The Staircase (2004)

The Staircase (2004)

‘The Staircase‘, also known as ‘Soupçons‘, is a fascinating 2004 French TV mini series by Academy Award Winner Jean-Xavier de Lestrade that chronicles the inner workings of a criminal defence team as they prepare and ultimately try the 2001 high-profile murder case of  Novelist Michael Peterson…

“In December 2001, Novelist Michael Peterson called to report that his wife Kathleen had fallen down a set of stairs and died. The authorities disbelieved Peterson’s story that Kathleen had fallen while drunk and concluded instead that Peterson had bludgeoned her to death, most likely with a fireplace poker which was discovered missing from the house. Peterson was soon charged with murder and the film details the ensuing case from the point of view of Peterson and his defense team. During the trial it is discovered that while Peterson was living in Germany a family friend of his died from an intra-cerebral haemorrhage followed by the body falling down stairs after collapsing which resulted in similar head injuries. An investigation by German police and US military authorities concluded that the death was accidental and Peterson ended up adopting the woman’s two daughters. The prosecution introduced this death into the trial as an incident giving Peterson the idea of how to “fake” Kathleen’s accident..”  Wikipedia