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Michael Peterson was convicted of killing his wife, Kathleen Peterson, in October 2003

His life sentence was vacated in 2011 and he was freed in 2017

The case inspired the HBO Max miniseries The Staircase , which was added to Netflix in December 2025

Michael Peterson was convicted of killing his wife, Kathleen Peterson, but that was just the beginning of the long story that would eventually inspire a HBO Max miniseries.

Michael, a novelist and military veteran, was sentenced to life in prison in October 2003 for the murder of his wife, Kathleen, who died on the stairs in their Durham, N.C., home in December 2001. The story inspired the 2022 HBO Max miniseries The Staircase , which is now available on Netflix .

The series is just one of several retellings of the

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