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Michael Peterson/“The Staircase”

37 replies

Miscfeminista · 01/06/2022 00:41

I recently saw a video on This Morning about this guy

and I think I may have seen a title somewhere before so I started watching”The Staircase”docu series on Netflix(almost done)just because it was first available stuff to watch and well, I got randomly curious…so far I am just not convinced he’s innocent. Even the owl theory does not entirely make sense however”convenient”it may seem.

And then there was a video of his son supposedly talking how he actually finds his dad may have been the murderer all along(or along those lines):

He also mentions he’s recovering addict which could go both ways-they’re either very blunt or could rant”irresponsibly”(I truly do not mean to offend but what I noticed about few people that were long term addicts was that they didn’t pay a lot of attention to what they’re saying or whether it could be true or not or they’d deliberately lie seemingly very easily)but the fact that Kathleen’s birth daughter and Kathleen’s sisters are convinced she was murdered, as well as their neighbour friend(very similar to both his wives in more than one way too)dying very similar death, after which Peterson adopted her(neighbour’s)daughters…I mean I just have too many doubts to see this man as innocent.

Still I am trying to understand how it works-could that guy have killed these women and still grieve to some extent? We often take it as black and white, cold hearted murderer or innocent but could it be this guy was so convoluted that he made the story work for him and continue his life without much regret? Could he have actually been observing his lawyers and kids fight for him while he knew the truth?

I noticed her sisters read his books and found references to his bisexuality as well as to his possible killing tendencies.

The part that makes this for feminist discussion IMO is his hardcore porn use and how it may have related to him murdering as another sexual outlet. I remember reading on another occasion that men who murder might get aroused by the act itself without necessarily doing anything sexual at the same time. It makes me wonder if he’s another low key Ted Bundy.

Have any of you digested this whole story?

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Original poster
Miscfeminista · 05/06/2022 19:12

@DuckDuckNo it appears so-the way I got it she had a heart attack or started feeling unwell and then his dad waited for his son Todd to come around. While Todd was calling 911 she died. After that MP took all her stuff and tried to whitdraw money from her insurance account(which is joint account with Todd)

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DuckDuckNo · 05/06/2022 17:13

Miscfeminista · 04/06/2022 17:24

"I think both were opportunistic crimes motivated by money. Maybe Kathleen found out about the boy toys and threatened to stop supporting Michael financially. Maybe Liz asked Michael where the money went.

But above all: There was no owl!!!"

Gosh this, absolutley. On top of that, his 1st wife died recently(they got back together at some point)and again, insurance coming in play(see Todd/his son 1st video on this thread)

Yes. Patty died while Michael was with him apparently and he never called an ambulance?

Original poster
Miscfeminista · 04/06/2022 17:24

"I think both were opportunistic crimes motivated by money. Maybe Kathleen found out about the boy toys and threatened to stop supporting Michael financially. Maybe Liz asked Michael where the money went.

But above all: There was no owl!!!"

Gosh this, absolutley. On top of that, his 1st wife died recently(they got back together at some point)and again, insurance coming in play(see Todd/his son 1st video on this thread)

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DuckDuckNo · 04/06/2022 10:03

He's guilty.

Kathleen was the main breadwinner while Michael dabbled in his writing. They had a lavish lifestyle which Kathleen paid for, while Michael spent money on male escorts. Kathleen was in danger of being made redundant at work so the money was in danger of stopping - but of course she had a generous life insurance policy..

And the earlier lady who "fell down the stairs" - after her husband died, he left her a sizable sum as life insurance payout. Guess who took care of that money for her? Michael Peterson did.

I think both were opportunistic crimes motivated by money. Maybe Kathleen found out about the boy toys and threatened to stop supporting Michael financially. Maybe Liz asked Michael where the money went.

But above all: There was no owl!!!

Original poster
Miscfeminista · 04/06/2022 01:55

*lol meant 1st wife but well both is accurate

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Original poster
Miscfeminista · 04/06/2022 01:54

Yeah according to his son Todd in video above, he cheated on his mom(1st mom)within month of their marriage, supposedly also with a guy according to his uncle(MPs brother). History of cheating. Definitely doesn’t depict him as a nice family guy

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toastfairy · 04/06/2022 00:24

aweegc · 01/06/2022 08:35

I will have a look at this documentary later. And look out for it by Laura Richards' Crime Analyst podcast as she's great at taking these thing apart and centering the victim(s).

However, I'm wondering why the reference to bisexuality. It's always brought up as an indication that someone is a) messed up b) confused c) suspicious in some way or d) depraved in some way. I'm not saying you think that, more wondering what it's relevance here is. Is there actually any connection between him being attracted to both sexes and to him being suspected of murdering his wives? Like was he deeply ashamed of it and his wives found out before their deaths?

It's a long time since I watched but iirc it was the fact that he regularly had sex with other people (which he said his dead wife had been fine with) that was the more articular source of shadiness rather than just that the other people he slept with were men.

Personally I 'bought' the accidental death sometimes look pretty damn violent and the police got it wrong thesis. Plausible, I wouldn't say I certain he's innocent beyond a shadow of a doubt but certainly I would have enough doubt in the case against him to acquit if my opinion mattered.

Original poster
Miscfeminista · 03/06/2022 19:56

Another Todd confession session??

The part where he says"Kathleen did the worst moral crime imo she stole my mum's husband"eeeeeerrrr you said he packed his bags and moved in with Kathleen down the street? I would say that's worse than"what Kathleen did" 😶

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Original poster
Miscfeminista · 01/06/2022 17:41

Yikes. His son has some issues that's for sure.

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shinynewapple22 · 01/06/2022 17:33

Oh! We've just started watching this (on Sky I think). I had no idea it was based on a true story .

Original poster
Miscfeminista · 01/06/2022 17:29

SammyScrounge · 01/06/2022 16:15

To paraphrase:

To lose one lady may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two may be seen as murderous.

Show quote history

Yikes

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Original poster
Miscfeminista · 01/06/2022 17:29

She doesn't talk about Michael but the similarities are striking

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SammyScrounge · 01/06/2022 16:15

CallMeNutribullet · 01/06/2022 14:44

Of course he did it. Two women in his life mysteriously die in the same way?

To paraphrase:

To lose one lady may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two may be seen as murderous.

ChiefInspectorParker · 01/06/2022 15:50

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Message from MNHQ: This post has been withdrawn

Original poster
Miscfeminista · 01/06/2022 15:46

Also her putting Christmas decorations around midnight?...like what kind of sense that even makes. It's just scary how sloppy the investigation about something so serious can be

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Original poster
Miscfeminista · 01/06/2022 15:43

I second the doubts about owl attack. Some zoologist or whatever he was, said that while owls do attack humans it's quite rare and that there have rarely(if ever actually)been records of it being fatal.
If the wounding from the bird was so bad that she slipped on her own blood, there would have been a lot more blood outside?
And then fruthermore how did he not hear her if they were both outside when the owl attacked her? If something got you in middle of the night by the head I am sure you would scream A LOT.

Another YT commenter said that around that time of year where they live it's way too cold to stay outside for so long-and he was supposedly outside for around 2 hours wearing shorts. There was no mention of that in whole documentary

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SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 01/06/2022 15:18

I find it hard to believe the owl attack theory - mainly because there was no mention of other owl attacks, in the weeks/months leading up to, and after Kathleen’s death. One owl attack, in isolation, seems very unlikely, whereas if there had been other owl attacks in the area, then it would be more believable that Kathleen had also been attacked by one. Surely his defence team would have looked for other reports to add weight to the theory?

JudyGemstone · 01/06/2022 14:55

Agree the evidence doesn’t prove he is guilty beyond all reasonable doubt.

that video of Todd is pretty telling. He certainly sounds as messed up as you’d expect someone who grew up in a cult like narcissistic family dynamic to be, poor guy.

CallMeNutribullet · 01/06/2022 14:44

Of course he did it. Two women in his life mysteriously die in the same way?

BeyondPurpleTulips · 01/06/2022 14:19

Miscfeminista · 01/06/2022 14:08

"I thought he was totally guilty but that it was probably fairly opportunistic and not first degree murder.

I mean he's yet another man who waited until she was dead before calling the ambulance."

That's what seems to have happened with the mother of his biological kids, who he moved back in with after he came out of prison. His son said he waited almost 3 hours to call ambulance and that he had to call it when he arrived(she had a heart attack I think). That would be a third woman for who he called ambulance for that died

Sorry, should have rtft before my reply above! Doh.

Personally I'm not positive he did it, despite him appearing to be a textbook NPD. That's not me saying he didn't, just that I don't believe the evidence proves beyond reasonable doubt that he did. Basically the same as my opinion on Jeremy Bamber

BeyondPurpleTulips · 01/06/2022 14:16

Villagewaspbyke · 01/06/2022 04:43

To be honest I am undecided whether he did it or not. I don’t think there is sufficient evidence to say he did.

The Netflix documentary was an edited version of an earlier Storyville documentary - I don’t think it’s relevant if he was in a relationship with someone on the team as the documentary was very similar to the Storyville one.

also his first wife is alive and well. It was their friend who died in Germany. He was the one to find the body but the finding at the time was that she had died of a aneurysm. At his trial some conflicting evidence was provided from a witness who said there was blood, but at the time there was no such finding and the police and medical examiners did attend the scene and do tests.

in the death of his wife, there are multiple explanations and the scene was contaminated by the police. So I think we may never know.

His first wife isn't alive and well, she died this year - I'm sure I saw somewhere that one of the sons is suspicious of her death too, but I can't find where it was

Original poster
Miscfeminista · 01/06/2022 14:12

"which makes the documentary out to be biased and in my reading is portraying MP as a textbook narcissist and guiltily af"

"The staircase"doc on Netflix actually aimed at presenting him as innocent with all the sad music and"heartwarming footage"of him with his kids, I was actually hopeful it will have more dirt but it was mostly him rambling as long as he wants and badly justifying stuff that came out that didn't portray him well

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Original poster
Miscfeminista · 01/06/2022 14:08

"I thought he was totally guilty but that it was probably fairly opportunistic and not first degree murder.

I mean he's yet another man who waited until she was dead before calling the ambulance."

That's what seems to have happened with the mother of his biological kids, who he moved back in with after he came out of prison. His son said he waited almost 3 hours to call ambulance and that he had to call it when he arrived(she had a heart attack I think). That would be a third woman for who he called ambulance for that died

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JudyGemstone · 01/06/2022 14:06

I didn’t watch the documentary but I am watching the drama, which makes the documentary out to be biased and in my reading is portraying MP as a textbook narcissist and guiltily af.

Original poster
Miscfeminista · 01/06/2022 13:59

He seems to be ashamed of it. He could be a closeted gay man, his son in video above made odd comments about him being more into men and Michael himself at the end of documentary says that who knows what his life would be like if he allowed himself to have relationships(other than just sexual relations)with men and then said he most likely wouldn't have kids and all that. That sounds odd to me if someone is bisexual: he is indicating he would probably settle for men.
Why would a bisexual man not have children in plan at one point since he's supposedly such a big family guy?

To me it wasn't about bi or homosexuality, it was the deceiving part and hiding it, possibly using his partners for cover up. He had time to come out bi or gay in those 50 years.
Then there's the hardcore pornography(20 years back they called it hardcore, now it's mainstream-which doesn't mean it's"less of a big deal", it's just a sad fact of internet)and seeking prostituted men.

Even if Kathleen knew about his bisexuality, I somehow doubt she would be fine with him seeking prostituted men. If it was an open marriage, it would be open but Michael only ever said he"thought"she knew. Meaning they never even had an open conversation about it-I can't imagine someone just giving a silent nod without any discussion to such things, that smells abusive.

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