This man pleaded guilty for a crime an owl actually committed
Do you now personally plead guilty pursuant to the Alford case? Yes, sir
Michael Peterson was convicted of murdering his wife, Kathleen Peterson. Hundreds and now millions of people will see this and judge me
He claimed she fell down the stairs, but the case took an unexpected turn when an alternative theory
known as the owl theory, emerged, suggesting that Kathleen had been murdered by an owl
It's a lot more plausible that they all did it than I did it. On the night of December 9th, 2001, Peterson called 911
reporting that he had found Kathleen unconscious at the bottom of their staircase
911, where's your market? 1810 Cedar Street, please. What's wrong? My wife had an exodus. She's still breathing
He claimed she had been drinking and must have fallen while he was outside. He is a person who knows how to create a fictional plot
However, investigators were suspicious of the amount of blood, the pattern of the splatter
and the deep lacerations on Kathleen's skull, which led them to believe she had been beaten
to death. I wasn't focusing on the blood. I was focusing on Kathleen lying there, picking her up, holding her, watching her die and
her breathing just fade and fade away. The owl theory suggested that Kathleen had been attacked by an owl outside, before running
inside, falling and hitting her head. In my opinion, she was hit, the bird hit, realized it had made a mistake, and it went flying away into the night
This theory gained traction due to the discovery of microscopic owl feathers and a wooden slither in her hair
as well as the pattern of her scalp lacerations, which some experts argued resembled talon wounds rather than injuries from a weapon
One two three like that there While some forensic experts found it plausible it was never formally pursued in court We have owls in the neighborhood and the wounds that I was shown leads me to think something else happened
Peterson's case was further complicated by the 1985 death of his friend Elizabeth Ratliff
who was found dead at the bottom of a staircase under similar circumstances
Elizabeth was the biological mother of two of Peterson's adopted daughters, Margaret and Martha
There was never a moment which it would have made sense for my dad to have been guilty
Though her death was initially ruled accidental due to a brain hemorrhage
a later autopsy changed the cause to homicide. They didn't actually show the part of my mom's brain that had a brain hemorrhage
which is why she died. Peterson had been the last known person to see her alive
having helped her put her children to bed the night before she was found. Her death was never described as anything other than natural
Peterson was found guilty of manslaughter. We the 12 members of the jury unanimously find a defendant to be guilty of first degree murder
But his conviction was overturned in 2011 after it was revealed that a key prosecution witness
Dwayne Diva, had given misleading testimony. There's no evidence. There was no reason for me to kill her. There was no weapon. There was nothing
After being granted a retrial, Peterson submitted an Alford plea, maintaining his innocence
He was sentenced to time served and released. Do you now personally plead guilty pursuant to the Alford case
Yes, in which you say, okay, there's enough evidence here to convict me, but I'm innocent
He later became a columnist and a novelist known for criticizing law enforcement
Following his legal battles, Peterson published a memoir behind the staircase, detailing his experiences