I really feel bad for Peter. Hopefully people forget about this soon, and he doesn't get a bunch of stalkers obsessing about him for years. What a ridiculous, reckless "journalist".
This sort of thing is why I hardly ever deal with journalists: most of the time, they're far more interested in telling an interesting story than they are in telling an accurate story.
I guess the damage of this story will hardly vanish over the years.
No matter how inaccurate the story is, HBO exposed Peter (I call him like this as I met him personally a few years ago, even if he doesn't remember me, hopefully) to enormous personal risks.
You are right as far as the journalists are concerned, and it is a good thing they didn't contact you for this documentary.
No matter what you could have told them, they would have fabricated the most intriguing story, to serve their scope.