Despite the evidence submitted during the trial, Elizabeth Ratliff's daughters, Margaret and Martha - who had been brought up by Michael and Kathleen - stood by their adoptive father and continued to protest his innocence. Here's the OTHER Death at the Center of Netflix's The Staircase. As Peterson was being investigated for the staircase death of his wife in the early 2000s, Ratliffs body was exhumed in Texas in 2003. Elizabeth's updated autopsy report indicated that she died from homicidal assault. 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. The North Carolina medical examiner performed an autopsy and concluded that she died from blunt force injuries and that it was the result of a homicide. He had all the medals, but said he did not have the documentation for them. Elizabeth died in 1985. [4] The News & Observer said records did not contain any mention of the two Purple Hearts that Peterson said he had received. found sufficient evidence drawn from the results of the second autopsy, along with new witness statements describing the scene,[10] to overturn the earlier findings and list Ratliff's cause of death as "homicide". Fear of this realization getting out, Michael possibly grabbed and shook Liz, his anger finally caused him to push her hard and she fell down the stairs to her demise. There was a substantial amount of blood around the staircase, Witness Cheryl Appel-Schumacher testified during Petersons 2003 trial that the blood reached all the way up the staircase. 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). [26] A bloodstain-analysis team that Deaver had trained was suspended and disbanded. The widow grew even closer with the Peterson family. NC Supreme Court Opinions and Cases | FindLaw Elizabeth Ratliff's children Margaret (Ratliff) Blakemore and Martha Ratliff. [35] The judge sentenced him to a maximum of 86 months in prison, with credit for time previously served. Durham novelist Peterson walks out of jail; awaits new murder trial. Elizabeth Ratliff, a 43-year-old widow who taught second grade at a U.S. Department of Defense School, was found dead at the bottom of a flight of stairs on November 25, 1985. The exhumation of Elizabeth Ratliff - bbc.co.uk As per reports, Elizabeth often had dinner with the Petersons, and Michael would stay back to clean up or tuck her little girls to bed, which is precisely what they unwittingly did on her last evening alive. Todd dialed 911 within minutes of arriving on the scene. A few people have suspected an affair between Michael and Elizabeth turning sour as his motive for murder, but the novelists former wife Patricia has always vehemently backed him up. Elizabeth Ratliff's daughter, Martha and Margaret Ratliff stood by Michael Peterson and believed him to be innocent. Peterson was housed at the Nash Correctional Institution near Rocky Mount until he was released on December 16, 2011.
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