Michael Peterson was charged with murdering his wife Kathleen in their Durham home in December 2001.
The story of Kathleen’s death and Michael’s trial have been told in a Netflix documentary called “The Staircase” and a 2022 HBO Max scripted series of the same name. HBO’s series released on May 5. In the HBO series, created and written by Antonio Campos, he is portrayed by Colin Firth.
Peterson was convicted in 2003, during one of North Carolina’s longest trials, and spent eight years in prison before his conviction was overturned because of improprieties at the State Bureau of Investigation.
Peterson entered an Alford plea in February 2017 while awaiting a new trial, allowing him to plead guilty to manslaughter while maintaining his innocence. With time served, Peterson was a free man.
He continues to live in Durham, and in the years since the release of the Netflix series, he has written two self-published memoirs about his relationship with Kathleen and his time in prison (available on Amazon). In recent years he has appeared on episodes of “Dr. Phil” and “Dr. Oz.”
Peterson has said that the writers of the HBO “Staircase” series used his memoirs as source material.
He has also told The News & Observer that he has no plans to watch the HBO series.
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