Sumith Prasad
Mike Belmessieri is one of the 12 jurors who decided to convict Scott Peterson of murdering his wife, Laci Peterson, and their son, Conner. As Netflix’s documentary series ‘American Murder: Laci Peterson’ reveals, the #4 juror in the case joined the trial adamant that he should ensure the husband’s freedom if the latter could prove his innocence. When the trial progressed, Belmessieri gradually became convinced that Scott’s attorneys couldn’t present enough evidence to warrant his release from captivity. The juror joined his compatriots to rewrite Scott’s fate with utmost conviction that the defendant deserved the not-guilty verdict!
Mike Belmessieri’s Experiences as a Marine Helped Him During Scott’s Trial
Mike Belmessieri joined Scott Peterson’s trial as a Marine Corps veteran. During his tenure in the force, he served in various roles, including platoon sergeant, tank commander, and section leader. He commanded an M67 flame-thrower and another tank with a cannon as a soldier. He also had experience as an officer of the Colma Police Department. By the time Scott’s trial had begun, the press had crucified him severely. The Marine veteran wanted to approach the case without these external narratives influencing his thought process and decisions. As a Catholic, the juror prayed for a significant sign that could reveal the defendant’s innocence or guilt to make his job easier.
Belmessieri relied on his experiences as a Marine officer to handle the trial. “I reminded myself of the core values that I learned as a Marine—Honor, Courage, Commitment—and how they applied to the trial and my part in it,” he said about his service as a juror, as per ‘We, the Jury: Deciding the Scott Peterson Case.’ As a father, the juror empathized with the plight of Scott’s parents — Jackie and Lee, which motivated him to ensure justice in the case. However, when he listened to the defendant’s tapped conversations with Amber Frey, he concluded that the man in front of him, seeking freedom, was a “chameleon” and “sociopath.”
The duration of Scott’s trial was immensely challenging for Belmessieri as a father. He couldn’t understand how anyone could hurt Conner, a “defenseless gift from God” in his view. Around the same time, his youngest son, Dominic, joined the Marine Corps. As a husband, he couldn’t discuss the specifics of the case and his day-to-day experiences with his wife. Listening to Sharon Rocha, Laci’s mother, was nothing but heartbreaking for him. “That was heart-wrenching. It was just absolutely heart-wrenching. Being a parent, how could it not be?” Belmessieri told FOX News about listening to Sharon’s words.
Mike Belmessieri Dealt With Trauma After Scott’s Trial
One of the most painful aspects of Scott Peterson’s trial for Mike Belmessieri was seeing the autopsy photographs of Laci, which reminded him of a fellow Marine soldier’s shattered body during a grenade attack. “I can’t look at the Bay without being reminded that part of Laci is still out there,” the juror said about the emotionally weighing experience, as per ‘We, the Jury.’ After the trial, he joined six of his fellow jurors and the writers Frank Swertlow and Lyndon Stambler to pen ‘We, the Jury,’ which was published in January 2007.
At the time time, Belmessieri worked at Georgia-Pacific, where he served in various roles such as supervisor, shift superintendent, quality assurance manager, and HR manager for over thirty-four years. His tenure at Georgia-Pacific came to an end in January 2009. Over the years, he has been vocal about how he does not regret reaching a not-guilty verdict in Scott’s trial. “No, I don’t have a second thought at all. Every juror on that jury to this day will stand up and tell you we did the right thing,” he told KTVU.
When Scott was denied a retrial in 2022, Belmessieri revealed his feelings concerning the decision. “I was relieved. Given the way the state of things [is] today, who knows what they’re going to come up with? […] Scott Peterson, have no doubt, have no doubt, that Scott Peterson is exactly where he belongs. Eighteen years, 18 years he sat there, and I hope he sits there until the day he dies,” he told CBS News.
Mike Belmessieri is Part of Various Organizations Today
Mike Belmessieri has served as a longtime member and leader of various Marine Corps-related veterans organizations. In July 2010, he became the commandant of General J.C. Breckinridge Detachment of the Marine Corps League, a position he held for more than six years. He was also part of the US Marine Corps Vietnam Tankers Association’s board of directors between October 2012 and October 2020. The veteran became the vice president of the Marine Corps League’s Department of California in May 2012. He served as the chief of staff of the same organization as well. Since 2010, Belmessieri has been a member of the Golden Gate National Cemetery’s Avenue of Flags committee.
Belmessieri is an executive board member of the Young Men’s Institute, a Catholic men’s fraternal organization. He is a regular volunteer who collaborates with his local church and soup kitchen to help the vulnerable. The veteran described the same experience as “very rewarding.” Over the years, he has received various awards and honors, including the Marine Corps League’s Gold Distinguished Citizen for his “actions above and beyond the call of duty” in 2010. The organization also bestowed him with the Detachment Marine of the Year in 2010 and Heroism Award in 2016. Occasionally, he serves as an HR-related consultant.
Belmessieri lives in South San Fransisco with his wife. He has attended several Marine Corps-related programs and events with his partner in recent years. “I’m proud that I served this country as a Marine. That’s a title one earns for life. I’m a Vietnam-era Marine, but I don’t want to be asked about it because then I’ll start getting all emotional, and I need to get away from that sort of thing. It’s just too painful,” he said about his life as a veteran, as per ‘We, the Jury.’
Mike Belmessieri Supports Scott’s Attorneys’ Efforts to Prove His Innocence
In January 2024, when the Los Angeles Innocence Project took up Scott Peterson’s case to help his legal team prove his innocence, Belmessieri welcomed the decision. “If they think they’re going to find something different that sheds light on something new, I fully support it,” he told ABC News. Even though he doesn’t have any doubts regarding the original not-guilty verdict, the juror said he doesn’t want an innocent man to remain in prison. “If there is new evidence and it sets him free, then that’s the way it goes, the way the system works, right? We don’t want to see someone wrongly convicted and sent to prison,” Belmessieri told CBS News. He also emphasized that new evidence should be revealed if it exists.
“If there’s something new, it’s something we didn’t hear. I think that would be unfortunate. If anybody was manipulating the evidence or not being honest, and Scott ended up spending 20 years in prison, well, there’s something wrong with that picture,” Belmessieri said in another interview given to CBS News. The juror’s interactions with the media also extend to his appearances in ABC’s ‘20/20,’ A&E’s ‘The Murder of Laci Peterson,’ and Investigation Discovery’s ‘True Crime with Aphrodite Jones.’ As a committed veteran who has been serving his country for years, Belmessieri wants Scott to receive a chance to prove his claims of innocence despite being convinced about him being guilty of killing Laci and Conner.
