The 3.4-acre plot of land in Durham, California on which the house is built is a nice neighborhood. The house has recently been renovated so that it can be put up for sale. The house is surrounded by greenery and is at a beautiful location and up for grabs for $1,900,000. But the location and the beauty of the house is not the only thing that makes it interesting.

In 2001, a couple lived there and one of them died in the house. Kathleen Peterson died in that house. Died is not the right word, the right word is murdered. Kathleen Peterson was murdered in the house by her husband. Her husband Michael Peterson was put on trial and then was jailed for the murder. Though initially, he did not confess about his crimes, he made the whole thing look like an accident. He claimed that his second wife had fallen down the stairs and died due to the intensity of the injuries.

But after proper investigation, the authorities found that he bludgeoned his wife to death and made the whole thing look like an accident so that he could cover his crime. But the authorities were able to get down to the bottom of the truth. Her husband who is a novelist was convicted in 2003 but was freed in 2017 after he submitted a plea. He submitted an Alford plea.

An Alford plea is a plea, whereby he acknowledged prosecutors had enough evidence to convict him without admitting guilt. The house was being used for the Staircase and was further used in The Handmaid’s Tale. Now the property is up for sale and the listing states “Historic 3.5 acre, 9,500 sqft home in Forest Hills, Durham. Home has been recently renovated. Wrought iron gates, Swimming Pool, Brick & Stonewall Walkways. 5 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, 19 total rooms. Grand Staircase, Library, Game room, Kitchen Island, Master bedroom wing and guest family wing.”

It further reads “Brick Patio with fireplace, Slate Patio, Lower and Upper Gallery. 2 separate gated entrances to the home. This home has been featured in Netflix documentary as well as a major feature film.” The film The Staircase shows the whole murder with great details. The couple’s adoptive daughter supported Peterson through the whole trial.

It was Kathleen’s sisters who were dead sure that their brother-in-law had murdered their sister. It is also revealed that the mother of adoptive daughters was Peterson’s friend’s daughter Elizabeth who was living in Germany with Peterson and died in the same manner in which Kathleen died. Later he adopted the daughters.

More details such as Peterson bringing male escorts, their open marriage, etc. are revealed in the film. The original movie was aired in 2004 and the re-trial directed by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade was aired in 2018 on Netflix.

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