HBO’s ‘Staircase’: Who is Duane Deaver? What to know about the former NC SBI agent
The premiere of HBO Max’s “The Staircase” is renewing interest — locally and beyond — in the 2001 death of Kathleen Peterson in Durham and the subsequent trial and conviction of her husband, Michael Peterson.
The series, premiering May 5, is a dramatization of Jean-Xavier de Lestrade’s documentary series of the same name, which is available for streaming on Netflix.
In the new HBO Max series, N.C. State Bureau of Investigation agent Duane Deaver is played by Myke Holmes. Deaver’s character is shown in Episodes 2 and 3 of the series bashing the heads of mannequins, trying to replicate the injuries found on Kathleen Peterson’s head.
Deaver served as an expert witness in the trial, providing blood spatter analysis to support the prosecution’s claim that Kathleen Peterson died by being beaten, rather than falling down the steps at her home, as claimed by Michael Peterson’s defense team.
In the years since the trial, Deaver has become a controversial figure in the state and in the Peterson case — particularly after he was fired from the SBI in 2011.
What else should you know about Duane Deaver? Why was he fired from the SBI?
Here are some answers.
Who is Duane Deaver?
Duane Deaver was an agent with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation during Michael Peterson’s trial for the murder of his wife, Kathleen. He testified as a witness during the trial, providing blood spatter analysis of the crime scene.
▪ In a 2003 story describing Deaver’s testimony during the trial, The News & Observer said Deaver was an “18-year veteran” of the SBI at the time of the trial.
▪ In a 2010 story by The N&O — one that was part of a series that revealed several problems within the SBI and the agency’s practices — reporters wrote that Deaver was “the SBI’s go-to man on bloodstain pattern analysis.” Deaver had, by that time, “been the principal training officer for 22 years and authored the training program and policy and procedure manual” for blood spatter analysis.
▪ The N&O also reported in that 2010 story that Deaver had a degree in zoology from N.C. State University, and that he had completed two courses in bloodstain analysis — but he had never been a member of professional bloodstain analysis organizations, such as the International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysis, the International Association of Identification or the Scientific Working Group on Bloodstain Pattern Analysis.
During Michael Peterson’s trial, Deaver ultimately concluded and testified that the pattern of blood at the crime scene was consistent with Kathleen Peterson having been beaten to death, rather than falling down the staircase where she was found dead.
▪ Jurors in the case viewed Deaver’s testimony as “essential to their deliberations” as they rendered a guilty verdict, The N&O previously reported.
Why was Duane Deaver fired from the NC SBI?
Deaver was fired from the SBI in 2011 after his work “came under fire in several high profile cases and an independent audit of the state’s crime lab,” The N&O reported at the time.
Deaver’s work, and that of the SBI, had first come under fire in 2010, when Greg Taylor, a Wake County man, was exonerated after 17 years in prison.
▪ Taylor in 1993 had been convicted of murdering a woman near downtown Raleigh. Taylor’s SUV had been located near where the woman was found dead.
▪ During the trial, Deaver testified that “Taylor’s SUV gave chemical indications for the presence of blood,” The N&O reported.
▪ As a result of the trial, including Deaver’s testimony, Taylor was sentenced to life in prison.
But it later came to light, through investigations into the SBI, that Deaver had “withheld results of more sophisticated blood tests that yielded negative results” for the presence of blood on Taylor’s SUV, The N&O reported.
▪ An independent audit of the serology, or blood testing, unit of the SBI “called into question the lab’s work in 229 criminal cases,” including five that were deemed “most troubling.” Deaver had performed work in all five of those most troubling cases, The N&O reported.
▪ Citing Deaver’s withholding of evidence in his case, Greg Taylor was freed from prison and exonerated — becoming the first man to be declared innocent of murder in North Carolina — in February 2010. He had served 17 years in prison by the time he was released.
As a result of Deaver’s record of withholding evidence, along with a “barrage of controversial cases and critical media reports,” including an investigative series by The N&O, he was fired from the SBI in 2011.
▪ Investigations into the SBI found several other problems with the agency, also leading to the “replacement” of SBI director Robin Pendergraft by then-Attorney General Roy Cooper.
How did Duane Deaver’s firing impact the Michael Peterson case?
After Deaver was fired from the SBI and the errors in his previous case work were revealed, it prompted questions about his work and testimony in the Peterson case.
▪ According to SBI records, Deaver had “misrepresented agency policy and exaggerated his training and experience under oath when he was certified as an expert witness in the Michael Peterson trial,” The N&O reported in December 2011.
Peterson’s defense team used Deaver’s record of “fabricating evidence of guilt and hiding evidence of innocence” to challenge his conviction.
▪ Peterson’s laywer, David Rudolf, argued in court that Deaver had lied under oath during Peterson’s trial, using a “systematic attack aimed at undermining Deaver’s credibility in front of the judge,” The N&O reported.
▪ During the trial, Deaver said, among other things, that he had “he had worked 500 bloodstain cases, written 200 reports, and testified in 60 cases.” That claim was contradicted by SBI Assistant Director Eric Hooks, the agency’s head of internal investigations, who told the court that Deaver had written just 47 reports in his 24-year career.
▪ Deaver also testified during the Peterson trial that he had been trained and mentored by SBI agent David Spittle, an experienced bloodstain analyst. During an SBI internal investigation, Spittle said he “could not recall training or mentoring Deaver,” The N&O reported.
In December 2011, judge Orlando Hudson, who had presided over Peterson’s original trial, granted Peterson a new trial, citing that Deaver had “misled” Hudson and the jury, The N&O reported.
“Is a new trial required because of due process violations and the perjured testimony?” Hudson said at the time, according to The N&O. “The answer is yes.”
Peterson was released from jail on December 16, 2011, on a $300,000 bond and was placed under house arrest for almost three years as he awaited his new trial, until his bond restrictions were eased in July 2014.
Peterson would eventually take an Alford plea in the case in February 2017. He was sentenced to 86 months in prison for the plea, but he had already served more than that during his time in prison, and thus did not serve more time.
Did Duane Deaver try to get his job back?
After being fired from the SBI, Deaver attempted to get his job back, engaging in a “war of appeals” with the agency over a series of years, but was ultimately unsuccessful.
▪ In 2014, an administrative judge found that allegations against Deaver cited in his firing were “just cause for dismissal.”
▪ At a later hearing in 2014, the N.C. Human Resources Commission ruled that the SBI was justified in firing Deaver, but said Deaver should receive back pay for “an 18-month period when he should have been demoted with a 10 percent pay cut instead of being fired in 2011,” The N&O reported.
More on HBO’s ‘The Staircase’
For full coverage of HBO Max’s “The Staircase” and other background on the death of Kathleen Peterson and the murder trial of Michael Peterson, visit: newsobserver.com/topics/staircase
This story was originally published May 4, 2022 at 2:53 PM with the headline "HBO’s ‘Staircase’: Who is Duane Deaver? What to know about the former NC SBI agent."
