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Scott Peterson theorizes that burglars killed wife Laci in first jailhouse interview since arrest 20 years ago
In his first on-camera interview since he was convicted for his wife’s murder twenty years ago, Scott Peterson maintains his innocence – and shares his theory on what really happened to his pregnant wife.
“Why do I want to speak? I regret not testifying,” Peterson said in Peacock’s new three-part series Face-to-Face with Scott Peterson. “I have a chance to show people what the truth is, and if they’re willing to accept it, it would be the biggest thing I can accomplish right now – because I didn’t kill my family.”
Laci, 27, was eight months pregnant when she vanished on Christmas Eve 2002. Peterson reported her missing after allegedly returning from a solo fishing trip to find their Modesto home empty. Laci’s body, along with the body of her unborn child Conner, washed up on shore near Peterson’s fishing spot four months later.
SCOTT PETERSON’S MOST OUTRAGEOUS DEFENSE CLAIMS, DEBUNKED
Scott Peterson and Laci Peterson in a still photo appearing in the docuseries, “American Murder: Laci Peterson.” (Courtesy of Netflix)
After he was arrested at the Mexico border with bleached hair carrying his brother’s passport, prosecutors revealed a mountain of evidence against him. A police K9 unit picked up Laci’s scent at a boat ramp in Berkeley, where Peterson claims he went fishing, and found the woman’s hair in the teeth of a pair of needle-nose pliers on Peterson’s boat.
Convicted of Laci’s murder in 2004, Peterson returned to headlines after the Los Angeles Innocence Project announced it would take on his latest appeal for a new trial.
“There was a burglary across the street from our home,” Peterson told filmmakers via video call from Mule Creek State Prison “And I believe that Laci went over there to see what was going on, and that’s when she was taken.”
A burglary was committed near the Peterson home around the time Laci went missing – but one of the convicted burglars testified that the break-in took place on December 26, 2002 rather than on December 24, when Laci went missing.
LACI PETERSON’S MOM REVEALS FIRST IMPRESSION OF KILLER SON-IN-LAW
Scott Peterson listens to Stanislaus County Deputy District attorney Dave Harris speak during a hearing at the San Mateo County Superior Court in Redwood City, California, on Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021. Peterson appeared in San Mateo Superior Court for the first time since he was sentenced to death there more than 17 years ago for the murders of his wife Laci and their unborn son Conner. (Andy Alfaro/The Modesto Bee/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) (Andy Alfaro/The Modesto Bee/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
TIMELINE: THE LACI PETERSON CASE
Journalists and legal experts interviewed in the docuseries said that witnesses had told police that they saw a suspicious van in the area of Peterson’s Modesto home on December 24 – one witness even claimed they saw a pregnant woman being forced into a van.
The burglary wasn’t mentioned the Peterson’s trial in 2004, and the convict cites this as evidence that police did not turn over evidence during the discovery process that potentially could have exonerated him.
“There are so many instances where there was evidence that didn’t fit the detectives’ theory that they ignored,” Peterson insisted.
Peterson even claims that detectives on the case assumed he was guilty from their first walk through of his home.
“When [Modesto Detective Al Brocchini] took a first walk through the house with the other officers, I don’t think that they knew that I was near them when they said ‘we know what’s going on here – it was the husband,’” Peterson claimed in his jailhouse interview “Then he realized I was there and kind of turned around.”
SCOTT PETERSON PROSECUTORS LAY OUT ‘OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE’ AGAINST KILLER’S NEW APPEAL IN 337-PAGE FILING
Scott Peterson and Amber Frey pictured at a Christmas party on Dec. 14, 2002, before the murder of Laci Peterson and before Frey knew Scott Peterson was a married man. (Superior Court of California, San Mateo County)
But Brocchini and former Modesto Police Officer Jon Buhler told filmmakers that they withheld any evidence or failed to investigate leads in the case.
“He was kind of just nonchalant – he didn’t have any urgency about him,” Brocchini said of his first time meeting Peterson. “To me, that was suspicious.”
Peterson, who was involved in multiple extramarital affairs, quickly became the prime suspect in his wife’s disappearance.
Brocchini said that a voicemail Peterson left for his wife at 2:15 p.m. on December 24 2022, telling her he loved her and would see her “in a bit,” was made to cover his tracks hours after killing Laci and dumping her in the San Francisco Bay. “To me, it was really meant for me to hear it,” Brocchini said, saying that the voicemail was “gooey.”
But Peterson said that heartfelt messages were typical in his relationship with Laci, and suggested that police who cast doubt on the intention of the voicemail must have “really sad marriages.”
“We loved one another, we enjoyed one another,” he said in his jailhouse interview. “We were great friends.”
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Prosecutors said police recovered Laci Peterson’s hair from the teeth of these needle-nosed pliers, which they found on her husband and convicted killer Scott Peterson’s boat. (Superior Court of California, San Mateo County)
“Every moment remains so tactile,” Peterson said of his final memories with his wife. “I’m still there, and the smells and the lighting, the sound of when I said goodbye to Laci. And then my family was gone.”
Amber Frey, Peterson’s mistress, went to police when she learned about Laci’s disappearance. Peterson, the man who she thought was her boyfriend, previously told her he had never been married, then changed his story and said that he was a widower.
Laci was missing her head and three limbs. A forensic pathologist determined she had not been dismembered, but her body likely came apart due to the marine conditions after being anchored down.
Prosecutors argued that the homemade concrete anchor Peterson used for his boat would have been easily duplicated. They suggested he made more and used them to try and hold his wife’s body on the seafloor.
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Prosecutors said these photographs a smiling Scott Peterson were taken during a vigil for Laci Peterson on New Year’s Eve in 2002. Jurors found at the end of his trial in 2004 that he killed her days later. She was more than 8 months pregnant with their son Conner. (Superior Court of California, San Mateo County)
After Laci’s disappearance, Peterson allegedly told Frey that his wife was alive and pregnant, but had gone missing. Frey began recording her phone conversations with the suspected murderer in an effort to help police.
Last week, those recorded conversations were aired for the first time in a new Netflix documentary, American Murder: Laci Peterson.
“So what, do you want to be together with me?” Frey asked Peterson in one of the recordings.
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“For the rest of our lives I think we could care for each other,” Peterson replied.
In May this year, Peterson’s defense team asked for DNA testing on a blood-stained mattress found in the bed of a burned-out van located near Peterson’s Modesto home the day after Laci disappeared. In the past, the LA Innocence Project says, only a sample of the mattress was tested. Now they want the entire mattress tested, saying that advancements in DNA technology could find DNA that would support their client’s claim.
But a judge ruled in May that a piece of duct tape found on Laci’s body could be retested, along with a dozen other pieces of evidence. It is unclear whether the mattress will be among the tested items.
Lara Yeretsian, one of Peterson’s lawyers from his first trial, remains hopeful that her client will be exonerated.
“This is not the end of it,” she said in the docuseries. “It’s just the beginning, and at least we’ve got one win.”
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MEDFORD, Ore. — Fire crews quickly knocked down a trailer fire Monday night that threatened a nearby home in the 3000 block of Table Rock Road, displacing one resident.
Firefighters responded around 9:20 p.m. Monday, May 4. Engine 14 arrived to find a trailer on fire and the flames threatening a nearby residence. Crews knocked the fire down within eight minutes of arrival.
No injuries to civilians or firefighters were reported. One resident was displaced as a result of the fire.
The cause is believed to be related to the use of an outdoor fire pit, where embers likely ignited nearby combustible materials. Officials said the fire spread from pallets and other items to the RV, causing extensive damage to the RV and minor damage to the exterior of the home.
With warmer, drier weather approaching, officials warned fire risk increases and urged people to follow outdoor fire safety tips. They recommend using a screen on outdoor fires when burning wood, choosing approved propane free-standing fire pits rather than wood-fueled options, keeping combustible materials at least 15 feet away, and discarding cigarettes, ash, embers and other smoldering materials in a non-combustible container filled with water.
Medford Police, Mercy Flights Inc. and Jackson County Fire District 3 assisted on the incident.
Many Americans don’t like the AI data centers popping up in their communities, though Kevin O’Leary thinks that’s because they don’t fully understand them.
O’Leary, the venture capitalist and “Shark Tank” investor who recently starred as a villainous businessman in “Marty Supreme,” said Americans have misconceptions about data centers and their environmental impact.
“It’s understanding the concerns of people, but at the same time, think about the number of jobs,” O’Leary said in a post on X on Friday.
Addressing environmental worries, O’Leary noted that he graduated from the University of Waterloo with a degree in environmental studies.
“When a group comes to me and says, ‘Look, I have concerns about water, I have concerns about air, I have concerns about wildlife,’ I totally get it,” O’Leary said.
O’Leary has clashed with residents in Box Elder County, Utah, over a new AI data center he’s backing on a 40,000-acre campus.
County commissioners approved the project, which is also backed by Utah’s Military Installation Development Authority, on Monday despite the community opposition. O’Leary said, without providing evidence, that the criticism mainly came from “professional protesters” who were “paid by somebody.”
One major concern for residents about the data center — dubbed the Stratos Project — is that it could strain the water supply. Data centers can use millions of gallons of water each day. Increased utility bills, noise, and a drop in quality of life are also points of contention.
O’Leary said the public misunderstands the impact of data centers because they were “poorly represented” in the past, and that the technology powering them has “advanced dramatically.” He said data centers don’t use as much water as they once did and can use a closed-loop system to avoid evaporation. Data centers can also rely on air-cooled turbines as an alternative to managing the temperature of the computer arrays, he said.
A fact sheet published by Box Elder County said the project won’t divert water from the nearby Great Salt Lake, agriculture, or homes. It also says that Stratos won’t increase electricity prices or taxes.
Many residents, however, are not so sure. The Salt Lake Tribune reported on Thursday that an application to divert water from the Salt Wells Spring stream, near the Great Salt Lake and long used by a local ranch for irrigation, was rescinded after nearly thousands of Utah residents lodged complaints.
“At some point, understanding the value of sustainability, water and air rights, indigenous rights, and making sure the constituencies understand what you’re doing is going to be more valuable than the equity you raise,” O’Leary said on X.
Anjney Midha, a Stanford University adjunct lecturer who appeared on the “Access” podcast this week, would agree with that sentiment. He said that listening to local communities and being transparent about the intentions and impacts of data centers are essential to making them work.
“My view is that if it’s not legible to the public that these data centers and the infrastructure required to unblock this kind of frontier technology progress are serving their benefit, then it’s not going to work out,” Midha said.
In a subsequent post on X on Friday, O’Leary said his project would be “totally transparent.”
“We want it to be the shining example of how you do this,” he said.
A man charged with attacking the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner is seeking to disqualify top justice department officials from direct involvement in prosecuting him because they could be considered victims or witnesses in the case, creating a potential conflict of interest.
The acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, and US attorney Jeanine Pirro were attending the 25 April event at the Washington Hilton hotel when Cole Tomas Allen allegedly ran through a security checkpoint and fired a shotgun at a Secret Service officer.
In a court filing late on Thursday, Allen’s attorneys argued that it created at least the appearance of a conflict of interest for Blanche and Pirro to be making any prosecutorial decisions in the case.
“As this case proceeds closer to trial, the country and the world will continue to wonder – how can the American justice system permit a victim to prosecute a criminal defendant in a case involving them?” defense attorneys Eugene Ohm and Tezira Abe wrote.
Ohm and Abe, who are assistant federal public defenders, suggested that the appointment of a special prosecutor might be warranted. They urged US district judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump nominee assigned to Allen’s case, to disqualify Pirro, Blanche and possibly other justice department officials from direct involvement in the investigation and prosecution.
“Both heard gunshots, which presumably forced them to duck below the tables with the rest of the occupants. They were quickly evacuated. Shortly thereafter, they learned that law enforcement believed the target was certain administration officials,” Ohm and Abe wrote.
Pirro said her office would respond to the defense lawyers’ arguments in its own court filing.
“We will not tolerate people who come to the District of Columbia to engage in antidemocratic acts of political violence; and we will prosecute all such acts to the fullest extent of the law,” Pirro said in a statement.
Allen is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday on further charges in an indictment handed up Tuesday by a grand jury in Washington.
The charges include attempting to assassinate Donald Trump, who is a longtime friend of Pirro. Blanche served as a personal attorney for Trump before joining the justice department last year. Blanche, through a spokesperson, referred a request for comment to Pirro’s office. Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, is also charged with assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon and two additional firearms counts.
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