GUILTY NC - Kathleen Peterson, 48, found dead in her Durham home, 9 Dec 2001

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What? This is still hanging out there? Didn't they catch that pesky murdering owl?

He's like Jeffrey MacDonald. He'll never go away. Speaking of whom, was his appeal ever ruled upon?
 
There is a lot of strange behaviour in the Peterson clan if you ask me .. I have looked at the documentaries again and if never ceases to amaze me, I can put some of it down to lying for the camera, but not all of it.
 
UGH......I can't believe he has been out on bail since December 2011. I believe he will be found guilty again in his next trial. And the owl evidence........bolagna!
 
Judge lifts house arrest, ankle monitoring for Mike Peterson — A judge has granted the request of novelist and one-time Durham mayoral candidate Mike Peterson to be relieved of electronic monitoring and house arrest restrictions as he awaits a retrial in the 2001 death of his wife. He has been under house arrest since December 2011, when he was granted a new trial.
Read more at http://www.wral.com/lawyers-may-add...n-court-hearing/13780930/#VKVmMkihBiRLqm5i.99


Just....WOW......
Maybe the 10 years are all he'll serve! And remember he's a recognized author so.....BOOK DEAL??? Wonder if he'll go after Kathleen's daughter for the insurance $$? And the, another BOOK DEAL???? YUCK!
 
joypath said:
Judge lifts house arrest, ankle monitoring for Mike Peterson — A judge has granted the request of novelist and one-time Durham mayoral candidate Mike Peterson to be relieved of electronic monitoring and house arrest restrictions as he awaits a retrial in the 2001 death of his wife. He has been under house arrest since December 2011, when he was granted a new trial.
Read more at http://www.wral.com/lawyers-may-add...n-court-hearing/13780930/#VKVmMkihBiRLqm5i.99


Just....WOW......
Maybe the 10 years are all he'll serve! And remember he's a recognized author so.....BOOK DEAL??? Wonder if he'll go after Kathleen's daughter for the insurance $$? And the, another BOOK DEAL???? YUCK!
Click to expand...

MP only served 8 years in prison, unless you are counting house arrest too?
 
I recently moved to the Peterson's old neighborhood and so have taken more of an interest in this case than I had at the time. There are a few things that I've found particularly interesting.

First, they were in serious financial trouble. Everyone talks about how much money Kathleen made, but it was $145K/year and she had deferred 80% of her compensation (so she was bringing in only 20% of that the year before she died). She had banked on her stock and stock options, and if you recall, Nortel completely imploded in the days after 9/11, so her stock and options, which had been valued at $2 million at one time, had gone to nearly nothing. Also, $145K sounds like a nice, healthy salary, but when you consider that Michael was making almost nothing for a number of years, they had five kids (the two sons also in financial trouble -- Peterson wrote to his ex wife to ask her to take out a home equity loan to help them pay their credit card bills), three in college, and an enormous (10,0000 square feet) old house on four acres -- the maintenance of the house, the property, the taxes... no way can you do that on $145K (or, more accurately, 20% of $145K. Even if you factor in a little bit of residual benefits from the military to the two Ratliff girls, they were struggling. They had over $140K in credit card debt at the time of Kathleen's death. They were heading for total financial ruin, especially since it is almost certain that Kathleen would have soon lost her job (Nortel eventually went into bankruptcy).

Second, and for some reason almost totally forgotten, there was something decidedly "not right" with the oldest son (who knows about Todd, the younger one). Clayton tried to bomb Duke's administration building during his freshman year because he was angry that they were cracking down on drinking on campus. Yes, you read that right! He spent four years in prison. They found six bombs hidden in his parents' attic after the one he planted in the administration building was discovered. I found an interview with him online (I wish I could re-find it) and his explanation was that he was totally depressed because he had lived in Germany where he could go to clubs and bars and that he missed clubs and bars, and and he was staring in the face of spring break with no fake ID and the thought was just too awful to bear, so he decided to break in and steal the student-ID-making equipment and plant a bomb to serve as a distraction. I mean, he and his father (who was also interviewed for the article) seemed to think it was perfectly natural, when faced with the HORRORS of going on spring break with no fake ID, to plant a bomb as a diversion and steal a bunch of ID-making equipment.

The reason I even found that information is that I watched The Staircase, and in the episode where the blow poke is discovered by Clayton, there is a discussion with Peterson's lawyers of putting him on the stand, and they all decide it's for the best not to -- and they are coy about why it's so important not to put him on, mentioning ONLY his pending DUI.

Finally, Peterson ran for mayor, lied about his military honors, and was totally busted. And he, too, had a DUI.

I'm sure that's only scratching the surface of the weirdness that was going on in the family. For example, why was Todd at the scene so quickly after his father called 911? Why was Todd with a married woman that night?

ETA: I am on the neighborhood listserv, and someone recently posted photos of owls and said they were looking menacingly at her dogs. I hadn't heard the owl theory yet at that point, but now it makes me chuckle. Oh, and what could explain an owl feather? Um, maybe there was an owl in one of the trees near their pool where they were sitting and a feather dropped on her head???? Seems more likely than that it flew into the house and attacked her on the staircase???
 
Thank you so much for all that information, now it makes so much more sense why they kept Clayton well away from the cameras and the witness stand ..

Found an article about Clayton .. Michael pipes in half way to say he only made the bomb to distract the staff from the theft of the ID equipment, see .. perfectly justifiable http://www.dukechronicle.com/articles/1995/01/12/peterson-sentenced-49-months-bombing-attempt

I still think Todd hid the actual murder weapon, I do not believe that the blowpoke that mysteriously appeared in the garage was the one that was originally in the house, I believe they found one from the same maker, also I got the feeling that all the kids knew what had happened, none of them are convincing liars if you ask me.
 
I do not believe the Ratliff girls legitimately "know what happened" as if they are in on it or something. They were at college when they got the call Kathleen had died. They were not in on it in any way. Maybe they are in denial of Michael's involvement (and remember, he's been the only constant patent in their lives since they were very little- it makes sense they would side with him & believe blindly in his innocence) but they are in no way partners in crime with him.

IMO the Ratliff girls are victims in this, too and we should stay away from suggesting they were in on it somehow, etc.

As for the sons, particularly Clayton, that's another story. Maybe some involvement after the fact, etc.
 
Sorry KTGirl .. I didn't mean that they were guilty of anything .. I thought they may have realised he did it at some stage .. perhaps not however .. yes they are victims of him, losing two mothers to him most likely :(
 
Mrs G Norris said:
Thank you so much for all that information, now it makes so much more sense why they kept Clayton well away from the cameras and the witness stand ..

Found an article about Clayton .. Michael pipes in half way to say he only made the bomb to distract the staff from the theft of the ID equipment, see .. perfectly justifiable http://www.dukechronicle.com/articles/1995/01/12/peterson-sentenced-49-months-bombing-attempt

I still think Todd hid the actual murder weapon, I do not believe that the blowpoke that mysteriously appeared in the garage was the one that was originally in the house, I believe they found one from the same maker, also I got the feeling that all the kids knew what had happened, none of them are convincing liars if you ask me.
Click to expand...

Thanks for finding the article...and I agree about the blow poke. I also think they found a match and put it there, but even if it's the original, I am pretty sure it was put there after the police searched. I moved into my house less than two weeks ago and things in the basement and garage are already coated with dust. The trial was almost two years after KP was found dead. I would think that the blow poke could have been planted weeks to months before it was "found" and it would have looked as if it had been there for ages.
 
wonder what his defence will be this time, we may get a version of the owl did it, or she fell, will Henry Lee come along with his too much blood for a beating testimony,
 
I live in the neighborhood, and whenever I hear the characteristic hoot of the local owls (which sounds like, "who cooks for you?"), it reminds me of the case. Their former home's grounds look neglected, overgrown, and spooky.
 
Hi Folks,

Here's what the current Durham County Superior Court Docket says about The Author:


District and Superior Courts of DURHAM County

CourtDefendantDate of
Birth		Court
Date		Court
Room		SessionCase
Number		Citation
Number
Superior PETERSON,MICHAEL,IVER 10/23/1943 11/10/2014 007D AM 2001CRS024821


http://www1.aoc.state.nc.us/www/calendars.Criminal.do?county=310&court=BTH&defendant=peterson%2Cmi&start=0&navindex=0&submit=Submit+Query

So I guess things are set unless something FOWLS things up.... Grrrrrr. He's a scary, odd dude, IMHO.
 
He will never take a plea deal, as he will want to claim some of the money from her insurance and any money made from the house, if it was sold, if he pleads guilty he wont get any,
 
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