DURHAM, NC -- Raleigh News & Observer, October 9, 2007
$25 Million Settlement in Peterson Wrongful Death
Kathleen Peterson's daughter, who sued former Durham novelist Mike Peterson over her mother's death, accepted a $25 million settlement Thursday to settle her wrongful death lawsuit.
Caitlin Atwater likely will never see any of that money. Peterson is destitute and serving a life sentence in state prison. The agreement allows Mike Peterson to avoid having to testify under oath about his wife's death. If attorneys for the former columnist and mayoral candidate manage to persuade the state Supreme Court to overturn his 2003 murder conviction, the deal is void.
But when she signed her name under Mike Peterson's on the settlement papers, Atwater, 24, said she thought that Peterson had acknowledged what he had taken in December 2001 when Kathleen Peterson died. "The gravity of my loss and the horrific pain and suffering that Mike Peterson cost my mother ... is really too severe for any semblance of retribution to ever truly be made," Atwater said Thursday at a news conference at her attorney's office in Raleigh.
Mike Peterson's attorney saw the settlement in different terms. The agreement specifically states that Peterson, 63, does not admit any guilt in his wife's death. Peterson maintains that his wife died in an accidental fall on a staircase in the couple's mansion in Forest Hills, a wealthy neighborhood in Durham. Kerry Sutton, a Durham lawyer representing Peterson in the lawsuit, said she spoke to him Monday when he signed the settlement agreement. Having a jury determine damages for the death made no sense, she said. "He absolutely, positively had nothing to do with Kathleen Peterson's death. He believes her life was priceless and precious and would do anything to have her back," Sutton said. "He hopes this gives Caitlin some peace."
The agreement, which still requires the approval of a judge, was a compromise for both sides.
Peterson already was declared destitute by a judge, and he won't have to pay the settlement, which adds 8 percent interest from the day Atwater filed her lawsuit. The interest has inflated the settlement amount to more than $33 million, said Jay Trehy, her attorney. Peterson was set to give a deposition in June, and Atwater said she wanted her attorney to grill Peterson. She decided to accept the settlement instead. "I think we've known all along there's a very, very unlikely chance that he will actually reveal anything," Atwater said.
The agreement means that Atwater won't have to sit in court as lawyers rehash the case. And it means, assuming Peterson's conviction stands, that he can never make any money from his wife's death or the fan-following generated by the case and its nationally televised criminal trial. "We don't anticipate receiving a dime," Trehy said. "What's important here is that in case Mr. Peterson ever writes a book, whether it's a 'How I would have done it if I had done it' or whether anything of that crazy nature, we'll be there to make sure we collect."
The case attracted frenzied news coverage, books and films -- most of which focused on Mike Peterson. Even now, five years after Kathleen Peterson's death, the case is a piece of pop culture -- a documentary about it told mostly from Mike Peterson's point of view was televised around the world and can now be downloaded from the online music and video service iTunes. A film is in the works for the Lifetime Television network.
Atwater, who is finishing a degree at Cornell University, said that with the settlement and her news conference, she wanted, if just for one day, to focus the media attention on her mother and not the man convicted of killing her. "She was an amazing person," Atwater said. "There has been a lot of attention focused, I think, in the wrong direction."
Kathleen Peterson was an executive at Nortel Networks. She kept a busy calendar and was active in community and arts fundraising. She was known for her skills in the kitchen and was like a sister and best friend to her daughter. Kathleen and Mike Peterson had no children together but lived with a blended family in the Cedar Street home.
One night in December 2001, Mike Peterson called 911 in a panic. He said he had found her at the bottom of the stairs with blood around her. Investigators were suspicious, and authorities eventually determined that she had been beaten to death.
Court TV broadcast the trial, a battle between a high-powered defense team and Durham prosecutors. Peterson was convicted in October 2003 and is serving his life sentence in Nash Correctional Institution in Nash County, which is east of Wake County.
The conviction was upheld by the Court of Appeals, but the case is pending before the state Supreme Court.
