Antonio Campos, director of the Netflix film The Devil All the Time, has created the latest true-crime story for HBO. The crime drama entitled The Staircase has an all-star cast that consists of Colin Firth, Toni Collette, Sophie Turner, Michael Stuhlbarg, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Olivia DeJonge, Dane DeHaan, Odessa Young, Rosemarie DeWitt, Maria Dizzia, Cullen Moss, and Parker Posey. The series follows the events of the Peterson family after Kathleen, the matriarch, was found dead at the bottom of the family’s staircase in 2001.
The HBO series focuses on the investigation and how it impacts the Peterson family. The Staircase also includes the filming of the documentarySoupçons (Suspicions), by French Academy-Award-winning filmmaker Jean-Xavier de Lestrade. Lestrade and his team followed Peterson, his family, and his defense team throughout the trial, including the trial itself, as well as the lengthy process full of appeals, dismissals, and misconduct. In 2018, Netflix made the documentary available under the title, The Staircase, including three new episodes of the case’s latest developments.
On December 9, 2001, Michael Peterson called 911 and reported that he had found his wife Kathleen unconscious at the bottom of their staircase. Peterson would first report in the call that Kathleen was breathing, but after hanging up and calling back, he said that she had stopped. The personal lives of the Petersons would be uprooted and some driven from one another as the investigation began. As the only one home with Kathleen at the time of her death, as well as the one who discovered her body, Michael became a prime suspect in what became considered a murder case.
Early in the prosecution’s investigation of Michael, they found several sexual images of men on his laptop. The prosecution would track down many of these men and argue that the perfect love story Michael, his family, friends, and his defense, had painted of Michael and Kathleen’s marriage, couldn’t have been true. The prosecution would also dispute Michael’s claims that Kathleen knew of his bi-sexuality. They argued that Michael’s bi-sexuality led to a fight between Kathleen and Michael, which ended in Kathleen’s death. News of Michael’s sexuality would change the dynamic of the united family, as Kathleen’s sisters became skeptical of Michael’s reliability, and sided with the prosecution.
The results of Kathleen’s autopsy would become a massive piece of the case. The autopsy found seven lacerations on the top of her head that suggested she had been struck with an object repeatedly. In addition to the lacerations, Kathleen had several other injuries. The cause of death was ultimately listed as blunt force trauma. Kathleen’s sisters believed a previously gifted fire poker could have been used as the murder weapon, and the prosecution used the theory in court. The fire poker in question would not be found for some time, but it was eventually discovered untouched in the Peterson garage. Forensics determined that the fire poker had been untouched for far too long to be considered the murder weapon. The results of Kathleen’s autopsy also led Caitlin Atwater, Kathleen’s daughter from her first marriage, to question Michael’s recount of what happened that night. She would join the prosecution’s side of the trial alongside her two aunts.
As the family began to divide, another discovery shook the foundation of the Peterson case. Nearly 20 years prior to this case, a friend of Michael and his first wife Patricia, was found dead at the bottom of her staircase. It was determined that the victim, Elizabeth Ratliff, had died of a brain hemorrhage, and the Petersons would go on to adopt Elizabeth’s daughters Margaret and Martha. Appearing far too coincidental, the prosecution would ask Margaret and Martha for permission to exhume their birth mother’s body. Despite the protest of Michael’s defense team for a third party to conduct the autopsy, the Durham Medical Examiner that conducted Kathleen’s autopsy would also complete the one for Elizabeth. The Durham M.E. would find evidence to classify Elizabeth’s death as a homicide, overturning the previous findings.
On October 10, 2003, Michael was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He and his defense team would submit several appeals that were all inevitably lost. In 2010, SBI analyst Duane Deaver, who delivered crippling testimony against Peterson in the trial, was suspended after an investigation determined evidence had been mishandled. Following Deaver’s suspension, he was fired from the SBI in 2011, as further investigation found that he had falsely represented evidence in 34 cases, as well as his own credentials. Michael was released from jail on bail on December 16, 2011, and placed under house arrest.
In 2017, Michael entered an Alford plea. An Alford plea is a guilty plea but does not require the defendant to admit guilt for the crime. Instead, it means the defendant admits that there is enough evidence to suggest that they are guilty. In this case, Michael did not admit to having a hand in Kathleen’s death, but that enough evidence had been presented to suggest he had. For this plea, Michael would be sentenced to a maximum of 86 months in prison. By this time, Michael had already served 98.5 months in prison and did not return to jail.
Throughout the investigation, another theory emerged regarding Kathleen’s death, suggesting a barred owl attacked her as she entered the home. The theory gained traction after a feather and twig were found listed on the SBI list of evidence. The items were clumped in a wad of Kathleen’s hair, leading some to believe that the animal could have had some part in what happened to Kathleen that night. Over 20 years after Kathleen’s death, Michael has maintained his innocence. He has said he and Kathleen ended their evening at home by lounging by the pool. When Kathleen left the poolside, it was the last time he saw her alive.
The cast of HBO’s The Staircase has spoken about the challenge of playing their respective roles. In HBO’s glimpses “behind the episode,” Firth (who plays Michael) and Collette (who plays Kathleen) have spoken about their interpretations of these individuals and how they translated into their performances. Michael’s behavior in the original documentary that some passed off as guilt, Firth found to be expected for someone whose entire life is being picked apart by cameras. Collette noted Kathleen’s role in the household as a mother, the breadwinner, and emotional support system likely weighed on Kathleen. Viewers can determine their own stance on the facts presented in the documentary and the drama series from Campos.
The Staircase series is now streaming on HBO Max. The Staircase documentary is now streaming on Netflix.