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Michael Iver Peterson (born October 23, 1943) is an American novelist who was convicted in 2003 of murdering his second wife, Kathleen Peterson. On December 15, 2011, Peterson was granted a new trial. ==Personal and professional life== Michael "Mike" Peterson was born near Nashville, Tennessee, the son of Eugen Iver Peterson and Eleanor Bartolino. He graduated from Duke University with a bachelor's degree in political science. There he was president of Sigma Nu fraternity and was editor of ''The Chronicle'', the daily student newspaper, in 1964–1965.〔 He attended classes at the law school of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After leaving Duke, Peterson took a civilian job with the U.S. Department of Defense, where he was assigned to research arguments supporting increased military involvement in Vietnam. In 1965, Peterson married Patricia Sue Peterson, who taught elementary school on the Rhein-Main Air Base in Gräfenhausen, West Germany. They had two children, Clayton and Todd. In 1968, he enlisted in the Marines and served in Vietnam. He received an honorable discharge four years later after a car accident left him with a permanent disability. He retired with the rank of captain in 1971. During a mayoral campaign, Peterson claimed he won a Silver Star, a Bronze Star With Valor and two Purple Hearts. He had all the medals, but said he did not have the documentation for them. He claimed he had received one Purple Heart after being hit by shrapnel when another soldier stepped on a land mine, and the other when he was shot. Peterson later admitted his war injury was not the result of the shrapnel wound in Vietnam, but was the result of a vehicle accident in Japan, where he was stationed after the war as a military policeman.〔 The ''News & Observer'' said records did not contain any mention of the second Purple Heart Peterson said he received. Michael and Patricia lived in Germany for some time, where they befriended Elizabeth and George Ratliff and their two children, Margaret and Martha. After George's death, the Peterson and Ratliff families became very close. When Elizabeth Ratliff died in 1985, her two children became Michael's wards. Michael and Patricia divorced in 1987, Clayton and Todd went to live with their mother, and Margaret and Martha stayed with Michael, who then moved to Durham, North Carolina. Peterson wrote three novels based "around his experiences during the Vietnamese conflict"〔—''The Immortal Dragon'', ''A Time of War'', and ''A Bitter Peace''. He co-wrote the biographical ''Charlie Two Shoes and the Marines of Love Company'' with journalist David Perlmutt. He also worked as a newspaper columnist for the ''Durham Herald-Sun'', where his columns became known for their criticism of police and Durham County District Attorney James Hardin Jr., who would later prosecute Peterson for the murder of his second wife, Kathleen. In 1989, Michael moved in with Kathleen Atwater, a successful Nortel business executive. They married in 1997, and Kathleen's daughter Caitlin also joined the extended family. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Michael Peterson (murder suspect)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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