Death by Talons

Did an Owl "Murder" Kathleen Peterson?

By: Tiddy Smith

Narrated by: Tom Lennon

Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

An outrageous theory for murder!

On December 9, 2001, Kathleen Peterson was found dead at the bottom of a staircase in her Durham, NC home. Her scalp was laced with deep incisions, and her blood was strewn from outside to inside the house.

The sinister truth of that night turned her murder into North Carolina's most enigmatic criminal case, capturing media attention across the globe.

Police zeroed in on Kathleen’s husband, Michael Peterson, and charged him with murder.

But Was It The Truth?

A neighbor, Larry Pollard, came up with an alternative “killer”: He claimed an owl had attacked Kathleen outside her house. He said it sliced her scalp with its fierce talons and caused her to run inside, collapsing at the stairwell, and bleeding to death.

When the media heard about his theory, Larry was mocked. And Michael was convicted.

Now, 20 years later, author Tiddy Smith explores Pollard’s theory and questions whether law enforcement ignored, or even hid, evidence to convict Michael Peterson. And was an owl, in fact, the real killer?

©2023 Tiddy Smith (P)2023 WildBlue Press

Death Talons

This was very interesting.I don't recall the actual crime. If all that evidence was covered up,there that should be a crime on its own. Narration by Tom Lennon was very good. I was given this book free for an honest review.

“Owl” always wonder….

Death by Talons by Tiddy Smith puts forward an alternate theory and explains evidence found at the scene of Kathleen Peterson’s 2001 murder. This is my first introduction to Peterson case. What seemed like a slam dunk in the conviction of Michael Peterson has other interpretations, namely a vicious attack by an predator owl. Given the documented sloppy evidence collection, processing and lies by Durham NC law enforcement there are credible questions about Michael’s guilt. The book is well written and well researched. It is a very thought provoking book and I may never look at an owl the same way again! The narration by Tom Lennon is wonderful. His performances enhances the enjoyment of this strange and horrifying murder mystery. Highly recommended.

Which aspects of the jury system CAN we trust?

(as posted to Goodreads)
Shiver! I totally despise conspiracy theories, but in this case, SOMETHING has definitely gone on.
And it's clear that law enforcement has an entirely f*ed up! What really happened to Kathleen? The two possibilities mentions during the trial DO appear insufficient. Was a raptor – specifically an owl – implicated? It appears that law enforcement in general came in with their own opinion, and made their you discoveries match, and threw out all others. We can't possibly know what exactly happened, but this is yet another example of our pathetic so-called justice system. Sad, sad, sad.
story and trial as presented were both complete and frustrating. The reader is left many questions about Michael and his character, but NOTHING suggested that he killed his wife!

I thought it was interesting

I thought this was interesting, I had never heard of this story. It was interesting to see how the police handled things back then and how far we have come. I understand that most is hear say because no one is really still alive to tell the story. It is sad that so many lives were touched by this and if things had been different how their lives might have been better, turned out better. I did get confused at times, and at times my mind did wonder but beside that it was a good listen.

I thought the narrator did a good job, there were no character voices but they were not needed. There were no volume changes, no repeating of words, no background noise. Was a clear audio, the narrator has a nice normal voice which is very steady and goes well with the story. I thought he did a good job, pausing when it was called for.

Intriguing

An intriguing case, and a police conspiracy.
Did the owl kill her?
Did her husband kill her?
But having listened to this audio book I believe the police deliberately set out to convict an innocent man.
Great listen thoroughly enjoyed it.