Best documentaries you have seen

the prosecution maintain that a poker missing from the fireplace was the murder weapon and was used to beat Kathleen Peterson in the head. However the lacerations on the head are very deep, but there was no skull fractures, which suggests that a heavy blunt instrument was not the murder weapon. If it was it would have to be a slow and controlled beating to avoid fracturing the skull. Also the lacerations are very similar in size, shape and direction so the blows would have to be very precise. That sounds unlikely to me. Also the missing poker was later found in the garage and forensic tests showed that it was not the murder weapon. Indeed, after the trial, a jury member said that they did not believe that the poker was the murder weapon and discounted it.

So for me the prosecution can't explain how the wounds on the head were even inflicted, never mind proving that they were inflicted by Michael Peterson. The only fact I can see is that a fall down the stairs did not kill Kathleen Peterson, the fatal injuries were caused by something else and she most likely lost consciousness going up the stairs and fell down to the bottom of the staircase as a result. It does seem odd that she would have been bleeding for a couple of hours before dying. Now some of the time from when Peterson reported the accident to the ambulance arriving needs to be included in that, but there is still some time where she was lying there bleeding before being discovered. Peterson claims he was outside continuing to drink some wine which may well be true, but it's far from an airtight alibi.

I read up on the owl attack theory put forward by the defense and while it sounds ridiculous initially there is a bit of evidence to back it up. The lacerations are tri-pronged which fit with injuries caused by an attack from a bird's talons. It would explain why there were no skull fractures and Owl attacks were somewhat common in that area. Also some blood was found outside the house and evidence that the victim was bleeding before she got near the stairs suggesting something happened outside. Also the victim had pulled out clumps of her own hair as if struggling to remove something from here hair, and microscopic owl feathers were found in that hair. The main problem I have with the own theory is she surely would have screamed while being attacked and her husband would probably have heard it and come to help her. That would suggest he should have found her immediately which goes against the claim that she bled to death for a couple of hours.

So the owl attack theory may sound a bit improbable but it seems to be a better explanation for the wounds than what the prosecution have suggested, which is very little as far as I can see. They claim she was beaten with an unknown weapon, which was never found, in a controlled and precise manner, however there are no skull fractures and less blood splatter than in a normal beating. So things aren't adding up.

The fact that Elizabeth Ratliff also died in similar circumstances is interesting. However the original autopsy shows hemorrhaging of the brain secondary to a blood coagulation disorder as the cause of death, which was likely caused by a fall down the stairs. The later autopsy by the same medical examiner that did Kathleen Peterson's autopsy found blunt force trauma to be the cause of death and suggested it was due to a homicide. But again there was no skull fractures and it seems to be the word of one medical examiner against another, and it's interesting that the one who did not suspect murder did not find murder, but the one who did suspect murder did find murder.

Either way I look forward to the retrial to see what the prosecution will come up with now that any evidence involving Duane Deaver is likely to be disallowed. But surely they'll need to find a better motive (the suggestion that Peterson's "gay life" which his wife supposedly discovered and was not happy with was discounted by police investigators), and a murder weapon. However my guess is the retrial will never happen. A No Contest of Alford plea will be offered and accepted.