DURHAM, N.C. — The 1985 staircase death of Michael Peterson's neighbor in Germany, Elizabeth Ratliff, is sufficiently similar to his wife's staircase death in 2001 to be admissible as evidence in the novelist's murder trial, a judge ruled Friday.

Ending months of speculation, Judge Orlando Hudson Jr. agreed with prosecutors that the evidence about Ratliff's death could help jurors decide whether Peterson is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of beating Kathleen Peterson to death on Dec. 9, 2001.

Peterson's lawyers claim that reports at the time of her death indicated that Ratliff suffered a brain hemorrhage and fell. They claim that Kathleen Peterson was intoxicated and either slipped or blacked out in a narrow, dimly lit stairwell. Hudson told jurors that the Ratliff evidence could show -- at the very least -- that Peterson had knowledge of staircase falls.

 "The court finds the Ratliff death is sufficiently similar to Mrs. Peterson's death," Hudson said. "It has probative value."

The ruling is a blow to the defense, but hardly comes as a surprise. Defense lawyer David Rudolf referred to Ratliff's death, which was deemed to be from natural causes until North Carolina pathologists conducted a second autopsy in April, in his opening statement July 1.

In the hearing on whether the Ratliff evidence would be allowed, defense lawyer Thomas Maher argued unsuccessfully that other than the staircases at the scenes of both deaths, the similarities between the fatalities are too few to be relevant. He said that for the evidence to admissible, prosecutors would have to prove that Ratliff was murdered and that Michael Peterson was involved somehow.

"It was a natural death, not a murder," Maher said, citing the opinion of German police and U.S. military officials. At the time of her death, Ratliff was a 43-year-old Department of Defense second-grade schoolteacher raising two young daughters. Her husband, George Ratliff, died during a military operation in 1983 that remains shrouded in secrecy even today.

Hudson's instruction to the jury about why the evidence was admissible was somewhat confusing, but he apparently agreed with prosecutor David Saacks' arguments.

Even if Ratliff's death wasn't murder "this could still be relevant to show he had knowledge of how this could be set up," Saccks said.

Saacks said he made a list of at least 30 similarities between the cases. He acknowledged that some of them might be viewed "as tenuous," including the fact that both victims were in their 40s, had close relationships with Peterson and died in late autumn.

"Obviously, the most striking thing about this is we have a defendant who is involved with two women who are found dead at the bottom of steps," Saacks said. He added, however, that the state does not plan to argue that Peterson is a "serial stairway killer."

Maher mocked what he called the "interesting coincidences" cited by Saacks. "Are they suggesting he was motivated by the season? That he was motivated by their age?" Maher asked rhetorically. With the issue decided, jurors were called back into the courtroom for the resumption of testimony.

Ratliff's close friend, preschool teacher Cheryl Appel-Schumacher, repeated testimony to the jury that she had earlier made before the judge as he considered whether to permit the evidence.

Cheryl Appel-Schumacher cleaned up Ratliff's blood

Appel-Schumacher told jurors about cleaning up a large amount of blood on the walls adjacent to the staircase in Ratliff's house.

She also described how Peterson took charge during the very difficult time, but none of Ratliff's friends were surprised. "When George [Ratliff] died, Michael Peterson, who was very close to Liz, came to the rescue and helped her manage all the military affairs," Appel-Schumacher said.

She referred several times to Ratliff's "baby girls," Margaret and Martha Ratliff, now 23 and 21 years old, respectively. Seated in the front row of the courtroom, the sisters showed no reaction during the testimony. They went to live with Peterson after their birth mother died and referred to him and Kathleen Peterson as "Dad" and "Mom."

On cross-examination after lunch, Appel-Schumacher said that before Margaret and Martha were born, Elizabeth Ratliff was concerned about a genetic blood disorder that she feared could cause her to bleed uncontrollably before child birth.

Maher asked about the disorder, which is similar to hemophilia, because the defense contends the disease could explain the large amount of blood found when Ratliff died.

Appel-Schumacher also recalled that Ratliff suffered an intense headache three days before she died, with pain so severe she called her physician and made an appointment for the following week.

"She was pale and looked very bad. She held her head and said she had a severe headache," Appel-Schumacher said.

The witness' husband, Tom Appel-Schumacher, also testified about the blood he observed in Ratliff's home. He and his wife spent hours cleaning it up so that the children would not see it.

"There was a lot of blood. There was blood up the staircase wall," Tom Appel-Schumacher recalled. "There appeared to be a lot of blood spattered in different places around the foyer area."

Witness Billie Allen moved into the house where the death occurred in 1990. She said she was not living there long when neighbor Karen Hamm told her what happened to Elizabeth Ratliff there five years earlier.

Hamm had surgery in July and cannot travel, said Allen, who gave prosecutors a physician's note on Hamm's behalf. Prosecutors hope to introduce into evidence an English-translation of a statement Hamm made in which she reportedly attested that she saw Michael Peterson leaving Ratliff's home hurriedly the night before the body was discovered.

The defense is trying to keep the statement out of the trial and will argue that lawyers for Peterson have a right to confront any and all witnesses against him.

The defense also complained that prosecutors have not turned over Allen's statement to investigators; the lapse is part of a pattern of missing statements, Maher charged.

Allen also testified about how her home is heated. She explained that tubes located under the floors circulate hot water to heat the home.

Prosecutor Freda Black did not explain to jurors why the testimony is significant. Ratliff's former nanny, however, is expected to testify that the body appeared to be warm when she found it shortly before 8 a.m. Presumably, the prosecution could argue later that Ratliff was dead all night and the heated floor could explain why the nanny thought the body felt warm when she discovered it in the morning.

The ninth week of testimony starts Monday at 9:30 a.m.

The trial is being broadcast by Court TV.