Michael Peterson's "daughter" speaks
tinydancer
Ratliff's Daughters Stand Behind Peterson
ABC 11 Exclusive
By Sonya Pfeiffer
Elizabeth Ratliff's daughters are still reeling from the fact that their
mother's body was even exhumed in the first place, and from the allegations
against Michael Peterson. They've broken their silence about the case, and
spoke exclusively with Eyewitness News reporter Sonya Pfeiffer.
It's difficult to imagine what life has been like for anyone intimately
involved in the Kathleen Peterson murder case. Developments routinely drop
like lead in a story that many find hard to believe.
I went to New Orleans and spoke with one of Elizabeth's daughters, Margaret.
Margaret and her younger sister Martha Ratliff are two young women in their
twenties trying lead normal twenty-something lives while coping with the
theme of loss in their life.
Margaret Ratliff might say truth is crueler than fiction. "It's something
nobody should have to deal with," she said.
Her birth father died when she and her younger sister Martha were infants.
Their birth mother died when they were toddlers. For nearly two decades
Michael Peterson is whom they call dad. Kathleen Peterson was always mom.
Now her dad is charged with murdering her mother. "We just looked at Dad and
said 'we know you didn't do it.' He said, 'of course I didn't do it,' and I
have never had a doubt. They just loved each other so much."
Peterson was charged a year and a half ago. Two weeks ago, the body of
Margaret and Martha's birth mother, Elizabeth Ratliff, was exhumed. The
girls always believed their mother died after falling down the stairs from a
stroke. Monday the Chapel Hill medical examiner completed an autopsy
concluding Elizabeth Ratliff was murdered-- a result of blunt force trauma
to the head. The Durham district attorney wants to link Michael Peterson to
the death. "I know Dad is innocent. He didn't kill either one of my mothers.
It's just ridiculous," Margaret said.
Peterson's attorney believes it's ridiculous, too. In an exhaustive motion
filed Tuesday, David Rudolf argues the Ratliff autopsy should not be allowed
into the courtroom. "My client ought to be judged on evidence in this case
not on whether some woman he was friends with died as the result of a stroke
or something else that he had zero to do with," Rudolf said.
All of this has been absorbed by Ratliff's two birth daughters, both in
their twenties, both trying to attend college and find some sense of
normalcy. "I can't believe any jury will convict my dad after all the
evidence is laid out," Margaret said. "There's just no way."
The jury that makes that decision will be selected soon; jury selection is
scheduled to begin Monday.
Wednesday, the main players are back in court to argue over whether the
Ratliff autopsy and Peterson's sexuality should be allowed into the
courtroom. Defense attorney David Rudolf says he still wants a Durham jury
to hear this case, but he may ask for a delay depending on what happens
Wednesday.
crosem
circumstances were of the father's death?
since there have been rumors that Peterson is a homosexual, perhaps he
killed the father AND mother or the mother after the father died w/o being
murdered so he could have the children?
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