| LIAR SCOTT SNICKERED IN DELIGHT OVER FUTILE LACI HUNT By HOWARD BREUER Post Correspondent August 26, 2004 A barrage of shocking secret phone recordings rocked the Scott Peterson trial, revealing the accused spouse slayer laughing at the search for his pregnant wife and breathing a sigh of relief when her body wasn't found. Among the lies and callous actions laid out in the blockbuster wiretap evidence were Scott: * Laughing when he heard that investigators were searching for his wife in Washington state. * Exhaling a whistle when told that rumors his wife had been found were untrue. * Telling friends and family that he was out of town, when he was really hiding out and secretly observing the site were investigators were searching for his missing wife. * Lying to his mom about talking to investigators who were looking for her in Washington — all in an apparent effort to get out of having to join their effort. * Trying to sell the home he and his wife shared — while his kin were still holding out hope she would be found alive. The recordings were played on the 44th day of Peterson's trial, during the testimony of prosecution witness Steve Jacobson, a Stanislaus County, Calif., DA's investigator. Jacobson tapped Peterson's wireless phones in the weeks after Laci's Dec. 24, 2002, disappearance. It was a time in which family members were hoping the woman might be found alive, but in which police grew more and more suspicious that Peterson had killed her. The bodies of Laci and her unborn child eventually washed ashore along the bay in mid-April 2003. Prosecutors accused Peterson of dumping her remains in the bay during a Christmas Eve fishing trip. One of his alleged lies came on Jan. 11, 2003, when fertilizer salesman Scott told people, including his mother, that he was out of town in West Fresno. But according to the phone records, Peterson was peddling another kind of manure that day. Peterson was really at the Berkeley Marina, were searchers were hunting for his wife's body. He went there and secretly spied on the search for his wife's remains after hearing rumors that they had been found, prosecutors said. The jaw-dropping revelation made Scott Peterson's mom, Jackie, burst into tears yesterday, as prosecutors played a recording in which the defendant told her the alleged lie about his whereabouts. In another recording, Peterson came off sounding callous and insensitive to his family's pain as he reviewed voice mails from his mother. In a coldblooded gesture, he deleted a recording in the middle of hearing his mother suggest he attend a candlelight vigil. He also deleted a message without reaction in which his mother said that a Laci sighting in Longview turned out to be someone else. In contrast, when Peterson hears a voice mail message on Jan. 11, 2003, from Laci's mother, Sharon Rocha, saying the underwater sighting believed to be a body had turned out to be an anchor, Peterson whistles, "Whew." Then, on Jan. 31, Peterson is captured on wiretap sounding sincerely interested after learning from a pal that police in Longview, Wash., were investigating a possible sighting of Laci in a convenience store. But a short time later — when he apparently thinks no one is paying attention — Peterson is captured on tape laughing as he listens to a voice mail from his mother saying a family member was up in Washington putting up posters. Peterson defense attorney Mark Geragos repeatedly objected, saying he wanted to have a hearing to discuss prosecutorial misconduct, but San Mateo Superior Court Judge Alfred Delucchi pressed forward. During cross-examination, Geragos also got Jacobson to admit he was suspicious of Amber Frey. The investigator said he thought for a while that she might be involved. "I was very suspicious of her behavior. I wanted to hear more of her communications for myself," Jacobson said. But the biggest event of the day was the playing of Peterson's tape. That included a call he made to his buddy, Guy Miligi, in which he griped about the way 88 cops were searching the bay. "So maybe they'll send 88 people somewhere else and start working," said Peterson, who also told Miligi that he was in Bakersfield when he was really 218 miles away, near the bay. During the conversation with Miligi, Peterson casually said that he had "finally got the guts to open up Christmas presents last night . . . Laci got me a big ol' table saw." On Jan. 22, less than a month after Laci's disappearance—Peterson told real-estate salesman Brian Argain that he wants to sell his and Laci's house immediately — as well as all the furniture arranged by his wife. "Kinda keep it quiet, all right?" Peterson asked, adding, "Can I sell it furnished?" The other apparent lie that shook the courtroom yesterday — and brought his mother to tears — was when Peterson was caught on tape telling his mom he was out of town when he was really only yards from where investigators were hunting for the remains of his pregnant wife. "Where are you?" Jackie Peterson asked on Jan. 11, 2003. "West Fresno," Peterson responded. However, according to Jacobson, Peterson was actually keeping an eye on the search. Jackie Peterson appeared devastated as she listened to her son's deception played for the court. She repeatedly dabbed at her eyes with a tissue, and later left the courtroom. Peterson was also embarrassed yesterday by the Jan. 31 recording of him listening to a voice mail from his mom, who was encouraged about a possible Laci sighting at a convenience store. "Are you wanting to hop on a plane and go to Longview, Wash.?" Jackie Peterson asks in the recording. "I am." Peterson spiked the message and laughed. RELATED STORY OPENING STATEMENTS HOME INDEX LACI CONNER SCOTT AMBER WIRETAPS TRIAL ALIBI-WITNESS LIST TV INTERVIEWS MAGAZINES |
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| LACI & CONNER'S FAMILY "I am so sorry for your loss, pain, and everything else that you're having to go through at this time. There is not a day that goes by that I do not think of Laci, and Conner. I will never forget her Beautiful smile." JAN - TEXAS - GUESTBOOK |
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