Chapter 165 Section 14

At around 9:45 p.m., Ted Peterson and his girlfriend Chrissy Dina Tamasai mentioned the Peterson house, and saw Mike and Catherine drinking in the living room while watching "American Sweethearts", TV White wine and champagne were placed on the coffee table in front of them, and both of them looked very happy.Kristina and Ted stayed together for less than an hour before heading to a neighbor's Christmas party. After watching the movie, after 11 o'clock, Catherine received a call from a Canadian colleague, and exchanged e-mail addresses about the arrangement of the conference call on Sunday morning.

Afterwards, as Mike Peterson told investigators, he and Catherine sat by the pool, smoking and chatting.Catherine came in between 1:45 and 2 and Mike sat for about 45 minutes.When he returned to the building, Catherine was already lying at the foot of the stairs, unconscious. The police may never know what happened at the Petersons' mansion in the three and a half hours after the international call.What is certain is that, according to the forensic autopsy report, Catherine's death time should be around 2 o'clock in the morning that day.What is certain is that no one else entered or was near the scene during those three and a half hours.What is certain is that there were only two living people in the big Peterson house that night, but only one remained.

Katherine Peterson's murder trial did not begin until a year and a half later, on July 1, 2003, and jury selection ended a week earlier, on June 23.Both the prosecution and the defense took a long time to prepare, because both sides realized that it would not be easy to prove their side of the case, and realized that this would be a very difficult case, and it would be a tough court battle. In Judge Orlando Hudson's criminal court, the defense installed a large computer-controlled display on the wall directly opposite the jury box, while the prosecution continued to use traditional drawing boards and easels.Correspondingly, there is a mountain of documents on the prosecutor's desk and several file boxes on the ground behind, while the defendant's seat is clean and clean, with only a laptop in front of each lawyer.

In order to prevent overcrowding in the courtroom, Judge Hudson allowed "Court TV" to broadcast the trial live.The first five rows of seats in the center of the auditorium were allocated to the media, separating the Peterson family who supported the defendant from the relatives and friends of the victim who supported the prosecution.So Peterson's two sons and two adopted daughters sat behind the dock on the left, while Catherine's daughter, Kaitlyn Alvart, and her aunts were on the prosecution's side. Speaking on behalf of the prosecution was Durham District Attorney Janemon Harding.He stood silently in front of the jury seat, slowly tore open a plastic bag in his hand, and slowly pulled out a stick, a metal stick, and a metal poker.

Attorney General Harding said Catherine's older sister, Candice Zamblini, bought several of these hollow pokers for Christmas 1984 and distributed them to her three siblings.This stick is beautiful, well-crafted, and like an antique.This stick is very ingenious. It can poke fire and blow fire, and it can be used for two purposes.This stick is very light and easy to use.The one Catherine received became a favorite of hers, and she carried it wherever she went.Just before Catherine died in the summer of 2001, her other sister, Lori Campbell, had seen the stick by the fireplace in the Petersons' living room.But after Catherine's accident, the poker disappeared.The one in his hand now was given to the police by Candace Zamblini after taking it from her home.

"They said it was an accident, a fall down the stairs. And we said, no, it wasn't an accident, it was a murder. Catherine's death was painful and horrific. Because, she At the hands of her husband, Mike Peterson." Janemond Harding showed the jury two enlarged photographs of Catherine.Catherine was demure and beautiful in the first picture, smiling, when she was alive.The same Catherine in the second picture is lying in a pool of blood under the back stairs, with her face up, staring at her death, which forms a sharp contrast with the previous picture.Attorney General Harding said this is what Catherine was seen when two emergency responders arrived at 1810 Side Street at 2:48 a.m. on Dec. 9, 2001.The two experienced paramedics will tell jurors in court that a person who falls down the stairs cannot be in this position.

There is also a third photo, Catherine's shaved top of the skull, with seven wounds vertically and horizontally on it, as well as countless minor injuries. "They said it was an accident," the Attorney General repeated, "and we said it was a murder." The prosecutor said that the police searched the inside and outside of the Peterson family house. Although no murder weapon was found, the wounds on Catherine's head should be caused by an instrument similar to the poker in his hand.The poker is very hard, and because it is hollow, it is very light, so it will not cause skull fractures and massive congestion in the brain.said Janemond Harding, waving the poker in a striking gesture.

“This case is about pretense and faux pas, about the abnormality masked by normality.” Beginning with the Petersons’ famous mansion, the attorney general recounts the career success of the Petersons—husband is “The New York Times Best-selling author", his wife holds an important position in the Northern Telecom Company, and manages more than 3,000 employees of the company in Dallas, Ottawa, Durham and other places. The company even named a conference room after Katherine Peterson. Room - tells the story of the harmony of this reconstituted family with three different surnames, and the family's luxurious lifestyle.

"However, as the old saying goes, there is nothing rich in gold and jade in it. Peterson's family has long been ostentatious." Attorney General Harding said that the financial investigation experts hired by the prosecution will prove to the court that Mike Peterson did He has made a few big bucks writing books, but in recent years his only income has been writing columns for newspapers.According to the family financial report provided by the tax department, the Peterson family’s total income in 1999 was 277,000 US dollars, of which Catherine’s salary accounted for more than half, 145,000 US dollars, and Mike Peterson’s disabled military allowance 4 $50,000, with the rest coming from several rental properties and the Ratley sisters' military orphan allowance.In other words, for many years, the main breadwinner of the Peterson family was Catherine's salary and other benefits.