Not seen Netflix’s latest must-watch doc series, The Staircase, yet? Well, probably best to swerve this article then, for spoilers, they be ahead. Everyone else, well, read on why don’t you?
As we’re left at the end of the doc series, Michael Peterson - the man accused of murdering his wife Kathleen Peterson in 2001 and disguising it as an accident - in 2017 he was released from prison (he was originally convicted in 2003) after he submitted an Alford plea (admitting guilt but maintaining innocence, if you can get your head around that). However, a theory was very briefly mentioned at the end involving an, erm, owl.
Yeah, the Petersons’ next door neighbour - lawyer Larry Pollard - reckons an owl did it. An owl.
But then, then! You read about it and… and, yes, an owl did do it, didn’t it? The evidence is ridiculously in favour of an owl, an actual owl, being responsible for a human murder. And now, Netflix appear to have confirmed the strength of the theory:
(This video contains crime scene photos)
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After watching that, it’s hard to discredit, right? Those marks look exactly like you’d imagine an owl would make, the feathers found in her hair, the footsteps in the blood, it’s not sounding so ridiculous now, is it?
The director of The Staircase, Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, seems to agree - he spoke about the theory to Vulture:
“The first time I heard about the owl theory, I really laughed. But when I started looking at it and I met with Larry Pollard … It might be the more plausible explanation.
How can you explain all the cuts and lacerations and the absence of fractures? When you start thinking about the owl theory, and the kind of injuries she had, you start thinking maybe there is something there.”
And, you guessed it, our old friend Twitter is fully on board, too:
What do you reckon?
(Image: Netflix)
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