Culture
24 May 18

Watch Trailer For True Crime Series ‘The Staircase’

Netflix has just released the trailer for 'The Staircase', the compelling story of Michael Peterson, a crime novelist accused of killing wife Kathleen after she is found dead at the bottom of a staircase in their home, and the 16 year judicial battle that followed.

Netflix will air three brand new episodes alongside the original 2004 series from 8 June.

Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker, Jean-Xavier de Lestrade was granted unusual access to the case immediately following Kathleen’s death in 2001 in Durham, North Carolina. Her husband, Michael, a local public figure and successful novelist, quickly becomes the prime suspect. De Lestrade’s cameras were on hand to capture every moment of this extraordinary story from arrest to verdict, following in intimate detail Peterson’s home, the family and his defence team as it considered its strategic options.
The Staircase is a gripping real-life courtroom thriller, offering a rare and revealing inside-look at a high-profile murder trial and is an engrossing examination of contemporary American justice.
The new episodes will premiere from the Tribeca Film Festival on April 28 and launch on Netflix this summer. The series is produced by What’s Up Films, produced by Matthieu Belghiti and produced and directed by Academy award-winner Jean-Xavier de Lestrade.
After completing a law degree in his native France, Jean-Xavier directed numerous legal-themed documentaries for French television before securing his place among the world’s top documentary filmmakers with “Murder on a Sunday Morning,” which won the 2002 Academy Award® for Best Documentary.
He followed that success with “The Staircase,” a documentary series that aired in over 65 countries. In 2003 Jean-Xavier transitioned to directing fiction films.