We thought in 2003 they were due to the scalp “splitting” when her head hit a flat surface, such as a wall or a floor, as explained by Werner Spitz in Episode 1.
Exsanguination was the cause of death – not blunt force trauma to her brain, not a fractured skull, not strangulation. Those were the injuries that actually caused her death. The best any of us can do is to weigh the evidence and consider how it stacks up against the other theories advanced to explain Kathleen’s scalp injuries.Īnd that, at the end of the day, is the key question in this case – what caused the injuries to Kathleen Peterson’s scalp? I believe the importance of the documentary lies in exposing the flaws of the criminal justice system in general and junk science in particular.īut since that topic has generated such interest, I will provide my thoughts on the “owl theory” here, to respond to the questions and skepticism expressed on social media.įirst, I do not “know” whether the owl theory is true. For me, the importance of The Staircase is not whether an owl was involved in some way in Kathleen Peterson’s death.
