See Inside the Former House of Michael Peterson

The most confounding aspect of “The Staircase” is tough to pinpoint. Peterson’s overall nonchalant demeanor and regular giggling over aspects of the case are certainly perplexing.  Then there’s the haunting violin score. And the fact that another woman very close to Peterson was also found dead at the bottom of a staircase 16 years before Kathleen. But perhaps most disconcerting is the fact that the crime scene, complete with blood-splattered walls and floors, was left intact for years while Peterson and his children continued to live in the home! To be fair, according to “A Perfect Husband,” Aphrodite Jones’ 2004 book about the case, Peterson’s defense attorney David Rudolf had the staircase boarded up on December 14, 2001, just days after the killing, in order to preserve evidence. Though the majority of the time it was captured by de Lestrade’s cameras, it was open for all to see — with the family regularly enjoying meals together, laughing over cocktails and pasta, just a few literal steps away!

At the center of the story is Kathleen and Michael’s sprawling Colonial home, located in Durham’s tony Forest Hills neighborhood. Michael purchased the 9,372-square-foot property in August 1992 for $600,000. Curiously, though he was living with Kathleen at the time, his first wife, Patty, from whom he was separated, co-signed for the loan. She did not sign the deed over to Michael until their divorce was finally finalized in 1996.

Originally built in 1940 by architect George Watts Carr, Sr. for wealthy Durham businessman John Adams Buchanan, the lavish five-bedroom, six-bathroom property had plenty of room for Kathleen and Michael’s large blended family, which included Michael’s two sons with his first wife and his two adopted daughters, as well as Kathleen’s daughter from a previous marriage. Featuring a library, game room, a whopping five fireplaces, fourteen-foot ceilings, hardwood flooring throughout, and a large master wing, there’s no arguing that the couple and their children lived in style. So beloved was the residence that Kathleen and Michael decided to tie the knot there, surrounded by family and friends, on June 21, 1997. The newlyweds were captured gloriously posing for photos on the home’s staircase. No, not that staircase. As Jones explains in “A Perfect Husband,” “There were two worlds, it seemed, present in that old house, and perhaps the most symbolic reminders of that were the Petersons’ two staircases. One was a sweeping oval shape, a centerpiece of the home, while the other lead [sic] down to the kitchen area, a more practical structure, hidden behind doors.” It was the front staircase, situated near the main entrance, that the couple posed on that joyous day.

Michael and Kathleen led an extravagant lifestyle and were, by all accounts, happy. But severe cracks in their foundation came to light following Michael’s arrest and during his subsequent lengthy trial. Kathleen, the family’s breadwinner, had deferred much of her income to purchase Nortel Networks stock and though its value once totaled almost $2.5 million, the 2001 crash whittled it down to about $50,000 by the time of her death. The company had also begun massive layoffs at the same time and Kathleen’s job security seemed tenuous at best. To boot, the couple was in severe credit card debt, to the tune of $100,000. The house was showing signs of wear, too, with many expensive much-needed repairs awaiting completion. In April 2001, they took out a second mortgage to help with the squeeze in finances. Then there was Kathleen’s $725,000 life insurance policy (which doubled to $1.4 million in the case of accidental death) of which Michael was the beneficiary (not to mention the almost $400,000 in deferred compensation benefits he was owed from Nortel upon her passing). Police also uncovered transactional emails the supposedly devoted husband had exchanged with a male prostitute in the months before the killing, as well as a plethora of pornographic images on his computer.

All the evidence added up to a guilty verdict and on October 10, 2003, Michael was sent to prison for life without the possibility of parole. His cell was a far cry from the sprawling mansion he formerly called home, which was put on the market just 20 days later for $1.175 million. At the time, Council of Residential Specialists spokesman Jack Cotton expressed that the murder shouldn’t affect the sale, telling The News & Observer, “Crimes of passion don’t have a huge negative impact on the value of the house. In this case, the house was an innocent bystander.” Buyers didn’t agree, though. With no takers, the price was cut to $975,000 in December and it finally sold the following July at a drastically reduced $640,000. (Crime obviously doesn’t pay!) It was a huge financial blow to Michael. Per The News & Observer, “Peterson’s defense left him indigent. Selling the house at its [original $1.175 million] asking price would still not cover all of Peterson’s debts.”

The new owners renovated the property and relisted it in 2007. It sold the following year to medium Biond Fury (I shudder to think about the seances that took place there during his tenure!), who in turn put it on the market this past July for $1.9 million. The listing marketed the residence as having been featured in a “Netflix documentary.” I might have left that bit out, but what do I know because the place sold the following month for $1.6 million.

The listing photos show the changes that have been made since Peterson’s departure. Though the kitchen island was moved (it was formerly attached to the kitchen counter, cutting across the room at a diagonal), the space still looks much as it did when Michael lived there.

While many elements have been updated, the layout is the same, making it very recognizable from “The Staircase.”

Though the rear stairway isn’t featured in MLS images, the entrance to it is. The steps sit just beyond the darkened opening on the right side of the kitchen in the photograph above.

Along with the aforementioned amenities, the 19-room home also boasts a 3.4-acre lot with a slate patio, an outdoor fireplace, and a large pool (though the latter was, for whatever reason, drained in the MLS pictures).

In an odd twist, before the Petersons called the place home, it was featured in the 1990 dystopian drama “The Handmaid’s Tale,” based upon Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel of the same name. In the film, made long before the popular Hulu series, the Colonial masks as the supposed Republic of Gilead residence belonging to Commander Fred (Robert Duvall) and his wife, Serena Joy (Faye Dunaway), where handmaid Kate (Natasha Richardson) is placed.

The production, deemed largely forgettable by critics, made extensive use of both the interior and exterior of the property.

Peterson’s wood-paneled office (which Aphrodite Jones describes as an “imposing,” “ominous” and “intimidating” space, saying “It was understood that Michael Peterson didn’t want people in there.”) had a prominent role in the film – and in a macabre foretelling was the site of a very bloody murder scene.

Most eerie of all, though, is the fact that a segment took place on the infamous back staircase! I guess the steps were just destined to be onscreen.

Michael wound up being granted a new trial in 2011 after the State Crime Lab’s blood-spatter analyst Duane Deaver, who worked on his case, was fired for repeatedly shoddy investigative work. Peterson was released while awaiting a new trial but ultimately decided not to take any chances (even with that oh-so-veritable owl theory in his arsenal) and in 2017 entered an Alford plea, whereby asserting his innocence but admitting the evidence would likely lead to a guilty verdict. He was sentenced to time served and is today a free man. Taking a cue from O.J. Simpson, Peterson wrote a book about the crime titled “Behind the Staircase” and his website claims it’s a best-seller! He still lives in Durham, though in a ground-floor apartment, which David Rudolf explained to Oxygen has “no stairs – that was a really important accommodation.” I’ll say!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Michael Peterson’s former house, featured in “The Staircase,” is located at 1810 Cedar Street in Durham, North Carolina. Disclaimer: Please remember this is a private home. Do not trespass or bother the residents or the property in any way.

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