{"id":1854,"date":"2017-04-04T14:47:42","date_gmt":"2017-04-04T18:47:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/press.nbcnews.com\/?p=1854"},"modified":"2017-04-04T14:47:42","modified_gmt":"2017-04-04T18:47:42","slug":"dateline-nbc-exclusive-michael-peterson-sits-down-for-first-network-interview-since-plea-deal-in-his-wifes-staircase-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nbcuniversalnewsgroup.com\/nbcnews\/2017\/04\/04\/dateline-nbc-exclusive-michael-peterson-sits-down-for-first-network-interview-since-plea-deal-in-his-wifes-staircase-death\/","title":{"rendered":"DATELINE NBC EXCLUSIVE: MICHAEL PETERSON SITS DOWN FOR FIRST NETWORK INTERVIEW SINCE PLEA DEAL IN HIS WIFE’S STAIRCASE DEATH"},"content":{"rendered":"

Peterson Says Accepting Plea Deal in His Wife\u2019s Death Was “The Most Difficult Decision I Ever Made\u201d <\/span><\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

Two-Hour \u201cDown the Back Staircase\u201d Airs Friday, April 7 at 9 p.m. ET\/PT, 8 p.m. CT \u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

April 4, 2017 \u2013 In his first network television interview since pleading guilty to manslaughter in the death of his wife Kathleen, Michael Peterson tells \u201cDateline NBC\u201d correspondent Dennis Murphy that accepting a plea deal was, \u201cthe most difficult decision I ever made in my life.\u201d To watch the exchange, click here<\/a>. Kathleen\u2019s sister Candace Zamperini reacted to the plea, telling Dateline, \u201cWe weren\u2019t quitting until we heard the word guilty. We thought we were going to hear it from another 12 jurors but we got to hear Michael say guilty.\u201d To watch the preview, click\u00a0here<\/a>. The transcripts of the interviews, which are part of a new, two-hour Dateline airing Friday, April 7, are included below.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2003, Peterson was originally convicted of first degree murder after Kathleen was found dead at the bottom of their staircase. The trial made national headlines as prosecutors tried to link Peterson to the death of a family friend who was also found dead at the bottom of a staircase. Peterson spent eight years in prison until his conviction was overturned. He was granted a new trial after a judge ruled that he had not received a fair trial. In February, Peterson entered an Alford plea \u2013 pleading guilty to manslaughter but maintaining his innocence \u2013\u00a0before a new trial was set to begin. He was sentenced to time already served. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDown the Back Staircase \u201d also features interviews with key players in the case, including: Peterson\u2019s daughters Martha Ratliff and Margaret Ratliff, Peterson\u2019s brother Bill Peterson, Detective Art Holland, former Assistant District Attorney Freda Black, Peterson\u2019s defense attorney David Rudolf and Kathleen\u2019s daughter Caitlin Atwater. Murphy has reported on this case for more than a decade. <\/span><\/p>\n

###\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

MICHAEL PETERSON: It really hurts. It was the most difficult decision I ever made in my life was to accept–<\/span><\/p>\n

DENNIS MURPHY: To take a plea.<\/span><\/p>\n

MICHAEL PETERSON: Yeah. Absolutely. And I’m talking, you know, joining the marines, anything I did in my life, this was the most difficult decision I made. And\u00a0I did it because the second most difficult thing I ever did in my life was to live through that trial and listen to all of those lies and perjuries, the nonsense.<\/span><\/p>\n

###\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

CANDACE ZAMPERINI: It was very cathartic to say, ahh, this is what I fought for\u2026we weren\u2019t quitting until we heard the word guilty. We thought we were going to hear it from another 12 jurors but we go to hear Michael say guilty. <\/span><\/p>\n

###\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

ABOUT DATELINE NBC<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dateline NBC is the longest-running series in NBC primetime history. Now in its 25th season, Dateline is anchored by Lester Holt, featuring correspondents Andrea Canning, Josh Mankiewicz, Keith Morrison and Dennis Murphy. Airing Fridays at 9 p.m. ET\/8 p.m. CT and Saturdays at 8p.m. ET\/7 p.m., Dateline reaches more than 20 million people every week through its broadcast, and millions more through its social media platforms. David Corvo is the senior executive producer and Liz Cole is the executive producer. Follow \u201cDateline NBC\u201d on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @datelinenbc.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

###\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dominique Cuce
\nNBC News
\n212-664-6192
\ndominique.cuce@nbcuni.com<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Peterson Says Accepting Plea Deal in His Wife\u2019s Death Was “The Most Difficult Decision I Ever Made\u201d Two-Hour \u201cDown the Back Staircase\u201d Airs Friday, April 7 at 9 p.m. ET\/PT, 8 p.m. CT \u00a0 April 4, 2017 \u2013 In his first network television interview since pleading guilty to manslaughter in the death of his wife […]<\/p>\n

Read More… from DATELINE NBC EXCLUSIVE: MICHAEL PETERSON SITS DOWN FOR FIRST NETWORK INTERVIEW SINCE PLEA DEAL IN HIS WIFE’S STAIRCASE DEATH<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1592,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[33],"tags":[4],"class_list":["post-1854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dateline","tag-feature"],"yoast_head":"\nDATELINE NBC EXCLUSIVE: MICHAEL PETERSON SITS DOWN FOR FIRST NETWORK INTERVIEW SINCE PLEA DEAL IN HIS WIFE'S STAIRCASE DEATH - NBC News Press Releases<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nbcuniversalnewsgroup.com\/nbcnews\/2017\/04\/04\/dateline-nbc-exclusive-michael-peterson-sits-down-for-first-network-interview-since-plea-deal-in-his-wifes-staircase-death\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"DATELINE NBC EXCLUSIVE: MICHAEL PETERSON SITS DOWN FOR FIRST NETWORK INTERVIEW SINCE PLEA DEAL IN HIS WIFE'S STAIRCASE DEATH - 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