Scott Peterson

• Born: October 24, 1972
• Place of Birth: San Diego, California

Early Life

The only child of Jackie and Lee Peterson, Scott Lee Peterson, who would later famously be convicted of murdering his pregnant wife, was born on October 24, 1972, at Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego, California. He joined a household with three half-siblings from his father’s first marriage and one half-sister from his mother’s first marriage. Peterson was doted on as a child. Living in the suburbs of affluent San Diego, he was a good student, played the piano, attended Boy Scouts, and was an avid golfer and fisher.

After failing to make the golf team at Arizona State University, Peterson attended Cuesta College in California. He worked three jobs and played on the college golf team. In 1994, he transferred to California Polytechnic State University and majored in agricultural business. He met a coed named Laci Rocha. The two soon began dating and living together and were married in 1997. After his graduation in June 1998, they ran a successful burger restaurant called The Shack until 2000, when they moved to Modesto. Peterson was an agricultural salesman, while Laci taught school nearby. In the summer of 2002, the couple announced they were expecting their first child, a boy they planned to name Conner.

Laci's Disappearance

Laci Peterson last spoke to her mother on the telephone on December 23, 2002. Peterson claimed that his wife was alive on the morning of December 24 and was going to walk their dog when he left to go fishing on the San Francisco Bay. Neighbors later reported that they saw him loading a large tarpaulin into the bed of his truck. After returning from his fishing trip later that day, Peterson washed his clothes, ate some dinner, and took a shower. Only then did he become curious as to his wife’s whereabouts, calling police at 6:00 p.m. to report her missing.

One of the most publicized missing person searches in US history soon began, with Laci’s family and Peterson himself pleading for help. A $500,000 reward was offered for her safe return, and a command center was staffed around the clock. Intense media coverage began when suspicion fell on Peterson, although Laci’s family initially supported their son-in-law. In January 2003, the police announced that Peterson had been having an affair with a woman named Amber Frey at the time of Laci’s disappearance. Frey was not aware that Peterson was married at the time that she began an intimate relationship with him but contacted police when she learned Laci was missing and agreed to cooperate with them. Before Laci vanished, Peterson told Frey that he had been married but that he had “lost” his wife. She later testified that Peterson had called her during a candlelight vigil for his wife on December 31 and claimed that he was on vacation in Paris, France. Peterson continued to proclaim his innocence as he sold his wife’s vehicle and their home.

On April 13, 2003, the decomposed bodies of a pregnant woman and baby boy were recovered in San Francisco Bay and identified as Laci and Conner Peterson. Five days later, Peterson was arrested in La Jolla, California, near the Mexican border, for two counts of murder. His brown hair was bleached blond, he had grown a goatee, and he had in his possession $15,000 in cash, camping supplies, cell phones, and Viagra.

Legal Action and Outcome

Because of a great deal of publicity, a change of venue was granted, and the trial began in June 2004 near San Francisco. Prosecutors argued that Peterson murdered his wife and child so that he could continue to have a bachelor’s life; they presented evidence of other affairs. Almost every moment of the trial was dissected in the news, with the case dominating headlines for the duration of the trial. On November 12, 2004, a jury found Peterson guilty of two counts of murder. When the verdict was read, cheers rose from the crowd lining the steps of the courthouse. After emotional testimony from Laci’s family and pleas by Jackie Peterson to spare her son’s life, Peterson was sentenced to death on December 12, 2004. Peterson would await execution by lethal injection at San Quentin State Prison, which overlooks the bay where his wife’s and son’s bodies were found.

In late 2003, Laci’s parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit that sought $5 million in compensation from Peterson; it also sought to bar him from selling and profiting from his story. In April 2005, Laci’s family upped the amount of their civil suit for wrongful death to $25 million. The family feared that Peterson would profit from film deals related to the case. Though Peterson taped a deposition for the suit claiming his innocence, he ultimately did not have to stand trial after Laci's family dropped the suit in 2009. Three years later, his attorney filed an automatic appeal of his sentence with California's Supreme Court that largely cited the inability of Peterson to receive a fair trial due to the amount of publicity that had been involved in the case.

In 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order that established a moratorium on death row executions. Therefore, Peterson's execution was at least temporarily suspended. The following year, a hearing was held in which Peterson's attorney argued that his client had not received a fair trial. In June 2020, Peterson’s appeal was heard by the California State Supreme Court, which upheld his conviction but vacated his death penalty sentence due to a judge error in his original trial. In 2022, Peterson was formally resentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He was also denied a new trial that year.

In January 2024, lawyers with the Los Angeles Innocence Project took on his effort to receive a new trial, seeking DNA testing on duct tape found on Laci's body and more than six hundred pieces of evidence gathered by police. Though testing had previously found human DNA on the tape, technology of 2003 was not able to use it to generate a profile. In August, a docuseries, Face to Face with Scott Peterson, debuted on the Peacock streaming service.

Impact

From the beginning, Americans were riveted by the mysterious disappearance of the beautiful expectant mother with the captivating smile. The unthinkable betrayal of her philandering husband captured the public conscience and led to courtroom commentary and to numerous websites, films, and books. Peterson would continue to protest his innocence and received the continued support of his family. The death of Laci and her unborn child led to the signing of the Unborn Victims of Violence Act by President George W. Bush, which recognizes fetuses who are killed as murdered persons—a controversial law given its implications for abortion rights and pro-choice advocates.

Bibliography

Bird, Anne. Blood Brother: Thirty-Three Reasons My Brother Scott Peterson Is Guilty. Regan Books, 2005.

Crier, Catherine. A Deadly Game: The Untold Story of Scott Peterson. Regan Books, 2005.

Dolan, Maura. "Scott Peterson Asks Court to Overturn Murder Conviction and Death Sentence." Los Angeles Times, 2 June 2020, www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-06-02/scott-peterson-appeal-murder-conviction. Accessed 6 July 2020.

Frey, Amber. Witness for the Prosecution of Scott Peterson. Regan Books, 2005.

Kaplan, Anna. "Scott Peterson Gives 1st Interview in 21 Years. What He Thinks Happened to Laci Peterson." Today, 20 Aug. 2024, www.today.com/news/scott-peterson-interview-face-to-face-rcna167115. Accessed 30 Aug. 2024.

Keavy, Madisen, and Cecilio Padilla. "Scott Peterson's Defense Asks for 600 Pieces of Evidence in Bid for New Murder Trial." CBS News, 16 July 2024, www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/scott-peterson-la-innocence-project-bid-for-new-murder-trial-san-mateo-county/. Accessed 30 Aug. 2024.

Rocha, Sharon. For Laci: A Mother’s Story of Love, Loss, and Justice. Crown Books, 2006.

Yan, Holly. “Scott Peterson Sentenced to Life in Prison after Being Spared a Death Sentence.” CNN, 8 Dec. 2021, www.cnn.com/2021/12/08/us/scott-peterson-resentencing/index.html. Accessed 24 Apr. 2023.