Scott Peterson Murdered his Pregnant Wife

Laci Peterson disappeared in 2002 on Christmas Eve, while eight months pregnant. Her husband of over five years, Scott Peterson, was convicted of her death, it was commuted to a life sentence in 2021. He maintained his innocence. On January 18, 2024, the Los Angeles Innocence Project took Peterson on as a client and filed several motions on his behalf.

Laci Peterson was born in 1975. She grew up in a farm in Escalon, California and is described as being happiest when she was outside gardening with her mother. Her parents divorced when Laci and her older brother were quite young. Laci moved to Modesto with her mother who later remarried. Laci was a cheerleader in middle school and high school, before going off to study Ornamental horticulture at the California Polytechnic State University. While at university Laci met Scott Peterson in 1994. Scott was tree years older than Laci they met at a restaurant where Laci’s friend worked and Scott also worked there. During that summer she rang her mom saying that she would marry Scott.

Scott Peterson the youngest of seven children was a very talented golfer even enrolling at Arizona State University on a partial golf scholarship. However, he was drinking a lot and was womanizer, so he was expelled from the golf team. Later he transferred to California Polytechnic State University, majoring in Agricultural business. His parents called him a golden boy.

Laci and Scott got pretty serious, pretty quickly, and they moved in together two years after they started dating. It was reported at around this time Scott started having maybe one or two affairs with some unknown women. In 1997 Lacey and Scott got married. After they both graduated from university, they opened a sports bar called “The shack”, after getting a loan from Scott’s father. They sold it in the year 2000 and moved back to Modesto and bought a house. Laci got a job as a substitute teacher, Scott worked for a fertilizer company. In 2002 Laci announced that she was pregnant with a baby and the date for a baby Conner would be in February 2003. At this time friends and family described them, as they always do, “It was the perfect marriage.”

In November 2002 Scott met a massage therapist named Amber Frey. He told her that he was single. Later he told her that ‘he lost his wife’, and about a month later, on December 24, 2002, with Laci being eight months pregnant, she disappeared.

The day before, the last time anyone spoke to Laci, Laci and Scott went to Laci’s half-sister’s work. Scott made sure that everybody knew he was going golfing. However, the next day he went fishing in San Francisco Bay on his new 14-foot aluminum boat about his family didn’t know he owned, 90 miles away from his home on Christmas Eve, when he was supposed to be having a big family dinner. He would later tell the police that the last time he saw Laci was at 9:30 a.m. that morning as he was heading out the door to go fishing, she would tell that ‘She was watching some cooking show, Martha Stewart, and she was just gonna mop about the house for today, do some grocery shopping, walk the dog’. She was last seen allegedly in the local park at about 10:00 a.m. walking her dog. Ten witnesses claimed they saw her, but it was dismissed. At 10:30 a.m. a neighbor found the Peterson dog alone, muddy, with the leash attached. The neighbor returned the dog back to the Peterson yard, not really thinking too much about it. Scott tried to call Laci a few times, but got no answer, because she disappeared. When he got home, he found her car in the driveway, her purse still in the house. Nothing really seemed out of the ordinary, other than the fact that his eight-months pregnant wife who should’ve been around the house all day was not there. He tried to call her once and couldn’t get through to her. He didn’t seem to get any fish. He had a tall cool crisp glass of milk, couple of slices of pizza and then had a shower to wash the smell of the San Francisco Bay. He washed his clothes as well. He then started calling friends, family members and neighbors asking about Laci and just before 6 p.m. that evening, she was reported missing to the police.

Dispatch: “How can I help you?”

Laci’s stepfather: “Yes, um… My son-in-law called. He went playing golf this morning at about 9.30. My daughter has been missing since this morning. She’s eight months pregnant. She took her dog for a walk in the park. Her dog came home with just the leash on it.”

Dispatch: “Her dog came back without your daughter?”

Laci’s stepfather: “Right.”

Dispatch: “What is your name?”

Laci’s stepfather: “My name is Ron. I’m her stepdad. Her husband’s Scott Peterson. He’s on his way over to the park to try and…”

Dispatch: “What’s your stepdaughter’s name?”

Laci’s stepfather: “Scott Peterson…”

Dispatch: “No, no, your stepdaughter.”

Laci’s stepfather: “Laci Peterson.”

The police began to immediately question Scott Peterson. According to them he was cool, calm and collected during the questioning. Not exactly too worried. He also initially told the police that he had been golfing that day, before changing his story and saying he had been fishing. However, when the police asked what kind of fish were you fishing for, he couldn’t answer. Family members said that they went fishing where he went fishing in the San Francisco Bay all the time, at the Berkeley marina and he left pretty late, he didn’t leave the house at 9:30 a.m. They also found in the house a phone book, opened to a full-page ad of a defense lawyer.

There was no sign of a burglary, no sign of forced entry. Laci Peterson was just gone.

A massive search was carried out for missing Laci. Helicopters, searchlights, heat sensors were employed. Nearly everyone they knew and nine hundred people helped in the search. In the first couple of days a $25-thousand reward was offered for information leading to her safe return on Christmas Day and as the weeks and months went by this would end up being increased to half a million dollars.

The police were very interested in Scott Peterson, suspecting him of doing something nefarious. He had a number of inconsistencies in his story, but even though the police were pretty suspicious, they never announced this to the public. They always kept that hidden. Everybody else believed him. Modesto police wanted the public to know that they were tracking down 175 high-risk parolees and sex offenders who lived nearby, not Scott who lived next door. During this time the police also placed a tracker on Scott’s car. While they were searching for Laci, they would get a photographs of her so everybody knew what she looked like and Scott would always inspect the photographs that were gonna be publicly available to make sure he wasn’t in the pictures. He didn’t want anybody to know what he looked like or really know anything about him. He was always saying: “We got to make sure this is about Lacey, not about me.”

Around that time, with Scott being person of interest, Amber Frey, the person Scott had an affair with, contacted the police. Her friend saw Scott on TV. She told the police about their affair and that Scott had told her that he was a widower, 14 days before Laci disappeared, and the upcoming Christmas would be the first he had without his wife. She then agreed with the police to record calls between her and Scott. They hoped he might admit something. During one of those recordings he told Amber he spent New Year’s Eve in Paris, near the Eiffel Tower, when in fact he was out of vigil for Laci. No one is ever asked to go to the police in case of a missing person. He was asked.

He would call her telling her he was bopping around Paris and Europe, all the while never leaving his home. He did this by giving her a fake European phone number, not just rerouted to his cell phone. This then exploded when Amber Frey went public about their affair.

On January 11th 2003, Laci has been missing for 18 days now. Scott’s mother called him to tell him the police were searching the marina, but hadn’t found anything.

While the search for Laci continued Laci’s family took a step back from Scott. Scott went on TV a few times to clear his name.

Reporter: “Why are you sitting down with reporters now? Why did it and it’s been weeks your family has gone in front of the camera, Laci’s friends have gone in front of cameras, Laci’s family but you haven’t. Why now?”

Scott Peterson: “I know my silence previously was intended to keep the media involved in this case. It’s a rationale that we developed after perhaps the third day that she was missing. We know from experience of others from, unfortunate, thousands of people that are missing, that, it’s up to a family to keep the media and that’s our biggest tools of media. At this point unfortunately it has reached a point where suspicion of me is keeping people from searching for Laci. It’s lost that they’re focusing on me. We need to ask people what was last time they really thought about Laci missing as opposed to when they thought about the suspicions that swirl around me currently.”

Reporter: “So you felt that Laci was getting lost in you now?”

Scott Peterson: “She’s definitely got lost in this, yes. You know, the volunteers to date have been amazing, so many people nationwide even, and we need to continue that.

Reporter: “So it was a strategy at first to keep silent?”

Scott Peterson: “Certainly, certainly. If people want to see what they haven’t seen. So the idea was to keep the media coming back with that, but it’s reached a level now where they’re not searching for Laci, instead they’re you know following me and that seems to be the story. But it’s not the story. That’s what this is not about. This is about a missing sister, daughter, wife and child.

Reporter: “How difficult has It been for you, Scott?

Scott Peterson: “It’s been incredibly brutal. It’s been… A lot of the questions I get are ‘how do you stay focused and keep working’ and that’s real simple. Because she’s out there somewhere, she should be and we need to bring home to our families. It’s so easy to focus on that. That is the only goal that we have.

Reporter: “Scott, Laci’s family has come out in the last couple of weeks and they’ve stated that they no longer trust you, in part because they say you lied to them about the affair. Why did you wait so long? Why did you keep that from them for so long? And why did you lie to them? That must have been a difficult thing.

Scott Peterson: “Yeah. It’s um… is an unfair relationship to everyone, as I’ve said. I didn’t inform Laci about it. I informed Amber about it, after Laci’s disappearance, because she did not know that I was married. Laci’s family and friends are amazing, wonderful people and we’re all working together to, you know, to bring her home.”

Reporter: “Your wife’s been missing now for a month now, your unborn child Conner and there’s a possibility that they may never come back at this point, I know it’s…”

Scott Peterson: “That’s not acceptable possibility to us.

Reporter: “So many people in the public have, but kind of suspicious, and a part of it’s probably because you haven’t spoken out. Now that’s why you’re coming out, but can you understand why folks my visas…”

Scott Peterson: “You listen to statistics on, you know, who’s involved in something like this. They’re pretty dramatic. Obviously, you know, the silence, you know, didn’t help.”

Reporter: “Scott, police have said repeatedly over the past weeks that they have not ruled you out as a suspect. Have they told you why they haven’t ruled you out as a suspect?

Scott Peterson: “Oh, my indications are that, you know, you can’t rule someone out as a suspect until there’s some resolution to the case.”

Reporter: “Do you have any idea what happened, what do you think happened to your wife, it’s been over a month?”

Scott Peterson: “Yeah, um… We said we know the two things we know. I saw her here 9:30, that the dog came home at 10:30 with leash on and a speculation beyond that, even though, yes. I have theories. Would I think hinder or focus an investigation or maybe with focus people’s thoughts to narrowly. So we should talk hope, so we can gather all the information that we can.

Reporter: “What do you say to Laci, Scott, she can if she can hear this?”

Scott Peterson: “Yeah. *Inaudible* back home (crying). She does have a… how much she’s missed. Be strong and we’re working to get you home.”

Reporter: “Are you in any way connected to Laci’s disappearance?”

Scott Peterson: “I have nothing to do with Laci’s disappearance. And again, even if people out there questioned that. If they would just look at their hearts and make the effort to bring her home to her family, I don’t care what you think of me.”

He didn’t tell the police about an affair. His interview, like every interview or interrogation in the US, was recorded. His parents said in the interview with Barbara Walters that people cheat and that he cheated because of sex.

Reporter: “Did you ever hit her? Did you ever injure her?”

Scott Peterson: “No, no, my God, no. Violence towards women is unapproachable. It is the most disgusting act to me. But I know that the suspicion has turned to me and it’s turned to me one, because I’m her husband and that’s a natural thing. And I would answer your question, because of suspicion that it’s been turned to me and it turned to me because of the inappropriate, romantic that I had with Amber Frey.

Three and a half months after Laci disappeared, on April 13, 2003, a couple walking along the San Francisco shoreline found a male fetus. The umbilical cord was still attached and torn a loop of nylon tape was found around his neck and the fetus had been cut. The next day Laci’s body was found washed up on the rocky shoreline of the San Francisco Bay, one mile from where the baby was found the previous day. The body was decomposed, almost unrecognizable. The head, arms, most of the legs and all internal organs were missing, except for the uterus. It’s believed that happened after she entered the water. The cause of death was undeterminable and it was concluded that the fetus was expelled from Laci’s body. Scott Peterson was arrested on April 18^th, four days after Laci was found. The police were feeling pretty urgent, because they knew he was in San Diego at the time and feared he might do a runner south of the border. He was taken in while at a golf course where he said he planned to meet his dad and brother. Scott’s hair was dyed blond, he had grown a goatee and his car was loaded with many things. Scott said the reason his car was loaded with so many reason was that he was living in his car, because of all the media attention and he just needed to get away. But then they found in the car camping equipment, survival gear, clothes, fifteen thousand dollars in cash and Viagra pills. They took all of this as a sign that he was gonna go somewhere and not return, down Mexico way.

On April 21^st Scott Peterson was charged with two felony counts of murder. He pled not guilty. His trial began on June 1^st 2004. The judge actually moved the venue of the trial to a neighboring city as they felt the mood in Modesto wasn’t quite impartial. The defense maintained that someone else had kidnapped Laci and murdered her. The house across the street from the Petersons was being burgled the same morning and police didn’t investigate that in connection with Laci’s disappearance. That burglary is why the Innocence Project took the case.

The evidence against Scott was that they found a single hair of Laci’s on a pair of pliers in Scotts boat. He also added two porno stations to his TV after Laci went missing which Laci wouldn’t allow, so it was circumstantial evidence that he knew she wasn’t coming back. Combining that with the fact he was planning on selling his house and had traded in Laci’s car, therefore responsible for her death. He definitely knew she wasn’t coming back. At the trial the Peterson housekeeper told the court she had cleaned the home on the 23^rd of December, using water and a pine oil based cleaner. However, investigators found indications that different cleaning chemicals had been used on the floor, suggesting someone cleaned the floor after the housekeeper. The motive they argued was his affair. His financial difficulties, his desire to not be a father and be single again. The trouble started in November 2002, prosecutors said, when Scott met Amber at a bar, slept with her the first night and then started scheming to get out from under the burdens of unskilled job and dull marriage. His sudden interest in saltwater fishing when his wife and baby were found near the place he was fishing was incredibly suspicious. They also found he had been researching tides and currents in the bay. He had also taken at least five concrete anchors. Then on December 23^rd or the morning of the 24^th he strangled Laci, loaded her body into his truck, into his boat. He attached an anchor and dumped her overboard. Sniffer dogs had previously, days after she disappeared, caught a trail at the Berkeley marina where Scott fished the day Laci disappeared. The trail ended at the water. It was about a mile from where Laci’s body would eventually wash up.

On November 12, 2004, 31-year-old, Scott Peterson was convicted of first degree murder for Laci Peterson and second degree murder for his unborn son.

In 2006, Congressman William E. Dannemeyer of California wrote to the Attorney General saying he believed Satanists were behind Laci Peterson’s death.

The state’s Attorney General replied that there was overwhelming evidence that Scott murder.

“For Scott Peterson the only thing that matters is himself, other people are dispensable,” Keith Ablow MD.