| The questions "Who cleaned what, and when did they clean it?" are hovering over Scott Peterson's preliminary hearing on double-murder charges. Much of the six days of testimony in Stanislaus County Superior Court has been devoted to mops, a bucket, towels and laundry. Prosecutors also have focused their questions on items found in Peterson's truck, including patio umbrellas wrapped in a tarp, a loaded .22-caliber handgun and an unopened package of fishing lures. Judge Al Girolami's gag order prevents attorneys, investigators and others from providing context for the evidence. But some details are emerging in the case against the 31-year-old Modesto fertilizer salesman charged with murdering his wife, Laci, and their unborn son, Conner. The focus on cleaning in the couple's Covena Avenue home could address two issues: Peterson's statement about what his wife was doing when he says he last saw her, Christmas Eve morning; and whether he attempted to sanitize a crime scene. Testimony also focused on whether animals were in the home -- Peterson's explanation for a displaced throw rug and a reason that he gave for cleaning the floors twice in two days. Peterson said his wife was mopping the floor in front of French doors in the kitchen area as he left at about 9:30 a.m. to go fishing in San Francisco Bay, a police detective testified last week. Peterson told police that he returned home between 4:30 and 4:45 p.m. and his wife was missing. House cleaner Margarita Nava testified that she cleaned the home the day before as part of her regular two-week rounds. Nava said she mopped the floors with water and Pine-Sol and used bleach only in the bathroom. The floors were dirty and there was animal hair in the home, Nava said. There was an animal bed in "Laci's bedroom" and a water bowl in the bathroom. Nava said she did not know if they were for a cat or a dog. Nava said she put towels used to clean a door in the mopping bucket and placed it on top of the washing machine, behind a set of doors in the living room. Nava said she then put the mop outside to dry. Peterson told police that his wife asked him to bring in the mop bucket from outside Christmas Eve morning because "she was pregnant, so she couldn't carry it," Detective Al Brocchini testified. Peterson said he placed the bucket near the front door, and there were two mops present, Brocchini testified. Peterson said that upon his return from the bay, he opened the French doors, and the cat and dog ran in, with the cat heading toward the bucket, Brocchini said. "He thought the cat was gonna spill it or drink out of it," Brocchini said. "He took it out and dumped it." Peterson told police that he set the bucket and mops outside, along a walkway that leads to the front door, where the first officer on the scene, Jon Evers, said they were in plain sight when he arrived at about 6:30 p.m.Dec. 24 in response to the missing person report about Laci.. Early in the investigation, police sources said there was a noticeable smell of bleach when officers entered the home, but Evers and Brocchini both have testified that they did not smell bleach or other cleaners. After putting the bucket outside, Peterson told police, he removed some towels from the washing machine, put them on top of the machine, undressed and washed the clothes that he had been wearing, Brocchini said. The detective testified that he found a laundry basket overflowing in the master bedroom and dirty white towels on top of the washing machine. Questioning also keyed on a rug that two police officers said was bunched up against a doorway when they responded to the missing person call. As Peterson straightened the rug with his toe, he told police that his pets must have been playing near it. But prosecutors could use the rug to bolster a theory that a body could have been dragged out the door, which leads to the driveway. HOME INDEX LACI SCOTT PRELIMINARY HEARING ALIBI-WITNESS LIST EVIDENCE-NEWS AUTOPSY INDEX WIRETAPS AMBER |
| LACI & CONNER Forever In Our Hearts |
| Murder hearing turns to home November 11, 2003 |
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