White Lotus fans are constantly looking for hints about the murderer and victim throughout the season, unraveling the mysteries that the show’s creator Mike White presents.

Season three premiered on February 16, and viewers quickly noticed how peculiar the Ratliff family appeared to be.

The Ratliff family consists of mom Victoria (Parker Posey), dad Timothy (Jason Isaacs), and their children Lochlan (Sam Nivola), Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger), and Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook).

Watchers realized they had the same last name as members of the family in the Staircase Murders, a case that is a favorite with true crime fanatics and was also featured in a documentary and HBO show with cast overlap.

Much like the Ratliff clan featured in White Lotus, the Peterson family was a seemingly perfect, ultra-wealthy southern family with plenty of secrets, including mounting debt, bisexual love affairs, and adopted siblings.

In 2022, HBO released The Staircase, a sensationalized series about the Durham, North Carolina murder of Kathleen Peterson.

The show starred Colin Firth, Toni Collette, Olivia DeJonge, Sophie Turner, Parker Posey, and Patrick Schwarzenegger, who are also members of the White Lotus Ratliff family.

The dominant White Lotus fan theory believes that like the Petersons, the Ratliff family isn’t blood related, which would explain some of the ‘incest’ hints that have been dropped – unless the show plans on going full Game of Thrones.

White Lotus fans are constantly looking for hints throughout the season, unraveling the mysteries that the show’s creator Mike White presents

The dominant fan theory believes that like the Petersons, the Ratliff family isn’t blood related, which would explain some of the ‘incest’ hints that have been dropped
So, who was the Staircase Killer, and what does this mean for this season of White Lotus?

On December 1, 2001, crime novelist Michael Peterson’s wife Kathleen, 48, was found dead, lying at the bottom of the staircase in their mansion with head injuries.

Previously, on November 25, 1985, Elizbeth Ratliff, a close friend of the family, was found dead at the bottom of her staircase. Michael was the last person believed to see her alive, as the families had dinner together at her house.

Elizabeth was an American military widow who was a close friend of the family when they lived in Germany. Her death was ruled an accident by authorities.

Elizabeth and her husband George shared two daughters, Margaret and Martha Ratliff, who Michael adopted after their deaths. Michael and his second wife, Kathleen Atwater, raised both girls.

Michael was also a father to Todd, who was played by Patrick in the HBO series, which is another White Lotus connection, as well as Clayton and Caitlin.

In October 2003, the Vietnam veteran was convicted of murdering Kathleen and was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. His defense counsel filed an appeal in 2006.

The former Marines captain was released on $300,000 bond with a tracking anklet in 2011 pending a retrial and said he was innocent.

In 2017 he agreed to a plea deal that enabled him to maintain his innocence while he acknowledged prosecutors had enough evidence to convict him of manslaughter.

On December 1, 2001, Michael Peterson’s wife Kathleen, 48, was found dead, lying at the bottom of the staircase in their mansion with head injuries
On December 1, 2001, Michael Peterson’s wife Kathleen, 48, was found dead, lying at the bottom of the staircase in their mansion with head injuries
Michael was also a father to Todd, who was played by Patrick Schwarzenegger in the HBO series, which is another connection to White Lotus
Michael was also a father to Todd, who was played by Patrick Schwarzenegger in the HBO series, which is another connection to White Lotus
Saxon is played by Patrick Schwarzenegger while his Piper, who’s searching for religious enlightenment, is played by Sarah Catherine Hook
Saxon is played by Patrick Schwarzenegger while his Piper, who’s searching for religious enlightenment, is played by Sarah Catherine Hook
True crime fans had many theories, including that his wife tripped after drinking too much wine or was bludgeoned to death after discovering her eccentric husband was bisexual and involved in affairs with men and women.

The wildest possibility was the owl theory, suggested by their neighbor, lawyer Lawrence Pollard.

He made the outlandish suggestion that an owl attacked Kathleen after reading that a microscopic owl feather was mentioned on the trial’s evidence list, as a feather was entangled with some of her hair.

Some viewers of the Emmy-winning show believe this hypothesis could come into play later but with a monkey, as the animals are shown repeatedly onscreen and could potentially attack a vacationer in Thailand.

Another possible motive was money, as the seemingly successful couple was actually $143,000 in debt.

Kathleen was the main breadwinner and her accidental death would have been worth $1.4 million from a life insurance policy.

Similarly, viewers have seen Timothy, the patriarch, struggling with being exposed by The Wall Street Journal for shady business dealings.

By Daily Mail