Michael Peterson’s 911 call
On December 9, 2001, Peterson made his first call to 911 at 2:40 am:
911: Durham 9-1-1. Where is your emergency?
Peterson: … uaaaah eighteen ten Cedar Street. Please!
Peterson gave the address after the 911 dispatcher’s introduction.
911: What’s wrong?
Peterson: My wife had an accident, she is still breathing!
Peterson said that his wife was still breathing without being asked, that’s unexpected.
911: What kind of accident?
Peterson: She fell down the stairs, she is still breathing! Please come!
Peterson didn’t describe the scene but showed to know without doubts the cause of the accident.
911: Is she conscious?
Peterson: Whaat?
He was not expecting the question that’s why he was unable to give an answer, to answer with a question is a way not to answer and to buy time to give a reliable answer.
911: Is she conscious?
Peterson: No, she is not conscious… please!
911: How many stairs did she fall down?
Peterson: What? .. hat?
Peterson answer with a question because he was not expecting the question and was not close to his wife, unable to see the stairs.
911: How many stairs did..
Peterson: …Stairs?!
Peterson was just trying to buy time because he was far from the scene.
911: How many stairs?
Peterson: … aah… aah… ah…
We can hear he was walking to the scene to look at the stairs. Michael Peterson after this question appeared to be caught off guard and was ‘stalling for time’ with some: ‘What? Stairs? aah, aah, ah’, he was buying time to be able to get to the area of the stairs.
911: Calm down, sir, calm down.
Peterson: No, damned, sixteen, twenty. I don’t know. Please! Get somebody here, right away. Please!
After almost 15 seconds from the start of the phone call the operator asked about the number of stairs and Peterson showed not to be close to the scene, in the first 15 seconds of the phone call Peterson wasn’t approaching his wife, he was close to her just around 25 seconds after the phone call started, he went there to look at the number of the stairs because asked. I guess Peterson found the cordless phone in the kitchen, just behind the corner, very close to the service stairs where Kathleen’ body was, so why he had to walk for around ten seconds to be on the scene to be able to look at the stairs? And, how could he give informations about his wife conditions if he wasn’t close to her?
911: Okay somebody’s dispatching the ambulance while I’m asking you questions.
Peterson: It’s, ohaah… It’s Forest Hills! Okay? Please! Please!
911: Okay, sir? Somebody else is dispatching the ambulance. Is she awake now?
Peterson: … aaammh… aaah…
911: Hello? …Hello?
Peterson: … ah… ah… mmmm… aaaah… oh… aaaah…
After some questions, Peterson, fearing not to be able to track down his story, didn’t answer anymore showing a resistance in answering, one of the strongest indicators of potential guilt.
Usually people call 911 and stay very close to the victims to give the operator informations about their real conditions and to be able to help following the suggestions the operator may give them, like how to perform CPR. Michael Peterson had no intention to help his wife, that’s why he was far from her when he called 911 and went back to her just to look at the stairs to give the operator an approximate number.
Michael Peterson was far from Kathleen because she was already dead for hours and he was not interesting to help her or to give any real informations about her conditions.
When Michael Peterson called 911 he was quite far from the victim, instead, when the paramedics arrived his behavior was different, he was on her body trying to resuscitate her, he was acting, he knew she was already dead for hours. Peterson was not just acting as a grieving husband for the paramedics but he was also trying to justify all the blood on his clothes, touching and hugging the victim, he was trying to cover evidences.
Michael Peterson’s second call to 911 at 2:46 am:
911: Durham 9-1-1. Where is your emergency?
Peterson: Where are they?! it’s eighteen ten Cedar. She’s not breathing! Please! Please would you hurry up!
911: Sir?
Peterson: Can you hear me?
911: Sir?
Peterson: Yes!
911: Sir, calm down. They’re on their way. Can you tell me for sure she’s not breathing? Sir…? Hello…? Hello…?
Peterson called 911 a second time just to say that Kathleen wasn’t anymore breathing but after he gave that information to the dispatcher he didn’t answer any questions showing a resistance in answering due to his incapacity to track down his story. In this second call Peterson tried to act as a worried husband but at the same time he reported that Kathleen wasn’t breathing, trying not to motivate the paramedics to hurry up. During these two short calls Peterson said please nine times, he use the word please as a useful word to act as a worried husband but he shows at the same time a resistance in answering that is one of the strongest indicators of potential guilt. Peterson never spoke about the blood at the scene and he was in front of a very bloody scene, usually when people call 911 after they saw a bloody scene they say: There is blood everywhere! At the second question of the 911 operator Peterson answered with an unexpected: .. she is still breathing! those were ‘extra words’, he tried to ‘drive home the point’, he wanted the operator to believe that she was still alive to delay the time of her death, Kathleen didn’t die after 2.40 p.m. but between 11.08 p.m. and 11.53 p.m. In the first chapter of the documentary ‘The Staircase’ Peterson said that Kathleen left him at the pool to go inside, his words were: …and the last I saw her was when I was there and she was just walking here, and that’s it. That was the last time I saw Kathleen alive…. no… she was alive when I found her… but barely’, how could she have died in his arms in the early hours of that morning if he was far from her during the 911 call, as he said, after he found her she was alive but just barely?
P.S. to know more about the case read my articles:
The murder of Kathleen Hunt Atwater Peterson at the ‘hands’ of Michael Peterson
Author Unknown.
Website link below
https://malkecrimenotes.wordpress.com/2016/03/21/michael-petersons-911-call/
