The sisters were playmates with her daughter, Caitlin, who lived down the street in Durham, North Carolina. When Peterson and Patricia's marriage began falling apart in the mid-'80s, the girls were the ones responsible for introducing Peterson to his next wife, Kathleen. The evening before she died, Peterson had been at her house, helping put her daughters, Margaret and Martha, to bed, according to NBC.Īfter Ratliff died, the Peterson family adopted Margaret and Martha and moved back to the U.S.
But one morning in November 1985, their dear friend was found dead at the bottom of a flight of stairs. While overseas, Patricia and Peterson befriended Elizabeth Ratliff, a mother of two young girls whose husband was killed while on a military mission. The couple had two sons, Clayton and Todd. Peterson's family friend was also found dead at the bottom of a staircaseīefore Peterson met Kathleen in 1986, he lived in Germany with his first wife Patricia Peterson, an elementary school teacher at an American military base there, according to People. Here's what to know about Peterson, his family, and his murder trial. But, as plays out over the 13 episodes, Peterson may not be who he seems. "I can vividly remember finding Kathleen," Peterson says in the trailer. The Netflix version of The Staircase, which premieres on June 8, includes three new episodes that examine Peterson's life today after the lengthy legal battle that ensued after his wife's death.
Over the years, as the Peterson case has taken many twists and turns, de Lestrade has followed up his original series with two sequels. The Staircase, directed by Oscar winner Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, originally aired on French television as an eight-episode miniseries in 2004 and earned the prestigious Peabody Award in 2005.