Who was prosecutor Freda Black and how did she die? Cause of death explored ahead of The Staircase episode 4 

Freda Black, a prosecutor in Michael Peterson's 2003 murder trial, did not live to see her portrayal on television in the new HBO Max true-crime series The Staircase, which is based on the case. The fourth episode, titled "Common Sense" will mostly concentrate on her and will debut on May 12, 2022. It is a limited series which launched on May 5 from creator Antonio Campos, who has been actively working on adapting the narrative for a decade and has even been in the courtroom for one of Michael's trials.

The eight-episode series, which premieres every Thursday on HBO Max, stars Parker Posey from the cult classic Dazed and Confused (1993) as Black. Toni Collette, Juliette Binoche, and Rosemarie DeWitt co-star alongside Academy Award winner Colin Firth in the show as well.

Black was successful in prosecuting Michael Peterson on account of the death of his wife Kathleen Pearson. Yet years after the infamous trial, she was discovered dead on her couch.

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Everything about Freda Black and her tragic death

From 1991 through 2005, Freda Black worked as an assistant prosecutor in Durham County. While working there, she was instrumental in Michael Peterson's 2003 conviction for the murder of his wife, Kathleen Peterson.

Kathleen's bruised and battered body was discovered at the bottom of a staircase in the North Carolina home she shared with Michael in 2001. Freda's meticulous observation and sensational closing arguments helped put the last nail in the coffin as the jury declared Michael guilty.

After nearly a decade in prison, Michael Peterson was given a new trial in 2011 after a court found that a key prosecution witness, retired investigator Duane Deaver, gave false testimony during his trial.

Surprisingly, Peterson entered an Alford plea to a lesser charge of manslaughter in 2017, only months before the scheduled retrial. Despite the fact that there was plenty of evidence to convict him at trial, the plea agreement permitted him to assert his innocence. After serving his sentence, he was released in 2017.

The case and Peterson's efforts to overturn his conviction were covered in the 2004 docuseries The Staircase. In 2018, the series was updated with fresh episodes that depicted the outcome of the court case. Freda died not long after the success of the 2018 update, which included some of her courtroom comments from the trial.

According to WNCN, Freda was discovered dead on her living room couch during a welfare check at her Durham home in 2018. No official cause of death had been recorded at this time.

At the age of 57, she died of end-stage liver illness caused by prolonged alcoholism, according to an autopsy report released in 2019. For many years, Black fought alcoholism. WTVD reported in 2015 that she was charged with DUI twice, once in 2012 and again in 2015. She was also charged with damage to personal property during the second incident. Her autopsy report stated,

“The floor of the home was cluttered with food, wine bottles, and trash. There was no evidence of forced entry, theft, or visible wounds at the scene. Recent social stressors included financial difficulties. The decedent’s past medical history was significant for chronic alcoholism and hypertension. Although there were concerns for self-harm given the text and items at the scene laid out that the decedent may consider valuable, no toxicologic or other self-harm cause of death was detected.”

In her obituary, it is also stated that aside from practicing law, Freda was a gifted musician who offered her talents as an organist, pianist, soloist, and church choir member in several churches throughout her life.

Don't forget to catch all the new episodes of The Staircase every Thursday on HBO Max.