Written in Blood : A True Story of Murder and a Deadly 16-Year-Old Secret that Tore a Family Apart

by Fanning, Diane

• ISBN13: 9780312994037
• ISBN10: 0312994036
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-02-01
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks

Summary

An army brat-turned-marine, he saw combat in Vietnam, and returned a decorated soldier. An avid reader, his dreams of being an acclaimed novelist came true. His desire to find love was fulfilled when he married brilliant executive Kathleen Atwater, the first female student accepted at Duke University's School of Engineering. The Petersons seemed the ideal academic couple- well-respected, prosperous, and happy. All that came crashing down in December of 2001, when Kathleen apparently fell to her death in their secluded home in an exclusive area of Durham, North Carolina. But blood spattered evidence and a missing fireplace poker suggested calculated, cold-blooded murder. Her trusted husband stood accused. Prosecutors introduced evidence at trial that sixteen years earlier, Peterson was one of the last people to see his neighbor alive before she was found dead at the bottom of a staircase in her home in Germany. A dramatic trial followed in the explosive final chapter of a life that no novelist could ever have conceived...

Author Biography

Diane Fanning is the author of Through the Window: The Terrifying True Story of Cross Country Killer Tommy Lynn Sells and Into the Water: An Astonishing True Story of Abduction, Murder, and the Nice Guy Next Door and the co-editor of Red Boots & Attitude. She is currently working on a book about the death of Susan McFarland in San Antonio. Fanning lives in New Braunfels, Texas.

Vist her Web site at: www.dianefanning.com

Table of Contents

Michael Peterson Was Driven To Succeed.
An army brat-turned-marine, he saw combat in Vietnam, and returned a decorated soldier. An avid reader, his dreams of being an acclaimed novelist came true. His desire to find love was fulfilled when he married brilliant executive Kathleen Atwater, the first female student accepted at Duke University's School of Engineering. The Petersons seemed the ideal academic couple- well-respected, prosperous, and happy.

And Compelled To Kill.
All that came crashing down in December of 2001, when Kathleen apparently fell to her death in their secluded home in an exclusive area of Durham, North Carolina. But blood spattered evidence and a missing fireplace poker suggested calculated, cold-blooded murder. Her trusted husband stood accused. Prosecutors introduced evidence at trial that sixteen years earlier, Peterson was one of the last people to see his neighbor alive before she was found dead at the bottom of a staircase in her home in Germany. A dramatic trial followed in the explosive final chapter of a life that no novelist could ever have conceived...

Excerpts

WRITTEN IN BLOOD

THE STAIRWELL

"The chance of a criminal getting caught is only slightly better than getting hit by lightning."

-Michael Peterson,The Herald-Sun,July 1999

1

For Mary Allen, December 9, 2001, started as a long and lonely shift in the 9-1-1 call center in Durham, North Carolina. Another night spent on the outskirts of tragedy, aware of its presence but barely touched by its shadows.

At 2:40 A.M., she responded to an incoming call. Mary had no idea that she just took the first step onto the world stage of a long-playing drama.

"Durham 9-1-1. Where is your emergency?"

Breathing heavy, Michael Peterson responded: "1810

Cedar Street. Please!"

"What's wrong?" Mary asked.

"My wife had an accident. She's still breathing!"

"What kind of accident?"

"She fell down the stairs. She's still breathing! Please come!"

"Is she conscious?"

A bewildered Peterson did not seem to understand the question. "What?"

"Is she conscious?" Mary repeated.

"No, no, she's not conscious. Please!"

"How many stairs did she fall down?"

"What? Huh???"

Calmly, Mary repeated the question. "How many stairs did ..."

"The back stairs!"

"How many stairs?"

"Oh, ah, ah ..." His voice quaked with each syllable.

"Calm down, sir. Calm down."

Without warning, the heavy breathing ceased and Peterson responded in an off-hand manner, "Oh, fifteen, twenty. I don't know." Then the hysterical tone consumed his voice again. "Please! Get somebody here, right away. Please!"

"Okay, somebody's dispatching the ambulance while I'm asking you questions."

"It's off of a ... It's in Forest Hills! Okay? Please! Please!"

"Okay, sir," she continued as Peterson whimpered. "Somebody else is dispatching the ambulance. Is she awake now?"

"Oh my," he moaned.

"Hello?"

"I didn't mmmm ..." Peterson's words disintegrated into an inarticulate blur of noise.

"Hello?" Allen asked again.

He whispered, "Breathe. Oh, God." Incomprehensible mumblings burbled on the line. "Breathe," he whispered again. All Mary could hear now were strained and rapid inhalations and exhalations that sounded like the panting of a dog.

Then there was silence--followed by the blare of a dial tone that mocked Mary's efforts to assist.

Elizabeth Poole's dispatch scratched out on the airways. "See an unconscious person 1810 Cedar Street. Engine 5, Medic 5. Unconscious person, 1810, 1-8-1-0 Cedar Street from East Oak Drive to Sycamore Street. Female fell down, fifteen to twenty stairs, hysterical caller is not able to give much further information, just advised it was accidental. OPS channel 2, OPS 2, Engine 5."

From their vehicle, Jayson Crank and Andrew Johnson of the Durham Fire Department responded, "Engine 5 is 10-17."

"10-4, no further," signaled Elizabeth. "Medic 5, did you copy your call to 1810 Cedar Street?"

"10-4, en route," came loud and clear from the EMS vehicle bearing Jay Rose and Ron Paige.

"Medic 5, 10-4."

At 2:46 A.M., Michael Peterson called in again. Once again, Mary Allen answered, "Durham 9-1-1. Where is your emergency?"

"Where are they?" Michael Peterson gasped. "This is 1810 Cedar--wh ... She's not breathing! Please! Please, would you hurry up!"

In response, dispatcher Linda Gant sent out a Code 5 message indicating that the patient's condition was critical. This change of status meant Durham police were now on their way to the scene, too.

"Sir?" Mary asked.

His voice jumped up an octave. "Can you hear me?"

"Sir? Sir?"

"Yes."

"Calm down. They're on their way. Can you tell me for sure she's not breathing?"

A small click was the only answer she received.

"Sir ... ?"

A dial tone echoed in her ear. "Hello ... ? Hello ... ?"

Over the next few hours, each person entering 1810 Cedar Street was shocked by the copious amount of blood. Blood on the walls. Blood on the floor. Blood on Kathleen.

Blood. A word that Michael Peterson left unspoken.

Copyright © 2005 by Diane Fanning.