The Staircase Murders (2007) Treat Williams, Samaire Armstrong, Kevin Pollack
Douchebag novelist kills two women, probably for money, on two continents using identical method.
Just about exactly what it sounds like (based on Aphrodite Jones’ A Perfect Husband,, a true crime account of a pair of murders committed by author Michael Peterson), though the continuing loyalty of the daughters of Peterson’s first victim adds a dash of extra creepiness to the tale. Peterson appears to be a pretty accomplished manipulative sociopath, but to some extent his arrogance was his undoing. Sure, maybe the cops in one jurisdiction will overlook multiple deep head wounds to find natural/accidental death once, but in a completely different one a second time too? Other people are not as stupid as you think, Michael Peterson.
Well, most other people. The somewhat distanced and semi-objective female British documentarian depicted in the Lifetime movie version was in reality an annoying French dude who thinks “It is obvious that if the wealthy, famous, white writer Michael Peterson hadn't been bisexual, the case would never have come to court.” Lestrade’s documentary was eventually released under the title Soupcon (“Suspicion”) or The Staircase in the U.S. According to the Salon review, the extreme creepiness of Michael Peterson shines right through the filmmaker’s bias.
Checking Amazon, it looks like Diane Fanning’s Written in Blood rather than the Aphrodite Jones' book is the best account of the subject. I might need to read this to learn what was up with those Peterson kids, that looked like one of the weirdest family dynamics that does not involve overt abuse ever.
Lifetime rating: **
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