| May 17, 2004 Two respected forensics experts, Henry Lee and Cyril Wecht, provided abundant television commentary when Laci Peterson's disappearance sparked international intrigue. They speculated that her body had not been recovered because her killer had sunk it with concrete blocks. Fellow television personality Mark Geragos, hired both after he agreed to represent Laci's husband, Scott, on charges that he killed her and their unborn son, Conner. "I'm losing guests left and right to this case, it seems," mused Greta Van Susteren, a year ago. Widespread and frequent exposure may have done the trick for Geragos, and perhaps by extension, Wecht and Lee -- despite all having criticized Scott Peterson on TV. The frequent commentator and famed county coroner from Pennsylvania had several times discussed how the remains of a pregnant woman and fetus could naturally separate with decomposition. Wecht surmised that Peterson had weighted his wife's body and did not hesitate to say Peterson had fished nearby because "he fully expected that it would remain at the bottom of San Francisco Bay." Wecht also speculated that Peterson was killed in her home and that her husband "conjured up" his Christmas Eve fishing alibi after she was dead. The pathologist, who also is an attorney, initially had no trouble envisioning the baby's remains becoming entangled in floating debris. And he was certain that a boat propeller or jagged rock opened a wound on the baby's chest. But Wecht did a 180-degree reversal after Geragos hired him. During Scott's preliminary hearing last fall, Wecht on TV evoked the image of a "very crude C-section" and someone "tearing or tying roughly and twisting and breaking off" the umbilical cord. The doctor's debris theory disappeared when he talked about plastic tape wound "pretty tightly" on the baby. And his acceptance of DNA-evidence reliability changed to doubt. In a recent telephone interview, Wecht defended his early analysis, saying his knowledge of the case at the time was limited to news reports. "When one conjectures and hypothesizes as a so-called talking head, that's OK, that's America," Wecht said. "When you get into the case and deal with the facts, all that gets set aside. It's not hypocrisy, and I'm not the least bit ashamed to do so." Lee first wants to see evidence. He, on the other hand, refused to speculate much early on, without knowing actual evidence, and he periodically observed that leaked clues didn't necessarily point to Scott. Lee once told the New York Post that he could not rule out the possibility that Conner Peterson had been strangled -- fitting a cult-abduction theory floated by Geragos' people. And Lee talked on CNN about having investigated the ritual sacrifice of a baby in another case. Also, the criminalist softpedaled the discovery of a hair that police found in pliers in Scott Peterson's boat. FBI scientists said it could not have come from Scott Peterson and might have been his wife's. That does not mean much, Lee said. People unknowingly carry around DNA samples from people they live with, he said. Lee, chief emeritus of Connecticut State Police, could not be reached for comment on this article. On TV, he played into a major defense theme of criticizing detective work, saying it's important to follow every lead. Geragos later said tunnel vision kept Modesto detectives from interviewing the right people and discovering the real culprit. But Lee's commentary did not always help the defense. He noted that the pregnant woman's remains were recovered with pants similar to those she wore Dec. 23, 2002 -- matching a prosecution theory that she might have been killed that night. Peterson had told police that his wife's pants were another color when he last saw her Christmas Eve morning. Some legal experts said that discrepancy may have been the most harmful to Peterson in his 12-day preliminary hearing. "The clothing is the key of the whole case," Lee had said on "CNN Larry King Live" in June. Schoenthaler conducts polls Schoenthaler's interest in the Peterson case was no surprise. Having been paid to conduct dozens of change-of-venue surveys over the years, the criminal justice professor jumped at a chance to study a national whodunit in his back yard, though neither side had asked. In the spring of 2003, Schoenthaler -- using California State University, Stanislaus, students to conduct a telephone poll -- concluded that 59 percent of Stanislaus County residents had decided Peterson is guilty. The professor provided news commentary through the preliminary hearing, mostly regarding his opinion that the trial -- if ordered at hearing's end -- should be moved. Another unsolicited survey, this one in late November and early December, sucked Schoenthaler, his students and, ultimately, Stanislaus State officials into the trial -- against the will of all. The professor's new survey again suggested Peterson could not get a fair trial in Modesto. Geragos trumpeted the poll, Schoenthaler testified at length and Superior Court Judge Al Girolami cited the professor's work as "the most thorough" in a ruling to move proceedings. But several students told The Bee they had fabricated some answers, touching off a firestorm regarding the venue change and academic dishonesty. University officials recently said 34 students were either guilty or remain under investigation. Schoenthaler, the target of a separate, ongoing probe, suddenly stopped teaching midway through the winter term and did not teach during the spring; his name appears on the university's schedule for fall classes. Spokes agreed to represent Schoenthaler when the professor came under subpoena in January. Their objectivity suddenly compromised by being thrust into the case, both all but disappeared from news pages and TV screens. HOME INDEX LACI SCOTT TRIAL NEWS VENUE INDEX EVIDENCE-NEWS |
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| L-R Henry Lee, Cyril Wecht, Matt Dalton |
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| Schoenthaler |
| Forensic scientists first speculate about, then work on Peterson trial |
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| LACI & CONNER Pray For Justice |