The Staircase: HBO series on infamous Durham case devotes a full episode to the 'owl theory'
An HBO series is the latest look at the death of Durham businesswoman Kathleen Peterson.
Kathleen Peterson was found dead in a pool of blood at the bottom of a staircase in the family's upscale Durham home on Dec. 9, 2001. Her husband, Michael Peterson, was convicted of first-degree murder in October 2003.
But the story didn't end there.
In December 2011, Michael Peterson was released from prison and a new trial was ordered after it was revealed that a blood analyst with the State Bureau of Investigation, one of the key witnesses, had given misleading testimony.
After years of continuing legal battles, the new trial was finally scheduled for May 2017. It was canceled that February, when Michael Peterson agreed to enter an Alford plea to a charge of voluntary manslaughter. (An Alford plea allows a defendant to maintain his or her innocence while acknowledging that the prosecution has enough evidence to win a conviction.)
HBO's mini series, The Staircase, starring Colin Firth and Toni Collette is based on the Netflix documentary with the same name.
HBO explores the owl theory
The HBO series looks at several different ways Kathleen Peterson could have been killed, including the "owl theory."
While the Netflix series did not take a hard look at the theory, which was initially offered by Peterson neighbor Larry Pollard that a barred owl attacked Kathleen Peterson and caused her to fall down the stairs, the HBO series dedicated an entire episode to the theory.
Kathleen Peterson was putting Christmas decorations on her lawn the night she died, and an owl could have mistaken the decorations for prey and gone after her because she was near them, according to the motion filed in the case.
The motion said drops of blood were found on the front walk, hair pulled out by the roots was in Kathleen Peterson's hand and bloody twigs and two feather fragments were found in her hair.
"As circumstantial evidence goes, it seems pretty persuasive and credible," Michael Peterson's defense attorney David Rudolph said in a post on his personal website in 2018.
DA says a blow poke killed Kathleen Peterson
The HBO series looks at the multiple theories surrounding Kathleen Peterson's death, including the Durham District Attorney's surmise that she was killed with a blow poke.
In both the documentary and the HBO series, it is discussed that a blow poke gifted to the the family by Kathleen Peterson's sister, Candace Zamperini, is reportedly missing.
In both the series and documentary, Michael Peterson's adopted daughter, Margaret Ratliff, is seen looking through old family video to see if and when the blow poke allegedly went missing.
The HBO series also shows North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation agent Duane Deaver attempting to recreate the blood spatters from the crime scene using another blow poke from Zamperini.
SBI controversy
The Netflix documentary takes a deeper look into Deaver and his work in the Greg Taylor case. Taylor was was convicted in the 1993 beating death of Jacquetta Thomas. The only physical evidence linking him to the crime was a spot on the wheel well of his SUV found stuck in the mud near the body.
State lab analysts testified it was blood. Further tests revealed it was not blood, but at the time the State Bureau of Investigation had a policy of not reporting negative tests. Taylor's case was the subject of 6,149 Days, a WRAL Documentary on his case.
Taylor's exoneration forced North Carolina to review how blood evidence was reported and to audit other cases that may have been tainted.
While Taylor's case is mentioned in the HBO series, Deaver's misleading testimony is what led to Michael Peterson's first conviction being overturned.
In 2011, a Superior Court judge and the state Court of Appeals determined that Deaver's exaggeration of his expertise and his overstatement of the accuracy of his blood-spatter tests denied Michael Peterson's right to a fair trial.
Deaver would later be fired from the agency following the controversies.
