Real Crime Profile

On December 9, 2001, Kathleen Peterson died a terrible death, suffering for over 2 hours, bleeding from scalp lacerations and blunt force trauma while she lay in the stairwell of her North Carolina home. Her husband Michael Peterson was convicted of her murder after a contentious trial where all sorts of theories about who or what actually killed Kathleen were posited. Had Michael killed her in a fit of rage as the prosecution argued? Or did she fall down the staircase in a freak accident as claimed by her husband?  The world became fascinated by this case due to a documentary called “The Staircase” which chronicled the run up to Michael’s trial as well as his post conviction appeals through 2018. HBO Max has made the docuseries into a scripted show, starring Toni Collette as Kathleen and Colin Firth as Micheal. The RCP team looks back at our original coverage of “The Staircase” documentary and compares it with the new show. How do both projects stack up to the truth? Join us.#hernamewaskathlee