Written in Blood

by Diane Fanning

  Each juror answered, “Yes.” Their mission fulfilled, the jurors left the courtroom.

  Judge Hudson said, “Mr. Peterson, if you’ll stand.”

  An expressionless Michael Peterson rose.

  “You certainly do not have to be heard,” he said. “Anything you want to say before the court imposes judgment?”

  “I just want to say to my children,” he turned around with a twisted smile and nodded at each of the children, saying, “It’s Okay. It’s Okay. It’s Okay. It’s Okay.”

  When Peterson turned back around, Judge Hudson delivered his sentence. “The defendant is imprisoned in the North Carolina Department of Correction for the remainder of his natural life.”

  The deputy slid the handcuffs from his belt and wrapped them around the wrists of the man who had earned a Silver Star and a Bronze Heart in the jungles of Vietnam, the novelist who had made the New York Times Best Seller List, the husband convicted of murder.

  After ninety-nine days, State of North Carolina vs. Michael Iver Peterson had, at last, drawn to a close.

  THE AFTERMATH

  “All the strength I have, I owe to my mother.”

  —Caitlin Atwater

  55

  Eighty-three-year-old Veronica Hunt was at a friend’s house for a luncheon and a bridge party. In the middle of their game, the telephone rang. “He’s guilty! He’s guilty! Turn on the TV!” sounded through the room.

  She sat before the television set and watched her former son-in-law being led away in handcuffs. Her friends hugged her and cried in relief—they had all worried about a hung jury. One woman rushed home and grabbed a bottle of champagne so they could toast the verdict.

  Veronica was pleased that the “obnoxious” Rudolf had gotten his comeuppance. She was glad for a measure of justice for her daughter. But Kathleen was still dead.

  Candace Zamperini was teaching sign language at a school near her home in Virginia when her husband brought her news of the verdict. She was relieved, but felt a heavy burden of pain. She knew that people expected her to jump up and down in excitement. But there was too much sadness for celebration. She had lost her sister. And now she had lost a brother-in-law as well. There was no winner.

  In appreciation, she had Stuart Johnson make replicas of the chimes hanging over Kathleen’s grave. She gave them to Jim Hardin, Freda Black and Duane Deaver. She also donated a set to the First Presbyterian Church to hang in the small garden where the family met before the first day of the trial.

  In Germany, Barbara Malagnino spent many sleepless nights waiting for the verdict. She was in the stables with her horses cleaning the stalls when her mother called her on her portable phone. “The just wrapped cuffs on his hands and are walking him out,” her mother said.

  Barbara could not believe it at first and then she was swept with strong feelings of sadness and relief. She shuddered, remembering once again that she had been so close to evil and had not been aware of it.

  The district attorney’s office received a call from their most notorious witness, Brent “Brad” Wolgamott. He congratulated them on putting a monster behind bars.

  The same day the verdict was rendered, David Rudolf and Thomas Maher submitted a notice to the courts indicating their intent to file an appeal on behalf of their client.

  Two Durham County Sheriff’s Department deputies escorted Michael Peterson from Durham to Central Prison in Raleigh, the admission point into the state prison system for any male felon with a sentence of 10 years or more.

  Just before 3 that afternoon, he entered a residential hall at Central in his prison-issued white tee shirt and gray pants. He now faced a physical and psychological examination that included substance abuse screening, an IQ test and an aptitude test. Sometime within two weeks, he would be transported to the facility he would call home. For dinner that first night, the prison served fish, cole slaw and a grape-flavored drink.

  Within a week, the determination was made and Michael Peterson was on his way to the Nash Correctional Institution, home to over 600 maximum- and medium-security prisoners. The fifteen-building complex in Nashville, North Carolina, is surround by security cameras, guard towers and ten- to twelve-foot chain-link fencing topped with coiled wire. Outside the barrier are fields of cotton, soybeans and sweet potatoes and a scattering of homes.

  Peterson—now inmate number 0816932—was taken to his 8-foot by 9-foot cell with its bed and stainless-steel toilet, sink and two tables attached to the wall. He had use of a limited library and a computer with word processing software, but without access to the Internet. He would be allowed one phone call per week and up to three visitors at a time on Saturday and Sunday. One of his new neighbors was another client of David Rudolf, former Carolina Panther, Rae Carruth.

  Five days after his arrival at Nash, the reality of prison life hit Peterson hard. He was in his cell reading during a free time period after dinner—a time when all the cell doors are left open. Convicted armed robber Larry Wade entered his cell. A few words were exchanged and then fists flew.

  In handcuffs and shackles, Michael Peterson was escorted to Nash General Hospital where he received several stitches for his busted lip. He returned to the prison late that night. Both prisoners were removed from the general population and kept locked in solitary cells while prison officials investigated the altercation. With only himself for company, Peterson turned 60 years old on October 23—but he no longer had anything to celebrate.

  At the end of the investigation, Wade was given 60 days of disciplinary segregation, 70 hours of extra duty and a 6-month suspension of visitation, telephone and canteen privileges. His possible parole date was pushed back, as well—he lost credit for 50 good days. Peterson received no additional punishment.

  The day before Michael was assaulted, Brent “Brad” Wolgamott was in the news again. He allegedly masqueraded as a dentist named Karl Smith and called in prescriptions including hydrocodone, a narcotic, and clindamycin, an antibiotic, to a Raleigh CVS Pharmacy. Four counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud or forgery were filed. Wolgamott surrendered to authorities at the Wake County Jail that evening. Two hours later, he was released on $1,000 bond.

  At 11:30 the next morning, Raleigh police arrested him again. Police say he allegedly attempted the same scam at a Kmart Pharmacy. This time, he was held on a $10,000 bond. Wolgamott claimed the stress and embarrassment of his testimony in the Peterson case drove him to it.

  Michael Peterson filed an affidavit of indigency asking the state for a court-appointed attorney to handle his appeal. The form he filled out showed total assets of $1,297,000—nearly all in real estate.

  On the other side of the balance sheet, his liabilities included $105,000 in credit card debt, a $300,000 loan from his brother, Bill, a $168,000 loan from his ex-wife, Patty, and $78,000 he owed the Internal Revenue Service for his 2001 taxes. A review of his tax return for that year revealed that Michael Peterson claimed an income that was far less than the amount listed on Kathleen Peterson’s W-2 from Nortel Networks in the last year of her life.

  The total amount of his liabilities was $1,408,000. In other words, Michael Peterson was more than $100,000 in the hole. For months, his defense team mocked the prosecution’s allegation of a financial motive. They insisted their client had no money problems.

  Judge Hudson denied Peterson’s application, saying, “If you have $1.2 million in assets, you can find a way to hire a lawyer.”

  David Rudolf filed a new motion with the judge requesting that he reconsider his decision. It said that although Peterson claimed a net worth of $2 million, the cost of his defense depleted his resources—the actual cost of the trial was not given.

  Judge Hudson reversed his ruling and declared Peterson indigent. Thomas Maher agreed to accept the position of court-appointed attorney at a state rate of $65 per hour. The state would also bear the cost—about $40,000—to provide a full transcript of the trial proceedings to the appellant.

  Maher did not expe
ct to receive that document from the court reporters before the summer of 2004. He knew his appeal would include arguments about the inclusion of evidence surrounding the death of Elizabeth Ratliff and the admission of the gay pornography. He needed to review the transcript, however, before determining what other errors he might cite.

  Maher’s faith in his client was unshaken by the verdict. “I find it impossible,” he said, “to believe he would commit any first-degree murder, particularly not of someone he deeply cared for and loved.”

  Thomas Maher no longer worked with David Rudolf at the law firm where they were both employed throughout the Peterson trial. One week after that case ended, Maher resigned to set up his own practice.

  Juror Kelli Colgan thought about the Peterson case every day. Any spare moment, it popped up in her thoughts. In the beginning, it ran through her head six or seven times an hour. It stirred up primitive anxieties similar to a child’s fear of monsters under the bed. The intensity of these intrusions did not ease up until Christmas.

  1810 Cedar Street went on the market with a price tag of $1,175,000. People all over Durham marked their calendars for the three-day tag sale of furnishings, artwork and books at the house one weekend in November. For a $20 ticket, interested parties could get a sneak preview of the items on sale on Thursday evening.

  One of the sale organizers said that security guards would usher out anyone making disrespectful remarks about Michael Peterson. Of the nearly 500 people standing in line early on the first morning of the sale, many had slept in cars and vans on the side of the road to get a prime spot in the front. Before the sale was over, more than 2,000 people entered the mansion. Items sold for a low of 25 cents for a can opener and a high of $6,000 for Peterson’s vintage Triumph TR3. Organizers told reporters that the total take from the sale was nobody’s business.

  Todd and Clayton Peterson, Margaret and Martha Ratliff and Caitlin Atwater shared in the proceeds from the sale. Any amount Caitlin received would be considered a down payment against the judgment anticipated in her wrongful death suit against Michael Peterson.

  On the two-year anniversary of Kathleen’s death, the asking price for the house dropped to $975,000. As of June 2004, it was still on the market, but the price was now only $695,000. Finally, at the end of July, the home sold for $640,000.

  On Thanksgiving Day, Barbara Malagnino found a letter in her mailbox at her home in Germany from the Darmstadt police requesting that she contact them regarding the death of Elizabeth Ratliff in 1985. A murder investigation was under way.

  Many friends of Michael Peterson refused to accept the verdict of the court. Former U.S. Representative Nick Galifianakis and businessmen and lawyer Larry Pollard brought forward their theory of Kathleen Peterson’s death. They wanted her body exhumed to test the back of her scalp for owl DNA.

  They believed Kathleen’s death could have been the result of an attack by a barn owl or a great homed owl. In his letter to District Attorney Jim Hardin, Larry Pollard cited eleven points of evidence in support of the theory of an owl strike, including the number, shape and location of the gashes to Kathleen’s head. He also noted his research into owl attacks on people in the United States.

  Many wondered if Pollard was driven more by his past than by his friendship with Peterson. In 1960, his father was accused of capital murder. In the end, he was convicted of manslaughter.

  Jim Hardin responded to Pollard’s letter. “We appreciate your concern and consideration of this matter, but we remain fully confident that justice was indeed served in this case.”

  Appeal attorney Thomas Maher distanced himself from the theory and said it would not play a role in the appeal.

  Lawyers Weekly USA, a national newspaper for small law firms, announced its list of the top ten lawyers of the year in January 2004. Only one prosecutor made the cut—District Attorney Jim Hardin. Upon learning of this honor, Hardin said the recognition should be shared with Freda Black and David Saacks. “The prosecution of the Peterson case was truly a collaborative effort,” he said.

  On January 15, Judge Orlando Hudson ruled in the wrongful death suit filed by Caitlin Atwater that Michael Peterson was civilly liable for his wife’s death. Caitlin was not present in court that day. Her attorney, Jay Trehy, said that the amount of damages would be determined at a later date.

  Although Peterson had a negative balance sheet, the decision was still meaningful, Trehy said. “If he ever wrote a book, a chapter, an article or anything and tries to make money out of what he’s done, then Caitlin Atwater will be able to come in and collect on those assets.”

  Caitlin had other pending legal matters as well. After pursuing administrative remedies, her lawyer filed a suit in federal court in Greensboro, North Carolina, against Nortel Networks for the $384,166 of Kathleen’s benefits that they’d paid to Michael Peterson. The suit contended that North Carolina had prohibited the distribution of money to the person under indictment for her murder. Trehy did not expect a result in the Nortel Networks situation until 2005.

  Caitlin was fighting the Navy Federal Credit Union over the foreclosure on one of the Peterson homes. She claimed they had no right to loan $75,000 to Michael Peterson after he was indicted for murder and therefore had no right to claim the home in exchange for the unpaid debt.

  Prudential Life Insurance released the payment due on Kathleen’s life insurance to the courts, asking them to determine the proper recipient. In June 2004, the courts ruled that Caitlin and Fred Atwater would share the funds from this policy.

  In mid-February, Dateline NBC aired a two-hour special on Michael Peterson. The promotional announcement mentioning Gräfenhausen, Germany, caught the eye of Donna Carlson Lindahl. She had lived there for four years.

  She remembered the town with mixed feelings. It was there she had her good years with her daughter, Amy—the years before Amy’s grade school teacher, Liz Ratliff, committed suicide. Since that day, Amy’s life was a downhill spiral. She’d suffered from depression. She had a health crisis caused by overmedication. She went without any care for a time when her father left the military and the family lost their medical benefits.

  Then, at the age of 14, Amy Carlson took her own life—following the escape route she believed her beloved teacher had used. Deep inside, Donna harbored an anger at Liz Ratliff for the damage her suicide inflicted on Amy.

  Donna settled down to watch the show—her mind filled with memories of her daughter. It had been many years since Amy’s death, but the pain was still alive. She hoped glimpses of the distant past would smooth some of the scars she bore.

  What she saw, however, jolted her with renewed pain. This show was not just any story set in Grafenhausen—it told the truth behind the death of Amy’s teacher. It was not a suicide. Donna wondered who had created that rumor and if it had been spread by someone wanting to protect Michael Peterson.

  Her anger was intense, but no longer directed at Liz Ratliff. Her sorrow now had a new dimension. In her heart, Donna was convinced that there was one more victim of Michael Peterson—her daughter, Amy.

  On February 18, David Rudolf appeared in Orange County Superior Court. It was not in his usual capacity—he had been summoned for jury duty. The case involved a former UNC football player who was charged with raping a student in her dorm room. Rudolf was excused from the panel.

  The three most tragic figures in the courtroom, Margaret and Martha Ratliff and Caitlin Atwater, attempted to pick up the pieces of their lives. Margaret returned to Tulane University in New Orleans. Upon her arrival, three letters from Michael Peterson were waiting for her in her mailbox. Martha returned to her studies at the University of San Francisco. Bill Peterson was determined to make sure the sisters were able to complete their educations.

  Caitlin was back in Ithaca, New York, at Cornell University. She had not declared a major yet, but her studies focused on sociology and government. She hoped to go to law school when she graduated.

  In March 2004, military investigators co
nsulted with authorities in Durham. Like the German police, they were opening an investigation into the death of Department of Defense employee Liz Ratliff.

  Later that month, an attorney representing Michael Peterson was back in Judge Hudson’s courtroom. Peterson wanted his Cartier watch, which the police had seized as evidence. The judge denied the request, ruling that the state was within its rights to hold on to all evidence while appeals were pending.

  It would be a long time before the people of Durham would relegate this tragedy to the dustbin of old news.

  AFTERWORD

  “Psychology is based on probability.”

  –Michael Nuccitelli, forensic psychologist

  I drove to Maplewood Cemetery after court one day. Peace settled around me as I entered the serene landscape spotted with majestic trees. Beneath one towering oak, I found the last resting place of Kathleen Hunt Peterson.

  Above, in the branches of the tree, the set of wind chimes hung. As I reached the foot of her grave, a breeze danced through the air and the sweetest sound I ever heard tinkled through the air. It was almost as if the gracious hostess was welcoming me to her new home.

  I paused there for a time thinking about the great light lost the day Kathleen died. All the while the chimes graced the air with a pure sound that offered comfort. I placed a small stone on her headstone, turned and walked away. As soon as I passed under the tree on my way to my car, the breeze died and the music of Kathleen faded in the air.

  I looked back and waved to the woman I had never known and now never would. She remained a presence in the hearts of her mother, her daughter, her sisters, her brother and in all the many lives she had touched.