meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Real Crime Profile

#148: The Staircase: Todd and Michael Peterson, the Bloody Footprint and Murder Weapon

Real Crime Profile

Real Crime Profile / Wondery

True Crime, Society & Culture, Exhibit C, Documentary

4.2 • 10.5K Ratings

🗓️ 17 October 2018

⏱️ 43 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Jim, Laura and Lisa continue discussions about the 13 episodes of the Netflix miniseries “The Staircase” where Michael Peterson’s life is put under the microscope after Kathleen Peterson was found dead at the bottom of the staircase.


Todd, Michael’s son, was at the house the night Michael Peterson called 911 and before the paramedics arrived. Jim and Laura deconstruct Todd’s behaviour and statements along with his father’s, Michael Peterson. 


Jim and Laura discuss the bloody footprint that was found on Kathleen’s sweat pants and what they believe caused Kathleen’s injuries which resulted in Kathleen’s death. 


#HerNameWasKathleenPeterson

#TheStaircase


Today's Episode is Sponsored by BROOKLINEN

Get $20 off AND free shipping by going to Brooklinen.com and enter promo code REAL CRIME

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hey, Prime members, you can listen to Real Crime Profile ad-free on Amazon Music. Download the app today.

0:07.0

Now the box of emotions is off the shelf and I can still see her beaten bruise body and there is nothing more convincing if anyone has doubts of my sister's death than to look at her autopsy in the crime scene and photos. She looks exactly what happened to her that she was brutally beaten and took about three hours to die.

0:28.0

And yes, of course she died from bleeding out because her scalp was ripped open. That was a most ridiculous argument Mr. Rudolph could have made.

0:41.0

There certainly was a big strain going on in my mom and Michael's life around the time of her death as...

0:47.0

What was that? Money, right?

0:49.0

I believe so. I mean, I was away at college and I certainly think parents would shelter their children from hard stressors in life. Anyone would do that.

0:59.0

But there was definitely a tone of stress among my mom's company. Her stocks were failing. At one point she called me devastated because she had to lay off her own boss that day.

1:11.0

And I know that there was a lot of tension. Christmas was going to be, you know, it was her favorite time of year, which is what, you know, makes this such a hard time for us. But it was definitely going to be a little bit scaled back that year. You could tell there was some tension.

1:26.0

Hello and welcome to Real Crime Profiles. This is Jim Clementi, Retired FBI Profile, our former New York City prosecutor and writer producer on CVS's Criminal Minds. And with me from across the pond is...

1:37.0

Laura Richards, former criminal behavioral analyst at New Scotland Yard and founder of Paladin National Stalking Advocacy Service in all through the book, Cleasing Domestic Violence and the Dash Risk Assessment Model.

1:48.0

And I'm Lisa Zambetti, I am the casting director for CVS's Criminal Minds.

1:51.0

Well, we're in the middle of discussing Michael Peterson's son Todd and an interview that he gave or a particular event that he recounted and will play that again.

2:02.0

My father had received a computer virus several months earlier. What the virus did is it took all the files on your desktop.

2:14.0

And it snatched them up and it would email to everybody on his email list. Everything. So this would include book chapters, photographs, software.

2:25.0

And including these pictures you're talking about. I was over the house one weekend, like usual watching a football game.

2:34.0

And on my way into the TV room, I had heard a discussion inside the kitchen that sounded pretty interesting.

2:45.0

And I kind of creeped up closer into the kitchen, listening in. And it was Kathleen talking to my father about the photographs on his computer saying I want you to get them off.

2:58.0

These possibly could have been sent out to our friends, to our neighbors. And I want you to get them off. If you ever get this again, I don't want this to have to be concerned with ours.

3:10.0

So it was a full conversation completely acknowledging the fact.

3:15.0

And what was Kathleen's attitude at that time?

3:19.0

Men was it anger or no, no, it was not anger at all. It was more of a get them off the computer.

3:28.0

So guys, what do you think? I'll say I believe I believe the story. It's got spatial relationship. It's got this. It's got that. But tell me how I'm wrong.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Real Crime Profile / Wondery, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Real Crime Profile / Wondery and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.