Michael Peterson

Also known as: Death of Kathleen Peterson, The Staircase

Active: 2001–2001
Region: Durham, North Carolina, USA
State: NC
Kind: Single
Status: Pleaded guilty
Victims: 1

Kathleen Peterson, 48, a Nortel executive, was found dead at the foot of a staircase in her Durham home on December 9, 2001. Her husband, novelist Michael Peterson, told the 911 dispatcher she appeared to have fallen down the stairs; he was charged with murder and convicted in 2003. That verdict was set aside in 2011 after a judge found that a State Bureau of Investigation blood analyst had misled the jury. In 2017 Peterson entered an Alford plea to voluntary manslaughter, which counts as a guilty plea while letting him maintain that he is innocent. He was sentenced to time already served.

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Victims

We remember the people whose lives were taken.

Kathleen Peterson, 48 · December 9, 2001
A business executive at the telecommunications company Nortel.

Timeline of locations

December 9, 2001
Peterson home, Forest Hills, Durham (Crime scene, approximate area)
Kathleen Peterson was found at the bottom of a staircase in the couple's home. Michael Peterson said she had fallen; prosecutors said he had killed her.
2003
Nash Correctional Institution (Prison)
Peterson was held here from his 2003 conviction until his release on bond in December 2011.
October 10, 2003
Durham County Superior Court (Court / trial, approximate area)
A jury convicted Peterson of first-degree murder here in October 2003. In 2011 the same court ordered a new trial, and on February 24, 2017 he entered an Alford plea to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to time served.

Michael Peterson

Victims

Timeline of locations

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