American novelist Michael Peterson adopted Margaret Ratliff and her younger sister Martha Ratliff after their parents passed away.
Michale and Kathleen Peterson’s blended family includes five kids, including Martha Ratliff and sister Margaret Ratliff, who were adopted by the couple after their parents died.
The family’s lives come up in HBO Max’s series The Staircase. The miniseries revisits Kathleen’s death and the confusing murder trial of her husband. Michael was convicted in 2003 of murdering his wife on December 9, 2001.
The Staircase, began recording shortly after Peterson’s arrest in 2001 and tracked events until his eventual Alford plea in 2017.
The Staircase: Who does Michael Peterson adopt Martha Ratliff And Sister Margaret Ratliff
Michael was the legal guardian of Margaret Ratliff and her sister Martha Ratliff. The Ratliff sisters stood by Peterson through the trail, as visualized by the documentary “The Staircase.”
In the HBO Max series, the character of Margaret is played by Sophie Turner, and Odessa Young plays Martha. Both the sister’s maintained Peterson’s innocence throughout the trial.
Michael and his first wife Patricia resided in Germany for some time, where they befriended Elizabeth and George Ratliff, biological parents of Martha and Margaret.
After their death, Michael became the guardian of the two sisters. After he separated from his first wife, their children Clayton and Todd lived with their mother Patricia, while Margaret and Martha stayed with Michael.
Michael moved with the sisters to Durham, North Carolina. After some time, his children Clayton and Todd also joined the family.
Meet Martha Ratliff And Sister Margaret Ratliff Parents – Mother Elizabeth Ratliff And father George Ratliff
As evidenced by “The Staircase” documentary, Martha and Margaret Ratliff’s father, George Ratliff, was in the U.S. Air Force and passed away while on assignment in 1983.
Their mother, Elizabeth Ratliff, was later found dead at the bottom of their stairway in 1985 in Germany. Peterson then became the orphaned sister’s legal guardian. Elizabeth’s body was further exhumed during Peterson’s trial. An autopsy ruled her death a homicide, as reported by WRAL.
Marth and Margaret were both in college when the trial unfolded. Martha was at the University of San Francisco, and Margaret at Tulane University. Since the trial, Margaret has moved to California, while her sister Martha lives in Colorado, per Newsweek.
Michael had dinner with Elizabeth, Margaret, and Martha the night she died, and Michael was the last person to see her alive. Later, her body was exhumed during his trial, adding to the layers of evidence presented in court.
More On Martha Ratliff And Margaret Ratliff’s Adoption Story
While living in Germany, Michael Peterson and his first wife Patricia Sue befriended Elizabeth and George Ratliff and their two daughters, Margaret and Martha Ratliff.
After George’s death, the Ratliff and Peterson families came even closer. When Elizabeth tragically passed away in 1985, Peterson became the legal guardian of the Ratliff sisters.
After Michael and Patricia divorced in 1987, Martha and Margaret stayed with Michael while his kids, Clayton and Todd, lived with their mother. Michael moved to Durham, North Carolina, where his kids, Clayton and Todd, also joined the family.
In 1989, Peterson moved in with Kathleen Atwater, a Nortel business executive. The couple married in 1997, and Kathleen’s daughter Caitlin joined the family that now consisted of Clayton, Todd, Matha, and Margaret.