| LACI & CONNER SHINING STARS UP ABOVE |
| LARRY KING LIVE May 29, 2003 FULL STORY |
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| Panel Discusses Latest Developments in Peterson Murder Case SYNOPSIS LARRY KING, HOST: Tonight, shocking details emerge from the sealed autopsy on Laci Peterson's baby -- plastic tape looped around his neck and a tear in his chest. What does this mean for Scott Peterson's defense? Meanwhile, the prosecution now says it wants the autopsies unsealed. What will the defense say? What will the judge do? The debate heats up, with Ted Rowlands of KTVU, on top of this story from the get-go; Court TV's Nancy Grace, former prosecutor; defense attorney Chris Pixley; Kim Petersen, spokeswoman for Laci's family, with their first reaction to this day's dramatic developments and with news on their efforts to get Laci's personal items back from her house. And to help us make sense of all this and the new details, the renowned forensic expert, Dr. Cyril Wecht. |
| KING: What preliminarily does it tell you? WECHT: Well, it raises a lot of doubt in my mind that this was a ligature of some kind that was applied to the baby at the time of the baby's death, or at the time that the baby would have been removed from the womb. I still lean toward this being an artifact. I think it is a pick-up in some way from the water. I do not think that it was something that was placed around the neck. I can see no purpose, no reason. And there is no evidence of injury, as I've said, to the skin or the underlying organs, the structures, the bones, and cartilaginous structures in the neck. So I think that it is not evidence of an ante-mortem kind of ligature. |
| KIM PETERSEN, SPOKESWOMAN FOR LACI'S FAMILY: This, as you can imagine, Larry, has been a devastating day for them. You never want to hear these details released in front of the nation about somebody you love and care about. And it has been very painful, very difficult. It's been unbelievable to them that somebody would leak this information to the media, when the judge asked that those autopsy results be sealed. And it's been very painful for them. KING: Has it changed their thinking at all? PETERSEN: They didn't even get into thinking in that direction. All they could think about was that this is their grandson that they love, this is their nephew that they love. And to have these kinds of details reported in the media in front of the nation, as opposed to given to the family in private, is -- it's unbelievably painful. |
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| CHRIS PIXLEY, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, I think, Larry, at this point in time, the prosecution may not only have to prove that Scott Peterson is a murderer, they may have to prove that he's a sociopath. I know that Dr. Wecht is one of the foremost experts in this area, but the idea that a knotted bit of tape wrapped around the neck is something that was picked up in the wash, the idea that this slice through the right shoulder and into the right lung is something that just happened while the body was floating around in the water, I think, from a defense standpoint and for a juror, is difficult to believe. |
| NANCY GRACE, COURT TV: Well, I feel that this has been a defense stunt, to release a little bit of information, a little trickle of information. And the price has been devastation to the Rocha family. And in response, the state has said, All right, be careful what you ask, for you will surely get it. Now they are asking for the entire autopsy report to be released. But in a nutshell, what speaks to me the most in this information is that after handling many, many asphyxiation or ligature deaths, I have never seen a strangulation, most importantly by ligature as opposed to manual strangulation by hand, that did not leave severe bruising and damaging around the neck, especially the neck of a baby, an infant, which is very sensitive. As Cyril pointed out, there was no damage under the skin, either. That says to me this was not a strangulation or asphyxiation death by this piece of tape. I expect the tape to possibly yield fingerprints or hair that would still stick to the tape. And also, let me remind everyone the umbilical cord was still attached, not cut, not tied. That really rules out a Satanic involvement. And the baby was in much better physical shape than the mother, Laci, which takes us back to coffin birth under water. KING: Why, then, are so many people saying this was a good day for the defense? GRACE: Because Mark Geragos is very wily. He is very clever. He needs a leg to stand on. And between a tan van parked at a gas station, a guy with a tattoo that says "666," and a piece of adhesive tape, he may build a defense out of that! |
| WECHT: With regard to strangulation, once the baby is detached from the mother's placenta, you don't have to strangle. The baby is dead. The baby's going to die -- the fetus is going to die in a matter of a couple minutes. And with regard to the condition of the baby, this to me remains a major point. I said seven weeks ago, and I remain with that thought, that this baby, small body mass, could not have been floating free in that water for these three-and-a-half months and have remained intact to the point that it was. The sex was immediately determined, I think even by a non-physician when the baby was discovered on a Sunday night. If that baby had been lying out for all that time, the external genitalia would have sloughed off, would have been decomposed. I believe that this baby was sequestered within Laci's uterus and did not come out as a free- floating object for several weeks, until Laci had already been in the water for a period of time. KING: So you discount the thought of a Satanic cult, some sort of ritualistic killing? WECHT: Yes. I do not believe that this baby was forcibly removed from Laci's womb. We'll see, when we get Laci's autopsy report, if there is a slash through her anterior abdominal wall and through the uterus. I doubt that there will be such an injury. |
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| CALLER: Hi. My question is a two-parter. First I'd like to know what the panel thinks about Gloria Allred coming on saying that -- well, not confirming the fact that Scott Peterson is still trying to contact Amber Frey while he's in jail. And second of all, I'd like to ask the panel, do they not think that the obsession that he has with Amber Frey is sufficient in being a motive for the murder? GRACE: Well, yes. I understand the caller's question. But in addition to Amber, there were apparently three other girlfriends and a stripper. OK? So I don't think it's an obsession with Amber in particular. I think he had an obsession with women other than his wife and not wanting to be married and not wanting to have a baby, as harsh as that is to all of us who would love to have a baby. It's hard for a jury to get their arms around this concept. But Amber herself may not be the motive the state asserts. FULL STORY HOME INDEX LACI SCOTT TRIAL EVIDENCE-NEWS & STORIES INCONSISTENT STATEMENTS VERDICT TRANSCRIPTS ALIBI-WITNESS LIST MAGAZINES |
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