Sumith Prasad
Netflix’s documentary series ‘American Murder: Laci Peterson’ opens a window into the trial of Scott Peterson, who was convicted of murdering his wife, Laci Peterson, and Conner, their unborn baby. Greg Beratlis was the trial’s #1 juror. He started to hear the statements and arguments of the prosecutors, defense attorneys, police officers, and witnesses with an open mind. Eventually, he joined his fellow jurors to announce a not-guilty verdict. Greg suffered immensely during and after the trial, which greatly changed his life and beliefs!
Greg Beratlis Was a PG&E Engineer and a Youth Football Coach
When Greg Beratlis was selected as a juror in Scott Peterson’s trial, he was an engineer at PG&E who coached youth football on the weekends. When the trial started, he was adamant about having an open mind about Peterson. “I thought, everybody wants to hang this guy. Well, prove it to me,” he wrote in the book ‘We, the Jury: Deciding the Scott Peterson Case.’ As the trial progressed, he eventually became convinced that Scott was the killer. For Beratlis, the location of Laci’s dead body and Conner’s fetus played a significant role in the trial since it was near where her husband apparently went fishing the day she disappeared.
Beratlis also believed that Peterson’s testimony would have made an impact. “Anything — a plea for his life, or just his opinion on everything that went on in the last two years… I would have liked to have heard his voice on that,” he said about Laci’s husband’s silence, as per CBS News. The juror eventually came to the conclusion that Scott committed the murders to gain “freedom” as “divorce was [not] an option.” He considered the defense’s arguments, but they were not in sync. “I played in my mind over and over conspiracies: Was somebody trying to set up Scott? Was somebody after Laci? It didn’t add up,” he told Los Angeles Times.
As far as Beratlis was concerned, the six-month duration of the trial included “many sleepless nights, because you want to make the right choice… It’s a man’s life,” as per his Los Angeles Times interview. When the jury finalized a verdict, the #1 juror joined his companions in a “big massive hug” and cried. “That was not a happy event for anybody. I was not happy,” he told the press.
The Aftermath of Greg Beratlis’ Service as a Juror
Over two years after announcing the not-guilty verdict to conclude Scott Peterson’s trial, Greg Beratlis published ‘We, the Jury: Deciding the Scott Peterson Case,” a book he wrote with fellow jurors Mike Belmessieri, Dennis Lear, Tom Marino, Julie Zanartu, Richelle Nice, and John Guinasso, and authors Frank Swertlow and Lyndon Stambler. According to Beratlis, he reassessed his belief system after the trial and realized that people who appeared as “shady figures cloaked in darkness” were not the only ones who could be evil. He also became more cautious about the individuals he would let into his life and house.
Beratlis’ experience as a juror also helped him connect with his family better. “My relationship with my family is much closer now. You never know who could take away what you love most,” he wrote in his book. The aftermath of the verdict was not just life lessons. The juror received death threats, especially from a man who threatened to kill not only him but also his family. “What did my family have to do with this? What kind of person makes this kind of a threat? I felt like I should be the target of whoever did not agree with my decision, not my family,” he added. Not long after he received the call, the juror found a burning candle on his driveway.
In addition to letters that provided him with moral support, Beratlis received more death threats through mail. Even one of his children was targeted after the trial. “After the trial, my youngest son was badgered at school. He was told that his father was a killer for sentencing Scott Peterson to death. […] It hurt me that my son would have to go through this. With time, it subsided,” Beratlis wrote in ‘We, the Jury.’ During the trial and immediately after the same, he struggled with various health concerns, which included weight gain, lack of sleep, and chest pains. He joined a self-help program called Chi Fountain to regain the balance of his life. The same helped him to lose his weight and control his anxieties.
Greg Beratlis Testified During Scott Peterson’s Hearings in 2022
In 2022, Beratlis became a witness in the hearings to determine whether Scott warranted a new trial. When the defense argued that original juror Richelle Nice was biased against the convicted murderer, emphasizing that she said the latter should “pay for killing the little man,” referencing Conner, his testimony became crucial. “We were like, whoa whoa, before you try to give us your opinion, we have a kind of process. Anyone walking in and saying, hey guilty or not guilty, we gave everyone equal respect to discuss it,” he testified. The hearings concluded with the court deciding not to grant a new trial to Scott.
Since the original murder trial, Beratlis has remained in the spotlight. He appeared in shows such as ABC’s ‘20/20’ and A&E’s ‘The Murder of Laci Peterson’ to offer insights about the case from a juror’s perspective. The attention he received from the media immediately after the trial was “overwhelming,” especially since bookers and reporters constantly called him and press vehicles parked outside his house all night.
In 2016, Beratlis retired from PG&E, where he worked in various roles such as associate distribution engineer – gas, senior engineering estimator, and senior gas estimator. He remains based in Belmont, California. Even though he struggled and sacrificed immensely because of his role as a juror in Scott’s trial, he doesn’t regret committing to the same. Beratlis believes that the country’s system needs people like him who are willing to listen to facts and make judgments to ensure justice.
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