Making Connections
Authorities immediately suspected Michael Peterson of the murder. His story that Kathleen was drunk and fell down the steps wasn’t making sense. They believed he beat her with a fireplace poker that afterwards was missing from the house. During the trial, it came out that while Michael Peterson was living with a family friend in Germany before his marriage to Kathleen, his German friend died after a fall down the stairs and suffering from an intra-cerebral hemorrhage. Was it coincidence that Kathleen Peterson had died of similar head injuries after also falling down the stairs?
Making Connections
More Comes To Light
Upon investigation by both German police and American military authorities, the death of Peterson’s friend was declared accidental and he actually adopted that woman’s two daughters! Thus, the prosecution brought this incident into the trial to prove Michael Peterson may have known how to fake his wife’s accident. His daughters stood by their father during the trial. Then, the prosecution argued that there was tension when Kathleen discovered Michael’s affairs with various men, and that he was bisexual. However, he retorted that they had an open marriage. He insisted he was by the pool when she fell and his defense demonstrated it would be possible for him to not hear her cries from there.
More Comes To Light
