The Bizarre True Story Behind HBO Max’s The Staircase

Television

The supposed murder weapon is found and experts take the stand

There was also the matter of the murder weapon, which prosecutors suggested was a a fireplace tool called a blow poke that Kathleen’s sister, Candace, had given to the family. It was a thin, hollow item that could cause the lacerations on the scalp, without causing a skull fracture. And it was missing.

Then, one day, Michael’s son, Clayton, found the blow poke in the garage. It was undamaged and found not to have blood on it. Debate continued over whether or not it was even used. 

Blood analysts took the stand and gave their takes on the crime scene. The prosecution’s expert blood splatter analyst Duane Deaver told jurors that the patterns found in the stairwell were indicative of a brutal beating, but the defense’s expert, Henry Lee, who testified in the O.J. Simpson trial, said that he believed the pattern suggested Kathleen had fallen and coughed up her own blood.

Again, jurors were divided on whose testimony to believe. A juror told NBC News, “I was probably more disappointed in [Lee] because he could not definitely conclude, without a shadow of a doubt on his part that this was not a beating.”

“I never believed that the blow poke was the weapon,” another added.

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