[griffinmill]

The Staircase is a new docuseries on Netflix, much in the vein of Making a Murderer in that its a sweeping and expansive document of a man being ground up in the U.S. judicial system. At 13 episodes of around one hour each it's definitely a huge time investment, but it's compulsive and fascinating viewing.

It starts in 2001 when Michael Peterson, after spending an evening watching a film and drinking some wine with his wife, finds her dying at the bottom of their staircase. She had left him alone at the pool, and he discovers the grisly scene when makes his way back inside the home. There is massive blood loss and lacerations on her head. He quickly becomes the only suspect in her alleged murder.

The filmmakers were allowed inclusive access. Nothing it seems was out of bounds, and the sheer technical aplomb in capturing everything in real time is astonishing. It's a very detached but intimate filmmaking style.

The main argument from the D.A.'s office is: how could there have been so much blood at the scene if his wife simply fell down the stairs? Michael Peterson, with a loving family and no prior convictions or even a history of anger issues, maintains his innocence throughout, and it's difficult not to believe him.

The D.A.'s office of course behaved reprehensibly, deciding very quickly on the culprit and murder weapon (a weapon they maintained was never found) and reverse engineered their flimsy case. Peterson is bisexual, and the D.A.'s theory is that Peterson's wife found incriminating evidence of pornography or an affair.

It's a very funny, heartbreaking, and illuminating series. The only flaw is the amount of padding in the final few episodes (which were commissioned by Netflix to compliment the series that had already been made for French TV). It could easily have been a 10-episode series.

As an aside, it's interesting to see the evolution of Peterson's daughters from 2001 to 2016. They were 20 when filming started, and late 30s when it ended. When the film edges closer to the present day the green hair starts appearing, as does the vocal fry and uptalk. This was one of the most fascinating aspects of the documentary in my opinion; the devolution of the western female is very real.

Check it out!

[spokepoker]

Dupe: thread-56379...pid1803303

[Psygnosis89]

Wasn't this already done as a series 10-15 years ago? This is an updated version I guess.

[Cr33pin]

(06-19-2018 11:17 AM)spokepoker Wrote:  

Dupe: thread-56379...pid1803303

I mean..... just cause someone made a post about it in a very vague thread dealing with 100's of tv shows.... doesn't really make this a dupe

[tobehero]

Thanks OP!
Super into these crime docs.

[ChefAllDay]

(06-20-2018 05:56 AM)tobehero Wrote:  

Thanks OP!
Super into these crime docs.

Ya man, thanks Griff, I love that shit. Some is hard to believe, but most are pretty interesting.

[CincinnatiKid]

Pretty interesting, gping to check this out

[SlickyBoy]

(06-19-2018 01:16 PM)Cr33pin Wrote:  

(06-19-2018 11:17 AM)spokepoker Wrote:  

Dupe: thread-56379...pid1803303

I mean..... just cause someone made a post about it in a very vague thread dealing with 100's of tv shows.... doesn't really make this a dupe

Didn't think of making a separate thread about it, but you can see my long-winded comments there, thanks.

Suffice it to say, Netflix did a pretty good job of making him into a sympathetic character. His lawyer was pretty good and the prosecution and investigators definitely fucked up (in some ways, deliberately so), but even so it looks like he's walking free today after committing first degree murder.

[Cr33pin]

I binged watched all 13 episodes in two days... I need Jesus

Certainly there are many aspects about this series to discuss. One thing that really struck me was how much the kids loved their father. Perhaps its just me and the environment I grew up in but I found the loving close knit family very impressive to see.

Also the daughters were WB's in the beginning... then not so much....then not so mucher. Kind of crazy to see their transformation play out right there in front of your eyes. America is sick.... other countries too... but Murica is holding it down for having a toxic disease of a culture.

Lot's of interesting questions to be had about the murder itself. It's a very bizarre turn of events. Which also makes it very entertaining to see. Specially the fact that it is so well shot and put together with the camera crew seemingly having unlimited access to the family and the trail.

It's worth a watch if you like the documentary style tv series. I will probably post a lot more about it but I'm burnt out after just finishing up the second half of the series in my second sitting.

[Windom Earle]

I also watched it all (in the first week of release) and was captivated.

The “dupe” post in the TV Series thread (which probably should be in the Netflix thread) references the chick in Germany being his wife. She was a family friend (possibly with benefits given his later adoption of her kids?). And the “other daughter” is Petersons’ niece.

The 911 call sounded contrived/poorly acted to me, and he does come off somewhat as a compulsive liar. I was still left wondering at the end if he did kill her or not however.

It would have been interesting if the Owl theory was covered, as it’s certainly plausible.

[SlickyBoy]

Thanks - I was half asleep when I wrote that after a binge watch and flubbed a few details. Got confused at her being referred to as Kathleen's daughter. Regardless, she flipped against him once the enough evidence rolled in - it definitely didn't look like a simple fall down the stairs. The state should have had this prosecution in the bag, but fucked it up royally.

I'm convinced that "bisexual" guy is really a life long homosexual who only played straight for public consumption and to monkey branch to another bill-paying woman after the first one died in an eerily similar manner. He shed not one convincing tear for either of them and the jury wasn't exactly charmed by Peterson the way he'd assumed they would be.

As for the 911 call - did you notice he said "She's still breathing?" A reddit commenter pointed this out - good catch. It's as if he was expecting her to die. He overestimated the believability of his lies.

I also agree with another commenter who suggests Peterson probably has a narcissistic personality disorder. His kids are brainwashed beyond belief - their dad is guilty and spent his life playing them all like violins.

[Rossi]

I love documentaries like this and I'm on 8th episode already in 2 days. I hope to finish it this weekend.

Is there any other documentaries like this, other than OJ Simpson one, that I already watched.

[Cr33pin]

(07-28-2018 07:19 AM)Rossi Wrote:  

I love documentaries like this and I'm on 8th episode already in 2 days. I hope to finish it this weekend.

Is there any other documentaries like this, other than OJ Simpson one, that I already watched.

[Rossi]

Yes, sorry I forgot to mention those. Other than "Making A Murderer, I watched all of those. I think Osho was the best though.

[Cr33pin]

(07-28-2018 10:13 AM)Rossi Wrote:  

Yes, sorry I forgot to mention those. Other than "Making A Murderer, I watched all of those. I think Osho was the best though.

Definitely watch Making A Murderer

Also you should watch this one and then lets us all know if its worth watching

[Rossi]

I actually watched "The Keepers" first and then OJ Simpson, then rest, if I remember correctly. Yes, I'd definitely recommend The Keepers, I don't want to give you any spoiler but it's well worth watching.

I would say:

Wild Wild Country 9/10
The Keepers 9/10
OJ Simpson 8/10
Evil Genius 7/10

I still didn't finish Staircase but it's going very well.

[jeffreyjerpp]

"The Staircase" is mandatory viewing, in my opinion, if only because of brutal red pills regarding the US legal system.

The entire trial process was stunningly corrupt, from start to finish. The prosecution clearly tampered with all the evidence, and the judge facilitated the whole thing. They would even leak sensational and misleading details to the media, who would then amplify and distort them even more.

Peterson might have murdered his wife, but there is zero way he could reasonably have been found guilty, unless the jury was completely retarded (spoiler alert, they were completely retarded). Especially ridiculous was the fact that the jury convicted him of first degree murder, which includes premeditation. Jurors later said "premeditation" can include the seconds leading up to doing something on impulse. That is how stupid and morally bankrupt the average American is.

Peterson's real crime was being gay and also openly critical of the police department as a newspaper writer. Thankfully one of the c*nts who prosecuted him turned out to be a degenerate alcoholic, and, in a victory for justice, she has died after getting some DUIs and spending her final years working at a laundry.

heraldsun.com/news/local/article215756240.html

Speaking generally, the American justice system is a horrible joke, and the police are out of control.

"The federal investigation into a handful of former Biscayne Park police officers accused of framing innocent people widened this week, when another cop was accused of falsifying arrest warrants for two men at the direction of the police chief."

miamiherald.com/news/local/article215589545.html

[godfather dust]

He's "bisexual?"

Good enough for me, guilty.

[Rossi]

This guy's financial status really got hit so bad in later episodes. I guess he had to move out of that house, where incident happen, to small apartment towards at the end of the show.

I think, they mentioned in 2nd episode or something that, it was gonna cost $875,000 but I believe this case cost him way a lot more.

[SlickyBoy]

(07-30-2018 10:04 AM)jeffreyjerpp Wrote:  

Especially ridiculous was the fact that the jury convicted him of first degree murder, which includes premeditation. Jurors later said "premeditation" can include the seconds leading up to doing something on impulse. That is how stupid and morally bankrupt the average American is.

The DA's office was definitely loaded with corruption. Incidentally, that prosecutor was fired by Mike Nifong, who was in the first episode before later going on to create the Duke Lacrosse fiasco, which we all know was a gigantic prosecutorial fabrication. However in the Peterson case the jury was not retarded just for following the law, as written:

Quote:

...any killing -- even accidental -- that occurs during the commission of a felony (such as robbery or arson) also may be charged as first degree murder in most states, including North Carolina....

First degree murder is causing the death of another person in one of the following manners:

By means of a weapon of mass destruction;
By poison, lying in wait, imprisonment, starving, torture, or by any other kind of willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing;
In the perpetration or attempted perpetration of any arson, rape or a sex offense, robbery, kidnapping, burglary, or other felony committed or attempted with the use of a deadly weapon.

That means if there was enough evidence to show he beat her up with a blowpoke, pushed her down the stairs, kept beating her up after he realized she was "still" alive before she died as a result, that's good to go for first degree murder. The "mere seconds" bit isn't anywhere in the standard.

Not saying it's a perfect law, but the jury didn't get the statute wrong - they were instructed by the judge. Their job didn't involve matters of law, only matters of fact, which was to determine whether there were sufficient facts to meet the burden of prosecution beyond a reasonable doubt.

There were, but the problems arose subsequently when it became known some of the evidence provided to the jury - particularly blood spatter analysis - were lies put together by a geek in the crime lab. That's why Peterson was entitled to an appeal.

Red pill doesn't mean everything in the criminal justice system is a setup.

Quote:

I guess he had to move out of that house, where incident happen, to small apartment towards at the end of the show.

Yeah, that house was already old with a lot of problems when she was alive and he already had over six figures in credit card debt, apparently. By the end of the ordeal he was legally indigent but at least had a place to live that wasn't jail.

[Rossi]

But he paid $875k to lawyer for the case but then, case needs to be re-trial again, would he need to pay him another fee or would that be included? Because I’m on 12th episode now and this dude doesnt have much money left now.

[SlickyBoy]

I don't want to spoil the surprise, but his original lawyer had to pass the case to someone else (even though he really believed in it) because it was taking too much of his time and the client was running out of money.

[Neo2]

I wish he had fired this first lawyer before handing over what seems to be all his funds, that guy managed to blow even the strongest point by hiding it in endless babble until it was unrecognizable. I have hardly ever seen a worse defense attorney.

[Rossi]

(07-31-2018 04:26 PM)SlickyBoy Wrote:  

I don't want to spoil the surprise, but his original lawyer had to pass the case to someone else (even though he really believed in it) because it was taking too much of his time and the client was running out of money.

In the end, he took the case back and closed it himself.

[Rossi]

I finally finished the show. Who thinks he's guilty?

I mean, he's guilty or not, in the end, he ended up being miserable. If he's guilty, at least he deserved it but if he's innocent, this shit is so unfair to him.