Sumith Prasad
Netflix’s documentary series ‘American Murder: Laci Peterson’ delves into Laci and Conner Peterson’s murders. Around two decades ago, the prosecution was able to convince a jury that Scott Peterson had enough reasons to kill his wife and his unborn son. However, the motive behind the murders is still disputed by himself and his family members. Meanwhile, over the years, several individuals have emerged to propose alternate theories to support the husband, while numerous others still believe that he killed the pregnant woman.
Scott Peterson Killed Laci and Conner to Escape From Responsibilities
Scott Peterson’s motive behind killing Laci and Conner Peterson was established by the prosecution during the double-murder trial that took place in 2004. “He [Scott] didn’t want that dull married life. He did not want that baby. The reason he killed Laci Peterson was because Conner was on the way,” said prosecutor Rick Distaso during the trial. The prosecution also cited his extramarital affair with Amber Frey to explain the motive. As ‘American Murder: Laci Peterson’ reveals, he promised his then-girlfriend that he wanted to take care of her and her child. Their subsequent conversations included statements made by Scott that support the prosecution’s explanation of the motive.
According to Al Brocchini, one of the lead investigators of the case, Scott told Frey that “he was out of the country and would be able to be with her more exclusively” after the murders. Brocchini’s then-partner, Jon Buehler, former Modesto PD and co-lead investigator of the case, also believes that the husband committed the murders to escape from his responsibilities as a husband and father. “He [Scott] didn’t want to be a dad, didn’t want to pay child support, didn’t want to pay his spousal, and this is the way he thought about getting out of it,” Buehler said while appearing on Peacock’s ‘Face to Face with Scott Peterson.’
As Scott’s trial progressed, Greg Beratlis, #1 juror, became convinced that the defendant killed Laci to gain “freedom” as “divorce was [not] an option” for the husband. The convicted killer’s conversations with Amber, which were recorded by the Modesto PD and played during the trial, further made the jury believe that he was the murderer. Mike Belmessieri, #4 juror, concluded that Scott was a “chameleon” and “sociopath” after listening to his conversations with Amber.
Scott Peterson Maintains His Innocence Even Today
Scott Peterson has never officially confessed to killing Laci and Conner Peterson. He continues to claim that he is innocent even today, around two decades after he was convicted of killing them. He also dismissed that he killed his wife and unborn son because of his extramarital affair with Amber. “That is so offensive and so disgusting. I certainly regret cheating on Laci, absolutely. It was about a childish lack of self-esteem, selfish me traveling somewhere, lonely that night because I wasn’t at home. Someone makes you feel good because they want [to] have sex with you,” Scott said while appearing on ‘Face to Face with Scott Peterson’ from Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, California.
Scott didn’t testify during the 2004 trial, which affected the defense’s efforts to prove his innocence, as per Greg Beratlis. “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,” the juror said about Scott’s silence, as per CBS News. However, the convicted murderer is now willing to testify to prove his claim of innocence. “But if I have a chance to show people what the truth is, and if they are willing to accept it, it would be the biggest thing that I can accomplish right now — because I didn’t kill my family,” he added.
In the late 2000s, a woman with the pen name Donna Thomas alleged that Scott confessed to killing Laci to her while she visited him in San Quentin State Prison. The alleged confession is detailed in her book ‘I’m Sorry I Lied to You: The Confession of Scott Peterson.’ She claimed to have had several “romantic encounters” with Scott, including during and after his marriage with Laci. “I was at the end of my rope. It was either her or me. So I decided that it should be her. At the time, I couldn’t stand being around her anymore… I hated her by the time I killed her,” Scott allegedly told Thomas as per her book, according to The Modesto Bee.
In ‘I’m Sorry I Lied to You: The Confession of Scott Peterson,’ Thomas wrote that Scott strangled Laci, tied four cement weights to her body, went to Berkeley Marina, and dropped her overboard from his boat. Janey Peterson, Scott’s sister-in-law, continues to fight for him with a theory that the burglars who broke into Laci’s neighbor’s house killed her. To support the same, the convicted murderer’s legal team filed a signed exhibit from a person who claimed that the individual heard a burglar talk about his accomplices killing Laci.
