Michael Peterson/Kathleen Peterson

I didn't see this discussed, so why not? I was absorbed in this heavily and he recently accepted an Alford plea in February 2017, and was sentenced to time already served. Although he is a card carrying felon. Now, I'm not at 100%, so I'm going to refer you to the Wikipedia entry: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

There's tons of other in depth reporting and those interested, will find it and research it.

As an AME, I've seen the publicly released crime scene photos, the autopsy, all the gore. And my personal favorite....wait for it y'all...THE GODDAM OWL DID IT! Cool story, bro. But here's where I'm boring and deal in science and fact and death processes.

What is ALWAYS glossed over is the fractured thyroid cartilage. Hmmm. Now, how'd that berserk, pesky owl with an agenda MANAGE that shit? Oh, it clawed her head? Hmmmm....ok. Oh, it pushed her down the stairs? Yeah, ok...I'm looking for The Grassy Knoll. A deranged owl DID NOT fracture thyroid cartilage. That's from choking, people.

And consider it took 90 minutes to TWO HOURS for this poor woman to finally die. I've sat in terrible pain for hours, often begging for death, so I feel so sorry for this woman. Who should have been attended to and not left to die for HOURS in a bloody puddle at the base of some steps.

Don't forget he is also suspected of killing a German friend (in much the same manner as Kathleen) and taking in her children.

It's all smoke and mirrors and truly theatrical, with a very complicated tango thrown in there really complicate matters, to present a murder trial. But this nerd has always said, "Fractured thyroid cartilage, IDIOTS! The owl doesn't have opposable thumbs and the force to choke her, no matter how psychotic he was! You think she wouldn't have...I don't know, swatted its rabid ass away if it SOMEHOW found a way to choke her?"

Anyways, I see it's a featured case on Dateline Friday night.

In reading the wiki file...one item that stands out to me:
"Despite police reports that there was very little blood at the scene of Ratliff's death, the nanny, who was the first to discover Ratliff's body in 1985, took the stand at Peterson's trial and testified that there was a large amount of blood at the scene. Another witness testified to spending much of the day cleaning blood stains off of the wall."

Lizpuff wrote:

In reading the wiki file...one item that stands out  to me:
"Despite police reports that there was very little blood at the scene of Ratliff's death, the nanny, who was the first to discover Ratliff's body in 1985, took the stand at Peterson's trial and testified that there was a large amount of blood at the scene. Another witness testified to spending much of the day cleaning blood stains off of the wall."

Oh yes! See, I've forgotten all these seemingly small details that really are a big deal. Again, a shoutout to cancer, treatments, all my other fatal diseases for turning my brain into mush! But there's just SOOOO much there. It's really overwhelming if you let it be. To me, it's fractured thyroid cartilage. All the rest is a spectacle.

It has all the plots of a really bad crime novel. Spending her money, whining in a local paper about law enforcement, soliciting gay sex (Brad is epic), lying about his military service. An eerily similar murder decades earlier in another country. Sadly, it's not a really bad crime novel. It's a terrible, awful death that 2 women endured.

Kathleen Peterson's Autopsy Report:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

She was beat to death along with being choked. That's not a nice, easy death. I can't imagine her terror. I can't imagine her pain. And it enrages me every time in a domestic abuse case that segues into murder. These are the ugly, the brutal, the savage, the painful deaths. After all the beating and choking, it still took up to 2 hours for her to die. While he "smoked a cigar" in the 50-ish degree late night, outdoors by the pool...according to him.

wow, what a case.

And let's not forget poor Elizabeth Ratliffe, who died in a very similar manner. They were all American military at a German base. She's even more tragic, I think. Her husband was an air force pilot on a mission or a training exercise and he died. The details have never been made public. So, here is this young widow with 2 fatherless children. Peterson and his first wife took to them. She redid her will, giving him custody of her kids if anything ever happened to her. Whoops! Down the stairs she goes and dies a similar death as Kathleen. They even look vaguely similar.