Elizabeth Ratliff (November 25, 1985)

Elizabeth Ratliff was found deceased at the bottom of the stairs in her home in Germany on November 25, 1985 in an apparent accident. Elizabeth was a military widow who was raising two daughters on her own after her husband, an Army soldier, died in a training accident. Elizabeth was a teacher at an Air Force base in Germany where she met Marine veteran Michael Peterson‘s wife, also a teacher. They all quickly formed a friendship and Elizabeth and her two daughters spent a lot of time with the Petersons. It is believed that Peterson was the last person to see Elizabeth alive and after Elizabeth died, Michael Peterson and his wife adopted her two daughters. Initially Elizabeth’s death was deemed an accidental death but when Michael Peterson’s new wife Kathleen Hunt Peterson was found dead at the bottom of her stairs in their home in Durham, North Carolina, investigators gave Elizabeth’s death a second look. The district attorney ordered the exhumation of Elizabeth Ratliff in Texas in an effort to re-examine her body to determine cause of death. The medical examiner conducted an investigation in North Carolina and ruled that the cause of death was a homicidal assault despite the initial finding of cerebral hemorrhage due to an accident. Michael Peterson was never charged with the homicide of Elizabeth Ratliff. As a side note, the two deceased women not only died in a similar fashion but they looked eerily alike.

With the knowledge of the criminal evidence against him, Aphrodite Jones speaks with convicted murderer, Michael Peterson, about the murder of his wife and his bisexual affair. -True Crime with Aphrodite Jones

Related Links:

• Author charged in wife’s murder
• German prosecutor to reopen 1985 death case
• Woman’s death in Germany 18 years ago enters novelist’s murder trial
• 1985 death of teacher now ruled homicide
• Authorities set date for Texas exhumation in Peterson case
• Autopsy Report Reveals Ratliff Was Homicide Victim
• Prosecutors: Money Was Motive in Killing
• Vietnam hero turned novelist convicted of beating his wife to death with a poker
• North Carolina prosecutors say Michael Peterson got fair trial
• Family Members Suspect Michael Peterson In Second Staircase Death
• Staircase Murder Documentary Shows How Michael Peterson Won Bid for Retrial
• Mike Peterson’s lawyers want no evidence about gay escort and porn at his murder trial
• Michael Peterson goes free after pleading guilty to manslaughter in wife’s death
• Michael Peterson: Freed Novelist On ‘Dateline’ NBC About Kathleen Peterson’s Staircase Death Fall, Murder
• Another Stairwell, Another Body: Michael Peterson’s First “Staircase Murder”
• Where Is Michael Peterson In 2018? His Wife’s Death Has Fascinated True Crime Fans For Years
• Some People Blame Kathleen Peterson’s Death on Husband Mike Peterson, Others Blame It on an Owl
• Death of novelist Michael Peterson’s wife Kathleen is focus of An American Murder Mystery
• Did this writer kill his wife in their mansion after she found out about his bisexual secret life? The true story behind new Netflix crime series The Staircase
• Get caught up on The Staircase before the new series hits Netflix
• Getting Away with Murder: Part Two – Michael Peterson |Diane Fanning
• Coincidental Deaths? | CBS
• Reversal of Fortune’, Part 1 | Dateline NBC
• Death at the Bottom of the Stairs | Dateline NBC
• ‘The Staircase’: Money, Sex and Secrets | ABC
• Reversal of Fortune | An American Murder Mystery: The Staircase | ID
• Lightning Strikes Twice | An American Murder Mystery: The Staircase | ID
• I Whispered Her Name | An American Murder Mystery: The Staircase | ID
• An American Murder Mystery: The Staircase | Investigation Discovery

MJFA Links:
Kathleen Hunt Found Deceased at Bottom of Stairs in NC Home; Spouse Michael Peterson Pleaded Guilty to Manslaughter to Avoid Second Trial (Dec. 9, 2001)
Marine Corps Veteran Michael Peterson Convicted of the Murder of Wife Kathleen; Sentenced to Life in Prison, No Parole (October 10, 2003)
Marine Vet Michael Peterson Pleaded Guilty to Manslaughter of Wife Kathleen to Avoid 2nd Trial; Agreed to Alford Plea, Released with Time Served (Feb. 24, 2017)
Investigation Discovery Premiered ‘An American Murder Mystery: The Staircase’ (April 8, 2018)
Netflix Premiered ‘The Staircase’: A Docuseries Examining Marine Veteran Michael Peterson’s Durham, North Carolina Murder Trial (2018)

Investigators are stunned to discover that sixteen years ago, Michael Peterson’s good friend Liz Ratliff also died at the bottom of a staircase, lying in a pool of blood. The trial begins and experts battle over the interpretation of blood spatter. -An American Murder Mystery: The Staircase