The Staircase [Netflix] [** Spoilers **]

Pelvis

kerplun k wrote: »

It was a weird one. I think this is a rare case in which two wrongs make a right.
I'm convinced he did it. The coincidence of two women both found dead at the end of the stairs is just too bizarre for it not to be connected. The lacerations on Kathleen Petersons head was not from a fall, but the simple truth here is that the police done such a p1ss poor job of collecting evidence and building a proper case against Mike Peterson, they ended up having to resort to using unethical methods to get the conviction.

Based on what they had, the case shouldn’t have even went to trial, and after it did, the jury shouldn’t have returned with a guilty verdict, but in some weird f**ked up way, I think justice was served. Was it fair? No, Should he have been convicted? No. But, do you think he had something to do with Kathleen’s or Elizabeth Ratliff's deaths?, This is something we will probably never know, but based on everything I heard, I'm more inclined to believe that Mike Peterson is not 100% innocent.

Peterson had no choice and was forced to enter the Alford plea and admit guilt on Kathleen, so in the eyes of the law, he is guilty. He's served 8/9 years in prison, lost his money, his health and his reputation. I wouldn’t be too confident in handing him a life sentence, because I can't fully say he was involved in either murder, but based on what I seen, I think his punishment was just about right, even tho, the path to serving that punishment was wrong.

It was a fantastic documentary and one which highlights the injustice of the American justice system.

So you think he did it, because of the coincidence of the two deaths, but don't think the case should have been brought to trial because of lack of evidence but the jury were right to reach a guilty verdict but he shouldn't have been convicted.

Makes sense, I hope you're not on jury duty anytime soon.

kerplun k

Pelvis wrote: »

So you think he did it, because of the coincidence of the two deaths, but don't think the case should have been brought to trial because of lack of evidence but the jury were right to reach a guilty verdict but he shouldn't have been convicted.

Makes sense, I hope you're not on jury duty anytime soon.

Ehhh, did you read my post? I specifically said the jury were wrong to bring a guilty verdict, notwithstanding the fact that I think he done it.

Pelvis

That's not what you said first in fairness, you originally said "the jury shouldn’t have returned with a not guilty verdict". I didn't see your edit.

kerplun k

Pelvis wrote: »

That's not what you said first in fairness, you originally said "the jury shouldn’t have returned with a not guilty verdict". I didn't see your edit.

But you quoted me after I edited it. Anyhews, lets move on.

verycool

Was the owl theory mentioned in the show? I don't remember it and I just picked that up from reading other threads / searching videos on youtube / his wiki page.

I took an immediate dislike to the sisters. Not sure why. An example was when they're trying to search through his writings to find something that would indicate a violent behaviour... seemed 'petty' to me. Granted, they lost their sister!

It's such a polar case that I found myself thinking "he's guilty / not guilty" throughout the series.

Uriel.

verycool wrote: »

Was the owl theory mentioned in the show? I don't remember it and I just picked that up from reading other threads / searching videos on youtube / his wiki page.

I took an immediate dislike to the sisters. Not sure why. An example was when they're trying to search through his writings to find something that would indicate a violent behaviour... seemed 'petty' to me. Granted, they lost their sister!

It's such a polar case that I found myself thinking "he's guilty / not guilty" throughout the series.

No wasn't mentioned in the series. Not sure how significantly it was treated in the case in a broader sense.

Yeah I didn't really like the sisters either but I try not to pass too much judgment on them given the situation they were in. However. I'd certainly pass serious judgment on the prosecution team, the investigators and the American justice system more generally. It seems that none of the parties involved were interested in the trying to identify the truth in a clean manner.

murpho999

Uriel. wrote: »

No wasn't mentioned in the series. Not sure how significantly it was treated in the case in a broader sense.

Yeah I didn't really like the sisters either but I try not to pass too much judgment on them given the situation they were in. However. I'd certainly pass serious judgment on the prosecution team, the investigators and the American justice system more generally. It seems that none of the parties involved were interested in the trying to identify the truth in a clean manner.

Just finished this last night and found it a fascinating series.

The owl theory was briefly mentioned when Rudolf spoke to Peterson about his plea bargain and mentioned a 'raptor' attack but it was not expanded upon in the show.

I think he is innocent as there was so little evidence against him.

Also, found it key how his family stuck by him and never thought he did it despite having lost a mother.

I think he's been through hell and deserves a peaceful life now.

p to the e

One thing is for sure. You need to look up all the information that was left out of the "unbiased" staircase series before making a judgement e.g. life insurance policies. Not sure how relevant it is to the case but the eldest son did four years in prison for planting a bomb in a college.

In my opinion he did it and not with the stupid blowpoke that the prosecution was fixated on. However, I do believe with the evidence that was presented that there was enough reasonable doubt that he shouldn't have been convicted in the first instance.