were you able to compare the
results of your analysis

of the reports that he
wrote with his testimony?

Yes, I was.

How many cases were there in
total in which Agent Deaver just

observed bloodstains, either at
the scene, at the SBI laboratory,

- or by looking at photos?
- Only 54.

In how many of those cases
did Agent Deaver provide

- a bloodstain pattern analysis opinion?
- 36.

In how many of those cases did Agent
Deaver actually go to the scene

- of an event?
- Well, he went to 17 different scenes

between 1987 and 2003.

How many cases were there in which
Agent Deaver performed tests

or experiments before the Peterson case?

Three. Only three.

What was the date of the last experiment

that Agent Deaver conducted on his
own before the Peterson case?

Back in 1991. 11 years before.

How many cases were there
in which Agent Deaver,

before the Peterson case, found
a precise point of impact?

Zero.

I think Agent Deaver also gave
some testimony about falls

and investigating falls, correct?

That is correct... and stairs.

Have you ever analysed bloodstain
evidence from a situation

that was known to be a fall?

Well... yes, I have been to,
probably, about 15 times

where it was reported
that a fall had occurred.

Probably five or six of those
times I was in agreement

that a fall was involved. The rest
of the those, I was not in agreement

that a fall was involved
or created the spatters,

the patterns, that were seen there.

Mr Guerette, how many of Agent
Deaver's cases did you find

in which he had gone to the scene of
a fall to analyse it in some way?

Well, I checked every word on
every page in these documents

and the word "falls" never occurred.

- That's all I have, your honour. Thank you.
- You can come down.

Hey! Good to see - oh! Look at those teeth!

So are you alive, or what? Are you alive?

You've been hobbling around all day.
Let's see you move!

- It looks like it's going well, really well.
- It really is.

Yeah, it really is. I mean,
you never know, of course,

but I would think he'll rule in my favour.

Freaking... that would be amazing, right?

No! it's supposed to be the
way it's supposed to be.

- Either way, it's amazing.
- Well, here it is!

So with any kind of luck I'll be
out of here, you know... soon.

Obviously that's what we're all hoping for,

- but it would be so amazing for that to happen.
- I know. I know.

Yesterday, there were around 217 articles

- from local papers to the Washington Post.
- On what?

And they're just basically talking
about how all the experts

are discrediting Deaver.

But he really did convict me
with his points of origin

and "the head had to be right
here, and so therefore,

"if the head's right here, all the
blood must have hit out there."

- And that's just bullshit.
- Well, it's so convincing, right?

For him to get so specific and say
that it happened here, there,

- and there.
- Oh yeah, there's no question.

And the thing with the shorts
and the tennis shoes and

what David picked up and I had
missed also the second time

was the first-degree murder
charge premeditation only came

because of Deaver.

Enough about me. We've all seen me.
I'm sick of me.

Tell me about you, kid.

Man, my life has changed night and day.

I've got this best friend,
this girl named Jasmine,

- and she's lived there for...
- I'm going to have to come closer.

- I can't hear.
- Yeah so, you want to stand up?

- You can stand up.
- Sit down.
- They're making too much damn noise.

Can't you hear that shit down there?

It's buffered, it's buffered.

It's coming in my ear. What
the fuck are they doing?

Well, when am I going to
become a grandfather again?

I'm working on it - very
hard, I'll have you know.

- I'm working on it, hard.
- Good!

- Yessir.
- Time's up, sir.

OK. I got to go.

OK. I love you very much,
Dad, and put 'er there.

I love you and I'm so
glad to see you again.

I'll see you, I'll see you, all right.

Not to jump the gun in any way,
but we wanna try to be prepared,

just in case this goes our way.

- Which I don't know is going to happen.
- I understand. I understand.

But anyway, so, we've put
together about 300,000 worth

of property - actually a
little bit more than that,

but enough property that
will secure a 300,000 bond.

Kerry has checked into
electronic monitoring,

Joan Miner has agreed to
allow you to stay there

- for as long as you need to.
- All right.

And I need to talk with her to
ask her if she's also willing

to be a third party custodian,
which simply means,

if you don't come home one night,
not only would the monitor go off,

but she would call the sheriff
and say, "Hey, he's not here."

- All right?
- What do you think? Seriously?

I think the same thing I thought
before the verdict came in back then.

- OK. All right.
- I mean, what can I say?

And... We'll finish it today.

- OK.
- All right. Hang in there.

- Goodbye.
- Thank you, David.

I feel like I'm coming out the
other side of a really dark tunnel

that I've been in with regard to
this case, and it's different.

I don't think anything will ever heal.

What I felt when that jury came
back in October of 2003...

..it was as devastating a moment
as I've ever had professionally.

So that won't heal. That won't go away.

But I do feel like a weight has
sort of been lifted a little bit,

if we get a new trial.

If we don't get a new trial, I
will feel crushed all over again.

So there's a part of me that's very scared

about what's going to happen,

because I don't want to be crushed again.

The state and this honourable
court, please be seated.

Judge Hudson, what do we
know now that we didn't

and couldn't have known in 2003?

We know Duane Deaver misled the court

and the jury about his
training and experience.

That he misled the court and the
jury about points of impact,

that he misled the court and the
jury about the experiments.

That he had a pattern and practice
of having a strong bias for the

state, writing misleading reports
and giving misleading testimony.

You had indicated that
you had worked 200 cases

and that you had been involved
in roughly 500 cases.

Yeah, that was an estimate.

Let's give Agent Deaver the
benefit of the doubt and just put

aside the 300 he claimed he did,
which there's no reports for.

What about the 200 he
claimed he did reports for?

That was a lie.

There's no nicer way to say it.

He lied.

He only went to 17 scenes total

and none of those involved a fall.

Not a single one.

I have no doubt that a source of
blood was out there and that it

was impacted creating those and
that they are not on a surface.

Mr Deaver brings a sort of new
meaning to the phrase "often wrong,

but never in doubt."

He testified that way, as the
court I'm sure will remember,

all the way through this trial.

On and on and on.

We didn't know at the time that he
had left out of all his lab reports

negative confirmatory results.

And the reason he didn't put those
negative confirmatory tests

in was because he didn't
want the defence to have it,

because they might "confuse" the
jury by pointing out the truth.

He wasn't just an expert.

He actually became an advocate
for the guilt of the people

whose cases he worked on.

He did it in Mr Peterson's case,

and we know he did it in Greg
Taylor's case back in 1991.

Not only does he do testing that's not

accepted by anyone in the
field, but then with regard to

one of the critical opinions that
he gives, he bases it entirely

on this testing,

and testifies to the jury
that that's what proves

Michael Peterson was there in
the stairway, hitting Kathleen.

You relied on these experiments in
reaching your opinions, did you not?

Yes, I did.

As a matter of fact there were
several opinions that you've

testified to in front of this
jury that you wouldn't have

testified to without those experiments.
Correct?

Uh, yes.

For example, your opinion about
the cause of the spatter inside

of Mr Peterson's shorts.

That was an opinion

you wouldn't have given without
the experiments, right?

Yes.

It all boils back to his
ridiculous experiment,

and the little victory dance
that Susie Barker did

when he finally was able
to get it into his shorts.

That's the critical testimony that
basically says it's a beating

and Michael Peterson committed it.

And there is no other
evidence in this trial,

Deborah Radisch included, who could
ever say it was Michael Peterson.

It's not just new evidence,
your honour, it violates

Mr Peterson's constitutional
right to due process.

You have a right not to be
tried with fabricated evidence

and that's what happened in this case.

I'm therefore going to ask
the court at this time,

as hard as that is, given
the length of this trial,

to grant Michael Peterson a trial

at which the evidence can
be presented in a fair way,

in an unbiased way, and then
let a jury of 12 sort it out.

Thank you, Your Honour.

One of the most important things
about the criminal justice

system is the verdict of the jury.

I would ask the court by
looking at the record,

what is the newly discovered evidence?

There is no newly discovered evidence.

The same old, same old, same old thing.

The defendant must show this court
that had they gotten all this

information, that the jury would
have decided differently.

The blood spatter, the blood
patterns, the wiping of the blood

off the wall, blood
drops, spatter on shoes,

spatter inside of pants.

When you look at the injuries to her head,

when you look at how she laid in
that stairwell, when you look

at the sweatpants with a footprint
on the back of her leg and when the

medical examiner testified, based on
her training and experience, and now

she's a chief medical examiner,
that this was not an accident.

How in the world would a
jury find it different,

because Mr Deaver, a reasonable doubt,

is reason based on common, everyday sense.

It does not take a rocket scientist
to look at Kathleen Peterson,

the back of her head, the
blood every which way,

way up in the air, on the ceiling
and say that that was an accident?

Judge, I'd ask that you follow the outline

of North Carolina Supreme Court

and North Carolina Court of Appeals
and uphold this righteous verdict.

Thank you, Your Honour.

All right.

Has Mr Peterson proven that
Duane Deaver misled the court

into allowing him to
express certain opinions

that you put up on the board?

The answer to that question is yes.

Has Peterson proven that
Duane Deaver misled

the jury about the validity
of certain of his arguments?

The answer to that question is yes.

Was Deaver's false and
misleading testimony material?

The answer to that question is yes.

Is a new trial required for
newly discovered evidence,

due process violations, and
for perjured testimony?

The answer to those questions is yes.

It will be the court's order that
Mr Peterson receive a new trial.

- About time, ain't it?
- It's fine.
- Thank you.

What do you mean "now"?

It's impossible to say what happened,

but I know my father didn't kill Kathleen.

I loved Kathleen more than
anything, but he didn't do it.

He told me and I know it. I
believe that in my heart.

Thanks.

- Honest to God, thank you so much.
- You're welcome.
- I appreciate it.

This was fantastic. I'll be crying a while.

- Well, Michael.
- That was quick. I did not believe that.

You know I told you when I went to
visit you the first time after the

- verdict how devastated I was by that.
- I know.

You also told me it might be harder
on you than me and I told you, "Wait

a minute, you're leaving in your
goddamn BMW and I'm going back..."

I understand, but having said that,

this has weighed on me for eight years.

I know it has. I'm so happy.

Jesus Christ. Eight years.

I told your kids, "I'm
getting tired of this.

He gets convicted and you guys cry.

He gets a new trial and
you guys still cry."

We're a very emotional family.

Now my goal is to walk you out of
this courthouse this afternoon.

We'll see if we can do that. We'll try.

Oh god, that would be wonderful.

We might have to carry
you, but we'll do it.

No, I'm much better now.

I suspect that some of
that was just stress.

Oh, do you think?

What, my high blood pressure? Yeah. OK.
All right. Thank you. Thank you.

All right, you can relax now.
Enjoy your gourmet lunch.

- Let's see.
- Oh, fuck it.

All right. We'll see you at 2:30.

OK? Thank you, David. And you too, Ron.

I have kept everything inside me
for years, and years, and years.

I think I could go on a roll now.

And I could cry about Kathleen,
and cry about my mother,

cry about my father.

I could cry about Margaret
and Martha, Clay and Todd.

Oh, all the things we've all
gone through and suffered.

It was just this ocean of
tears inside me, and... oh.

HE EXHALES

I don't know, I just want to breathe.

We went to the gas station today,
and Margaret and Martha were

on the front page of the newspaper,
right, but in a good way this time.

So we had Margaret hold up
the newspaper in the middle

of a public location.

Like, come on, Margaret, take a photo!

Something we would have never done before.

There were a number of people who
came up, like the photographer,

that's like, "I work for a newspaper,

I'm not allowed to have an opinion,
but I'm really happy for you!"

So many times!

Just walking around Durham,

it's like you feel that label
of Peterson over your head.

You're concerned that people
look at you a certain way,

but like for the first time I was
like standing up, walking around,

I was like, "Peterson, yeah!"

It feels good to be in Durham now.

We went to the cemetery today.
It was beautiful.

Yeah, it was gorgeous, the
beautiful tree, the roses.

The rose bush, that's great!

It was really different this time.

I mean, it was sad, but
it was also amazing.

Yeah, to have that...

..because it's so fresh,
the memory of her death

and the funeral,

but to go there with this new
feeling was pretty remarkable.

Yeah.

- Nine-86.
- Nine-86.

This one is shut right here.

- It might be in that bag.
- I've got you.

And a shoe lace for the tennis shoes.

- Shoe laces are in the bag over there.
- OK.

I've waited over eight years,

2,988 days, as a matter of fact,

and I counted, for the
opportunity to have a retrial.

I want to thank Judge Hudson for
giving me that opportunity so that

I can vindicate myself and prove my
innocence in a fair trial this time.

I want to thank all the
people who have supported me

from all over the world.

It's impossible for me
to express my gratitude.

What I want to do now though is
to spend time with my family,

and with my children,

and certainly, at a later time,

I'd be happy to talk with
everybody and share more.

Thank you very, very much.

Mr Peterson, what's the first
thing you plan to do tonight?

So I'm interested in how
much buzzing this, erm...?

It'll keep you up all night.

I can honestly say I tried it
and the only time it buzzed,

the transmitter buzzed when
I needed to charge it,

- because I forgot to plug it in.
- Oh, OK.

Mr Peterson, this paperwork
pretty much says that this is

electronic monitoring equipment that
belongs to Michael King's company,

Reliant Monitoring.

We will make you a copy and make sure...

- What is today? 12/15?
- Today is 12/15.

I'll be able to finally become a Buddhist!

- Spoiled already!
- Oh, he's a momma's boy.
- All right!

We'll change that. We'll change that.

You guys both ended up
momma's boys too, right?

Only this guy right here.

- Well, champagne.
- Some champagne.

I cannot tell you how much I
appreciate what you all have done,

and how long you have fought
and stayed by my side.

So, to you!

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you, guys. Thank you.

Thank you, and then a second
toast, to the family -

Margaret, Martha, Clay, everybody else.

You guys just took this so well.

You were in there. You were suffering.

But there's a lot of emotional anguish

and mental anguish that we had too.

You guys were just incredible, your
emotional spirits never wavered,

so, cheers to you, guys.

- La familia!
- La familia!

- Hear, hear! Sante!
- Cin cin!
- Sante!
- Sante!

I can't share my experience for the
last eight years with anybody.

They wouldn't understand it.

They have no way of
knowing what that means.

I could say, "Well, I was
locked away for eight years

and I didn't have any
privacy or any freedom.

I was in prison for eight years."

People could say, "Oh, you were

in prison for eight years,
that must have been terrible!"

Yeah, it was,

but you have no real understanding
of that, and I can't tell you that.

No matter what I tell you can make
you understand and realize that,

and so therefore your world

is very different from
everybody else's world.

I wanted to come back to
who I was, but I can't,

so I'm still working about
me in this world out there.

Then with the realization also,

"Oh, don't ever forget, Mike,

they're trying to send you back there."

"They still think that
you're guilty, many of them.

They want you to go back there
for the rest of your life.

They want you to die in prison."

So while you're trying to move
along, always on your shoulder

is this heavy burden

or, in my case, on my foot
is a monitoring device.

- David!
- How are you, sir?
- Good. Fine, fine, fine.

Have you shrunk a little?

I'm still taller than you are,

I don't care how much I've goddamn shrank!

- You look better than the last time I saw you.
- Well, no kidding.

If I was any worse, I'd be
out there in Maplewood!

Nothing much is going to
happen in your case, no matter

what, for the rest of this year.

After that, depending on what
the Attorney General's office

decides, what the Court of Appeals decides,

we could be back putting it on the
docket for trial sometime next year.

Then of course, the question becomes,
do you want to retry this case?

Or do you want to see

if some sort of a resolution
can be negotiated,

and there's lot's of
different ways to do that.

There's a no-contest plea,
where you simply are saying,

"I'm not going to contest this".

There's an Alford plea where you
basically say, "I'm pleading

guilty, but I'm not pleading guilty
because I'm guilty, I'm pleading

guilty because I don't want
to go through another trial."

I know guys in prison who
have taken an Alford Plea

and said, basically, "Fuck it. I
don't want to go on any further.

Let's end this damn thing right now."

But what that means is, you're guilty.

- I mean, on the record, you're guilty.
- On the record, you're guilty.

Is there any way to do it, "I'm not guilty,

I don't care about any money,
I don't care about whatever."

I mean, I'm going to go on
with what you say on this.

Could the DA decide that
he's just going to drop it?

He could, but I don't think
he's going to do that.

So, realistically speaking,
the only three options are

a no-contest plea, Alford
plea, or go to trial.

Even going to trial doesn't
guarantee innocence.

Oh, no, but it gives me an option.

The other two, there's no option.
You're basically guilty.

You see the whole thing is, I didn't
do it, so why would I even do this?

I think we don't need
to discuss that today.

I mean, this isn't going to be until
maybe the middle of next year?

- At least.
- At least?
- Nothing's going to happen quickly here.

Jesus. OK. All right.

I can remember when I was a very young man,

I said, "I'm going to live a life
with as few regrets as possible."

And now I'm getting to be a pretty old man.

And I look back and, oh, Lord,
do I have some regrets.

I wish I'd done that differently.
I wish I hadn't done that.

Yes, it's filled with regrets.

But in the balance, I've got
these wonderful children.

I had a wonderful
relationship with Kathleen.

I was loved and I loved.

And I still do.

And I guess that's about the
best you can say about a person.

Their capacity to love,
and mine is infinite.

Honestly, it gets bigger all the time.

I can look at my children and
think, "Yeah, they love me."

What else do you want?

- Did you plant the roses?
- No, I didn't.

- I can get this one.
- OK.

Here.

Ten years later.

I know.

I know.

Still hurts.

It'll always hurt.

It'll never go away, ever.

No, it never, never goes away.

You never forget.

Always pain, always pain.

Come on, dear, let's go.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd