Chapter 173 Section 22

Liz Ratley's body was sent to the U.S. Army's 97th Hospital in Frankfurt, where only four pathologists, none of whom were trained in forensic science, performed the autopsy.That is to say, they are only "coroners" in the general sense, not forensic doctors.For example, Dr. Larry Barnes, who signed Liz Ratley's autopsy report, had only examined four corpses before, all of whom died in car accidents.Dr. Barnes had no exposure to gunshot wounds, knife wounds, or traumatic blows, nor did he have specialized forensic equipment and means.However, in his report, Dr. Barnes pointed out a major abnormality on Liz's body-about 100 milliliters of congestion in the brain cavity.The pathologist ultimately determined that the cause of Liz Ratley's death was a fall down the stairs, as well as excessive bleeding and bleeding from Van Willebrand's disease.

Pet Fern, a mutual friend of Liz Ratley and Patricia Peterson, had moved to Berlin with her husband Joseph.After hearing the bad news, Pater made a round of phone calls to inquire about his acquaintances in Frankfurt, and reported everyone's opinions and suspicions to the Criminal Investigation Department of the US Military Police Headquarters in Germany, saying that Mike Peterson might be involved in Liz Laura's death. Terry's death.However, the military and police have never sent anyone to investigate.Pete Finn once told her friends that she had a feeling that the official attitude towards this homicide was like a scandal, and they only wanted to make a major event into a minor one.Soon, the students of Lane May Air Force Base Elementary School went home and told their parents that their teacher, Mrs. Ratley, had committed suicide due to depression.

But who would commit suicide by rolling down the stairs? A week later, Mike Peterson escorted Liz Ratley's body back to the United States, where she was buried next to her husband, George Ratley, at Cedarville Cemetery in Texas.Mike didn't forget to bring Liz's will, and submitted it to the Matagorda District Court where George's hometown is located.Since then, the Petersons have become the legal guardians of the Ratley sisters, and have logically obtained the estate of Liz Ratley, valued at US$44,000 by the court, and the monthly military orphan allowance from the U.S. government.

Years later, when the court’s valuation of Liz Ratley’s estate was made public, old friends of the Ratleys were surprised to find that Liz’s BMW car and a $20,000 tapestry were not on it. There are also antiques from various countries in Eurasia, including a French vase, several pieces of Polish 18th-century porcelain and several Afghan rugs.In particular, the large sum of life insurance that Liz received after her husband's death disappeared.Lishi has told many people that this money is the future of her two daughters, and she will not use any of it. On April 14, 2003, after more than a year of negotiations with various countries, Lieutenant Art Holland of the Durham Police Department was finally able to fly to Texas to exhume a coffin at the Cedarville Cemetery.Liz Ratley's casket was wrapped in a large plastic sheet and loaded into a blue Chevrolet van, which arrived at the North Carolina Forensic Laboratory in Chapel Hill the next afternoon.The autopsy was jointly conducted by Dr. Arlo Gleickman of the State Police and Dr. Deborah Radish of the City Police.The defendants also sent their hired private detective Ronald Gourgett and the famous forensic doctor Verna Spiez to watch.

In the two-layer sealed coffin, Lishi's body was well preserved.Although the skin had begun to turn black and harden, forensic doctors could still not only observe the large and small wounds on the body of the deceased, but also recognize several bruises.Such as two bruises on the back of the left hand and left wrist, a small bruise on the lip and a tear on the upper gum, and a bruise under the left eye, and the left A wound above the eye. At the time of the autopsy in 1985, the fatal wounds on the head of the deceased had been treated, either glued or stitched, and all of them were coated with embalming oil.Dr. Aaron Gleickman saw a total of seven wounds on Liz Ratley's head, not only in number exactly the same as Catherine Peterson's, but also, even more surprising, in their location , all concentrated on the top of the head and the back of the head, it is simply a reproduction of Catherine's autopsy results.

After the autopsy was completed on the afternoon of April 16, Lieutenant Art Holland immediately called Rhode Island.He told Margaret Blair: "Your sister didn't die from falling down the stairs." The defense then filed a motion with the court requesting that Liz Ratley's autopsy results not be released and that the prosecution not be allowed to introduce Liz Ratley's death as evidence in the Katherine Peterson trial . In mid-May, when lawyers for both sides had already begun jury selection in court, the two assistant attorneys general for the prosecution, Freida Blake, Devon Sacks, and Lieutenant Art Holland, flew to Germany together. Frankfurt, interviewed various witnesses who might appear in the case.

Judge Orlando Hudson denied the defense's motion during the case's trial in late August.Now, the witnesses are on the stand: Cheryl Sumacher, Tom Sumacher, Barbara Ohora, Aimeebeth Burnen, and the current owner of the Ratley house. The homeowner, who also read affidavits on behalf of his neighbor, Curran Ham, who is hospitalized. Also testifying were the families of Liz and George Ratley.For a long time, many relatives in the two families have wanted to adopt the Ratley sisters, but Mike Peterson refused.At one point, Margaret Blair asked Mike, "Why didn't you formally adopt them if you insisted on keeping them?"

Mike Peterson replied bluntly: "If the adoption process is processed, the government will stop paying military orphan benefits." On Friday, September 5, 2003, the prosecution's hearing concluded after calling 51 witnesses. The witnesses who appeared for the defense were almost all experts in various fields that they hired at a high price. Their medical specialists testified that Catherine Peterson and Liz Ratley suffered head wounds consistent with the falls.He even believes that the two "accidents" separated by about a quarter of the earth in space caused almost the same wounds on the same body part of different victims. This "coincidence" is not impossible. of".The only thing he couldn't explain were the defensive wounds on Catherine's and Liz's hands.