Shivangi Sinha
On December 24, 2002, Scott Peterson reported to the police that his eight-month pregnant wife, Laci Peterson, was missing. He mentioned that he had last seen her around 9:30 am before going fishing. Scott left a message for Laci around 2:30 pm. When he returned home, he found their dog, McKenzie, in the backyard with its leash still on, Laci’s car in the driveway, and her belongings inside the house. He informed the police that Laci had planned to take the dog for a walk, and a neighbor testified to seeing the dog on the street with its leash but without Laci. The case was both unnerving and unsettling, and Netflix’s ‘American Murder: Laci Peterson’ delves into the evidence and the case built against Scott Peterson for the murder of his wife and unborn child.
Scott Was Engaged in an Extramarital Affair at the Time of the Killings
The prosecution’s case against Scott Peterson — the son of Jackie and Lee Peterson — was mainly built on circumstantial evidence, as it lacked any direct physical evidence. These included Scott’s allegedly dismissive behavior during the investigation and claims from detectives that he had been reluctant to allow searches of his boat and house. His affair with Amber Frey, which she had revealed to the police on January 24, 2003, was a major red flag in the case. Moreover, the authorities believed that the fact that he sold Laci’s car and planned to sell their house was also an indicator of his guilt.
On April 18, 2003, the DNA analysis confirmed that the bodies of an adult woman and a full-term male fetus recovered from the San Francisco Bay shore at Richmond’s Point Isabel Regional Shoreline Park on April 13 were that of Laci and her child, Conner. Scott was arrested in San Diego near a La Jolla golf course with $15,000 in cash, camping supplies, clothing, several credit cards, and his brother’s identification card. He had also dyed his hair blonde and grown a goatee, making him resemble his brother. Detectives alleged that Scott was planning to flee to Mexico, but Scott and his family insisted that he was living out of his car to avoid media attention and carried his brother’s ID to gain access to a golf club.
Scott Peterson Was Originally Sentenced to Death For the Murders of Laci and Conner
Scott Peterson was arrested on the same day on charges of two felony counts of murder with premeditation and special circumstances. He was transported back to his hometown and booked into the Modesto County Jail. On April 21, he was arraigned at the Stanislaus County Superior Court, where he pleaded not guilty to the charges. Due to the intense media attention surrounding the case, his trial was moved to San Mateo County, beginning on June 1, 2004. Amber Frey testified against him, and with the evidence presented, Scott was found guilty on November 12, 2004, of first-degree murder with special circumstances for Laci’s death and second-degree murder of Conner.
On December 13, the jury recommended a death sentence for Scott, which the judge affirmed on March 16, sentencing him to death by lethal injection and ordering him to pay $10,000 for his late wife’s funeral. He was then incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison, California’s only death row facility. A prison spokesperson informed People magazine that Scott had become quite popular, earning the nickname “Scottie-Too-Hottie,” and was liked by female guards while receiving letters from people nationwide. In 2012, journalist Nancy Mullane observed Scott in prison and remarked that he did not appear “depressed” but looked “healthy.”
Scott Peterson’s Appeals For a Retrial Were Dismissed
In December 2003, Laci Peterson’s mother filed a $5 million lawsuit against Scott Peterson for the deaths of Laci and her unborn child, initiating both a wrongful death action and a survival action. By October 2005, the proceeds from Laci’s $250,000 life insurance policy were awarded to her mother, and in April 2009, the wrongful death lawsuit was dropped. Scott remained at San Quentin State Prison and filed a direct appeal against his death sentence with the Supreme Court of California in July 2012. In November 2015, Scott Peterson filed a habeas corpus petition to introduce new evidence in his case. He argued that several neighbors had testified to seeing Laci alive after he had left the house on the day of her disappearance.
The petition also alleged juror misconduct, claiming that one of the jurors had lied about her history with domestic violence, rendering her unfit for the trial. The court heard arguments of his direct appeal in June 2020, during which Scott’s defense argued that a prospective juror had been improperly dismissed and that multiple errors had occurred during the trial. On August 24, 2020, the court overturned his death sentence.
After prosecutors decided not to retry the penalty phase, on December 8, 2021, the California Superior Court resentenced Scott to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the first-degree murder of Laci and a concurrent 15 years to life for the second-degree murder of their unborn child. The allegation of the juror’s misconduct was not admitted in the court. On December 20, 2022, his habeas corpus appeal was also dismissed.
LA Innocence Project is Fighting for Scott Peterson’s Exoneration Today
In January 2024, The Los Angeles Innocence Project announced that it had taken up Scott Peterson’s case and filed new motions seeking additional hearings to admit new evidence and conduct DNA testing. Among the requests, the court only approved the testing of a 15.5-inch piece of duct tape found on Laci’s pants during her autopsy. Other requests from the defense, such as DNA testing on a blood-covered mattress found in a burned van near Scott and Laci’s home, were denied.
The prosecution opposed the push for new DNA testing, arguing that similar tests had already been conducted in 2013 and 2019, and they had not exonerated Scott at the time. Despite the prosecution’s objections, the court granted the testing of the duct tape, and in July 2024, a hearing was held to determine the agency that would carry out the tests. Scott, now 51 years old and still imprisoned at Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, California, is fighting for what could be his last chance at a new trial, determined to secure his release.
Read More: Where is Scott Peterson’s Sister Susan Caudillo Now?
