Laci Peterson

[Spartan Girl]

Anyone watching The Murder of Laci Peterson on A&E? Apparently it looks into "alternative theories" of Laci's death.

I have to say that most of it just makes me roll my eyes so far. Look, I know the evidence was circumstantial, but there's not a doubt in my mind that Scott Peterson is a lying murdering sociopath.

[Yokosmom]

Yes, watching the show.  I didn't know when I started watching that they were going to go down the "alternative theories" path.  I did find it interesting that there were so many people who claimed that they saw Laci walking the dog that morning.  The reporter's comment that the burglary day switch didn't match what he knew to be true, was also something that I had never heard before.  (Though, if he really believed that the dates were so wrong, did he testify at the burglar's trial to that effect?--I suspect not.)

However, to believe that he's innocent, you would have to believe that someone would take the risk of transporting Laci's body all the way to SF Bay and dumping it there.  I mean, it is a large bay, but after a few days, as the story started to grow and grow, there were a lot of eyeballs on that body of water.

I am finding it rather fascinating to get the discussions of the media coverage of the case as it unfolded.  Not really a fan of Nancy Grace but I enjoyed her admission that Scott Petersen just simply gave her the creeps.  Although I think that Scott is guilty as all get out, his defense lawyer was right--the police feeding little snippets of information to the media, some of which were disproved later, put the defense at a real disadvantage.  (Of course, their real disadvantage was that their client was a sociopath who couldn't even fake any concern for his wife.)

Can't wait until the oh-so OJ Simpson-like arrest and the news interview  that made him look guilty as hell.

Despite the "alternative theories", I think that I'm in for the long haul.

[Soobs]

I'm in it for the duration too. When she disappeared I had just gotten engaged and was at my future in-laws house in the Bay Area. It was a huge story there. We were all convinced he did it from day 1. As far as the theory that burglars across the street did it, why would they haul her body all the way to the ocean? They'd of just left her there. Add to that his secret boat and bags of cement and telling Amber that he'd lost his wife at Christmas.. I mean, come on. He definitely underestimated their white privilege and he never thought the story would blow up like it did. 

His sister and her husband say he's innocent with their mouths but their eyes tell a different story.

It's neat to see how all the reporters have aged. Some of them were so baby faced back then!

[AZChristian]

19 hours ago, Soobs said:

His sister and her husband say he's innocent with their mouths but their eyes tell a different story.

His half-sister, Anne (Jackie's given-up daughter from before she married Lee), knows he did it.  She recognizes what a scumbag he is.

[Spartan Girl]

I hate how they keep bringing up the oh-so-loving voicemail that Scott "left" for Laci that morning, as if that was any proof of Scott's innocent. Any asshole can think of leaving a voicemail to a dead woman to set up an alibi. This was the same guy spoke to Amber Frey on the phone, pretending he was in Europe.

The fact that Amber was able to play along in order to record those calls with the cops...got a lot of respect for that. She's lucky to be alive.

Edited August 27, 2017 by Spartan Girl

[AZChristian]

17 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

This was the same guy spoke to Amber Frey on the phone, pretending he was in Europe.

The fact that Amber was able to play along in order to record those calls with the cops...got a lot of respect for that. She's lucky to be alive.

That was one of the most sickening things ever.  He used the background noise of a crowd from his murdered wife's support rally to pretend he's in Paris.  

I've read Laci's mother's book.  Scott was "the golden child" according to everyone in his family (except his half-sister).  I honestly believe that if he could escape from San Quentin, his mother would still provide him with enough money to flee the country and live comfortably in a nation where he could not be extradited.  She's a piece of work.

[Spartan Girl]

Watching the latest episode now. It still nauseates me today that they only were able to find her torso along with the body of baby. The poor Rochas...

Honestly, I feel like their "alternative theories" is more or less the same as "alternative facts". And the whole tone of "oh boo hoo, the big bad media crucified Scott because he was a cheater" makes me mad. How does Scott's sister explain the fact he turned Connor's room into a storage space?! Or that he threw away the sonogram photo of Connor?! I read both of those in Sharon Rocha's book -- that last one was especially said, because somebody rescued it and gave it to Sharon, which she still has to this day.

Edited August 30, 2017 by Spartan Girl

[chabelisaywow]

Quote

 hate how they keep bringing up the oh-so-loving voicemail that Scott "left" for Laci that morning, as if that was any proof of Scott's innocent. Any asshole can think of leaving a voicemail to a dead woman to set up an alibi. This was the same guy spoke to Amber Frey on the phone, pretending he was in Europe

I've read pretty much every book published on this topic. According to Catherine Crier's book - Laci's phone was actually broken. Having actually heard the message he left for her, sounded extremely fake.  "Hey Beautiful.." - he sounded like he did when he was feeding Amber Frey the Paris BS.  I think he left the message, to establish a timeline for his alibi - along with the gas receipt he had (only put in a few worth).

 

Quote

His sister and her husband say he's innocent with their mouths but their eyes tell a different story.

Also in the Crier book, Susan Caudillo is Scott's half sister (from father's first marriage). She objected to donating to Scott's legal defense, opting to spend money on an infinity pool instead. Curious that both her and her husband are on the show now. My opinion is that they are doing it for compensation.

Also Janey Peterson is his sister-in-law, why doesn't his brother speak? I want to say that her husband is also a half sib - from Jackie, not Lee.

[Nessie]

I wasn't going to watch this, because I didn’t want to give this scumbag any of my time, but I gave in and I've found myself kind of fascinated.  I remember when it happened, and how it just grabbed the nation.  I also remember the day Laci and Conner were found, and how I prayed it wasn't them before they were positively ID'd, but knew it was.  

About the day Scott was arrested...ok, I've been accused of being naive before, and I admit I can buy that he dyed his hair blonde for a bit of anonymity, and was using his brother's ID for a discount into the golf club, and that he was in San Diego to be with his family, but come on...who takes $10,000 out of their joint checking account (with their son), then gives it back in cash?  And then, even if that did happen, wouldn't you put that money back immediately?  Even naive me has a real hard time with that one.

This show so wants to be Making A Murderer, doesn't it, and make the country question Scott's innocence?  The biggest difference being that no one had heard of Steven Avery before Making a Murderer, whereas I don't know a single person of a certain age who doesn't know who Scott Peterson is and doesn't believe he's guilty.  My biggest problem with the entire case is how he was tried in the media, which was becoming more of a phenomena with the advent of Court TV and the like after the OJ trial, and is such a huge problem today that I don’t see how anyone can get a fair trial.  Doesn't make me think he's innocent, though, as much as this show may want me to think he is.  I might, though, if it wasn’t for Amber, and the tapes.

Edited September 7, 2017 by Nessie

[Soobs]

16 hours ago, Nessie said:

who takes $10,000 out of their joint checking account (with their son), then gives it back in cash?  And then, even if that did happen, wouldn't you put that money back immediately?  Even naive me has a real hard time with that one.

This show so wants to be Making A Murderer, doesn't it, and make the country question Scott's innocence?  The biggest difference being that no one had heard of Steven Avery before Making a Murderer, whereas I don't know a single person of a certain age who doesn't know who Scott Peterson is and doesn't believe he's guilty.  My biggest problem with the entire case is how he was tried in the media, which was becoming more of a phenomena with the advent of Court TV and the like after the OJ trial, and is such a huge problem today that I don’t see how anyone can get a fair trial.  Doesn't make me think he's innocent, though, as much as this show may want me to think he is.  I might, though, if it wasn’t for Amber, and the tapes.

 

Didn't the sister say that she didn't put it right back in because of penalties. Okay. Then you put it in a drawer until you can deposit it in increments. You don't keep it in your car!

I agree with you that the Amber tapes probably would have done him in regardless. He tells her his wife died at Christmas and he's fishing on top of where there bodies were dumped!? That's beyond a reasonable doubt no matter what Nancy Grace says and does.

I've been sucked in by all the randoms that they dug up, the woman who sat in the courtroom every day and started a website for Scott, the lawyer who met with him to do all the research and the young, local reporter who got the interview of her career. All the little stories that really revolve around the story we all know, I find the most interesting. 

[havarti]

I'm not through the series yet (two episodes left, I think) but it has definitely been interesting to hear the stuff I've never heard before- like the neighbors who saw her that morning and the searches in the morning on the home computer (patio umbrella and women's clothes) and the Martha Stewart/meringue thing. In a circumstantial case, these carry some weight. (I do think he did it, I'm just curious about the timing and when/how he pulled it off.) His smoothness when he's lying to Diane Sawyer (about telling the police about his affair the first time he was questioned) is really sinister. Also, at the time this was all happening in the news, I thought that Amber Frey had stayed with him for awhile after he was in jail. I remember not having any positive feelings about her but after watching this, I can't believe how brave she was to keep talking to him to help the police! In my head, it was a long drawn-out affair, not just a month or so and 4-5 dates!

[doodlebug]

2 hours ago, havarti said:

I'm not through the series yet (two episodes left, I think) but it has definitely been interesting to hear the stuff I've never heard before- like the neighbors who saw her that morning and the searches in the morning on the home computer (patio umbrella and women's clothes) and the Martha Stewart/meringue thing. In a circumstantial case, these carry some weight. (I do think he did it, I'm just curious about the timing and when/how he pulled it off.) His smoothness when he's lying to Diane Sawyer (about telling the police about his affair the first time he was questioned) is really sinister. Also, at the time this was all happening in the news, I thought that Amber Frey had stayed with him for awhile after he was in jail. I remember not having any positive feelings about her but after watching this, I can't believe how brave she was to keep talking to him to help the police! In my head, it was a long drawn-out affair, not just a month or so and 4-5 dates!

I watched the last episode in which they presented all of the evidence that they claimed might've exonerated Scott.  That the neighbor put the dog inside the yard shortly after 10 AM is not in dispute; she had receipts from stores she visited just prior to it that make her story rock solid.  The defense claimed that the dog was known to get loose because Laci and Scott often forgot to close the gate after working in the yard (in December? while the dog was leashed?) and that this occurred before Laci died.  Since Scott was on his computer at work by then, he couldn't have killed her if she walked the dog after he left.  There are several people who contacted the police and said they saw Laci walking the dog that morning both in the neighborhood and a local park but it didn't seem that the police spoke to any of them in follow up and none of the ones they did talk to seemed to have definitive proof of the date and time they saw her, unlike the neighbor. Lots of people have said she walked the dog almost every day, so they might've been mistaken as to when they saw her. The neighborhood mailman, whose presence was corroborated by his postal  tracking device, says the dog didn't bark that day when he delivered the mail and the dog always barked.  He was there after the neighbor put the dog in the yard, hence, the defense claims this is proof that Laci took the dog for a walk later and must've still been alive.

They also have the report given by a prison guard about a conversation between an inmate and his brother where one tells the other not to talk about Laci in order not to be overheard.  The brother was one of the thieves who burglarized the neighbor's home on December 24 or 26.  They also have someone who claims to have seen the thieves there on the 24, not the 26, as the police claimed and someone else who claims to have seen Laci confronting the crooks outside their van and being hustled into it.  Someone else claims to have seen her squatting to pee next to the van while being guarded by the crooks.  Interestingly, none of these people thought to call the cops at the time they saw these things; only coming forward days or weeks later.

The show also picked apart the timeline for the baby's death using ultrasound measurements of the baby done months earlier.  Apparently some doc testified at the trial that, based on the length of his femur, Connor was dead on December 24 while another expert, who the defense didn't have testify, claimed he was alive on January 3, meaning after Scott reported Laci as missing.  However, I am an OB/GYN and can tell you that NOBODY can pinpoint the age of a baby late in the third trimester that closely.  Babies all start out the same size in the womb and their growth diverges in the third trimester.  Just as some kids will weigh 6 lbs at birth and others 9 lbs; their legs can grow at different rates, too.  There is no way anyone could predict the date of the baby's death with that much accuracy based on his femur or any other bone measured months before and probably not even if the ultrasound had been done days before she disappeared.

Edited September 27, 2017 by doodlebug

[Dr.OO7]

Domestic violence is the number one reason that a pregnant women will end up dead or injured, particularly in the third trimester. It sickens me to think that Laci probably answered "No" everytime her doctor asked (as he/she is required to do) if she was being abused, yet she STILL ended up dead. 

I can't comprehend the evil of a man watching the woman he supposedly loves grow bigger and bigger with child--HIS child and thinking, "I've got to kill her."

[iwantcookies]

If Laci miscarried she’d probably be alive.

Scott did it. But he covered it up good. To this day it’s a mystery how/when/where...

Mark Geragos charged $1 million! Wowww.

[Dr.OO7]

On 5/24/2021 at 4:31 PM, iwantcookies said:

To this day it’s a mystery how/when/where...

How--the police figure he did what they call a "soft kill", something that wouldn't leave any blood evidence, like strangling or smothering her, probably as she slept. His half-sister speculates that he drowned her in their pool, but I think the possibility of witnesses would have been too risky for him.

When--presumably late December 23/early December 24.

[Mrs. Hanson]

On 3/7/2022 at 7:59 PM, Dr.OO7 said:

How--the police figure he did what they call a "soft kill", something that wouldn't leave any blood evidence, like strangling or smothering her, probably as she slept. His half-sister speculates that he drowned her in their pool, but I think the possibility of witnesses would have been too risky for him.

When--presumably late December 23/early December 24.

A juror believed this, too.  Came up from behind and straangled her.