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Scott Peterson arrest months after Laci disappeared Christmas Eve may have been strategic: former homicide cop

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Scott Peterson arrest months after Laci disappeared Christmas Eve may have been strategic: former homicide cop

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Laci Peterson, 27, disappeared on Christmas Eve, 2002, and her husband, Scott Peterson, was charged with murder, just days after her remains were found months later.

Law enforcement officers don’t always wait to find a body before bringing a murder charge, though, like in the cases of missing Texas realtor Suzanne Simpson and missing Massachusetts real estate executive Ana Walshe. Fox News contributor and former Washington, D.C., homicide detective Ted Williams explained why investigators sometimes pursue charges before a body is found.

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As authorities continue to search for Simpson, a 51-year-old mom of four who disappeared more than two months ago, her husband, Brad Simpson, remains behind bars, accused of killing his wife of 22 years. Unlike in the Peterson case, law enforcement did not wait to find Suzanne’s remains before charging Simpson with murder.  

“Homicides are like a puzzle,” Williams told Fox News Digital. “Investigators are forever putting together pieces of the puzzle, and once they feel that they have enough evidence – circumstantial evidence or physical evidence – they will then move forward.”

SUZANNE SIMPSON’S DNA FOUND ON MURDER SUSPECT HUSBAND’S SAW THAT CAN CUT METAL

Missing Texas mom Suzanne Simpson is pictured with her husband Brad Simpson.  (Facebook/Suzanne Simpson)

(L to R) Scott Peterson and Laci Peterson

Scott Peterson and Laci Peterson in a still photo appearing in the docuseries “American Murder: Laci Peterson.” (Courtesy of Netflix)

Laci Peterson was seven-and-a-half months pregnant at the time she vanished on Christmas Eve in 2002 from the Modesto home she shared with Scott, sparking a widespread search for the mom-to-be. Four months later, in April 2003, a pedestrian found her unborn son’s decomposed body in the San Francisco Bay, and authorities found Laci’s remains in the Bay the following day. 

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Within a week of the discoveries, authorities arrested and charged Scott Peterson with two counts of capital murder in the deaths of his wife and unborn son. 

“I think in the case of Scott Peterson, they were still gathering evidence . . . they wanted to wait, and they had time on their side. And while gathering the evidence, they were able to make a very concrete case against Scott Peterson,” Williams said. 

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The former homicide detective explained why, in cases like Peterson’s, law enforcement might wait until a body is found before bringing a homicide charge, elaborating on the risk involved in charging an individual too soon. 

“Investigators have to get it right the first time,” he said. “Once a person is charged with murder, then they are put on trial, and if they are found not guilty and later found to have actually committed the murder, they can’t be charged a second time because of what we define in this country as double jeopardy.”

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Double jeopardy refers to a clause in the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits anyone from being prosecuted twice for the same crime.

WHAT SCOTT PETERSON’S RECENT COURT WIN COULD MEAN FOR HIS YEARSLONG QUEST FOR FREEDOM

A split of Scott and Laci Peterson

Scott Peterson, left, was convicted of murdering his wife and unborn son. (REUTERS/Lou Dematteis LD/MR, California Dept. of Corrections)

Williams said investigators must gather enough evidence to sustain a murder charge, given that they only have “one shot.”

“That’s the key . . . investigators realize that the evidence in order to go forward with a murder charge has to be strong,” he added. 

“Prosecutors realize that they only get one bite of the apple,” Williams said. “If a jury comes back and finds the person not guilty of the crime of murder, and they later subsequently find evidence that shows that the person did, in fact, commit the murder . . . because of double jeopardy in our country…they cannot retry that person again, that that person will have gotten off with the killing.”

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In another homicide investigation in Massachusetts, Ana Walshe, a mother of three young children and a real estate professional who worked in Washington, D.C., disappeared on New Year’s Day 2023 and was reported missing a few days later. Though her body was never recovered, her husband, Brian Walshe, was charged in his 39-year-old wife’s murder. 

TRIAL DATE SET FOR BRIAN WALSHE, ACCUSED OF MURDERING MISSING REAL ESTATE EXECUTIVE WIFE

Ana Walshe and Brian Walshe on their wedding day

Brian and Ana Walshe raise a toast on their wedding day in the lounge of L’Espalier in Boston, Massachusetts on Monday, Dec. 21, 2015. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)

Ana Walshe with her three boys

Ana Walshe holds her three children in an October 2022 Instagram post. (Ana Walshe/Instagram)

Williams explained why, unlike with the Peterson investigation, authorities in both the Simpson and Walshe cases did not wait to find the victims’ remains before bringing murder charges against the suspects.  

“Over a period of time, if investigators realize that they are not going to find or come up with a body, but that they believe that they have enough physical evidence to move forward, they will move forward, and they will present that to a prosecutor, and that prosecutor will make a decision as to whether he or she wants to go forward with charges,” he said.

On Dec. 3, Brad Simpson was indicted on two first-degree felony charges – murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon causing serious bodily injury to a family member. He was also indicted on charges of tampering with a corpse, two additional counts of tampering with physical evidence, and possession of a prohibited weapon. 

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Suzanne and Brad Simpson side by side

Suzanne and Brad Simpson allegedly fought after a night out at The Argyle in San Antonio, Texas.

“In the case of Suzanne Simpson, it appears as though investigators have come up with physical as well as circumstantial evidence to show that she is no longer here. And as a result of that, they have moved forward,” Williams said. 

Suzanne Simpson’s DNA was reportedly found on a “reciprocating saw” that Brad Simpson is accused of hiding, according to indictment records obtained by Fox News Digital and KABB reporting. Authorities said there are no signs of Suzanne being alive since her husband allegedly assaulted her on Oct. 6, and that this has been verified by her cellphone records, financial records, family, friends and co-workers.

A neighbor reportedly saw Simpson assault his wife the night of her disappearance and later heard screams coming from the woods nearby, while the couple’s five-year-old child told a school counselor that on the evening of Oct. 6, her father allegedly had “pushed her mother against the wall, hit (physically) her mother on the face and hurt her mother’s elbow inside their residence” and also “turned off her mother’s phone because they were fighting,” according to the affidavit. 

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Exterior view of the home where missing Texas real estate mom lived before she disappeared

The home of Suzanne and Brad Simpson in San Antonio, Texas, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. Suzanne Simpson disappeared under suspicious circumstances. (Kat Ramirez for Fox News Digital)

Investigators tracked Simpson’s unusual behavior in the days after his wife vanished, including shutting down his phone, driving with suspicious items in the bed of his truck, going to a dump site and cleaning his truck at a car wash. 

 

“There is a bottom line and a common thread,” Williams told Fox News Digital. “Among all of these cases . . . they happened in various jurisdictions, and those jurisdictions handle homicides differently, but all homicides are based on the evidence . . . that investigators over a period of time are able to come up with.”

Fox News’ Audrey Conklin contributed to this report. 



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West

Kasparian of 'Young Turks' explodes at possibility of Harris becoming California governor: 'I'm gonna move!'

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Kasparian of 'Young Turks' explodes at possibility of Harris becoming California governor: 'I'm gonna move!'

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Ana Kasparian of “The Young Turks” erupted at her co-host when he suggested Vice President Kamala Harris could be the future governor of California, whether one likes it or not.

As some liberals continue to grieve over President-elect Donald Trump’s victory over Harris, others are debating the vice president’s political future. DNC fundraiser Lindy Li mocked “delusions” of Harris “running for governor of California, possibly in 2026,” but others have speculated it just might be possible.

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“I think Kamala Harris would probably win in a cakewalk for governor,” “The Young Turks” co-host Cenk Uygur argued Thursday.

HARRIS PAID OPRAH $1 MILLION IN FAILED BID TO HELP CAMPAIGN: REPORT

“The Young Turks” co-host Ana Kasparian expressed dread at the idea that California could have Vice President Kamala Harris as its next governor. (The Young Turks)

“No! No!” Kasparian shouted at her co-host. “What are you doing? What are you doing?”

“I’m telling you the reality, whether you like it or not,” Uygur responded. “Democratic voters in California love to obey.”

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“I’m gonna move, Cenk! I’m gonna quit my job,” Kasparian said. “I’m gonna quit my job, and I’m gonna move.”

“I’m not saying I’m in favor of it,” Uygur replied. “I’m telling you what’s, like, if they, the Democratic Party, said, ‘We anoint Kamala Harris,’ a giant percentage of Democrats in California would go, ‘Yes! We obey. We will take the loyalty oath. It doesn’t matter how bad she is!’”

ADAM SCHIFF SAYS ‘ENTIRE DEMOCRATIC PARTY’ BEARS THE BLAME FOR HARRIS LOSS: ‘MYSELF INCLUDED’

Ana Kasparian tells Harris to do anything but run for California governor

Ana Kasparian implored Vice President Kamala Harris, “Go work in the private sector. Go do the lobbying thing — whatever it is. But don’t run as governor of California. Do not!”

 

“This state cannot survive another incompetent Democrat leading it,” Kasparian said. “No, we just can’t.”

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“So, like, people are egging her on, OK? Apparently she’s, like, in a wait-and-see mode,” Kasparian said.

Kasparian then looked into the camera, as if she were talking directly to Harris.

“How about you wait and see, like, your way out of public life? And go do what you’re supposed to do. Go work in the private sector. Go do the lobbying thing — whatever it is. But don’t run as governor of California. Do not!” 

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San Francisco, CA

San Francisco Giants Gold Glove Catcher Projected For Huge Season

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San Francisco Giants Gold Glove Catcher Projected For Huge Season


The San Francisco Giants have made some huge offseason moves already and hope they aren’t done just yet, but as is the case for every team that doesn’t win the World Series, the most important development will have to come from within.

One player who took a huge step from 2023 to 2024 and will try to improve even further in 2025 is Giants catcher Patrick Bailey. After a beyond solid rookie season in 2023 in which he finished in the top-ten for the National League Rookie of the Year, Bailey won a Gold Glove in 2024.

While the offensive output was similar to his rookie season and not anything to write home about, there’s confidence the bat will come along for the 25-year-old.

In an article naming breakout stars in 2024 who are due for a huge season in 2025, Bailey was one of the first names mentioned by Will Leitch of MLB.com.

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“Bailey led all players in Statcast’s fielding run value metric (plus-22), and FanGraphs, which factors pitch framing into its WAR calculation, had Bailey third among catchers with 4.3 WAR,” Leitch wrote. “At age 25, Bailey already has won as many Gold Gloves as Posey — now his team’s president of baseball operations — did over his whole career.”

Leitch pointed out that Bailey has established himself to be San Francisco’s catcher of the future, something that seems undeniable at this point. If the former first-round pick can develop his bat to the point where he is hitting at least close to the same rate as he was raking in the minor leagues, he will have a chance to become one of the best catchers in baseball.

Through 218 games over his first two seasons in MLB, Bailey has posted a batting average of .234, an OPS of .640, slugged .348, and has hit 15 home runs and 94 RBIs. Certainly not numbers that will blow you away at the plate, but his defense has more than made up for it and allowed the Giants to be patient with his bat.

In 193 minor league games since being drafted No. 13 overall in 2020, Bailey hit .251 across all levels and had an OPS of .779. He also showed an encouraging level of power with 25 home runs, but has struggled to replicate that in the big leagues thus far.

Having already established himself to be one of the best in the game on defense, Bailey will have a chance in 2025 to enter the upper echelon of catchers across the game if he can have the breakout season he appears poised to.

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Denver, CO

Colorado chef transforms pozole from an ancient dish tied to family traditions — to a culinary passion

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Colorado chef transforms pozole from an ancient dish tied to family traditions — to a culinary passion


DENVER — Christmas just isn’t Christmas without the festive foods we grew up with, and for many Mexican Americans in Colorado, that means a steaming pot of pozole.

“These are the foods that I grew up craving,” said Chef Jose Avila Vilchez, who runs La Diabla Pozole y Mezcal in Denver’s Ballpark District.

Chef Vilchez grew up eating pozole in Mexico City. Every Thursday, he went with his mom and brother to enjoy two-for-one specials on the traditional soup.

But when he moved to Denver more than a decade ago, the pozolerias of his childhood were nowhere to be found.

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Adam Hillberry, Denver7

Chef Vilchez has served up traditional Mexican dishes at his other Denver restaurants Machete Tequila + Tacos and El Borrego Negro. La Diabla is his chance to share another meal close to his heart: pozole.

“Red posole is a thing. So, in 100% of the Mexican restaurants here, that’s what you would find, a red pozole, but it was more for as a filler than as a main dish,” he said.

So, he opened La Diabla to serve up flavors many Coloradans haven’t tasted before.

While red pozole is a still a favorite, Chef Vilchez also studied recipes from across Mexico to make green, white and even black pozole.

“Our pozole negro, it’s a unique thing. That’s something that we invented,” said Chef Vilchez, who drew inspiration from a mole recipe popular in Yucatan. The black color comes from chilmole paste and charred rocoto chiles.

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Chef Jose Vilchez Avila of La Diabla Pozole y Mezcal | Denver

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Pozole negro is a unique dish created by Chef Vilchez for La Diabla.

“The flavor is just amazing, even just the broth,” he said.

But even with these innovative and varied broths, at the heart of each dish is pozole’s ancient history.

“Pozole is a ceremonial dish,” Chef Vilchez said.

The Aztecs prepared pozole from corn — which they considered sacred — and human flesh sacrificed in religious ceremonies. After Spanish colonizers came to the Americas, the Mexica people stopped practicing cannibalism and replaced the meat in pozole with pigs and chickens.

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Aztecs eating human sacrifice pozole

Florentine Codex

Before the arrival of Spanish colonizers, the Aztecs ate pozole as a ceremonial dish made from sacred corn and human sacrifices offered to their god Xipe.

As the pot boiled, the foam bubbling to the top gave the dish its name – the Nahuatl word for foam is “pozolli.”

“Even though we lost a lot of dishes that they used to make back in the day, the Mexica’s pozole still is like… a celebration,” Chef Vilchez said.

Hundreds of years later, the star ingredient in pozole remains the same: Corn. And Chef Vilchez uses the traditional process of nixtamalization to soften the kernels.

He sources high-quality corn and puts it in a pot of boiling water and cal (calcium hydroxide), which creates an alkaline solution that partially dissolves the corn’s hard skin and transforms the corn’s taste and texture.

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corn nixtamalization

Adam Hillberry, Denver7

The Aztecs created the process of nixtamalization, which comes from the Nahuatl words nextli, meaning ashes and tamali meaning cooked corn dough.

“Once you have, like a mother pozole, per se, like a white broth, then you can add the salsa,” Chef Vilchez said.

He also adds in vegetables like thinly sliced radishes, cabbage, onion and lettuce, as well as meat like chicken or pork.

While Chef Vilchez serves pozole year-round, many people associate it with holidays.

In Mexico City, he grew up eating pozole on Mexican Independence Day, “especially if you have the red, the white and the green, just like the Mexican flag,” he said.

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But here in Colorado, and in much of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States, pozole is most popular around Christmastime.

As a homemade family meal, “you make the pozole, and that pot stays in the kitchen. It never leaves. You make it there. You let it do its thing, and once it’s ready, you start serving from the pot,” Chef Vilchez said.

Positive News

Christmas in Colorado is a time to unwrap gifts — and tamales

For Cristóbal Garcia — who was born in Valparaíso, Zacatecas, and then grew up in Colorado where his mother’s family has lived for eleven generations — pozole is very much tied to Christmas.

“During the holidays leading up to Nochebuena, or what we know here as Christmas Eve,” Garcia said his family celebrated Las Posadas with pozole and tamales.

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“It’s about connecting with your family, connecting with your friends, connecting with your neighbors,” he said.

Since his father immigrated from central Mexico, his mother grew up in Colorado and his wife’s family is from coastal Sinaloa and northern Chihuahua, he’s enjoyed tasting many different recipes for pozole.

“My mother-in-law makes it with a green chile base, and she makes it with chicken sometimes instead of with pork,” he said.

While his sisters cook their Abuelita’s recipe for red pozole passed down for generations, and now shared with you in the recipe below:

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For Garcia, who directs the Metropolitan State University of Denver’s First-Generation Initiatives, celebrating with these traditional foods is a chance for Coloradans to reflect on culture, identity and the state’s history.

“Sometimes people say, ‘ni de aquí, ni de allá [not from here nor from there]. And I say, ‘soy de aquí y de allá [I’m from here and from there],” he said.

Whether you cook your own pozole or savor a bowl from a restaurant like La Diabla, both Garcia and Chef Vilchez hope Coloradans will spend time communing over a flavorful meal.

Chef Vilchez said he’s been “blessed and super humbled” to receive awards like the James Beard and the Michelin Guide’s Bib Gourmand awards. But it means even more to him when customers say the food brings back warm memories of meals shared with their families.

“When you touch someone’s soul like that… it’s just a different connection on a personal level,” he said.

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