The Staircase - Netflix

[Gibby]

Spoilers ahead, I guess! Seems weird to talk about something that really happened in such terms..

So we watched this after I saw it got some good recommendations from folks back in the old PW TV thread. I mentioned as such in the TV thread here but figured it might warrant its own thread for discussion if anybody is interested.

Man, what a brilliantly put-together documentary following the trial of Michael Peterson. My wife and I were in opposite camps on whether or not he did it. I started to think he was innocent as soon as it came to light that a woman from his past was killed under similar circumstances. Despite that actually being quite damning on the surface, I thought that surely a man of his (apparent) intelligence would surely know that it would be dug up and used against him if he decided to use that questionable method/excuse a second time in what would be a second murder by that point.

Suddenly a lot of the arguments from the defense made more sense to me. I know the documentary was filmed entirely from the defense's perspective (which my wife liked to remind me during our discussions), but I do think the police were gunning for him almost immediately and then making the evidence fit. The locating of the blow-poke near to the end of the trial was a double edged sword but the forensics suggested it hadn't been used to beat anyone to death.

When they came back with the verdict, I was actually a bit gutted (although the reaction from his daughters made it more sad for me I guess). Then when the "blood spatter expert" was proven to be a fraud... Wow.

Anyway - good TV was that. I did read the Owl Theory by the way. Fascinating theory!

[Sly Boots]

Yeah, it's a roller-coaster and I think both my wife and I were flip-flopping on whether we thought he was guilty. I think he's definitely an oddball but probably an innocent one, though there seemed to be so much that didn't quite add up.

[Gibby]

Oddball to say the least, and it is very suspicious really. In legal terms though, I don't think the case was strong enough to convict him of murder. Half the jury were of that opinion but were swayed by the evidence presented by the blood spatter guy who turned out to be full of shit.

[Sly Boots]

Oddball to say the least, and it is very suspicious really. In legal terms though, I don't think the case was strong enough to convict him of murder. Half the jury were of that opinion but were swayed by the evidence presented by the blood spatter guy who turned out to be full of shit.

Yes. If you want something of a similar theme you should also check out The Confession Tapes for a further look at the US legal system in action... pretty scary stuff.

[Alan]

He totally did it, just not in the way the prosecution claimed. The defence blood guys account makes more sense if there’s someone giving her a little helping hand. If they were both upstairs and she found stuff on the computer, he followed her down the stairs arguing and gave her a pushypush and again whe she gets back to her feet. Far enough to avoid spatter himself except for that stray droplet that got there when he used his foot to push her a third (leaving the footprint) time because that lets you have more reach when you have the higher ground Anakin.

I’m blood spatter expert Blane Beaver.

[Sly Boots]

He totally did it, just not in the way the prosecution claimed. The defence blood guys account makes more sense if there’s someone giving her a little helping hand. If they were both upstairs and she found stuff on the computer, he followed her down the stairs arguing and gave her a pushypush and again whe she gets back to her feet. Far enough to avoid spatter himself except for that stray droplet that got there when he used his foot to push her a third (leaving the footprint) time because that lets you have more reach when you have the higher ground Anakin.

I’m blood spatter expert Blane Beaver.

That's a pretty interesting theory. Though part of me just thinks surely the police/forensics/prosecution would have investigated that chain of events and discounted it?

Although having watched The Confession Tapes I'm probably giving US law enforcement far too much credit there!

Certainly in those cases it seems they fixated very early on on what they thought had happened, and then proceeded to force confessions from people to 'confirm' it, in the face of all other evidence (or lack thereof).

[Me]

I concur Sly, all the random bad US policing documentarys you watch are normally based on the cops jumping to a conclusion then only getting evidence that backs that conclusion up, ignoring all other leads. Pretty nasty justice system in the US, the conviction rate is so high they recommend loads of innocent people to just admit guilt and take a plee bargain.

Did anyone else read about the eagle attack theory? Apparently someone was attacked nearby by an eagle the wounds ending up looking quite similar to the gashes she sustained. The theory goes she was attacked outside by an eagle, ran inside to get help and slipped on her blood in the stairwell and died there.

[Stormbringer]

Did anyone else read about the eagle attack theory?

I think it was an owl, not an eagle. ¬_¬

[Me]

They both have feathers, claws and they fly ¬_¬

[Gibby]

Well so do Velociraptors!

Wait, that doesn't make sense. They don't fly.

[Stormbringer]

They're also, generally speaking, extinct. ¬_¬

[Gibby]

Twasthejoke.exe ¬_¬

[Stormbringer]

I don't think my OS came with that file. ¬_¬

[Alan]

Bickering grannies!