Between life and death
A new docudrama, The Staircase, draws from the real-life trial of Mike Peterson. Suspending judgement on his guilt or innocence, it makes for a gripping watch, writes
TheStaircase, the latest true-crime docuseries from Netflix, charts the 15-year-long court case related to the death of North Carolina native Kathleen Peterson. On December 9, 2001, Kathleen was found dead at the base of the staircase of the house she shared with her husband, novelist Mike Peterson.
Mike, who claimed to be sitting by the swimming pool when Kathleen fell down the staircase, was eventually arrested by the police on charges of first-degree murder. Kathleen's body was discovered in a pool of blood and there were several deep lacerations on the back of her head, which the police claimed could not have come from a fall.
While Peterson hired lawyer David Rudolf to represent him in court, he also got Academy Awardwinning documentary filmmaker Jean-Xavier de Lestrade to film the proceedings of the case. In his view, a complete recording of the trial and the debates surrounding it was important to establish his innocence in his wife's death.
The Staircase is the result of that effort. Originally released in 2004 with eight episodes, it was updated in 2011 with another two, and the new Netflix version has an additional three, bringing the total to 13. It's both a fascinating look into one man's purported guilt and the facts of his life as well as a primer on the American legal and justice system.
The documentary begins with nearly equal footage given to the defence and the prosecution, as each builds its case for the trial. The arguments and possible scenarios thrashed out during these early episodes deepen the mystery of Kathleen's death. Peterson hires ace forensic specialist Henry Lee to prove that the blood around Kathleen's body was a result of her fall and subsequent inability to get up due to semi-consciousness.
The prosecution, on its part, finds incriminating evidence against Peterson on his laptop: gay pornography and contacting a male escort for sex. Together with the autopsy report that categorically states that the nature of the death precluded a fall as a cause, these findings give the prosecution the all-important motive for murder.
It is also revealed that the mother of two of Peterson's adopted daughters was found dead at the bottom of the staircase in 1985 in Germany when the Petersons lived there. Mike had been the last person seen with her. The German police had deemed the death an accident triggered by medical causes.
The documentary takes a deep dive into the trial, which took place between June and October of 2003. By this time, the prosecution had stopped all contact with the filmmakers to ensure that key arguments did not leak to the defence. In spite of these limitations, the documentary tries to maintain a mostly objective view of the proceedings.
On the basis of the trial, Mike Peterson was sentenced to life in prison. The full nature of Kathleen's injuries remained unexplained and the jury chose to side with the prosecution's argument. The documentary is especially effective at detailing the impact of the trial and the verdict on Peterson's family, including his two adopted daughters, all of whom stood by him during this time.
In 2011, the case went for retrial after it was revealed that a key testimony against Peterson was made by a public official with a history of padding evidence against the accused. At a time when doubts have been raised about the independence of the judiciary back home, the presence of such incriminating evidence puts a question mark about the sanctity of the investigation procedure in more advanced countries.
The retrial, too, dragged on until in 2017, Peterson accepted a guilty plea in return for escaping prison. At the end of the series, the viewer is none the wiser about his guilt in the case. Rudolf, his lawyer, finds this immaterial if the evidence for the crime is lacking, which he believes is the case with Kathleen's death. Peterson himself remains elusive till the end. He never loses his composure before the camera and commands the love and respect of his family.
Yet, he also concedes that his homosexual lifestyle was a secret from everyone, including his wife, until the case brought it out. This, together with the nature of Kathleen's injuries and the other death in Germany, leaves a lingering doubt in the viewer's mind about his involvement. (There was an owl attack theory that never took off and which the series only cursorily nods to.)
The Staircase may not have a neat ending but it is gripping for its detailed, live recording of a trial, the grilling of witnesses by both the defence and the prosecution, the limits of the jury system and, finally, the behind-the-scenes story of the man at the centre of it all. The show, like real life, is both messy and profoundly instructional.
The documentary takes a deep dive into the trial of Mike Peterson, which took place between June and October of 2003