A Perfect Husband (14 page)

In early February 2002, David Rudolf confirmed to media that he had hired famed forensic scientist Dr. Henry Lee, who had testified for the defense in the O.J. Simpson murder case. It was in part due to Dr. Lee's testimony that the Los Angeles jury had found O.J. Simpson innocent of any crime. During that trial, Dr. Lee stated that he found three “imprints” on the terracotta walkway on Bundy, the famous crime scene that Lee himself photographed. Lee further testified that these imprints did not match the size-twelve bloody shoe prints, made by Bruno Magli shoes, that prosecutors said belonged to O.J. Simpson.

In Dr. Lee's O.J. Simpson testimony, his findings revealed a “parallel-line imprint,” as well as another “imprint,” which did not match O.J. Simpson's shoes. This inferred the possibility of a second assailant being at the crime scene. Dr. Lee's testimony, therefore, challenged the prosecution's theory that O.J. Simpson was a lone assailant. In essence, Dr. Henry Lee managed to challenge the core of the prosecution's case against the former NFL star.

In response, one of the FBI's senior experts on shoe prints, William Bodziak, testified that Dr. Lee's findings were faulty, that one of the “imprints” Dr. Lee had photographed from the walkway on Bundy was actually an indentation in the cement, a trowel mark made by workers in the laying of the cement years earlier. But it was Dr. Lee's testimony that stayed in the minds of the jury. His theory that shoe prints at the scene might have come from a second assailant was enough to place a reasonable doubt in the jurors' minds.

Even though Dr. Lee was struck down by comments refuting his findings, even though testimony by FBI shoe print expert Bodziak debunked Dr. Lee's “parallel-line imprint” theory on virtually every level, the jury in the O.J. Simpson case remained impressed by Dr. Lee. They didn't seem to care about the disputed facts. They saw Dr. Lee as a highly intelligent, world-renowned gentleman. His discredited testimony, therefore, hadn't had any sway with the jury whatsoever.

In the trial of the century, it was Dr. Henry Lee who had the greatest impact. He was a man who came off as worldly and sophisticated. He was seen as a sincere expert, a man who worked more often for the prosecution than the defense. By the vast majority, Dr. Lee was considered to be the best in his profession. And, after the O.J. Simpson verdict, media from all over the country hailed him as America's top forensic expert.

In most everyone's view, Dr. Henry Lee was the best witness money could buy. So when local media in North Carolina discovered that the nationally known forensic scientist, the coauthor of twenty books, was on his way down to Durham—headed there from his home base at the University of New Haven in Connecticut—they were anxious to report the story, printing glowing portraits of the “forensic sleuth.”

David Rudolf had asked Dr. Lee to make a special trip down, to take a look at the stairwell in the Peterson mansion, and Lee arrived on Valentine's Day, 2002, entering the gorgeous abode on Cedar Street, where he was greeted by a very humble Michael Peterson.

Of course Michael Peterson was ecstatic, as was David Rudolf. They knew Dr. Henry Lee wouldn't be there if he hadn't believed in Peterson's innocence. Dr. Lee would be looking for anything exculpatory. In particular, he would look at the bloodstain patterns to determine exactly how Kathleen Peterson might have taken such a terrible fall. Both Peterson and Rudolf believed that Dr. Lee was the right man to determine what, if anything, could be gleaned by the blood patterns and other forensic evidence left behind on the staircase. Certainly, having a man such as Dr. Henry Lee on their side would bode well for Michael Peterson.

There was much local fanfare regarding the presence of Dr. Henry Lee. Not only had both top newspapers written stories about him, ABC's
20/20
had flown in a news crew to film Dr. Lee in the Peterson stairwell. Himself a media star, having testified not only for the defense of O.J. Simpson, for the defense of William Kennedy Smith, and in the famous unsolved case of JonBenet Ramsey, Dr. Henry Lee had caused quite a stir in the Triangle region of North Carolina.

Once the hubbub settled, after Dr. Lee had jetted off on a plane, David Rudolf reminded local media that the case against Michael Peterson was circumstantial, again accusing police of mishandling the crime scene. The attorney told the media that he viewed the blood evidence on Peterson's stairs as one of the most important factors in the case. The interpretation of the cast-off spatter, Rudolf asserted, would be something that people would interpret differently, and David Rudolf looked forward to the Michael Peterson case becoming a battle of the experts.

Up until that point, the autopsy results and photographs had remained sealed. The public remained in limbo about the culpability of Mr. Peterson, and his attorney was asking that the gruesome photos of Mrs. Peterson be kept under seal, partially as a courtesy to the family, who had been through so much agony over Kathleen's unfortunate death.

Within days after Lee's whirlwind tour through Durham, Kathleen Peterson's sister Candace Hunt Zamperini felt compelled to contact a columnist at the
Herald-Sun
newspaper. Acting as a spokesperson for the Kathleen Hunt Peterson's family, Candace wrote a statement regarding David Rudolf and his public presumption that he was representing the entire Peterson family in their desire to keep Kathleen's autopsy results and photographs away from the public eye.

Candace stated that, even though the release of the devastating autopsy photos would fill her family's heart with sadness, Kathleen's family had agreed that the documents and photographs needed to be made public in order that the truth about Kathleen's death be discovered. Candace also wrote a comment about David Rudolf, whom she insisted did
not
represent Kathleen's family. She noted the “confusion” that had “arisen from misrepresenting the relationships of people in Kathleen's life,” asserting that Mr. Rudolf had never spoken with her or any member of Kathleen's family.

Candace said that she and the rest of Kathleen's family took “great umbrage with Mr. Rudolf taking the liberty to speak for any of us” concerning the case against Michael Peterson. Candace made it clear that, while Michael had been Kathleen's husband, he stood accused of murder, thus he no longer held the position of “family,” as far as she or any of Kathleen's immediate relatives were concerned. Candace pointed out that Kathleen's family was comprised of her mother, two sisters, one brother, and one daughter, all of whom were united in the common mission of discovering the truth about Kathleen's death.

Two days after Candace's scathing comments hit the local paper in Durham, David Rudolf sent a letter to Kathleen's sister at her home in Virginia. Rudolf had read that Candace and other members of Kathleen's family were upset because he was claiming to speak for her family. He said that, to his knowledge, he had never done such a thing, but if in some way he had “created that impression,” he was truly sorry. Rudolf said that he hadn't meant to cause Candace or any of Kathleen's family any additional pain. He explained that he was only trying to “effectuate the wishes of Michael and his children” by asking that Kathleen's autopsy photos not be available to anyone.

Rudolf emphasized to Candace that the request to seal the autopsy results and photos had nothing to do with determining the truth about what happened to Kathleen. Rudolf said he fully respected Candace's beliefs, but he wanted her to know that Michael was just as interested in determining the truth about what had happened to Kathleen as she was.

Rudolf maintained that the autopsy photos would be available to all lawyers, experts, and jury members. He explained that the public release of such material would in no way contribute to the real search for the truth. The truth, Rudolf explained, would come from qualified experts who had reviewed all the evidence, who would testify in a court of law. The real truth of Kathleen's death, Rudolf wrote, would not come “from armchair analysis by pseudo experts” who would be contacted by the media “to pump up their ratings for sweeps month, which happens to be February.”

David Rudolf hoped that Candace and the rest of Kathleen's family would keep open minds about the facts in the case, that they would wait until the trial to make their judgments.

But already, the state's experts had expressed opinions about the cause of Kathleen's death, deeming it a homicide. Candace and Caitlin, as well as other members of Kathleen's family, had been made fully aware of the details. While Rudolf insisted that other qualified experts might disagree with the state's findings, he could never convince Candace Zamperini of that. Candace had been to Durham. At first skeptical and defensive of Michael Peterson, once Candace had seen the photos of the crime scene, once she read the autopsy reports, there were questions that couldn't be answered so easily. The photos and reports detailed the seven severe lacerations to Kathleen's head. And there appeared to be defensive wounds to Kathleen's hands and wrists, indicating that she had been fending off an attack.

As the attorney closed his letter to Candace, Rudolf spelled out the two questions that he considered to be key in the case regarding Michael Peterson. The first was, what actually happened? Rudolf said he needed to discover if there was an accident or a homicide. That was a question for his experts to determine, once they had the chance to review the reports of the medical examiners and other state's witnesses. The second question was, assuming the state's conclusion that Kathleen Peterson had been beaten to death was actually correct, “who did this?”

In Rudolf's opinion, that was a question he could address. In his letter, the attorney assured Candace that Michael was innocent of the charges against him, stating that if Kathleen was beaten, “it was certainly not by Michael,” who was still expressing his love for Kathleen.

The first autopsy examination issued from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner at Chapel Hill was signed by Dr. Kenneth Snell. The decedent, Kathleen Hunt Peterson, had been viewed at the Cedar Street house at 7:40
A.M.
on December 9, 2001, when it had been determined that the probable cause of death was a closed head injury, blunt-force injury to the head, due to a fall down the stairs.

The narrative summary Dr. Snell wrote stated that Mrs. Peterson was found at the bottom of the stairs by her husband or her son—and that friends and family members were notified before EMS was notified. When the EMS did arrive at 2:40
A.M.
, the husband admitted to having put towels under Mrs. Peterson's head. Dr. Snell noted some blood had partially been wiped up on the stairs with paper towels. Dr. Kenneth Snell also made a notation that there had been alcohol consumption on the evening before her death.

Dr. Snell recorded blood still present in the stairwell, and wrote that it appeared Mrs. Peterson hit her head on the top step above the corner, hit the floor in the corner of the stairs, and then landed at the base of the stairs on her back. The medical examiner further noted that the blood spatter appeared to support the scenario of a fall. His findings suggested Mrs. Peterson's death was an accident.

However, once Kathleen Peterson's body was transported to Chapel Hill, a full autopsy examination was to be performed by Dr. Deborah Radisch. As a matter of record, the 120-pound body of Mrs. Peterson, an adult female clad in a brown fleece sweatshirt and white sweatpants, was determined to be in “good general condition.” There was evidence of medical intervention noted on the skin of her right lower abdomen, but otherwise, Mrs. Peterson's body, with its brown hair and green eyes, was basically intact, prior to the event of December 9, 2001.

Dr. Deborah Radisch, a seasoned pathologist with a stellar track record, would carefully write both an internal and external description of the body of Kathleen Hunt Atwater Peterson. Her pathological diagnosis included a long list of injuries:

Dr. Radisch noted that hair was grasped in Mrs. Peterson's right and left hands, which was collected and submitted as evidence. There was no visible tissue seen under her fingernails, but it was noted that Mrs. Peterson did have crusted blood beneath her nails. There was a small chip discovered on one tooth. There was also dried blood on the bottoms of her feet, and dried blood on her face.

Mrs. Peterson had three contusions over her right eyelid, a contusion on her right ear, and a linear vertical abrasion on the right side of her neck. Beyond that, she had three linear horizontal abrasions over her left eyebrow. Also, there was a horizontal abrasion over the bridge of her nose, two small linear horizontal abrasions over her left eye, and a small abrasion over her lip.

Dr. Radisch counted at least seven distinct lacerations on the posterior scalp of Mrs. Peterson. Several of those lacerations were complex: one was a tri-pronged linear laceration measuring 3 inches vertically. Located 2½ inches away, there was a second tri-pronged laceration measuring over four inches vertically. Continuing along Mrs. Peterson's scalp, the lacerations were measured out in vertical and horizontal intersections, one of which had a deeply undermined edge. In addition, there was a 1-inch flap of skin removed from the left side of her scalp.

There were no skull fractures found, and Mrs. Peterson's brain was not swollen. Her system contained a blood alcohol concentration of .07 percent, just one point below the legal driving limit. There were trace amounts of chlorpheniramine, Cyclobenzaprine, and nicotine detected in her blood specimen, and Valium was present in a small concentration as well.

While the initial examination by Dr. Kenneth Snell indicated the death was due to a fall down the stairs, Dr. Deborah Radisch listed the cause of death as being due to severe concussive injury of the brain, caused by multiple blunt-force impacts to the head.

Blood loss from Mrs. Peterson's deep scalp lacerations may also have played a role in her death, but Dr. Radisch's final report concluded that the severity and location of the lacerations to Mrs. Peterson's head were the primary cause of death. In her medical opinion, those lacerations were indicative of multiple impacts received as a result of a beating.

About the final autopsy results, one particular item stood out to neuropathologist Dr. Thomas Bouldin, who later examined the body of Kathleen Peterson: consistent with the acute ischemic neuronal necrosis present in her cerebrum, there existed
rare red neurons
. Those red neurons would only appear if Kathleen Peterson had experienced a decreased blood flow to her brain for perhaps two hours before her death.