| Taped calls reveal Scott & Amber held intense talks after Laci vanished August 17, 2004 She thought he was a pathological liar and the prime suspect in his wife's disappearance. He knew she blamed him for ruining her life and might go to the police. But neither betrayal nor suspicion stopped Amber Frey and Scott Peterson from burning up the phone lines. Four hours of taped calls played at Peterson's murder trial Monday revealed that the fertilizer salesman and his masseuse mistress were locked in emotional exchanges long after he came clean about his marriage and missing wife. The lovers' discussions were long and wide-ranging, veering from the details of Laci Peterson's disappearance to the meaning of certain Bible passages to the heartbreak both professed to feel at their separation. Scott repeatedly insisted he was innocent, apologized profusely for hurting Amber and said he was hoping against hope for a future with her after a "resolution" to his wife's case. "I really care about you, so communication is precious to me," he told Frey in a Jan. 14, 2003, call he said he was making as he drove to the volunteer search center set up to find his 27-year-old wife. The calls are all the more intriguing because both Scott and Amber had complex motivations for what to they said to each other. On Dec. 30, Frey began cooperating secretly with detectives, who scripted some of her comments in hopes that Peterson would incriminate himself. In a Jan. 12, conversation, for example, Frey asked Peterson, "Do you know where she is?" and later, "How can you not possibly be involved with her disappearance?" At other times, however, Frey's tears and simmering anger befit a wronged woman more than a police informant. "Is it written all over me, you know, sucker or something?" Frey shouted at Peterson during the same conversation. "You've lied to me the whole time I've known you, so how can you say you even care?" she said. For his part, Peterson knew Frey was at least thinking about calling the police and may have suspected his calls were being monitored. When Frey demanded an account of his whereabouts the day Laci vanished, his description was nearly identical to the one he gave detectives. He refused to answer many questions about the state of his marriage, but said "the most important thing" was his wife's safe return. "I also have nothing to hide in her disappearance. And if you, you know, if you want to go to the police, that's, you know, fine," Peterson said. Jurors have heard 24 calls and phone messages between Frey and Peterson since she was called as a witness. Frey has spent only a tiny fraction of those days on the witness stand. On Monday, as in previous days, Frey quietly walked to a seat in the spectator's gallery when prosecutors played the tape. The 29-year-old blonde, wearing a fitted, but conservative gray suit stared down at a transcript of the calls, never casting so much as a glance in Peterson's direction. He sat at the defense table, paging through papers as the recordings played. Prosecutors contend Peterson, 31, killed his wife and their unborn son because he wanted to pursue a relationship with Frey and was dreading the demands of fatherhood. Peterson claims he is guilty only of adultery, and a stranger abducted his wife as she walked their dog. 'I loved Laci' In the secretly taped conversations, Frey pressed Peterson for details about his five-year marriage. He hinted at problems that he suggested would justify lies and cheating, but refused to go beyond cryptic references to secrets. He told her he shared the information with relatives and the police, but she would have to wait until Laci Peterson was found to learn the entire truth. Peterson said he told his wife of the affair after the first date — about six weeks before her Christmas Eve disappearance. He said she was neither emotional nor distraught. Peterson initially told police there were "no third parties" in the relationship, but after Frey's existence came to light, he claimed his wife knew and had made her peace with the relationship. In a Jan. 8 call, Frey said she found that unbelievable. "When you get all the facts, it'll make sense to you," Peterson said. When Frey pressed him about whether the couple had slept in the same bed the night before he reported her missing, he refused to answer. "I can't tell you these things," he said, adding later, "Those details are the ones we can't talk about." In previous conversations, Peterson appeared to cast doubt on the paternity of the child his wife carried. He referred to the baby as "her child." DNA tests later proved the boy was his son. "Did you love Laci and your baby?" Frey asked him. Peterson answered only about his wife, saying, "I love Laci. I loved Laci, no question." The Petersons' friends and family said the college sweethearts had an idyllic marriage and that both were eagerly anticipating the birth of their first child. In several conversations, Frey confronted him with the rosy descriptions of their union. "You have a perfect marriage," Frey said, almost taunting him. When Peterson did not respond, she said, "You got quiet." "Well, I mean we we can't talk about this. You don't know all the facts," Peterson said. When he told Frey that he had planned a "beautiful relationship" with her, she shot back, "Why wasn't it with Laci?" "The only thing I can say is that I can't tell you everything I want to at this point," he said. Peterson so often said he couldn't answer her questions that he began referring to himself as a "broken record." "At what point were going to get divorced, or were you? Are you?" Frey asked during a Jan 12 call. "Um I don't want to do the broken record thing, Amber," he replied, declining once again to answer. Scrolling through scripture When Peterson was not deflecting Frey's inquiries, he often tried to win back her trust. He told the devout churchgoer that he had been studying scripture and attending services. "I've got my Bible in front of me," he said on Jan. 12. Peterson read her the parable of the mustard seed from the Gospel of Matthew and said he found relevance in the idea that the word of God will only take root in rich earth. "I need to get some good soil for us," he told her. After a long discussion about the meaning of the verses, Frey, crying softly, told Peterson that God "knows who is guilty of her disappearance." Frey grilled him about whether he would introduce her to his family, and he said he wanted to. He said he had already confided in two high school friends about her. In the Jan. 12 call, an unidentified voice briefly interrupted their discussion, and Peterson said, "Hey guys. Hey, mom, I'm talking to Amber on the phone. I'll be done in a few minutes." When Frey asked if he wanted a relationship, Peterson said that he cared for her. "I worry, hope and desire to make you happy," he told her on Jan. 14. "I'd like to share things with you and I think you're just, you know, splendid for a lack of a better word. It's amazing to learn from you and to learn together and that's my definition of caring." Frey lashed out at Peterson repeatedly in the calls, telling him, "This has been an unbelievable mind f---." Peterson told her he had been thinking about the morning after their first date when he kissed her good-bye. "I should have taken care of you so much better, Amber," he said. "You make me feel like a complete fool," she said. As Frey's high-pitched voice listed the emotional costs of the relationship, Laci Peterson's mother, Sharon Rocha, and stepfather, Ron Grantski, rose in their front row seats and exited the courtroom Monday morning. Grantski made little secret of his distain for Peterson. Near the end of a Jan. 8 call, Peterson told Frey that Xanax and other medications had rendered Rocha emotionless. Grantski shook his head emphatically and put his hand over his eyes. They did not return for the afternoon court session. Police told Laci's family on Jan. 15 that Peterson had been having an affair. On Jan. 24, Frey held a press conference at the Modesto Police Department and publicly acknowledged the relationship. The phone conversations with Peterson continued until Feb. 19. PHONE LOGS HOME INDEX LACI TRIAL SCOTT ALIBI-WITNESS LIST WIRETAPS |
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| LACI & CONNER "My prayers are with the family of Laci and Conner. God bless them and guide them through these difficult times" Roger Taylor - Missouri - Guestbook |
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