Department of Defense teacher was found dead at the bottom of the stairs. Two decades later, her friend’s wife met an eerily similar end

The chilling reality of two women dying at the bottom of a staircase decades apart became a central, haunting narrative in the legal battles of Michael Peterson. People reported that the story began long before the infamous case in North Carolina, tracing back to the 1980s when Peterson was living in Germany. It’s a case that has captivated true-crime enthusiasts for years, especially as it moved from real-life tragedy to the screens of Netflix and HBO Max.

In 1985, Elizabeth Ratliff was a teacher at a U.S. Department of Defense School in Germany. She and her husband, George, were friends with Peterson. After George’s devastating, sudden death during a secret military operation in 1983, Peterson stepped in, spending nearly every night with her and her daughters, Margaret and Martha. Although Peterson has maintained that their relationship was platonic.