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HBO’s The Staircase Arrives on Netflix, Refocusing Attention on the Unresolved Peterson Case

The new release underscores how questions about Kathleen Peterson’s death persist despite Michael Peterson’s 2017 Alford plea.

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THE STAIRCASE, from left: Colin Firth (head turned) as Michael Peterson, Toni Collette as Kathleen Peterson, ‘The Beating Heart', (Season 1, ep. 105, aired May 19, 2022). photo: ©HBO Max / Courtesy Everett Collection; THE STAIRCASE, Colin Firth as Michael Peterson, ‘The Beating Heart', (Season 1, ep. 105, aired May 19, 2022). photo: ©HBO Max / Courtesy Everett Collection
Image via ©HBO Max / courtesy Everett Collection

Overview

  • Netflix is now streaming the 2022 HBO limited series The Staircase, renewing interest in the decades-old case it dramatizes.
  • The series, inspired by the earlier French docuseries, examines the 2001 death of Kathleen Peterson and the prosecution of her husband, Michael.
  • An autopsy led Durham authorities to treat the death as a homicide, citing multiple blows to the back of Kathleen’s head, and Michael was convicted in 2003 before that verdict was overturned in 2011.
  • In 2017, Michael entered an Alford plea to voluntary manslaughter and was released with credit for time served, a resolution that left public debate unresolved.
  • The show highlights competing theories about what happened and revisits ethical questions raised by the original documentary’s editor, Sophie Brunet, who has said her relationship with Michael did not influence her work.