Transcript of True Crime Vault: One Last Chance: The Trial of Scott Peterson New

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Welcome back to the 2020 True Crime Vault.

Am I alone here?

Should I be afraid? I think I died here.

East Bay Park authorities discovered two bodies. The unidentified female is Lacey Peterson. Peterson. Scott, do you have anything to say? Scott, is there anything you want to say? Scott, you got a second? Yeah. Hey, Scott, it's either Someone actively framed Scott Peterson after kidnapping his 8-month pregnant wife, or he did it.

That's it.

But now, after 18 years, his sister-in-law doesn't just think he's innocent. She says she can prove it.

We made the decision to record some phone calls with Scott. That's something that you want to say. There really was nothing we shied away from talking about in those conversations.

Just how frustrated I've been with people People say that I was the last one to see Laci that day.

Scott told me he was not married. We did have a romantic relationship.

As soon as Amber Frye showed up, people were like, he's guilty. He is guilty. He's guilty!

Scott Peterson has been found guilty of first-degree murder. It's over.

It's over.

Scott Peterson is where he deserves to be. You can't just pick Scott as the default. Because you don't know what else it could have been.

It's Scott Peterson's voice, and he tells his story.

State of California versus Scott Peterson. We, the jury, in the above entitled cause, find the defendant Scott Lee Peterson guilty of the crime of murder of Laci Denise Peterson. You want to talk about the verdict first?

Well, it was crazy. There was just like this amazing, horrible physical reaction that I had. Everything just went kind of silent, or I couldn't hear anything. I couldn't feel anything. I couldn't feel my feet on the floor. I couldn't feel the chair I was sitting in. My vision was even a little blurry. And I just had this weird sensation that I was falling forward. And forward and down, and there was gonna be no end to this falling forward and down, like there was no floor to land on.

This office is where we keep everything related to Scott's case. We keep the trial transcripts. We keep the case discovery here. This board represents the details of the day. My name is Janie Peterson, and I am Scott and Laci Peterson's sister-in-law. We're constantly evaluating the information we have from different perspectives. It's been 18 years, and there should be answers to questions. I think if people step back and look at the evidence in this case, they're going to see this crime isn't solved.

1-855-HELP-ME.

How can I help you?

Yes, well, my daughter's been missing since this morning. She came up pregnant. She took her dog for a walk in the park. The dog came home with 2 police shots.

What is your name?

My name is Ron Peterson. Her husband, Scott Peterson, is on the wing of the park. What's your stepfather's name? Mike Peterson.

The story of Laci Peterson's disappearance made news soon after she disappeared, right? Because it's Christmas Eve, 2002. It became national news pretty quickly.

A California man is anxiously waiting to hear word on the mysterious Christmas Eve disappearance of his pregnant wife. Laci Denise Peterson is 8 months pregnant. She's considered a high-risk missing person under suspicious circumstances.

I love my daughter so much.

I miss her every minute of every day. I started reporting on it right away when she was a missing person the day after Christmas. Oh, I think that what caught everybody's imagination was Laci Peterson and her picture. People saw this photo of this missing woman with the big smile and the brunette hair, 8 and a half months pregnant. Laci was last seen by her husband Scott when she was walking her dog possibly in the area of East Loma Park, Dry Creek. He saw her at 9:30 in the morning before he went fishing. And shortly thereafter, she went on her walk. No one has seen her since.

The community mobilized immediately. As soon as Laci disappeared, people were helping to search for her.

When I got there, I was pretty shocked. They already had people making flyers. I mean, they were going door to door. They were in the park.

Laci went missing Christmas Eve. She's 27 years old, and she is over 8 months pregnant.

Scott Peterson was this good-looking, kind, young, husband who's about to have a baby, and that's a guy a lot of people can relate to.

And she is carrying their first child. She's just weeks out from birth. I mean, at this point, the baby Connor is viable. Had she given birth within days of her disappearance, he would have lived. Scott and Laci Peterson, I mean, it's right out of a romance novel. They were both at school together, and they met, and she fell head over heels in love, and that was it. They were college sweethearts. Lacy was very headstrong. She was born in May. She was a Taurus, and she fit the description to a T. Once she made up her mind, she was going to do it, and that's all there was to it. There was no changing her mind. Describe your son for me. Describe Scott Peterson.

Gosh, where should I start? He was very affectionate, just a really kind, sweet little guy.

Never in trouble of any kind.

He was too good to believe, almost.

She saw him at the little cafe that he worked at in Morro Bay. And before she left that evening, she had written her phone number down on a piece of paper and given it to the other server to give to Scott. And when he gave it to Scott, Scott just looked at it and threw it in the garbage because he thought it was kind of a joke until she came back. As I said, she wasn't intimidated about anything. How did you know you were in love?

Driving along the highway, I remember vividly, and for no reason, I was just smiling. I had the biggest smile, and she asked me, "What?" What the heck are you smiling about? And the only thing was that she was there.

When I met him, I was impressed. He was very likable. He was a gentleman. He was just— he was a very nice person. They were just starting out. They had been married not very long. They had bought the house a couple of years earlier. Lacey was a homemaker. I mean, she loved to cook, and her home was— she was fastidious.

You see the photos of them, all smiles. Lacey, by all accounts, was just a bundle of energy and was always concerned about helping other people. He was a fertilizer salesman. He had a decent job. He's in the cigar club. He's in the wine club. He belongs to the country club. He wants to be that rich guy with a trophy wife.

He was still in his 20s. He was about to turn 30. How did Scott feel about the fact that he was going to be a father? Very excited. Happy. Called us at 7:00 AM in the morning when she took the test. And I said, how do you know? And she said, I took the test. I said, those aren't always accurate, you know. And she said, yes, it is. Yes, it is. Because they had been— they tried for 3 years to have a child. They did?

Yes.

I remember the last time I saw Laci, she and I were sitting side by side, and Scott was sitting on the floor. And we were watching TV, and she said the baby was kicking. So I put my hand on her stomach because I'd never felt him kick. She leaned over to me and she said, Mom, she said, Scott doesn't like to do this. She said, I asked him to, you know, feel my stomach when the baby kicks, and he never wants to touch my stomach. That really, really bothered me. And that was the last time I saw her. It seems that when she got pregnant with Connor, Connor, things started going sideways. It, it breaks my heart because she was trying so hard to have this perfect home for baby Connor to come into, and she had no idea it was a house built on sand that was sinking quickly. No idea.

Yeah. Law enforcement zoned in on Scott immediately. May have been to the detriment of opportunities missed.

Our family has known since the beginning that Scott is innocent.

There was a burglary across the street from the Petersons' house, directly across the street.

So you have someone who goes missing in this window of time, and you have a felony occurring in this window of time. And to think that they're not related is a difficult thing to ignore.

We began an immediate search of the park. And he's like, well, have you tried cadavers? Cadaver dog. I mean, it threw me. I'm like, cadaver dogs? Scott, I hadn't considered her dead yet. In horror movies, the settings are usually quite ordinary, and this is what scares people in the darkest part of their mind. Things that look ordinary and safe may not be. Kathy Peterson was last seen walking her dog about 10:30 on Christmas Eve morning. After that, she simply disappeared. We started an investigation on the 24th about 5:47 PM. That's when I heard about it. I didn't know nothing about it until I was having my Christmas Eve dinner when I got the call. And then I drove down. The first person you focus at in a homicide investigation is the person closest to the victim and the last person to see the victim. And of course, boom, boom, we got both of those with Scott. He claims that he woke up in the morning and he and Lacey had breakfast together. They watched the Martha Stewart Show on television. They were together. She ate cereal.

She got dressed. She curled her hair. She put her shoes on.

He thought maybe he was going to play golf, but because it was rainy and cold, he decided not to play golf, but to go fishing.

She leashed up her dog. She walked out her gate, and she went on a walk. Remember, this is December 24th. Christmas is the next day. They're going to all have a family dinner that night.

Scott finished fishing that day at some point in the afternoon and made a phone call to Laci. Hey, beautiful. I won't be able to get to the Villa Farms to get that basket for Papa. I was hoping you would get this message and go on out there. I'll see you in a bit, sweetie. Love you. Bye. I mean, Scott's telling me when I interview him, I went fishing. I tried to call my wife 3 times. I called her cell phone. I called her house. And I'm driving home from Berkeley, and she ain't answering. So I'm thinking something's up. Then I get home. Her car is in the driveway. So I entered through the back gate. McKenzie came running up to me. He did have his leash on, which— Isn't that weird? I could tell that she wasn't at home because it was quiet in the house, but I just assumed that she had gone over to help her mom with the preparations.

He assumed that her mom had come to pick her up. They had plans for dinner that night with her mother Sharon and her stepdad Ron. And so when Scott arrived home, he was not alarmed.

So what does he do? Well, he goes over to the washing machine. He takes all the clothes out. He takes all his clothes off and washes them. Then he gets some pizza out. He drinks some milk and eats some pizza. I was actually in such a rush that I had a piece of pizza while I was in the shower. Once out of that, I went in the bedroom and got dressed in some nicer clothes. Back in the kitchen, then I noticed that there was a message.

It was a message from Laci's stepdad, Ron. Scott asked if Laci was there. I learned Laci was missing when Scott called that evening and asked if she was at our house. And of course I said, "No, she's not here." And immediately he came back with saying that she was missing. And I remember feeling that just a little agitated about that word, the word that he used. Lacey was missing. I was like, how can you be missing? She's not missing. Then I asked if he'd called her friends. Called me back again, and nobody had seen her. That basically became the moment when Scott realized Lacey wasn't where he thought she was.

As soon as I told Sharon that she planned on going for a walk, Sharon said, go to the park. I'm going to meet you there at the tennis courts.

I remember running around in the park and yelling her name, and there's nothing worse than lifting up a trash can looking for your child to see if her body is in a trash can, but I remember doing that. When it's happening to somebody else, you think, "That's a horrible thing to happen to those people," and you think that you can imagine how they feel.

You don't.

You have no idea what it's like. I mean, everything, every— from that minute on, your life is completely completely changed. She didn't turn up at the park where she would have walked the dog. She was not in the neighborhood. Her body was nowhere. She was nowhere.

There was no evidence of a struggle. The exterior of the house was secure. No evidence of tampering or forced entry. We didn't find any fingerprints that were present in the house that didn't belong there. There was nothing that was missing from the house. TV was still there. All the normal things that burglars will take quickly so that they can get out of there.

So what scenario does that leave? An unknown assailant grabs her in a park where there are other people and spirits her away? Typically, that is not how an unknown assailant murder occurs. The murder goes down, the body's left on the scene, and bam, the killer's gone. Okay, so of course the police start looking at him.

Well, I suspected Scott when I first met him. Didn't mean he did it, but I was a little bit thrown off by his calm, cool demeanor. On Christmas Eve, he was cooperative. In my mind, I'm not even thinking he did it yet, but I am documenting all this stuff. When we get to his shop to look at his boat, Scott tells me, I have no power in the shop. Meaning there's no lights. This shop is in a strip mall, and it's, it's the middle of the night. There ain't nobody there. It's just us. And so I'm not even thinking that's suspicious. I just, okay, there's no power. Do you mind opening the door? I'll put my headlights in. I want to look at the boat. So I put my headlights in, and I take 4 or 5 pictures, you know, of the boat. And then later I called MID, and I, and I talked to the supervisor to find out when the power was out for that area. He said the power was never out for that area.

So he was questioned for over 7 hours the first night that Lacey went missing, continued to talk to police.

So you just— when you got in your boat and took off, did you go very far? Well, I mean, probably a couple miles. Found a, like, a little island kind of deal there. A big sign that said no landing.

To dump his wife's body in broad daylight, it just defies logic. Whoever has her, please, please, please let her go.

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OIBOS Anti-Age, dein neues Duo gegen Pigmentflecken und Hautalterung. OIBOS, individual skincare. When did you realize you were going to go fishing? Oh, that was a morning decision. That was a morning decision? So play golf at the club or go fishing. Okay. Seemed too cold to go play golf at the club, so, um, yeah, just decided to, you know, find their anchor. I've done a lot of missing person cases, and I don't recall ever asking the husband or the wife to come down to the station and sit through a video interview. So today she told you what she was going to do for the day? Yeah. And what was that? Take the dog for a walk, and then she's going to the store to buy for Christmas morning breakfast tomorrow. She's gonna make gingerbread cookies for tonight. He was calm. His demeanor wasn't urgent. He didn't have that sense of urgency that you would expect, that you saw from other people. You guys, you guys have any problems? Marriage problems?

Everything's good.

You've been married 4 years?

Yeah.

He just doesn't seem like the guy whose wife is missing. In the initial hours where Normally you would think the husband would be like, stop talking to me and get out there and find my wife. You know, I didn't do it. Leave me alone. But he just didn't. He hadn't— something about him and the way he was answering questions, his demeanor was suspicious. Okay, did you drive straight there? I did. Get your boat in. How long do you think you stayed in the water? Uh, felt like an hour and a half or so. Did you have a map for that area, or no?

Would you just wing I remember asking him about the boat. I asked him, when did you buy the boat? His answer to that question was, it was a surprise for Rod. He didn't tell me when he bought it. It was a surprise for Rod, which made no sense at all, of course. Those are the kind of answers I would get to questions I ask. Never a straight answer.

We began an immediate search The park and river areas, waterways, vacant lots, vacant buildings, abandoned cars, abandoned barns. I want to make sure that everything's been checked. Tip line telephone number is 342-61.

The Modesto police had issued a press release that Laci was missing. And in that press release, they publicized what Scott's alibi was. They said that he was fishing in the San Francisco Bay Area. I was absolutely stunned that they had released Scott's alibi. And I remember thinking, you know, we don't know who has her. We don't know what their intent is. And if their intent is to harm her, they're going to go put her body in the bag. Whoever has her, please, please, please let her go.

Bring her back to us. We love her so much. We want her back. Please, let us have her back. The room is packed, and we got the chief up there talking about her and the fact that Scott went fishing. And man, the hands started to come up.

Where?

He went fishing? Where'd he go fishing at? And he got up and walked out. Scott did. And so we obtained a search warrant for his house. And we went in, and he was reading the newspaper at the dining room table. So we give him this form, and it says, I give consent for us to search all that stuff. And all he has to do is sign it, and we could search. And he picks it up, he reads it, and he's like, You don't expect me to sign this without a lawyer, do you? Well, we weren't sure, but we have a search warrant. And he's like, he looks at right at me, he's like, "Al, where's the trust?" I mean, that's what he says to me. Where's the trust? Scott Peterson wanted to give off the impression that he was being completely forthcoming and helpful to the police, but there were lines that he drew. Scott was always in the background.

He was adamant that his photo not be put on posters, that pictures of him not be taken. He didn't want their picture up at all. Everything of her and him had to come down off the wall. It only could be pictures of her. And he— but the way he took it down, he goes, "Oh, I'm gonna keep this." We had this wall in there when you first walk in. There was this wall, and we had pictures of her everywhere. And he would make sure every picture of him was down off the wall. Daily. Daily. We would put more up, they would come down. Let me go to you, Jackie Peterson. Where is Scott tonight? I would imagine he would be out begging the viewers to help in the search for his wife. He is, and he has. And he is with friends this evening that have been Searching all day.

There is a lot of questions on why I have not been in the media. Media will put, I believe, the emotional stuff out there for a couple days, and then the story would get dropped for something else. It was our thoughts that if I was to hold back from the media, the media would continue to come because, frankly, cameras, reporters, they want something. Something they, they can't get right away. So this was our way of keeping the media coming back for us. He's as smooth as they get. He's cool. He doesn't seem to get rattled. He seems authentic.

So many people say, Christmas Eve, you have a very pregnant wife and you decide to go fishing?

My day was open to either play golf or go fishing. I chose fishing that day, which is, you know, choice I made, and I obviously regret now. You know, I could just decide to stay home. This would not have happened. He was nervous. He was under the spotlight. He was being questioned, and he hid a terrible secret. The Bay search has started. I believe it was the end of December or thereabouts. They were also doing searches in the freshwater reservoirs up in the Sierras. But when it came to the bay searches, that was pretty widely publicized because Scott had maintained that, you know, his alibi was he went fishing, you know, at the Berkeley Marina launching his boat. He said he went to the bay. He had proof he went to the bay. We believe she was in the bay, so we're searching the bay.

So to believe that, that Scott's guilty, you You have to believe that someone bought a brand-new boat that they'd never had in the water before and then took this boat to the busiest marina on the San Francisco Bay, you know, to dump his wife's body in broad daylight. It just defies logic.

I'm a very cynical person when it comes to spousal mystery. I always blame the husband, and I am almost always right. I start with the presumption assumption that the husband did it. But there were alternative theories.

One is she was kidnapped by a satanic cult. Another one was a burglary that was across the street from the Peterson home. You had a neighbor, Diane Jackson, who saw 3 men in a van in front of the Medina home on December 24th at about 11:40 in the morning. I was coming down Covina towards the park, going past Lacey on one side and Medina's on the other, and I just looked over and there were 3 guys on Medina's property and a van out front. And it— the only reason it caught my eye is that they turned around, looked at me, sort of made me think, feel a little bit uncomfortable.

When this information came out, immediately there was a sense that, okay, maybe Laci, who was walking the dog, came across this burglary, and that's what happened to her. This was a viable explanation. Maybe she confronted the burglars, something happened, and they kidnapped her. We caught the guys that went in there and broke into that house and interviewed them, and they talked about the abduction. They said, we don't want— our hands are clean on that.

Also, there are people who say they saw her walking her dog at a time after Scott Peterson left to go fishing. And if so, then obviously she wasn't dead in the back of his truck when he left.

We had a tip line up 24/7. As far as the tips are concerned, some of the people who actually saw Lacey that they should have talked to, they never did talk to.

So these are the people who were calling in, responding to the police. People are seeing Lacey walk the dog after he left.

Modesto Police Department or investigators, they never came to ask me anything. On the day after Christmas, when I— after I talked to the motorcycle policeman and gave him my statement that I had seen the dog in the park, nothing was followed up after that. They just figured people who knew better than I and knew more about the case had pretty much made a decision that what I had to say wasn't all that relevant. If anyone saw her after 10 o'clock, walk, then that lets Scott out, and that would be horribly inconvenient. Then the Modesto Police Department would have to admit, we have no idea who killed this beautiful pregnant woman. We actually found the pregnant lady with a golden retriever that walked her dog on that day, and the conclusion was that was not Lacey and McKenzie. It appears that the description was somewhat different, and we're not sure it was her.

And yet at the same time, they're having press conferences and they're saying, "We cannot confirm she was walking the dog." So they're creating a public perception that Laci didn't walk her dog, which leaves them free to say that Scott was the last person to see his wife alive. I mean, sure, the police needed to look at other possibilities, but they needed to stay on Scott. They needed to do what they did.

I spent a great deal of time with the police and then forthcoming with the police in every instance.

Is it possible they think you know where she is?

I think a lot of people believe that.

Are you afraid police will arrest you?

No. I know there is no basis. I had nothing to do with her disappearance. So there's no possible evidence or anything like that.

There's absolutely no physical evidence at all that Scott committed this crime.

We pretty much dealt with all of the satanic cults, the dog walkers. The only thing we couldn't eliminate was Scott.

I'm Lacey's mother-in-law and Scott's mother. And I want to thank all of you for the love and outpouring.

So now there's a big memorial for Lacey in Modesto, the Candlelight Memorial.

I thank everybody for coming out here tonight. Lacey would be so happy to see she has so many friends and supporters. And just keep looking for Lacey. Please don't give up. There were a lot of people who came to that vigil in the park. Lord, tonight we lift Laci Peterson to you, Father. I do remember I didn't see Scott the entire evening. He was there apparently, but I didn't see him. The only thing I saw were the pictures in the media from him that night. Never saw him.

They asked about the candlelight vigil that we held in the park. And they asked, why weren't you on that stage with the family? And frankly, because this isn't about us. To be out in front of the camera. It's about us to work towards bringing home the one person who's hurting the most, the piece of our family that's missing right now.

We are kindling a fire in this cold world full of hatred and selfishness. Our little blaze may seem to be unveiling. There's a vigil going on for Lacey, a candlelight vigil. And I said, well, where's the husband? Well, I'll tell you where he was. He was off in the corner talking on the phone to his mistress, Amber Frye. And she recorded it.

Amber, can you hear me? Are you there?

Yes. Are you having a good time?

I'm by near the Eiffel Tower.

Earlier this week, the Modesto Police Department was made aware of an article that was to appear in the National Enquirer revealing new information regarding Lacey's case.

Out of respect for the family, the police department felt they should provide the information to them directly.

So they wouldn't have to read it in the media. At that time, the family members were shown very recent pictures of Scott and a girlfriend. Okay, first of all, I met Scott Peterson November 20th, 2002. Scott told me he was not married. We did have a romantic relationship. I am very sorry for Laci's family. And the car— the pain that this has caused them. And I pray for her safe return as well.

Amber Frye had contacted Modesto Police Department on Monday, December 30th, 2002. She met with detectives and gave information about the relationship with Scott Peterson. And Amber Frye has been eliminated as a suspect in Laci Peterson's disappearance.

Amber Frey was a single mother who was fixed up with Scott Peterson through a friend. She was his girlfriend, and she thought she had met the man of her dreams. I was just starting my career in massage therapy. You know, my daughter was very young, very small, and a single mother. He was good-looking. He was nice. He was funny and attentive to me. I feel like we had a connection, that conversation was easy. He was courting her. They had a whirlwind romance in the few weeks they knew each other.

On the very first night, Scott meets her at the hotel, and basically, he's smooth, but he gets her to go upstairs with him just for— he can take a quick shower and change, and then they can go to dinner. Well, while upstairs is, you know, I don't know, 4 or 5 dozen roses and some chocolate strawberries and some champagne. That was the start of the relationship.

You know, when you look forward to hearing from somebody and seeing them again, and that, you know, that excitement's there, and you could, you know, it, you know, all felt very good.

She really thought she had Mr. Right.

I really liked him and felt really good about where things were and our conversations and time spent together. Unfortunately, Scott had an infidelity problem, and he traveled in conjunction with his work, and that created opportunity for him. And his own words are that he was weak. I remembered asking him if he had ever been married. He said, "No." But that wasn't true, of course. And as it turns out, Amber's friend who introduced her to Scott found out that he was married and confronted him and said, if you don't tell Amber, I will. So Scott did tell Amber. Scott knew Amber for 16 days when he got caught being married. He was very emotional and said that this would be the first holidays without her, and he was crying at the At that point, I took it as she died. Didn't know how, if, you know, an accident or cancer. I had no idea. I didn't pry to ask. He just said it was painful. And so I had asked if he was ready for a relationship, like, and he said yes.

She was obviously a girl who had been duped. She was a girl that thought she was going to meet a nice guy, and the nice guy turned out to be Scott Peterson, who was a married man with a missing wife, who, you know, took it to a whole nother level in terms of deceit. She didn't know about Scott and Laci missing until her friend told her, "Hey, that guy you brought to the Christmas party, he's on TV every day." And so I went to the other room and called the Modesto Police Department hotline that they had.

I was in shock. I mean, I literally was in shock.

I'm standing behind our clerk, and she's typing, and I'm watching, and it's, "Scott Peterson is my boyfriend. We've been dating exclusively. He said he wasn't married." And I'm like, "Bev, is that lady on the phone?" "Yeah." And so I talked to her, and it was Amber Frey.

I couldn't get any words out for a while. And I was like, "It is him.

Like, this is him." I'm like, I'm like, okay, don't go nowhere. I'm gonna come visit you right now.

Amber Frye started cooperating with police as soon as she learned that the man of her dreams was really a married man whose wife had disappeared, and he had been lying to her all along.

I buy her a tape recorder with some cassette tapes and a wire that can hook onto her phone, and I tell her, okay, if he ever calls Just push these two buttons and just talk normal. Phone rings and it's Scott Peterson. I'm like, that's him. Showtime, girl. Amber. Hey, happy New Year. Happy New Year. I want to call you. Thank you.

What they heard on December 31st, 2002 was a Scott Peterson who, while a candlelight vigil vigil is being held for his missing wife and he's attending it, is also on the phone with Amber Frye, being recorded unbeknownst to him, telling her that he's in Europe.

I'm near the Eiffel Tower. New Year's celebration is unreal. The crowd is huge. The crowd's huge?

He was right down the street where the vigil was taking place.

It was incredibly bizarre. You've got— this guy's wife is missing. The entire country is looking for her, and he's not only keeping his girlfriend at bay, he's entertaining her with these outlandish lies. Think about this. If his wife comes back and everyone in the world knows that Scott was cheating with Amber Frey, he's tearing his family apart. It's like the end of his family. The last thing that he wants, innocent or guilty, is for Amber Frye to get involved. And he would have told her anything. He would have said he was in Borneo on an expedition if it kept her away. I kind of remember the area here, but not really that well. But I'll jog down to the main square, which is kind of neat. And then, I don't know, the church in the background.

Yeah, I don't even really Please, you know, no. You know, I mean, I've been like 10 times. I've really seen Paris.

I'm in Brussels now.

Oh yeah, that's right. Amber Frye was critical to the case because she provides a motive for why now. Why is he killing his wife now?

It was almost like, aha, he killed Lacey to be with this woman. And instantly, as soon as Amber Frye Fry showed up, people are like, he's guilty, he is guilty. For me, I was the opposite. I thought, oh my gosh, this explains it. This is not a killer, he's a cheater. It wasn't just that he'd had an affair, it was that he was continuing to pretend as if his wife wasn't missing.

You were more worried about her than you were Lacey. How dare you.

To commit a crime like this, you have to have a screw loose at the very least. And those Amber Frye tapes made it seem like Scott Peterson has a screw loose. Scott, why don't you answer some questions? How come nobody saw you at the Berkeley Marina and nobody saw Laci walking the dog, huh? He now is enemy number one. Everybody hates Scott Peterson.

Did you murder your wife? My name is Janie Peterson. My brother-in-law Scott has been on death row California since 2005. So ever since that time, we've just consistently taken every step that we can take to prove he's innocent. Our family was very surprised and disappointed to find out that Scott had been unfaithful to DC.

Boom! All of a sudden, Amber Frye lays out her story to the world. Amber Frye is prepared to give a statement, and she will not accept any questions. Miss Amber Frye, the story gets elevated from a media perspective when Amber Frye comes out.

I literally was having a panic attack, and I was like, I can't breathe, I can't breathe. When I discovered he was involved in the disappearance— the Laci Peterson disappearance case— I immediately contacted the Modesto Police Department. It was just so scary because I'm putting myself out there. I am a single mother of a 23-month-old child, and I asked To respect my privacy.

Thank you. The press conference was short. She didn't answer any questions, but she was a sympathetic and credible person. That changed everything. Not only changed it for Lacey's family, but also it just ignited the media firestorm and took it to a whole nother level. She's asked to have her privacy respected. We are going to do We're not gonna comment about Amber, her private life. Amber wants to be able to go on with her life.

It was so hard. The media was— was labeling me as the mistress. And I was pretty much out there on my own for months.

Readers like a story to solicit an emotion from them— love, hate, anger, sadness. And unfortunately, this was one case that provided all of that. The Rochas turned on Scott. They closed the volunteer center down, and they said that Scott was not truthful, and they were urging him to come out and tell the truth about everything. I would like Scott to know that I trusted him and stood by him in the initial phases of my sister's disappearance. However, Scott has not been forthcoming with information regarding my sister's disappearance. And I'm only left to question what else he may be hiding. Does it make you think that indeed he may have had something to do with what happened to Laci?

I think it raises questions for all of us. Scott needs to come forward and answer the questions that are put to him.

Once Amber Frey came out, suddenly Scott Peterson had a lot of explaining to do.

How you doing personally?

How you holding up to all this? This is a lot. Obviously, so— Answer the question, Scott. Don't let him rattle you, Scott. Hey, Scott, do you have anything to say? Scott, is there anything Anything you want to say? you want to say today? It was a tsunami, a frenzy. He was the most hated man in America at that time.

He started receiving a lot of animosity from the public in general, from media. He was on the tabloids every week.

You have to understand, he was virtually run out of town. Scott, any— can I get a second? Yeah. Hey, Scott. He had media following him. Hounding him every day. He had shock jocks lined up in front of his house with bullhorns screaming murderer. How come nobody saw you at the Berkeley Marina and nobody saw Lacey walking the dog, huh? He was tired of the tabloids and the networks and everybody hounding him wherever he went. I'm sorry, this has been bad journalism. We apologize, Scott, for asking pointed questions about all the untruths you've told.

So when you heard that he was seeing another woman, what did you think? What do you think now?

Well, it was— it was surprising. It was disappointing. But, I mean, that's the reality of life. Men have affairs. Women have affairs.

When their wives are 8½ months pregnant?

Probably more so.

That's mostly when men do, we've learned. I had no idea.

Yeah.

What was it like to realize that your infidelity may have played a role in the search?

So I'll die with that knowledge that what I did compromised the search for her. It is my fault. So, uh, that's just— that's so much to what I feel.

He has to die knowing that everyone stopped looking for Lacey because he was having an affair.

The entire country thought that he was guilty and responsible for Lacey's disappearance. So the Peterson family urged him to get out there, do some interviews, and get people looking for Lacey again. I am going to speak to the press. This coming week, I'm debating on when it should be done because Tuesday is the State of the Union address and I want maximum coverage.

This morning, an exclusive interview with Scott Peterson breaking his silence in the case of his missing pregnant wife. I think everybody sitting at home wants the answer to the same question: did you murder your wife?

No, no, I did not. And I had absolutely nothing to do with her disappearance. And you use the word murder, um, and right now everyone's looking for a body. And that's the hardest thing because that is not a possible resolution for us. And I know that suspicion has turned to me because of the inappropriate romantic that I had with Amber Frye then.

Did your wife find out about it?

I told my wife. When? In early December.

A lot of arguing?

No, it would break us apart.

There wasn't a lot of anger? No. Do you really expect people to believe that an 8-and-a-half-month pregnant woman learns her husband has had an affair and is saintly and casual about it? Accommodating? Makes a peace with it?

Well, I'm— Yeah, I mean, you don't know. No one knows our relationship but us.

There's no way that Laci knew about it and would not have told us— not all of us, but one of us— and said, "Oh, my God. I need to leave Scott." Much less be okay with it. And be okay with it. I don't buy it. I don't buy that one at all. No, we make no excuse for Scott's behavior in that sense. We make no excuse for the things that he said to Amber, but unfortunately a lot of that is being used to convict him of murder. And really what all of that is is evidence of adultery. There was one report that a neighbor had seen you loading something into a vehicle?

I'll have to stop if you ask me more detailed questions about their investigation.

I knew he had killed her. I knew she was dead. I'll never know what happened. I know that. But I needed to have her back. That was so important to me. I just needed to have her back. And that was one of the things that was just so It's absolutely frustrating because you know somebody knows where she is, but he won't tell you. It's my first day of work and I need to make a big impression.

From executive producer Mindy Kaling.

This is our sexual harassment training. Hands off your coworkers. Now sign this saying that I trained you or you're fired. Yes, ma'am. Work relationships are too messy. Messy.

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In the second week of April, there was a big storm, big thunderstorm in San Francisco.

The Contra Costa County coroner has arrived at the scene and has now recovered the remains of the victim.

The police always believed that Scott Peterson had weighted down Laci's body with anchors that he made, but she broke free of the anchors because of the storm. On Monday, a badly decomposed adult torso was found in the marina in Richmond, California, not far from where Scott Peterson said he had been fishing at the time of Laci's disappearance. A mile away, another grisly discovery— the body of an unborn baby boy.

My understanding is they're making arrangements to have the autopsy performed this evening.

I knew that they were hoping to find Laci. Casey. You know, they felt that if we had her body, then they would be able to arrest him and move forward. And I was very concerned about that, that if, um, she never appeared, that maybe they wouldn't be able to arrest him. Maybe they wouldn't be able to prosecute him, not enough evidence. What can you tell us about what Modesto police have gathered so far from the body?

We're still trying to find We're trying to find out the identity of the body. And one of the key questions we're trying to answer right now is whether or not there's any relationship between the adult female and the baby male that was found from 2 days ago.

Just not knowing is just unbearable.

He says, I came out of the Berkeley Marina, went right to that Brooks Island. There was a sign there that said no landing. I mean, he told me he was there, and that's where the bodies come up. I believe it was premeditated. He planned it. When the bodies came up, what it did is it automatically injected a big sense of urgency in the case. I just thought, we got to find Scott right now. We knew he was in San Diego at the time, did have a tracker on his car down there. San Diego was pretty darn close to the Mexican border. Scott knew the area pretty well. I mean, that's where his parents lived. That's where he lived. So it wasn't like he was going to have to get on MapQuest and try and figure out a way to get to, you know, Tijuana.

So I was concerned that he was going to disappear before they had the opportunity to arrest him.

Scott is driving all over San Diego area, driving quickly. He was driving 80 miles an hour on the freeway, and he would slam his brakes on and pull over. I mean, it got to the point where we had a helicopter lost him. I mean, he was driving so erratically and evasively.

They were unmarked vehicles. No one was attempting to pull him over. He thought he was being followed by members of the media. He probably spent 3.5 to 4 hours driving around trying to shake them.

We need to We need to take him in custody, even though we don't yet have the DNA results. And that's when Scott was by the exit to Torrey Pines, and they turned on the red and blue lights and stopped him right there at the entrance.

When Scott realized it was law enforcement, he immediately pulled over and was arrested.

Earlier this week, East Bay Park authorities discovered two bodies. There is no question No question in our minds that the unidentified female is Laci Peterson. The unidentified fetus is the biological child of Laci and Scott Peterson.

I don't feel that I need to know what happened, exactly what happened. That is not going to make me feel better in any way. Knowing exactly what happened. But I did need her to come home.

This is a tragedy that is affecting many lives. Scott Peterson has been arrested. There are no other suspects in this case.

We ended up finding out on the news. We're not only finding out that he's arrested, we're also finding out that Laci and Connor were gone. So it was a— it was a tough, tough, shocking, shocking day.

I went out once the vehicle was there to do the inventory search on it, and it's just a whole bunch of stuff in the car. Guy had like, I don't know, $14,000, $15,000 cash. He had his brother's ID. He has camping supplies, some ropes, some knives, 15 pairs of shoes and hiking boots, a shovel and fishing poles. Scott Peterson couldn't have done anything to make himself seem more guilty than to to dye his hair, have some disguises, and a ton of cash anywhere near the Mexican border.

He is not disguising himself to evade law enforcement. He had a lot of things in his vehicle. He'd pretty much become nomadic. At the point of your arrest, your hair color had changed.

And what was your objective in coloring your hair? Oh, I wanted to be an individual. You know, I was fearful. There had been threats left on our answering machine at home. I'd had, you know, people spit on me. So, yeah, I changed my hair color, and I wasn't recognized, and it was a great relief.

Lacey and Connor were found on Sunday to Monday, and Scott was arrested on Friday. It was Good Friday, as a matter of fact, just before Easter.

He will be booked into the Stanislaus County Jail. When he arrives, he'll be charged with capital murder. Once we heard that Scott had been taken into custody, hundreds of people started to gather around the jail, and by the time he pulled up, it was an incredible scene. There were people yelling, "Murderer! Murderer!" as he pulled up. He's in the backseat of this unmarked car. Suddenly, a sleepy, sluggish little town like Modesto is transformed into a media circus.

We will seek justice for her and Connor and make sure that that person responsible for their deaths will be punished.

I think the fact that The fact that there has been this much media attention cuts both ways. Where are you going to go to find somebody that hasn't heard about this case? I would hope there's a fair trial wherever it's held. More people believe that the moon landing was faked than believe that Scott Peterson was innocent. That's what we were up against.

The trial began on June 1st, 2005. 2004 with opening statements. This was a big day.

There were reporters crawling all over each other. There were satellite trucks everywhere. This was a huge story. Hundreds of miles of cable strewn all over the place. We were going every day because people were watching. He wants him to fight.

He did this to his wife and child, and there's somebody out there still.

People forget that the preliminary hearing in this Case was televised, but the case itself, no cameras. There were hundreds of people there every day. In fact, they had to have a lottery for the public seats to see who could get in to watch the trial. They announced the numbers like a bingo game, and people were like, oh my gosh, I'm going in for the day. There were local radio stations that had taken out billboards around the court courthouse that had people vote man or monster. It reminded me of something out of the Jim Crow South, just because of the lynching mentality of it. Mark Garrigos, the high-profile attorney who's been a frequent guest on— Mark Garrigos is as about flamboyant a lawyer as you can imagine. The people who know him best believe totally unequivocally in this young man's innocence.

Mark Garrigos only owns the courtroom, right? He's got a lot of self-confidence and he's got a swagger.

And I think it's only a matter of time before we're able to turn America's head around.

And you have a lot of high-profile clients, so it was a big deal that, you know, this— a celebrity lawyer was now defending Scott Peterson.

I think everybody counseled me not to take the case because they said it was a no-win situation. The thinking because if you win the case, you're a pariah. If you lose the case, your career is over. Is that correct, Mr. Peterson? You're pleading not guilty to the two charges of murder plus the special— denying the special allegations? Absolutely. That's correct, Your Honor. I'm innocent. When you got to see Scott Peterson in person in court, there's no way that this guy was guilty of this heinous crime. Attractive, handsome, charming. Charming. It just did not jibe with the concept of the brutal nature of the double killing in this case. I looked at him, I said, my God, he's the same, about the same age as my oldest son. And so this poor kid, what he must be going through right now if he's innocent. Scott did not look like a killer. That was one of the things we talked to the jury about during jury selection because we had to overcome that, you know, what does a killer look like?

The strongest argument for the defense in my mind is that someone else, yet to be found, committed this crime.

The most likely thing that happened is that she was abducted, and she was abducted by someone other than my client, and that she was abducted while walking her dog. On the 20th May 4th, the neighbors across the street left their home to go to Los Angeles. Someone robbed their homes, and this was right across the street from the Peterson house. And maybe they were carrying a TV set into the van or something like that, and she says, hey, what are you doing there? I'm calling the police. And they panic and they grab her. Dog gets loose, runs away. They put her in a van And it's a stupid, panicky thing to do, but they do it. If I'm a defense attorney and I've got a burglary across the street within 24 hours of the time my client's wife goes missing in our home, I've got some ammo.

So the defense in this case was that Scott Peterson didn't do it, right? Basically, the wrong guy is on trial. He didn't do it.

It's all these little things that kind of added up to where you really had to sit back and think, okay, wait a second, something's not right here.

This is all about building doubt. So if there are enough doubts that are put out there, maybe a juror will think, okay, the prosecutor has not proved his case.

I believe very strongly in my heart that she was taken off the street that day by the people who were involved in the burglary in the house. I know I know from my own experiences with Scott and from the evidence in this case that that is a much more likely scenario than Scott having murdered his wife. When it came time for the defense case to start, everyone was expecting all this evidence to come forward, and very little of it did. There was too much reasonable doubt, especially in my mind. The burglary should have been looked at a lot stronger. Been the defense's number one thing. They should have really put a lot more evidence out on that. Mark Garagos never certainly proved in any way, shape, or form that there was an abduction. I thought one— I thought basically innocent for a long time, and then it started going, shifting the other way.

I expect that I will be asked to testify in this case, and I am prepared to do so.

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Today, Scott Peterson's family and Laci Peterson's family came and went with little to say publicly, slamming the prosecutor's opening argument as nothing new, no evidence.

We want the country to know our My son is innocent.

Defense has asked for a mistrial again, claiming prosecutors have been too slow to turn over evidence. One day at a time. I mean, we all know he had an affair. That's not the issue here. The issue is about Lacey, and I don't think the two are connected whatsoever.

Objection. That calls for speculation. It borders on the ludicrous. The defense blames pre-trial publicity for tainting the There was no evidence whatsoever other than circumstantial evidence, and the problem in this case was the interpretation the Modesto police put on the circumstantial evidence was just incorrect.

They had a motive, they had means for sure, they had opportunity. What they didn't have was a lot of forensics.

They looked at his computer use and they saw that he was looking at the currents in the San Francisco Bay. Scott would say that he wanted to know what the currents would be. If you look at it through a different lens, it's because he's going to drop his dead wife's body there. Their forensic computer expert conceded that Laci had accessed the computer on the morning of the 24th. Someone was on the computer in the house looking at sunflower umbrellas and another shopping site. Clearly that was Laci, right? Or it was Scott pretending to be Laci.

In the warehouse where he stored the boat, it's believed that he made these homemade anchors and probably attached them to her body so she would sink in the bay.

4 anchors, 40 pounds, will never sink that body. That body would have just floated away. Then the question becomes, how do the bodies get to the Berkeley Marina. And that one to me is the easiest one. I think the burglars are probably initially panicked, kept her for a while, and then the realization hits them that they, they can't let her live because now they've committed kidnapping. And now we're not talking about a burglary for a year or two in jail, we're talking about, you know, life in prison. And so they say, we got to get rid of her. And someone says, yeah, but what do we do with the body? And they say, hey, you You know what, everybody in the country knows that Scott Peterson went to the Berkeley Marina. Let's drop the body there. That was the one smart thing that they came up with. The maybes here require such logical leaps that it's just not credible. It's either someone actively framed Scott Peterson after kidnapping his 8-month pregnant wife, or he did it. That's it.

This has to be the biggest coincidence I have ever heard of. I mean, are you psychic? I mean, you predicted your wife would be missing? On August 10th, when Amber Frye started her testimony and those recordings started to play, it was a turning point for the prosecution. Prosecution. From the moment I learned the truth, it wasn't about me. It was about a missing pregnant woman. There was information that I had that nobody knew or heard.

Amber Frye and those tapes totally turned the case upside down, and, and it sunk Scott Peterson. The jury was absolutely taken aback by those tapes, and you could feel the entire trial shift during that 4 or 5 day period. Scott realized that as soon as it came out that it was Amber, all bets were off.

Oh yes, you said you lost your wife. No, yes, obviously without me saying much, but we were—

I said that I lost my wife.

Yes, you did.

I did.

And yes, how did you lose her? Then before she was lost. Explain that.

There are different kinds of lost, Amber. It's a guy supposedly out there searching desperately to find his missing wife, and he's telling his girlfriend he lost his wife. That's tough piece of testimony to overcome. The prosecution couldn't tell you when this happened. They couldn't tell you where it happened. They couldn't tell you how it happened.

The only thing they could do was just say, "Scott Peterson's a bad person." We live in a day and age of CSI and forensics and timelining, and nobody does that with this crime. It's just, "He did it. He was a dirtbag adulterer, and he did it." And that's not good enough. That's not good enough.

I do not believe I don't believe that Scott Peterson killed his wife. No. I certainly don't believe that anybody proved that in the trial. I absolutely don't believe that. The media attention and the atmosphere at the courthouse wasn't the problem for Scott Peterson. The problem was the evidence. The problem was Amber Frey. The problem was where the bodies were found. That was the problem for Scott Peterson. You never know. One of the things about a jury trial is, man, when you're sitting there waiting, your heart is pounding. Mr. Fortperson, it's my understanding that the jury has arrived at a verdict in this case. Is that correct? We got a verdict. So here we are at 5 minutes after the hour of 4 o'clock. We are awaiting this audio feed of the verdict.

—consist of murder. He's guilty! There were throngs around the courthouse.

You had people holding up signs. You had people yelling, murderer. It is just a very difficult, tense moment outside of that courthouse for everyone involved. 30 years to life. Let me say this. If there was a conviction in this case, at this point, the whole world had decided Scott Peterson was guilty. I thought the best result possible in this case would be a hung jury. After a 5-month jury trial, 180 witnesses, hundreds of pieces of evidence admitted for the jury to consider, after all that, the jury concluded very quickly. You can look at it one of two ways. Either they say the prosecution didn't prove it, or of course he's the one that did it and we're going to find guilty. We'll find out in a matter of moments. One of the things about a jury trial is, man, when you're sitting there waiting, your heart is pounding. None of us expected a verdict that Friday. Me, and they put me in a holding cell at the courthouse, and wow, it was like a huge relief that there was a verdict, which I was totally expecting to go home that day. It's not like I have a life to go back to, or, you know, I feel like I'm gonna be out of that hell.

They got the verdict. There were definite butterflies when we got word that there was a verdict.

There were hundreds of people outside the courthouse listening to the verdict, which was being broadcast from the courtroom. Okay, I'm understanding that the jury is entering the courtroom right now, so Mr. Forte, Foreperson, it's my understanding that the jury has arrived at a verdict in this case. Is that correct? We got it, Your Honor. When you're waiting, it just seems like it takes so long to spit— just spit it out.

State of California versus Scott Peterson.

As the verdict was being read, it was dead silence.

We, the jury, in the above entitled cause, find the defendant Scott Lee Peterson guilty of the crime of murder of Laci Denise Peterson. After almost 2 years, the verdict has been read, and Scott Peterson has been found guilty of first-degree murder. That comes with death penalty or life without parole. Guilty of second-degree murder with regard to his unborn child, baby Connor, 15 years to life. The penalty phase, according to the judge, will start in less than a week. I still hear the voice. I mean, the guilty, guilty. I started crying. It was a relief. It was a sigh of relief. We were bawling. It was like I'd been holding my breath for 2 years here almost. And yeah, when I heard the verdict, it was just— and all the emotions come out. I mean, because like I said, it's like we've been holding your breath and holding everything in all this time, and then Boom. And then, okay, it's done. It's done. Hugs, tears in front of me, in the row in front of me, right? The Rochos and Laci's friends. As the verdicts are being read and I'm making all these observations around the courtroom, I'm looking at Scott Peterson too, and I don't see any emotion.

I see nothing.

I kept hoping one of them would say, you know, have a second thought and just really You didn't realize what they were doing. Right. You didn't recognize how wrong this was. There was gasps from the defense side, just like, "Ah!" They couldn't believe it. They absolutely could not believe it. You could see it. They just—

they were stunned. When they actually announced the verdict, I thought that I just didn't hear the word "not." I thought maybe, you know, I just missed it. We were completely shocked and numb, just numb.

I'm haunted by the verdict all the time. This is what you crave as a lawyer, the opportunity to prove an innocent man innocent. And given that opportunity, I failed.

It's over with. Thank God it's over with. I know that millions of people in this country were praying for justice. I think there was justice today with the jury's verdict.

Excuse me. And the Peterson family, when they left the courthouse having just heard that their loved one was found guilty, the crowd was jeering them and taunting them.

We were kind of a little taken aback by that they were going to provide us an escort to walk us to our car, and it kind of made us think, whoa, what's out there? Go, go, go!

Outside, it was like the Roman Colosseum. It was absurd. Scene. This is a courthouse, and people were cheering and screaming and hugging each other. This is a tragedy all the way around. What are we celebrating here?

I just remember in my head thinking, they have no idea. They have no idea.

That, that's the only thing I remember thinking. This trial is not over. There's going to be a penalty phase. A week from Monday, this jury will begin to consider whether or not Scott Peterson lives or dies for the murder of his wife and child. The sentencing was actually the close call. I think many believed there was a real chance for Scott Peterson to get life in prison instead of the death penalty. What convinced you? What pushed you to choose the sentence of death? I played in my mind over and over, conspiracy, was somebody trying to set up Scott, was somebody after Lacey. It didn't add up for me. For her to be where she was found and to go through with what seemed to be, in the end to me, a charade, it just wasn't— it wasn't fair. What a nightmare. It hasn't changed. It's still a nightmare. It should never have happened. It's hurt too many people for no reason. But justice was served. Obviously, we're very disappointed. Obviously, we plan on pursuing every and all appeals. I don't think I don't think anybody who sat in that courtroom could think that they put on a case beyond a reasonable doubt.

However, it didn't matter what the rational facts were. It didn't matter what the evidence was. It's hard to convey to somebody who wasn't there at the time what was going on in 2004 and the hatred and vitriol that was directed towards Scott Peterson. Scott Peterson. I don't care. I just know he's guilty. That was the feeling. Guess what, Scotty? San Quentin's your new home. And it's illegal to kill your wife and child in California. The one thing that happened right at the end of the trial—

A tip had been called into the Modesto police from a Lieutenant Aponte at Norco Prison.

He overheard one of the people in the jail in jail, one of the inmates telling somebody on the phone who was outside they had brought up Lacey Peterson's name. Is there something that you want to say? Just how frustrated I've been when people say that I was the last one to see Lacey that day because there were so many witnesses who saw her walking in the neighborhood.

This case is driven by headline narratives. To have a case that's been this highly publicized, to have people have such a small understanding of what happened on this day is— it's profoundly frustrating.

Well, right now with the Peterson case, there are essentially two different tracks. The first track is the death penalty part of the trial. Trial. That has been overturned. We are getting ready to do a subsequent retry of the death penalty phase. There is a second track, however, to determine whether or not the entire case gets retried. Scott Peterson is up for appeal, and probably his strongest, most compelling arguments to get this conviction overturned is jury misconduct. Turns out one of the jurors did not disclose that she'd actually had to to get a restraining order against someone in connection with her being pregnant and being concerned about her baby.

Little man was the hardest for me. Little man, that's what I call him.

Connor. It's a pretty relevant detail in a case like this. When I was filling out that application, my situation never came to my mind. Peterson appealed his case to the California to the Virginia Supreme Court, citing a variety of reasons that the conviction should be overturned. The high court ordered the trial court to reconsider just one issue: that question about potential juror misconduct. You know, I, I think about it. I don't know what a jury or an appeals court is going to do, but it's out of my control. I hope it doesn't come to that.

As difficult as it is to think about sitting through another trial.

We're prepared for another trial if we're allowed to put on the evidence in this case and we're able to show the jury everything that's out there. I am very confident Scott will be found not guilty. Some of it includes what's known as the Aponte tip.

A tip had been called into the Modesto police from a Lieutenant Aponte at Norco Prison.

He overheard one of the people people in the jail, one of the inmates telling somebody on the phone who was outside they had brought up Lacey Peterson's name. The Aponte tip was in discovery, I believe. We sent our investigator down to interview Lieutenant Aponte, who confirmed— at first he said the inmate claimed he'd heard that Lacey had seen one of the burglars and the burglar had threatened her. Aponte later backtracked on the details of that call. We were going to call him in as a witness, and he changed his story, and he started saying, well, I don't really know what I heard. He started backing off everything. We are going to call him at this trial. We're going to read the declaration, let the jury see what he signed. While they only have to get reasonable doubt, this is far from a smoking gun. What I want the public to know on this trial, this coming trial, is just listen at the evidence. Don't go on emotion on this. Give us a shot. It's rare in life you get a second chance. It's taken 18 years for Scott sitting in a jail cell. I'm ready to go back to court.

Let's do it again. I'd be ready to testify. I'd go back at it again because he deserves deserves to be where he is.

To have to go through a trial again, of course, would be excruciating, but if that's what it takes, I'll be there. And I'm sure they'll find him guilty again.

Scott Peterson is still in prison but no longer on death row. That death sentence, as you heard, overturned pending a retrial. Trial on the penalty phase.

And now the Peterson defense team is asking the court to begin again, to retry the Laci Peterson case from the beginning.

Thanks for listening to the 2020 True Crime Vault. We hope you'll join us Friday nights at 9 on ABC for all new broadcast episodes. See you then.

In the suburbs of DC, a woman fails to show up for work and is found brutally murdered.

911, which emergency? We just walked in the door and there's blood In the foyer.

For the next two decades, the case remained unsolved until new technology allowed investigators to do what had once been impossible. A new series from ABC Audio in 2020, Blood and Water. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app, and ad-free on Amazon Music.