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Author Tiddy Smith Explores ‘Owl Theory’ and North Carolina’s Infamous ‘Staircase Murder’ in DEATH BY TALONS: Did An Owl ‘Murder’ Kathleen Peterson?

In [DEATH BY TALONS], all the evidence is laid bare... I highly recommend this book!”
—Larry Pollard

It was not enough to suggest that Kathleen began to bleed outside. It was not enough to point to prior owl attacks on humans. Larry needed a smoking gun. And he would find it.
—from DEATH BY TALONS by Tiddy Smith

book coverOn December 9, 2001, Kathleen Peterson was found dead at the bottom of a staircase in her Durham, NC home. Kathleen’s scalp was laced with deep incisions and her blood strewn from outside to inside the house. The sinister truth of that night turned her murder into North Carolina's most enigmatic criminal case, capturing media attention across the globe.

While police zeroed in on Michael Peterson, the husband, and charged him with murder, a neighbor, Larry Pollard, claimed an owl had attacked Kathleen outside her house. He said it sliced her scalp with its fierce talons and caused her to run inside, collapsing at the stairwell, bleeding to death.

It was an outrageous theory.

Larry was mocked and Michael imprisoned. Now, twenty years after the unusual death, questions remain.

Did an owl kill Kathleen? How much do North Carolina's authorities actually know?

From the Book

The taxi pulled up. O'Hara hopped and trod through a little snow to the door, only to see that all the lights inside the house were on. This immediately struck her as unusual. She opened the door to find everything laid out for breakfast in the kitchen. There wasn't a sound. No footsteps or clanging of pots or noisy children were heard. As she turned her head left, she saw a body in a heap at the bottom of the stairs. A spray of blood was over the wall beside the body. The face was so covered in blood as to be unidentifiable. Attached to the feet of the body was a pair of yellow snow boots. They were Elizabeth’s boots.

O’Hara began to hyperventilate. She launched over the body and up the stairs towards the telephone. She lifted the phone to her ear, but there was no dial tone. The line was inexplicably dead. She turned the numbers of the old-fashioned phone clockwise on their wheel. They whirred back in place. Still nothing. Racing out the front door, she found the taxi driver lingering outside. “Call an ambulance,” she cried, “and call the police!”

She ran past the idling car and fled to the Petersons’ house, which was only a few doors away. She thudded at the door for what felt like forever. It opened. “Hurry, quick, come with me!” she shouted at Patty, draped in a robe. “It’s Liz!” Michael emerged from the bedroom with tired eyes, woken by the sounds of panic downstairs. “What’s this about Liz?”

With the situation explained, the trio ran to the Ratliff house. “She’s still warm,” the nanny panted as she ran, “but bleeding”. As they came to the door, they found the body on its side, almost in a fetal position. Michael crouched down and placed a hand on Liz. He sighed. “She’s not warm Barb,” Michael said. “That was just the underfloor heating. She’s dead Barb.” Patty went to the kitchen and steadied herself on a stool, vacantly staring out at the snow. Everyone remained in silence, including the two children who remained asleep upstairs.

View the photo gallery at wbp.bz/DBTgallery.

About the Author

Author Tiddy SmithTiddy Smith is a philosopher of religion, who gained his PhD from the University of Otago in 2017. He has taught at various universities in New Zealand and Indonesia. He is the author of The Methods of Science and Religion (Lexington Books, 2019) and editor of Animism and Philosophy of Religion (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023).

Filed Under: Audiobooks, eBooks, New Releases, Print Books, Tiddy Smith, True Crime Audiobooks, True Crime Books Tagged With: Conspiracy, Forensics, Larry Pollard, Michael Peterson, Murder, nonfiction, North Carolina, owl theory, Staircase, True Crime
March 14, 2023 By Tiddy Smith Leave a Comment

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DEATH BY TALONS by Tiddy Smith

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Hear Interviews with Tiddy Smith

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Tiddy Smith Discusses DEATH BY TALONS on Wicked Words | Listen to the Riveting Conversation

For those passionate about true crime who have yet to explore the enthralling realm of Wicked Words, the opportune moment has arrived! Our accomplished author, Tiddy Smith, takes center stage in the latest episode. [The owl theory] sounds stupid.” —From the show Released earlier this year, Smith’s DEATH BY TALONS unravels the mysterious death of […]

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Read Larry Pollard’s Powerful Endorsement of DEATH BY TALONS by Tiddy Smith

In March 2023, Tiddy Smith’s DEATH BY TALONS hit the shelves, shedding light on Kathleen Peterson’s tragic death—and the disconcerting facts and unsettling implications about what might have been known by the police. The book ended up in the hands of none other than Larry Pollard, whose review is more than an endorsement; it’s a […]

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Gallery | DEATH BY TALONS: Did An Owl ‘Murder’ Kathleen Peterson? by Tiddy Smith

Get DEATH BY TALONS   eBook   Paperback   Audio Book DEATH BY TALONS: Did An Owl ‘Murder’ Kathleen Peterson goes beyond the theories and speculations and uncovers the shocking conspiracy surrounding the infamous “Staircase” investigation. In this photo gallery, find the color versions of black and white images contained in the paperback and hardcover copies of the book. […]

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Author Tiddy Smith Discusses Police Misconduct in Durham

Get DEATH BY TALONS   eBook   Paperback   Audio Book The city of Durham in North Carolina had a serious problem with police misconduct at the beginning of the 21st century. The most famous example was the so-called “Duke Lacrosse” case, which gained worldwide attention. In this case, a young Black woman accused three Duke University students, […]

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A Fatal Owl Attack Has At Least One Historical Precedent, Says Author Tiddy Smith

Get DEATH BY JTALONS The unusual death of Kathleen Peterson in her home in Durham, North Carolina has attracted a tremendous amount of media attention since it occurred in December, 2001. It was first brought to international prominence by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade’s docuseries The Staircase, released in 2004. It was later rereleased in extended form […]

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In 1996, a sheep called Dolly was born. She was the first mammal in history to be cloned from an adult. For this reason, Dolly had three mothers: the one who provided the egg, the one who carried her to term, and the one who provided the DNA. It was a remarkable leap from science […]

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Scholar and DEATH BY TALONS Author Tiddy Smith Answers “Who Is Larry Pollard?”

Get DEATH BY JTALONS Thomas Lawrence Pollard, better known as Larry Pollard, was born in Durham, North Carolina in 1948. He was the son of Julia Davis Pollard and Forrest Pollard sr. Studying law at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, he would go on to work in some of the most prestigious legal […]

Author Tiddy Smith Tells Why He Wrote About The Kathleen Peterson Case

Get DEATH BY JTALONS I have always been intrigued by claims of the strange and unusual: Things like ghosts, extraterrestrials, sea monsters and sinister conspiracies. ghosts, extraterrestrials, conspiracy, Ira Levin, Rosemary’s Baby, The Boys from Brazil For this reason, perhaps, my favourite fiction writer was always Ira Levin. I remember reading Rosemary’s Baby for the […]

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Author Tiddy Smith Explores ‘Owl Theory’ and North Carolina’s Infamous ‘Staircase Murder’ in DEATH BY TALONS: Did An Owl ‘Murder’ Kathleen Peterson?

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