The ongoing saga of a Durham novelist accused of murdering his wife in 2001 is over and he is now a free man. Michael Peterson entered an Alford plea in court Friday, pleading guilty to a manslaughter charge in the death of Kathleen Peterson. Originally convicted of murder in 2003, the verdict was overturned in 2011 when misconduct by SBI blood analyst Duane Deaver was uncovered. Today, Durham County Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson sentenced Peterson to less than the eight years he already spent in prison.