We came across a lot of evidence watching the trial play out in The Staircase; Michael Peterson's bisexuality, his bloodied shorts, Kathleen's seven lacerations to … A similar death. Ratliff was the biological mother of Peterson's adopted daughters, Margaret and Martha, who were now in their early twenties. Patty and Michael took legal custody of Ratliff's children, Martha and Margaret Ratliff. Elizabeth was found dead at the bottom of the stairs of her house in Germany. Thomas Seifert, the senior state prosecutor in Darmstadt, said if the autopsy on Elizabeth Ratliff presents enough new findings, the case will be reopened, The News & Observer said. In 1985, Michael Peterson killed Elizabeth Ratliff in the same way. While the death of Elizabeth Ratliff wasn't one that viewers were aware of in the initial episodes of "The Staircase," it can be more or less … On January 15, 1947 a woman walking on the sidewalk in the 3800 block of Norton St., in Liemert Park, Los Angeles caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a department store mannequin lying in the weeds on the side of the street; the top half separated from the lower half. Although she died in 1985, the death of Elizabeth Ratliff played a key role in Michael Peterson’s trial after he was accused of murdering his wife Kathleen Peterson on December 9, 2001. Elizabeth I is one of England's most well-known monarchs. Elizabeth Ratliff became good friends with Michael Peterson after meeting his first wife, Patty, when the women worked together at a school in Germany. Edit Search New Search Jump to Filters. At the time Michael Peterson was younger and stronger and the surface against which her head was slammed was a floor made of terra-cotta tiles, not wood, like in Kathleen’s … The family lived in Germany for a time and became close friends with another family, the Ratliffs, which consisted of a couple, Elizabeth and George Ratliff, and their children, Margaret and Martha. The True Story Behind The Staircase - Film School Rejects Chief among them: A close friend of Peterson’s, Elizabeth Ratliff, had also been found dead at … Woman's death in Germany 18 years ago enters novelist's murder trial.