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Original poster

The Murder of Laci Peterson

36 replies

GlitchStitch · 05/03/2022 10:22

Has anybody watched this series on Prime? I vaguely remember the case and it being reported a complete certainty that Scott killed her. I even watched a couple of those cheesy TV movies about it, Dean Cain starred in one of them!

But watching this I'm shocked that there was literally no evidence at all that he did it, and quite a bit to suggest he didn't. It's clear he was convicted on the basis of being a bit of a shit, who cheated on his pregnant wife.

Curious to see what others think about this case.

OP posts:

MNHQ

ImaniMumsnet · 06/03/2022 11:55

Hi there OP,

We are just giving this a bump for you!

Best,
MNHQ

WaterTheBasil · 06/03/2022 12:22

From what I remember there was evidence that he was on his boat the day she went missing and the body of Laci and the unborn baby were found in the same lake he was sailing on. Which although is circumstantial it's quite damming!

Also, he told his girlfriend he was a widow and he wasn't. That's not a crime but it's a strange thing to say. You would just say you weren't married or that you were separated.

Was it this case where he phoned his girlfriend and told her he was at the Eiffel Tower when he was at a vigil for his missing wife?

Lemonweightloss · 06/03/2022 13:03

Such a sad case.
I agree there wasn't much evidence, just lots of circumstantial evidence. But I read once that this is enough. I know what you mean though. Also, lots of media coverage and was almost found guilty before the trial.
I think he did do it. He was sentenced to death but recently this was commuted to life imprisonment. Which I do think is right as I think you should only get the death penalty when it's proven you definitely did it.
He was a shit though. But that doesn't make him a murderer. Look on you tube at his interviews ( one with Diane Sawyer is interesting. His phone rings so he goes to find it. Instead of answering it as you would if your wife were missing, he just turns it off!).
Laci was so beautiful. So many cases like this ( Chris Watts, Chris Coleman) - men who kill their wives and innocent children. Just get a divorce!!
Sorry for the essay. True crime fascinates me. I don't watch / read it for the gory bits ( those parts upset me), but more for observing how people think and behave.

Dwrcegin · 06/03/2022 13:07

The crime weekly podcast covered this case, you can find them on YouTube as well.

Very interesting case and pretty sad too, as she was pregnant. I'm convinced the husband killed her.

Lemonweightloss · 06/03/2022 13:12

Also, talking about the way people behave. He never looked worried in his interviews. I know people handle themselves differently and none of us know how we'd react, but if you compare him to Laci's mum and her dad and stepdad ( both dads since passed away), their grief is heartbreaking.
Chris Watts and Chris Coleman similarly showed little emotion.

WheekestLink · 06/03/2022 13:20

There was a lot of evidence.
Circumstantial evidence is still evidence.

He also had motive - he was carrying on two relationships (one with his pregnant wife and another with his (unknowing) mistress). He had already told Amber he had "lost" his wife, just before she was killed.

FitYeDaeinYeMadRadge · 06/03/2022 14:21

I also think he did it. His whole demeanour before she was found screamed he didn’t give a shit.

I really cannot fathom how families ever get over the death of loved ones killed in these circumstances.

Original poster

GlitchStitch · 06/03/2022 15:15

Interesting most posters think he definitely did it. I really don't know if he did or not, but there were so many inconsistencies in the prosecution's case and lots of other evidence ignored by the police.
There wasn't any physical evidence at all that she died in the house, and tests were done to recreate him dumping her body from his boat, which apparently couldn't be done without the boat capsizing, and the judge ruled this inadmissible.
I have read that he might be getting a new trial based on one of the jurors lying during jury selection, will be interesting to see how this develops.
I agree he was a total shit who acted strangely in the aftermath but maybe because he was hiding being a cheat?
This documentary is really worth a watch, there are so many details about the case, and the way it was dealt with by the media.

OP posts:

SalsaLove · 06/03/2022 15:39

Didn’t he try to flee to Mexico with cash and a bad dye job?

Original poster

GlitchStitch · 06/03/2022 15:46

Yes he was found near the border where some of his family were staying. He had died his hair blonde but this was a while before, and there is footage of him talking to the police with the new hair colour before he left town. His and his family's argument is that if he was trying to disguise himself he wouldn't be chatting with police with this hair, it was more to be less recognisable due to all the media attention.
There was also a burglary in the opposite house during the time Laci went missing and a witness has claimed she confronted them.
I was just fascinated by the way the media dealt with it, the trial was given the same amount of coverage as the invasion of Iraq that was happening at the same time.

OP posts:

SalsaLove · 06/03/2022 16:23

I was living in California at the time and it was tragic not least because she heavily pregnant, beautiful, and I think it was Christmas Eve. It was so hard to believe that her handsome husband could do such a thing, and not a deranged person on drugs. But it seems he was counting on that.

WaterTheBasil · 06/03/2022 21:50

If you are going to pay 'experts' to recreate something such as throwing a body from a boat they are going to say that it can't be done. Or you find another expert. That's their job. To say what you want them to say.

The lake was ninety miles away from their house. The burglars didn't know Scott Peterson or the location of his boat. They were small time burglars. It's one hell of a coincidence if she saw them and confronted them and they killed her and drove her ninety miles and hired a boat and dumped her body in the same lake that her husband was on at that very moment.

knittingaddict · 06/03/2022 21:56

Of course he did it.

MermaidEyes · 07/03/2022 15:55

I think he did it. Too much coincidental evidence. Why would he tell his mistress he was a widower, as a pp said you'd just tell her you're divorced or separated! I think it was probably already in his mind that he would kill her. I'm amazed he didn't think Amber would find out, the case was huge and it was obvious at some point she was going to read about it or see it on the news, and he's blithely pretending he's in France!

Regarding the burglary across the road, small time burglars very rarely kill. Their aim is to get money and things they can sell as quickly as possible, not deal with a dead pregnant woman and then travel miles to dump her body, in the very same lake her husband just happened to be fishing in.

I always think this case is so similar to the Chris Watts case. Another pregnant wife and another young pretty mistress who seems so much more 'exciting'. As I'm sure many detectives have said, cherchez la femme....

Floralnomad · 07/03/2022 15:58

I’ve not watched this particular programme but I’ve seen the case covered plenty of times on other crime shows and I reckon he did it .

TokyoSushi · 07/03/2022 15:59

I lived in the US when this happened, we were all absolutely gripped by it, it was fascinating and horrific in equal measure.

I'm pretty certain that Scott was guilty. I didn't know that there was something about it on Prime, I'll look it up. Thanks for highlighting.

grapewines · 07/03/2022 16:02

@WheekestLink

There was a lot of evidence. Circumstantial evidence is still evidence.

Agree with this.

He also lied to Amber Frey about being in Paris and Brussels while he was at a wake for his missing wife. The police got it on tape because she taped their conversations. He's a fantasist at best and probably a sociopath. In my view, he is definitely where he belongs.

DinaofCloud9 · 08/03/2022 12:06

Yes it's a sad case. I think he did it.

FlippyFloppyFlappy · 08/03/2022 12:35

It's a good documentary. I think he definitely did it though.

TitoMojito · 08/03/2022 12:55

I haven't seen this specific documentary, but I have listened to a 6 part podcast about it and there is a lot of evidence to say he did it. Not DNA evidence, but enough circumstantial evidence that when you put it together, it's compelling. There is a small chance he didn’t do it, but it's pretty likely that he did.

Aprilx · 08/03/2022 21:17

I always thought he did it, but having watched that series now I am not so sure. He certainly had some very strange behaviours that did not help him.

But it was plastered all over the news that he went to the bay on his boat the day Laci disappeared and lo and behold, sometime afterwards their bodies were discovered there. He had taken his tiny boat down a ramp past people the day he went fishing and nobody saw a body in it. On the other hand Laci was seen alive and well by eleven people the morning she disappeared and after Scott was known to be out of the area.

He was convicted for being an arse.

dayswithaY · 10/03/2022 07:29

I think I saw this documentary when it was on Quest Red or something. If it is the one I'm thinking if, then it was made with a lot of cooperation from the Peterson family. Scott's sister in law Janey, leads a major campaign to free him, based on him having an unfair trial. The documentary was criticised for leaving out certain information that made him look bad and for making more out of the neighbours burglary.

A lot of the witnesses who claim they saw Lacey walking the dog described her wearing clothes different to the ones she was found in. Another thing I learned from a podcast is that her phone was found in her car. What pregnant woman goes on a dog walk and leaves her phone at home? He tried to sell her car while she was still missing. He made several anchors out of heavy concrete - for a tiny boat?

Guilty, but because there's no DNA evidence the case can be picked apart and his supporters (of which there are many) can claim his innocence.

MermaidEyes · 10/03/2022 09:16

The one thing the programme seemed to gloss over was his family's reaction to Amber Frey. Even if he's not a murderer, he's a lying cheating manipulator who isn't this loving and supportive husband to his heavily pregnant wife they think he is. Even when she's missing he's still calling Amber. Wouldn't his family wonder, if he could lie about that, what else could he lie about?

zafferana · 10/03/2022 10:51

I remember this case very well and have read a couple of books about it. Agree that the case against him was largely circumstantial, but there was A LOT of circumstantial evidence and literally nothing that suggested that anyone else had had a hand in it.

He 'went fishing' in the area where her body was dumped the day after she disappeared and he had the motive (didn't want to be a dad and had told several people, was cheating and pretending to be a single man whose wife had died to the OW, wanted out of the marriage but couldn't afford to get divorced because he wasn't doing well in his sales job). Basically, he just wanted to be single again and for his wife and unborn to child go away.

After Laci's death he sold her car, he ordered a porn channel for their TV, he quickly sold the house, there was the bizarre 'call from Paris' that he made to Amber Frey, he lied to numerous members of both his family and Laci's - the list of behaviour that was completely incompatible with that of a genuinely grieving husband and father-to-be was as long as my arm. And when he was caught by the police he had changed his appearance, had cash and camping gear and all sorts of stuff in his brother's car, plus his brother's driving licence, basically he was about to make a run for it across the border.

zafferana · 10/03/2022 10:54

Oh yeah and the 'call from Paris' was made FROM A VIGIL FOR LACI being held in a local park. So while everyone else there was trying to draw attention to her disappearance and keep the media focused on finding her, he was calling his lover and pretending to be in Paris having a great time with some fictional friends! The guy is a total sociopath.

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