| PEOPLE MAGAZINE April 25, 2003 |
| From: Bobbsey - April 27, 2003 Tears for Laci After months of suspicion, denials of guilt, and revelations of an extramarital affair, Scott Peterson is arrested for the brutal slaying of his wife and unborn child. Her family says Laci was thrilled with the prospect of motherhood and could hardly wait for the baby. "I catch myself looking at women her age who are pregnant," says sister Amy. "She's always in my mind." He had grown a goatee and dyed his brown hair an unlikely shade of reddish-blond. But there was no disguising the smug self-confidence that seemed such a large part of Scott Peterson's personality. Heading into the upscale Torrey Pines Golf Course near San Diego on Good Friday morning, Peterson paused to give a jaunty wave to the police officers he had spotted tailing him. Seconds later his smile vanished as a posse of a half dozen cops pounced and bundled him handcuffed into a waiting car. Throughout the 12-hour drive back to his hometown of Modesto, the normally affable Scott said nothing, staring off in the distance as the evening darkness closed in around him. Silence may be a sensible option; Peterson, 30, certainly has much to answer for. A few hours after his arrest, authorities announced they had identified the bodies of a woman and child who had washed up near the Berkeley Marina in San Francisco Bay as those of Peterson's pregnant wife, Laci, 27, and their unborn child, who was to have been named Conner. That discovery, close to where Scott said he had gone fishing on Christmas Eve, the day Laci vanished, was only the crowning clue in a case that the authorities touted as virtually airtight. "I would call the odds slam dunk that he is going to be convicted," proclaimed California attorney general Bill Lockyer. For Laci's family the sudden turn of events brought at least some relief after four months of uncertainty. "I love my daughter so much. I miss her every minute of every day," a weeping Sharon Rocha, Laci's mom, said at an emotional press conference on April 21. "My heart aches for her and Conner." For months investigators had gone out of their way to insist publicly that Scott had not been ruled in or out as a suspect. But by the time the remains of Laci and the baby were found, authorities had Peterson, a fertilizer salesman, under near continuous surveillance, using wiretaps, vehicle tracking devices and teams of agents. Investigators indicated that they finally arrested him out of fear he might flee. Aside from his altered appearance, at the time he was picked up he was also reportedly carrying $10,000 in cash and an ID belonging to one of his brothers and was within 30 miles of the Mexican border. There is much about this horrific crime that remains in the hands of forensics experts, and prosecutors are keeping a tight lid on the evidence against Peterson, who pleaded not guilty at his arraignment. It is not even clear whether they have an idea how Laci, who had worked as a substitute teacher, and the baby were murdered. The bodies were badly decomposed — authorities did not deny reports that Laci's body was missing the head, and were identified through DNA testing. As to how the baby came to be expelled from the womb: one possible, and grisly, explanation is the phenomenon of"coffin birth," in which the buildup of gases in the mother's decaying flesh forces a postmortem delivery. Whatever the means, authorities allege that the murders were committed at the Petersons' home in Modesto sometime between the evening of Dec. 23 and Christmas Eve morning. As it happens, a neighbor later reported seeing Scott load something wrapped in a blue tarp into his boat, which was backed up into the driveway, on Christmas Eve day. When questioned, Scott told police he had been taking some backyard umbrellas to his warehouse for storage. The day after Laci's body was found, a black plastic sheet, 42 in. wide and nearly 20 ft. long, washed up in the same area, though investigators do not yet know if it is related to the crime." Police have also evidently focused on whether concrete blocks were used to weigh down Laci's body. On Dec. 26 they seized Scott's boat, which had been purchased only three weeks before Laci's disappearance, and asked the couple who sold it to him to look the 14-ft. vessel over. The couple noted there was a powdery, cement-like residue that hadn't been there before. Peterson's mother, Jackie, has pointed out that Scott used a concrete anchor, which could account for the residue. All the same, during a search of the Peterson home on Feb. 18, police reportedly removed containers of cement along with 95 items of evidence. According to CNN, authorities have used sonar to pin point a spot in San Francisco Bay where the concrete weights may still be lying on the bottom — and will now seek to compare anything they find there with the samples linked to Scott. Evidence aside, Scott's behavior itself had raised suspicions. There was, for instance, his account of how his wife went missing. He said he had bid Laci goodbye on the morning of Christmas Eve and driven 90 miles to the Berkeley Marina so that he could go fishing for sturgeon. When he returned later that day she was gone. But Jim Cook, a Modesto field representative for a wireless company who often fishes the waters of San Francisco Bay, points out that it would be unusual to go fishing for an enormous fish like sturgeon in such a small craft or to do so in the middle of the day, when early mornings are best. Says Cook: "Something doesn't add up." Including,to some, the day that Scott chose to go. "It was Christmas Eve and she was pregnant," says Dr. Carole Lieberman, a Beverly Hills psychiatrist who has been an expert witness in many court proceedings. "Who leaves their pregnant wife alone to go fishing?" There were also indications that Scott had been less than fully cooperative with police. While he sat for interviews with investigators, he neglected to mention a key detail: that he had been having an affair with another woman, a Fresno massage therapist named Amber Frey, 28, who came forward to cops on her own and went public with the news on Jan. 24. Demonstrating that he was, if nothing else, a cad, Scott insisted that his missing wife had found out about the affair and accepted it — a notion that infuriated Laci's family, who until then had voiced support for their son-in-law. "Had she known, she would have been devastated, and that wasn't obvious to her friends or family,"Sharon told PEOPLE. "There wasn't any reason to suspect that there were problems." And there were other little things. Like the fact that witnesses saw him laughing at a vigil for Laci days after she vanished. Or the $250,000 life insurance policy he had taken out on his wife after she became pregnant. (Scott has said that both he and Laci had policies in the same amount for investment purposes.) Or the interview he gave to ABC's Diane Sawyer in January, in which he at times sounded almost nonchalant in discussing his wife. Or his selling Laci's Range Rover a month after the disappearance and buying himself a Dodge pickup. Or talking to a realtor about selling their home. "Laci loved her home," says Sharon, 51, who was given back her daughter's car by a dealer. "She spent a lot of time working on her house, she enjoyed all that. And if someone did take her, where was she going to come home to if it was sold?" **FINGERPRINTS ON TARP** ===== BOBBSEY CONTINUES..... "(I have the magazine, too, and will try to add some highlights from it :) Lee says his son is being "railroaded." Laci is described as a "lovely former cheerleader,the life of every party." Scott is described as a "handsome jock, scratch golfer and all-around likeable guy." The wedding is described as having a string quartet and flowers strewn on the lawn. Her mother describes them as "both ecstatic" in every single wedding picture. The couple lived with Laci's parents for a while when they moved to Modesto. Their home cost, the one she probably died in, cost $ 177,000. Laci was a "little anxious" when she did not get pregnant after over a year of trying. Laci planned to stay home for a while but eventually go back to work. Her yoga instructor describes her as "always bright and shining and beautiful, with that smile and dimples." She says everybody knew the baby would be beautiful. The nursery was decorated with a nautical theme because Scott loved the water. Scott met Amber Frey at a "business party." Amber "quickly became smitten with him" says the article. Friends say he went to see Amber "at least once a week." She took him to a family gathering and told people he "may be the guy." Sharon says in that last phone call with Laci, Laci did not say anything about Scott going fishing. Scott had never fished in the marina before. Amber had "vague doubts" about Scott, and things got a little "tangled" around Christmas. (Pictures here) The private eye who told Amber he would look into Scott did not have to do much digging, since he saw Scott on tv the next day. Amber's dad says the police were "shocked to no end" when she called and told them she had been having an affair with Scott, since he had not told them about it. "They sent a police car down and gave her a lie detector test." Ron Frey says Amber has not had any contact with Scott for "several months." Sheriff's spokesman says Scott seems "overwhelmed" by his jail stay. Some hints are given of the defense through lawyer statements which say Laci could have followed Scott to the marina to have it out (well, her car was still at home) or that she went there and "slipped" into the water (again, her car was at home) or that she committed suicide (car still at home.) =++++++++= COMMENTS/REACTIONS From: _KAT Apr 27, 2003 Thanks, Bobbsey! I haven't seen it before, and it was interesting. One new point -the article says that it was Amber's friend PI who saw Scott on TV and recognized him. Up until now I have read that it was Amber who saw him and recognized her boyfriend. I really hope that the defense uses the "Laci followed Scott to the bay to have it out" argument. I want to hear them try to explain that one. Maybe she hid in the boat while it was towed? INCONSISTENT STATEMENTS HOME SCOTT SCOTT'S AFFAIRS LACI AMBER INDEX ALIBI-WITNESS LIST PRELIMINRY HEARING EVIDENCE-NEWS WIRETAPS |
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| PRAYERS FOR LACI & CONNER |
| PEOPLE MAGAZINE SEPT 2003 |