| Tuesday, June 8, 2004 Laci's mom: Scott avoided eye contact Sharon Rocha testifies that Scott's behavior made her suspicious By Jason Dearen, STAFF WRITER Instead of eating Christmas Eve dinner with Laci Peterson as planned, Sharon Rocha ran panicked through a Modesto park, screaming her daughter's name as she rummaged through garbage cans for signs of the pregnant woman. Fighting back sobs, her voice quivering at times, Laci's mother recounted scenes from her daughter's life Monday, while also describing how Scott's odd behavior the weeks after Laci disappeared made her suspicious. "I just knew something was wrong," she said, recounting how her gut instinct after Peterson's Dec. 24, 2002, phone call made her panic. Hanging up the phone, Rocha told her longtime companion, Ron Grantski, to call 9-1-1 and had a friend drive her to the park nearest Laci's house to begin her frantic search. After running alone through the park for a time, some of the Petersons' neighbors joined her -- but Laci was nowhere to be found. "The lights in the park were on. It was very, very cold," she said. "I remember seeing Scott at one point walking along, looking towards the river, and he had McKenzie (the dog's) leash in his right hand," she said, closing her eyes to help her recollect the scene. "I was calling (Scott's) name. He never did turn to acknowledge me. I was yelling his name. I was very upset, I was anxious, I was looking for Laci. Scott never did acknowledge that I was calling his name until he came right up by me." After searching, Rocha said she went to the Petersons' Covena Avenue home, where police and family had gathered out on the front lawn. "I was walking up to give him a hug --his family wasn't here, and we were close --I wanted to console him," she said. But, Rocha said, Peterson averted eye contact continually with her that day, avoiding her. On Christmas Day, she and Laci's brother Brent joined Peterson in search efforts at the crack of dawn. When they returned to the Covena Avenue home, police cars lined the streets. Rocha said the media did not appear at the home in force until Dec. 26. Over the next months, Peterson avoided her and made excuses so they would not have to spend time alone together, Rocha said. This is what made her suspicious, and why she eventually turned on the son-in-law she "thought the world of" before Christmas Eve 2002. "It was his behavior ... he didn't show the concern I felt he should since Laci was missing," she said, adding that Peterson always had an excuse to cancel their meetings. Rocha started recording her conversations with Peterson for the Modesto police. Prosecutor Rick Distaso played a grainy excerpt from a Feb. 13, 2003, call. During the call, Rocha grills Peterson about Laci's actions on Dec. 23 and 24; did he remember what she was wearing? Did he recall what shoes she had on? Rocha told Distaso that it took until February for him to speak to her at length about the subject. No one in the Petersons' families claims to have known about Scott's extramarital affair with Amber Frey. Rocha said Laci never mentioned the affair, but she said she later learned Laci did know about an earlier affair Peterson had before they moved to Modesto. Laci's sister cross-examined Laci's half-sister, Amy Rocha, told police that Peterson "would be the last person to kill anyone," in an interview conducted shortly after Laci disappeared. In fact, Amy Rocha said, she never once saw the seemingly perfect couple fight or argue, and Laci never mentioned to her that Scott was having an affair. Sitting inert and stone-faced, Scott watched as Geragos politely questioned Amy, a hair stylist from Modesto. She is the last family member to have seen Laci before she disappeared. Scott and Laci had dropped by her salon Dec. 23 for Scott's monthly haircut. While at the salon that evening, Laci ordered a pizza before she and Scott left home. On his way out, Peterson asked Amy if she would like to come to their house for some pizza -- a fact that could raise doubt about the prosecution's assertion that Peterson planned to kill Laci that night. In addition, Laci was worried about gaining weight from her pregnancy, so she joined a yoga class for pregnant women and took walks often, Amy Rocha said. Prosecutors say that Laci had stopped walking her golden retriever, McKenzie, because she felt sick and could not handle it anymore. Sharon Rocha also testified that Laci had told her twice about feeling sick and dizzy on her walks. The day Laci disappeared, a neighbor found McKenzie in the street in front of the Petersons' house, a muddy leash still attached. Scott said he thought his wife could have been abducted while walking the dog, a scenario dismissed by prosecutors who say Laci was not feeling well, and had stopped walking. Amy Rocha, her dark hair neatly pulled back, also said she and her sister stood to inherit at least $500,000 from their grandmother. Distaso said during opening statements that the Petersons were living above their means, and hinted they were struggling financially. In addition, police mentioned previously that Scott stood to earn money from a life insurance retirement policy that was taken out a year and a half before Laci's disappearance. If convicted on two counts of premeditated murder, Peterson could receive the death penalty. HOME INDEX LACI CONNER SCOTT TRIAL NEWS LACI'S FAMILY PETERSON FAMILY MAGAZINES ALIBI-WITNESS LIST COURT DATES |
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