Michael Peterson Went to Prison for His Wife's Murder — Did He Ever Confess?

Few true crime stories have captivated fans of the genre as much as the mysterious death of Kathleen Peterson. In December 2001, she was found at the foot of her back staircase following an evening of wine drinking with her husband. The couple lived in a 14-room home in Durham, N.C. Michael Peterson called 911 at 2:40 a.m. on Dec. 9, telling the operator that his wife had an accident, but was still breathing, reports NBC News.

Detective Art Holland of the Durham police said the scene was gruesome and bloody. Michael's shoes and shorts were covered in Kathleen's blood, which was pooling around her body and splattering up the stairwell. Crime scene investigators later found blood on the walkway, front door, and in the kitchen sink. The medical examiner said Kathleen died by blunt-force trauma, and Michael was subsequently charged with first-degree murder. Did he ever confess? Here's what we know.

Michael maintained his innocence throughout his trial, which began in July 2003. The state argued that Michael killed his wife because she discovered he was bisexual, and was attempting to have an affair with a male sex worker named Brad. The two never met until Brad testified during Michael's trial. The defense said Kathleen's death was accidental, and was facilitated by the fact that she was intoxicated and had taken Valium. She had reportedly been worried about losing her job, per ABC 11.

In October 2003, a jury handed down a guilty verdict following one of North Carolina's longest trials in the state's history, reported The News & Observer. Michael was sentenced to life in prison, which was overturned eight years later due to the fact that former State Crime Lab blood analyst Duane Deaver lied on the stand during the original trial. He was placed on house arrest while awaiting a retrial, but that ended in February 2017.

Michael entered an Alford plea to a charge of voluntary manslaughter, and was sentenced to time served. Per WRAL, "Under an Alford plea, a defendant can maintain his or her innocence while acknowledging prosecutors have enough evidence for a conviction." This is not a confession.

In May 2022, HBO MAX released a fictional series about Kathleen's death titled The Staircase. It was optioned from the Frech filmmakers who made a 2004 English-language docuseries of the same name. The HBO MAX series starred Colin Firth as Michael and Toni Collette as Kathleen. The real Michael was less than pleased about the series, and said as much to Variety's Addie Morfoot.

He was particularly angry about the fact that actors portrayed his children in the series. "They are innocent bystanders who years ago helped make a documentary [about me]," said Michael. "So I’m just really annoyed." Michael also said the series took a lot of liberties when it came to his kids, which included "different storylines" that were completely wrong.

Michael said he never saw the series, but already took issue with its trailer. In it Michael's children were fighting with Kathleen's daughter Caitlin, who later won a wrongful death lawsuit against her stepfather. "I realized I cannot under any circumstances watch this," said Michael who called the series an "appalling desecration of their lives." He also said Colin Firth wouldn't have been his first choice to pay him, and joked that Brad Pitt would have been better.