Scott Peterson has always maintained he didn\u2019t kill wife Laci and their unborn son \u2013 now it seems he may have been telling the truth all along<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-52438150-1.jpg” title_text=”Scott Peterson Transported To San Quentin Prison Death Row” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|600|||||||” text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#111111″ text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”-2.75%||||false|false” custom_padding=”4px|8px|4px|8px|true|true” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]
Scott Peterson was found guilty of murdering his wife and unborn son but now the Innocence Project are working to prove he isn’t guilty<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]
It was a horrifying discovery. On 14 April 2003, a body was found in San Francisco Bay. The adult female was unidentifiable \u2013 she was badly decomposed, and her head and parts of her limbs were missing. But this was the second body to have washed up in two days, and the first was even more harrowing. It was a near full-term male foetus, umbilical cord still attached and with plastic tape wound around his neck. DNA tests confirmed they were 27-year-old Laci Peterson, who had gone missing from her home in Modesto, California, on Christmas Eve 2002, and the baby she had been almost nine months pregnant with. After the gruesome discoveries, there was one person police wanted to speak to: her husband Scott.
It was the start of a case that would see him vilified as an adulterer and in 2004, he was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. That decision was later vacated amid concerns around jury selection errors, and he was resentenced to life, but a retrial bid was quashed in 2022. But now, he has had his case taken up by the Los Angeles Innocence Project, who not only say Peterson\u2019s rights were violated, but they believe freshly uncovered evidence will exonerate him. A court filing said, \u201cNew evidence now supports Mr Peterson\u2019s longstanding claim of innocence, and raises questions into who abducted and killed Laci and Conner.\u201d<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/01\/Screen-Shot-2020_09_21-at-09_24_21-2-Small-e1706097437555.jpeg” title_text=”Screen Shot 2020_09_21 at 09_24_21 (2) Small” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|600|||||||” text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#111111″ text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”-2.75%||||false|false” custom_padding=”4px|8px|4px|8px|true|true” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]
Peterson and Laci married in 1997 – but he was already having an extramarital affair<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]
When Scott Peterson was studying agricultural business at California Polytechnic, he took a job at the Pacific Caf\u00e9 to make ends meet. There, a co-worker introduced him to her neighbour, fellow California Polytechnic student Laci Rocha. Friends said it was love at first sight, and after Laci gave Peterson her phone number, she was said to have told her mother she\u2019d met The One.\u00a0 An attractive couple, they immediately began a relationship, dating for two years before deciding to set up home together. They married in 1997 \u2013 but the newlywed Peterson was already having an extramarital affair.
Laci was blissfully unaware her husband was cheating and focused her energies on creating a happy home, while Peterson had some moderate job success, opening and then selling a restaurant. By 2000, they had moved to an affluent neighbourhood and in 2002, substitute teacher Laci was overjoyed to find out she was pregnant. However, friends say Peterson was not as happy as his wife to find out he was about to become a father. Seven months into his wife\u2019s pregnancy, he began another affair, this time with massage therapist and single mother Amber Frey. It was a month before Christmas.
The last time anyone heard from Laci \u2013 who was by now just weeks away from giving birth \u2013 was on Christmas Eve, when she spoke to her mother in the evening. Peterson claimed that he had said goodbye to his wife that morning, before leaving for an overnight fishing trip. The next day, someone found the couple\u2019s dog wandering loose around the neighbourhood. She took him home, but no one was in, so she secured him in the back garden. Peterson would later tell police he arrived home to an empty house, his wife\u2019s car parked out on their driveway. When she still wasn\u2019t back that evening, he called her parents, who immediately reported their daughter missing. When police arrived at the house, they were confronted with an eerie scene. The table had been set up for a family meal, and Laci\u2019s car keys and handbag were where she had left them. Certain the heavily pregnant Laci hadn\u2019t left of her own volition, a search was launched, with family, friends and neighbours rallying round. Reports say as many as 900 people joined in to help find Laci \u2013 but there was no sign of her.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-1707644-2.jpg” title_text=”Modesto Police Search For Missing Pregnant Woman” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|600|||||||” text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#111111″ text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”-2.75%||||false|false” custom_padding=”4px|8px|4px|8px|true|true” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]
Laci Peterson was thrilled to discover she was pregnant<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]
Suspicion quickly turned to Peterson, who seemed unruffled at his wife\u2019s disappearance. Modesto detectives Allen Brocchini and Jon Buehler led the investigation, and Buehler later told ABC News, \u201cI suspected Scott when I first met him. Didn\u2019t mean he did it, but I was a little bit thrown off by his calm, cool demeanour, and his lack of questioning. He wasn\u2019t saying, \u2018Will you call me back? Can I have one of your cards? What are you guys doing now?\u2019\u201d Footage of his police interview shows Peterson looking relaxed as he describes Berkeley Marina, the area he claimed to have been fishing in when his wife went missing. Brocchini told ABC, \u201cChristmas Eve, he was cooperative, and in my mind I didn\u2019t think he did it yet.\u201d But when he asked Peterson if he could search his fishing boat, Peterson claimed that the power was out where it was being stored, which would make it difficult. Undeterred, Brocchini used his car headlights to examine the boat, but he later discovered the power had never been out. Peterson had lied.
Their suspicions were further compounded when Peterson was named as a person of interest \u2013 and his mistress came forward. Amber informed them that she had been dating Peterson for a month and that he had not only told her he was single, but that he was a widower. She agreed to help the police by allowing them to tap her phone and record conversations with her lover. She later told the press, \u201cSeeing this woman, knowing she was missing [and] pregnant\u2026 Being a mother\u2026\u00a0 At that point, it wasn\u2019t about me. It was about finding this woman.\u201d The police listened in to Amber and Peterson\u2019s conversations for months, capturing the moment where he confessed that he had lied to his lover about no longer having a wife. However, with no body, the police had no hard evidence to arrest Peterson. They did, however, put a tracking device on his car. They wanted to make sure they knew exactly where he was when the breakthrough came.
It was a dog-walking couple who found the baby\u2019s body at Berkeley Marina \u2013 right where Peterson had told the police he had been fishing. A day later, the mother washed up. Laci was headless, and her limbs had been removed. At the autopsy, it was theorised that the foetus had been expelled from Laci\u2019s body after she had died, although they couldn\u2019t conclusively prove it, and it also could not be determined if the baby had ever been alive outside of his mother\u2019s womb. The bodies were identified on 18 April, five days after they were taken out of the sea. The detectives immediately set out to arrest Peterson, and thanks to the tracking device, they knew he was in San Diego.
Buehler said, \u201cSan Diego was pretty darn close to the Mexican border. Scott knew the area pretty well. That\u2019s where his parents lived. That\u2019s where he lived. So, it wasn\u2019t like he was going to have to get on MapQuest to try and figure out a way to get to Tijuana.\u201d Police became embroiled in a chase, with Brocchini saying, \u201cHe was driving 80 miles an hour on a freeway, and he would slam his brakes on, pull over. It got to the point where we had a helicopter, but lost him… Either he was going to kill somebody or one of these agents that were trying to follow him was going to get killed or kill someone.\u201d When they did manage to get Peterson to stop, they believed they had caught him on the run. His hair was dyed, and in his car, they found his brother\u2019s ID, $15,000 in cash, camping and survival gear, and numerous burner phones. He was charged with murder \u2013 but he was to deny everything.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-117260552.jpg” title_text=”Scott Peterson Murder Trial – Closing Arguments – November 1, 2004.” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|600|||||||” text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_color=”#111111″ text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”-2.75%||||false|false” custom_padding=”3px|8px|3px|8px|true|true” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]
Scott’s parents Lee and Jackie Peterson attended his trial in 2004<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]
The trial began on 1 June 2004, and was marred by leaked autopsy information, the dismissal of a juror and outlandish claims. Peterson\u2019s defence was built around the fact that the cause of Laci\u2019s death could not be determined, due to the extent of the decomposition of the body. It could also not be determined whether or not the baby was ever alive. It led his defence attorneys to present an alternative theory of what happened \u2013 that Laci had been abducted, and she and the baby she had planned to call Conner were killed either in a womb snatch or as part of a satanic cult ritual. They also emphasised the fact that no evidence of foul play connected to Peterson was ever found \u2013 there was no blood or DNA in the family home or on his boat.
Although he did not take the stand at his trial, Peterson maintained his innocence \u2013 but the jury didn\u2019t believe him. Faced with the taped conversations with his lover, and the fact he looked like he was going on the run, they found him guilty, and he was convicted of the first-degree murder of Laci, and the second-degree murder of her baby. In December 2004, he was sentenced to death by lethal injection and sent to San Quentin prison.
His team lodged numerous appeals over the years, stating that Peterson, now 51, had been denied a fair trial and that serious mistakes had been made, including one juror lying on her jury application. Finally, on 24 August 2020, the California Supreme Court overturned the death penalty, although it upheld his murder convictions, on the basis that the judge had unfairly dismissed jurors who opposed capital punishment. The court said, \u201cWe reject Peterson\u2019s claim that he received an unfair trial as to guilt and thus affirm his convictions for murder. But before the trial began, the trial court made a series of clear and significant errors in jury selection.\u201d The judgement continued, \u201cThe trial court erroneously dismissed many prospective jurors because of written questionnaire responses expressing opposition to the death penalty, even though the jurors gave no indication that their views would prevent them from following the law \u2014 and, indeed, specifically attested that they would have no such difficulty. Under United States Supreme Court precedent, these errors require us to reverse the death sentence in this case.\u201d
Peterson continued to protest his innocence, and many believed him. In the 2017 docuseries The Murder Of Laci Peterson, alternative theories were presented, including the fact that anyone who knew where Peterson was fishing could have dumped his wife\u2019s body there to frame him.\u00a0 They also say witnesses had claimed Laci confronted two burglars shortly before she disappeared. Peterson was interviewed from Death Row for the series, and he told the filmmakers about the moment he heard his guilty verdict. He said, \u201cIt was crazy, just this amazing, horrible, physical reaction I had. I couldn\u2019t feel my feet \u2028on the floor. I couldn\u2019t feel the chair I was sitting in. My vision got a little blurry.\u201d His sister-in-law Janey has always supported him, too, saying, \u201cThere’s evidence that was completely ignored that shows Laci was alive after [Scott] left for the day\u2026 [and] there was no evidence that he had anything to do with what happened to Laci.\u201d
Now, the Innocence Project are working to prove Scott did not commit these murders. The nonprofit organisation, which works to exonerate wrongly convicted and incarcerated individuals, is said to be planning to conduct new DNA testing on a blood-stained mattress found in a burned out van discovered near the Peterson home. If Laci’s blood is found, it could support the burglar theory. The news had been welcomed by those close to Peterson, with his defense attorney stating, \u201cWe are very excited to have the incredible attorneys at the L.A. Innocence Project lend their considerable expertise to helping prove Scott Peterson’s innocence.”<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#000000″ divider_weight=”2px” module_class=”custom-divider” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-texts” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Aboreto|||on|||||” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]
PHOTOS: GETTY<\/strong><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ module_class=”flatplan-readmore” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”#111111″ custom_padding=”35px||35px||true|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” width=”85%” custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_3_text_color=”#FFFFFF” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”] Meghan and Harry\u2019s last resort ‘therapy’<\/strong><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_4,3_4″ module_class=”read-more-item” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” width=”85%” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/07\/bwbnewn.jpg” title_text=”bwbnewn” module_class=”read-more-thumbnail” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_4″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text module_class=”read-more-headline” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|700|||||||” text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” text_font_size=”16px” link_option_url=”https:\/\/apple.news\/A0bBtVJeIRiSYmqM4nlVh6g” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”] The sexy secrets behind Sofia Vergara\u2019s dirty divorce<\/strong><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Scott Peterson has always maintained he didn\u2019t kill wife Laci and their unborn son \u2013 now it seems he may have been telling the truth all alongRead more from Closer<\/h3>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_4,3_4″ module_class=”read-more-item” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” width=”85%” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/07\/Thumbnailtgqq.jpg” title_text=”Thumbnailtgqq” module_class=”read-more-thumbnail” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_4″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text module_class=”read-more-headline” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|700|||||||” text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” text_font_size=”16px” link_option_url=”https:\/\/apple.news\/ABgCYwvfNTKq0ormaQsj7Kw ” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":1966,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-life"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"closermag","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1962"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1962\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1974,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1962\/revisions\/1974"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/closer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}