The eight-part dramatisation of hit Netflix documentary of the same name, The Staircase, is now showing on Sky Atlantic. Based on an incredible true story, it stars Oscar winner Colin Firth in the lead role as Michael Peterson, the writer and former mayoral candidate, while Toni Collette plays his wife Kathleen Peterson.
A case which saw twists unravel and revelations unveiled, Mr Peterson was ultimately convicted of his wife's murder after finding her at the bottom of the family home's stairs. The trial became a media phenomenon and the true story includes jaw-dropping revelations from the defence to conviction.
Capturing the public's imagination, many still believe Michael Peterson is innocent, while others argue for his guilt. The series is set to reignite the debate, five years after he walked free.
Read more: The Staircase full cast, release date and plot as Sky Atlantic murder drama premieres
The real story behind The Staircase
In 2001, Mr Peterson called 911 to report he had found his wife unconscious on the stairs at their home in Durham, North Carolina, stating he had been beside the family's pool and came in at 2.40am. An autopsy report found that Kathleen had sustained a matrix of severe injuries, including a fracture of the superior cornu of the left thyroid cartilage and seven lacerations to the top and back of her head, consistent with blows from a blunt object.
It concluded she had died from blood loss ninety minutes to two hours after sustaining the injuries. Kathleen's daughter from a previous relationship, Caitlin, and Kathleen's sister, Candace Zamperini, both initially supported Mr Peterson's version of events despite not being there. However, on learning of his bisexuality during the trial, they sided with the prosecution.
This is despite Kathleen and her children she had with Michael reportedly accepting his sexuality. In 2003, the jury found Mr Peterson guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
However in 2017, he walked free after entering an Alford plea to a charge of voluntary manslaughter. Under the plea, he maintained his innocence while acknowledging prosecutors have enough evidence for a conviction.
Extraordinarily, in late 2009, a new theory of Kathleen's death emerged. It claimed she had been attacked by an aggressive owl in the garden, then fell and hit her head on the first treat of the stairs.
Peterson's attorneys claimed that a lab report found a microscopic owl feather and a wooden sliver from a tree limb, that was entangled in a clump of hair that had been pulled out clutched in Kathleen's left hand. This did not make its way to court and no motion for a new trial was filed.
Elizabeth Ratliff
Elizabeth Ratliff died in 1985 in eerily similar circumstances. A friend of the Petersons in Germany, her body was found at the bottom of a staircase with a coroner deeming her death to have been as a result of a haemorrhage, which caused her to fall down the stairs. The Petersons had dinner with Ratliff and her daughters that night, but Mr Peterson stayed to help put her children to bed. Mr Peterson was the last person to see her alive.
The Staircase will be shown from Thursday, May 5 at 9pm on Sky Atlantic. The first three episodes will be available to stream on NOW from the same date, with the remaining five being shown weekly from then on.
The series will then continue the following Thursday, May 12, with episode four.
