Scott Peterson
- For the staff writer for the Christian Science Monitor, see Scott Peterson (writer).
Scott Lee Peterson (born 24 October, 1972 in San Diego, California) is a former pesticides salesman convicted of the murder of his pregnant wife, Laci Peterson, and unborn son Conner Peterson. Laci was eight months pregnant at the time of the murder. Peterson's case dominated the American media for many months. On March 16, 2005, Peterson was sentenced to death and currently resides on death row in San Quentin State Prison. Scott Peterson maintains that he is innocent.
Early life
Scott Peterson was born in San Diego, California. Peterson's father worked for a trucking company, and later owned a packaging business. His mother owned a tiny boutique in Modesto, California, called "The Put On." While a student at University of San Diego High School, he worked as a caddy at a local golf course, and participated on his high school's golf team, where his teammate was future PGA star Phil Mickelson.
He was working in a San Luis Obispo cafe as a waiter while attending Cal Poly, when he met his future wife, then Laci Rocha. The couple married in 1996.
Disappearance of Laci
On December 23 or December 24, 2002, Laci Peterson disappeared. She was eight months pregnant with a due date of February 10, 2003, and the couple had planned to name the baby Conner. The exact date and cause of death for Laci and Conner were never determined. Peterson initially reported his wife missing on Christmas Eve, and the story quickly attracted nationwide media interest.
Scott held press conferences, with the support of his family, Laci's family and his home community of Modesto, California. He stated that he had been fishing at the Berkeley Marina on the date of Laci's disappearance. The bodies of his wife and unborn child were eventually found separately on different days (Laci April 14, 2003, Conner April 13, 2003 [1]) about 3 miles from the spot where he appeared to be fishing[2].
Peterson was not a prime suspect immediately, largely because Laci's family and friends maintained their faith in his innocence for a month after Laci's disappearance [3]. On January 17, it became known that Peterson had had numerous extramarital affairs [4], most recently with a massage therapist named Amber Frey. At this point, Laci's family announced that they were withdrawing their support for Scott. Frey was a key witness in the case against Peterson, because she agreed to let the police tape their phone conversations in hopes of getting him to confess [5]. However, Peterson did not confess to Frey (or to any other person). He not only proclaimed his innocence to Frey, but even questioned her about her possible involvement. Later, there was some media speculation that Peterson knew the calls were being taped, but this has never been proven.
Frey told the police that two weeks before Laci's disappearance, Peterson had told her that he was a widower, having "lost his wife" [6]. During the trial, the audio recordings of Peterson and Frey's telephone conversations were played, and the transcripts were publicized. The contents were damning for Peterson. They revealed that the days after Laci went missing, Peterson claimed to be celebrating the holidays in Paris. One of the phone calls had been made while he was at Laci's New Year's Eve candlelight vigil.
Recovery of bodies
On April 14, the body of a male fetus, with umbilical cord still attached, washed ashore at the San Francisco Bay. The next day, a partial female torso missing its hands, feet, and head washed ashore in the same area. The bodies were later identified as Laci and Conner Peterson. Autopsies were performed, but due to decomposition the specific cause of death was never determined. Prosecutors theorized that Laci may have been suffocated or strangled [7] in the couple's home. The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and Modesto Police Department performed forensic searches of the couple's home, Scott's truck, the tool box in the back of his truck, his warehouse and his boat. They found only one piece of forensic evidence, a single hair.
Arrest and trial
Peterson was arrested on April 18, 2003 in La Jolla, California in the parking lot of a golf course, where he claimed to be meeting his father and brother for a game of golf. At the time of his arrest, Peterson was carrying $15,000 in cash, had four cell phones, camping equipment, a gun, a map to Frey's workplace that had been printed the day before, a shovel, rope, Viagra and his brother's driver's license [8]. His hair and goatee had been dyed blonde. The police took all of this as an indication that Peterson had planned to flee, possibly to nearby Mexico.
Police also briefly investigated any possible connection between Peterson and the 1996 disappearance of 19-year-old Kristin Smart, who attended California Polytechnic State University at the same time as Scott and Laci. His name had come up on a short list of people [citation needed] investigators at the time had felt warranted closer investigation. Scott publicly denied this, and investigators found nothing to tie Peterson to the disappearance [9].
Initially, Peterson requested court-appointed counsel and the Stanislaus County Public Defender's office was appointed to represent him. Chief Deputy Public Defender Kent Faulkner and Deputy Public Defender Maureen Keller were the attorneys assigned to the case. Subsequently, Peterson indicated that he had sufficient funds to hire private counsel and attorney Mark Geragos took over his representation.
On January 20, 2004, due to intense media attention and increasing hostility to Peterson in the Modesto area, a judge moved Peterson's trial from Modesto to Redwood City, California.
The trial, the People of the State of California vs. Scott Peterson, began in June 2004 and was followed closely by the media. The lead prosecutor was Rick Distaso, and Mark Geragos led Peterson's defense.
Prosecution witness Amber Frey engaged her own attorney, Gloria Allred, to protect her from the news media. Allred was not bound by the gag order imposed on everyone else involved in the trial. Although she maintained that her client had no opinion as to whether Peterson was guilty, Allred was openly sympathetic to the prosecution. She appeared frequently on television news programs during the trial [10], and seemed to criticize the defense at every opportunity. Allred was key in keeping many facts about her client's past from the public eye [11]. Some claim[citation needed] that she was instrumental in turning public opinion against Peterson [12]. Amber Frey's father, Ron, also engaged a lawyer, in an attempt to be released from the gag order [13].
Peterson's defense lawyers based his case on the lack of direct evidence, and downplaying the significance of circumstantial evidence [14]. They suggested that the remains of Conner Peterson were that of a full-term infant, and theorized that someone had kidnapped Laci, held her until she gave birth, and then dumped both bodies in the bay (which, if true, would have exonerated Peterson). However, the prosecution's medical experts were able to prove that the baby had never grown to full term, and died at the same time as his mother [15]. Geragos suggested that a satanic cult kidnapped the pregnant woman [16]. He also claimed that Peterson was "a cad" [17] for cheating on his pregnant wife, but not a murderer.
During jury deliberations, one juror was removed due to juror misconduct and was replaced by an alternate. Later, the jury foreman, Gregory Jackson, also requested to be removed, most likely because his fellow jurors wanted to replace him as foreperson [18]. Geragos told reporters that Jackson had mentioned threats he had received when he requested to be removed from the jury [19]. Jackson was also replaced by an alternate. On November 12 the reconstituted jury convicted Peterson of first-degree murder with special circumstances for killing Laci and second-degree murder for killing his unborn son. The penalty phase of the trial began on November 30 and concluded December 13, when at 1:50 P.M. PST, the twelve-person jury recommended a death sentence for Peterson.
In later press appearances, members of the jury stated that they felt that Peterson's demeanor--specifically, his lack of emotion, and the phone calls to Amber Frey in the days after Laci's disappearance--indicated that he was guilty. They based their verdict on "hundreds of small 'puzzle pieces' of circumstantial evidence that came out during the trial, from the location of Laci Peterson's body to the myriad lies her husband told after her disappearance" [20].
Conviction and aftermath
On March 16, 2005, Judge Alfred A. Delucchi formally sentenced Scott Peterson to death, calling the murder of his wife "cruel, uncaring, heartless and callous" [21]. The prescribed method of execution was lethal injection. He also denied the defense's request for a new trial (which was based on evidence of juror misconduct and media influence) and ordered Peterson to pay $10,000 towards his wife's funeral.
In the early morning hours of March 17, 2005, Scott Peterson arrived at the infamous San Quentin State Prison. San Quentin, which overlooks the bay where Laci's body was discarded and houses the men's death row, is about 20 miles (30 km) north of San Francisco. He joined 643 other inmates there awaiting death by lethal injection in California. His case is currently on automatic appeal.
In January 2005, days after the initial guilty verdict was handed down, Amber Frey released a book about her experiences with Scott Peterson. She was criticized for using her involvement in the case for her own personal gain. The fact that the book was published so soon after the trial ended, fueled speculation [citation needed] that Frey was working on the book during the trial--which would have violated the gag order placed on all witnesses in this trial by the judge. Her publisher allegedly[citation needed] told Frey that a "not guilty" verdict would result in no book deal for her. Laci's family also criticized her for placing her photograph between Scott's and Laci's on the cover of her book [22].
Like some other high-profile criminals, Peterson receives large amounts of fan mail and wedding proposals in prison.[citation needed] (See hybristophilia).
Among his correspondents is Richelle Nice, a member of the jury in his case, who initially wrote to Peterson at the advice of her therapist May 25, 2006 CNN story; Nice is the red-haired woman dubbed "Strawberry Shortcake" by trial observers.
Evidence
The evidence against Peterson was largely circumstantial. Hounded by the press, Peterson changed his appearance and purchased a vehicle using his mother's name. He added two hardcore pornography channels to his cable service days after his wife's disappearance [23]; the prosecution suggested that this meant Peterson knew his wife would not be returning home. He expressed interest in selling the house he had shared with his wife [24], and sold Laci's Land Rover (the automobile dealer, after finding out to whom it belonged, gave it back to her family free of charge).
More evidence supporting the case for Peterson's guilt was the testimony provided by Ralph Cheng, a hydrologist with the United States Geological Survey, and an expert witness on tides, particularly in the San Francisco Bay. However, Cheng admitted during his cross-examination, that his findings were "probable, not precise"— tidal systems are sufficiently chaotic, and he was unable to develop an exact model of the bodies' disposal and travel. The affair with Amber Frey also provided much support for the case against Peterson.
Dr. Charles March was expected to be a crucial witness for the defense in Scott Peterson's double-murder trial. Geragos seemed sure that March could single-handedly exonerate Peterson, by showing that the defendant's unborn baby died a week after prosecutors claimed the child died. "Prosecutors pointed out that no medical records relied on the June 9 date and March became flustered and confusing on the stand -- and even asked a prosecutor to cut him 'some slack' -- undermining his credibility"[25].
March admitted that a date in his report was incorrect, but said it was a typographical error. However, the prosecutor pointed out that the date appeared in two different places in the document. When the prosecutor pressed him on the discrepancies, March became flustered. "When an expert says, 'Cut me some slack,' it's all over," said former San Francisco prosecutor Jim Hammer, who observed the case.
Motives
Peterson's affair with Amber Frey was never presented to the jury as a probable motive for the crime (even though he appeared to be on his way to Frey's house to kill her as a loaded gun and a map with directions to her home was found in his possession). However, the prosecution did present the affair as an indication of Peterson's character. Prosecutors surmised that Peterson killed his wife and unborn child due to increasing debt, and a desire for freedom--a desire to return to the "bachelor" lifestyle, where he would be free from the obligations of his impending family life. Another scenario that was considered (but ultimately ruled out) was Scott's fear of having an unattractive, unhealthy child.[citation needed]
Links
- Peterson Trial - Scott Peterson Trial Info and News
- Scott Peterson at NNDB
- BBC News US beach bodies killer convicted 12 November, 2004 Retrieved 23:17, 1 September 2005 (UTC)
- CourtTV.com- Evidence from the Scott Peterson Trial with updates
- Scott Peterson's Endorsement of Laci Peterson's Mother's Book