Beyond a Reasonable Certainty:
An Answer for (almost) Everything!

Premeditated Murder	Accidental Death
This was the horribly vicious beating of a strong, vibrant, 48-year-old woman in very good health. Michael Peterson was the only person with the victim as she sustained severe wounds and then lay in pools of her own drying blood for hours -- finally bleeding to death.	This was an accidental fall caused by a combination of Kathleen Peterson's drug and alcohol use, steep steps and poor lighting. The defendant was a hundred yards away and outside of the home at the time of the accident. He cannot account for any of his wife's activities.
Peterson lied to first responders and quickly became uncooperative with police.	The defendant was in a state of complete shock. Scores of inexperienced police officers created much confusion. Without a motive or a murder weapon, police -- who knew of Peterson --  immediately began to treat him like a suspect. He was wisely advised by his attorney to stay silent.
The murder weapon was likely Peterson's blowpoke or something like it. No fireplace tool was ever found, but since the blowpoke was in the home prior to the murder, the defendant probably hid it.	The police never found the blowpoke because they did a poor job searching. Actually the blowpoke was later located, and it clearly wasn't bloodied and mangled as if it had been used for a murder.
There is evidence of staged props and Peterson's attempt to clean up the scene before authorities arrived. Peterson's bloody, Converse tennis shoe prints were found moving about the house.	Since the police failed to secure the scene and many people were present, none of that evidence can be trusted. It's not clear why glasses, cans, condoms and other meaningless items were collected or who may have been using them. Without photos of the Luminol tests, there is no actual proof that Peterson created footprints, or that anxious police saw any prints at all.
Peterson was living on credit and having personal financial difficulties. He stood to gain a million dollars from an accident.	The defendant is a millionaire who had just signed a huge book deal. He and his wife were soulmates.
Peterson had a secret sex life.	The defendant loved his wife dearly. They had private agreements and a unique relationship.
There's just too much blood for an accidental fall down the stairs. Even two or three falls can't explain 10,000 drops. The blood spatter reveals at least 3 impacts that happened in the open space of the stairwell, not on the steps or walls.	It looks worse than it is. The shaking of hands and hair may have contributed to the horrible appearance of the blood. Also, Kathleen Peterson was probably aspirating blood -- coughing, spitting and possibly yelling, while sitting on the steps.
There were only microscopic amounts of blood in Kathleen Peterson's lungs. She could not have aspirated any blood.	?
Blood staining reveals other evidence of a beating, including spatter inside Peterson's shorts and on his shoes, and -- despite being found barefoot -- his shoeprint on the victim's leg.	The blood spatter evidence is inconclusive. Peterson admits he embraced, aided and attended his wife after her frantic emergency.
The soles of Kathleen Peterson's feet were soaked in blood, yet her hands were fairly clean and clutching her own head hairs.	After colliding with the wall, the victim may have grabbed her head, then possibly stood in her own blood and slipped again.
There are 5 vertical and 2 horizontal lacerations, on the back of the victim's head. The long lacerations are bone-deep. The victim also sustained wounds to the face and a neck fracture, as well as defensive type injuries to the hands and arms. No bruising or wounds were found on the rest of the body.	There are actually only 3 or 4 lacerations. Those lacerations could have happened, during a fall where the head hits the wall on the way down to hitting the floor, then a second slip. Injuries from a fall are unpredictable -- further, the most likely result from a beating to the head would be brain injury or skull fracture which was not found.
Red Neurons in the victim's brain establish a time of death near 12:30 PM. The defendant called authorities at 2:30 PM, claiming his wife had just fallen and that she was still breathing.	Red Neurons might occur in as little as 45 minutes post-mortem, which is the amount of time Peterson was out of the house. In his panic, Peterson may have heard his wife's death rattle, been confused, or simply misspoke.
The defendant was involved with another murdered woman who he said accidentally fell down the stairs. She also suffered 7 lacerations to the back of the head. Once may be an accident, but twice is a pattern.	Peterson was not in Liz Ratliff's home when she died of an apparent stroke and possible complications from a rare disease. The two accidents, medically, are very different. Besides, accidents on stairs are exceedingly common, so it would not be unusual for one man to be tangentially involved with two people who, decades apart, happened to die near steps.
Kathleen Peterson was a successful business woman and a happy mother and wife who was brutally beaten and mercilessly left to die by the very person she most trusted and loved. She was not impaired in any way. Small amounts of alcohol and drugs found in her system were insignificant. The defendant is not trustworthy or truthful. His explanation of a bizarre series of accidental falls is not justice for Kathleen Peterson.	There were no witnesses. No one will ever know exactly what occurred, but between the drinks, the drugs and the steep stairway -- an accident was waiting to happen. The defendant is a successful novelist who was very happily married. Peterson suffered first the loss of his wife, and then the travesty of incompetent police and prosecutors. A life in prison due to his wife's unfortunate accident would be an injustice to Michael Peterson.