Mysterious PNW Holiday Road Trip: The Staircase Murder

This is a special episode to all of our listeners from the wonderful podcast Mysterious PNW. We hope you love it as much as we do.

Kathleen Peterson's mysterious death in 2001, found at the bottom of a staircase with severe head injuries, led to the arrest and conviction of her husband, Michael Peterson, for first-degree murder. Despite the prosecution's claims of a violent attack, Michael's defense argued it was an accidental fall, and questions about the reliability of forensic evidence and expert testimony persisted throughout the trial. After serving eight years in prison, Michael entered an Alford plea in 2017, maintaining his innocence while acknowledging sufficient evidence for conviction, leaving the case unresolved and controversial.