| A videocassette with footage Scott or Laci Peterson likely took in 2002 was stolen from their home shortly after she disappeared, the man who found it said police told him. Whether the film contains evidence or will be used in Scott Peterson's trial is unclear. Eddie Gibson of Modesto said police Detective Doug Ridenour told him the videotape revealed no link to Laci's Christmas Eve 2002 disappearance. But authorities stayed silent about a burglary of the home shortly after Laci disappeared. Gibson found the camera a day later. He described footage of household items on the tape, including jewelry -- a topic of apparent interest to Scott Peterson's attorney, Mark Geragos. He questioned two witnesses about Laci Peterson's jewelry during her husband's preliminary hearing in October. Gibson said he can't remember if the footage of the jewelry showed a date. That portion of the tape appeared to be consistent with an inventory of valuables for a homeowner policy, he said. At Scott's preliminary hearing, their housecleaner confirmed seeing jewelry on a bedroom counter the day before Laci Peterson went missing. That testimony came under questioning by Geragos. The housekeeper, Margarita Nava, said she could not remember if Laci Peterson wore jewelry that day. Also at the hearing, Amy Rocha, Laci's sister, agreed under Geragos' questioning that they had inherited a "substantial amount" of jewelry from their paternal grandmother three weeks before Laci vanished. Geragos' intent regarding the jewelry was unclear. He called no witnesses during the hearing. Gibson also described footage of a sunrise or sunset filmed from a vehicle with the radio tuned to a Fresno station. Prosecutors have said Scott's affair with Amber supports a motive for slaying his pregnant wife. Gibson, who owns Fast Eddie's MOAB on Tully Road, said he found the video camera in a 50-gallon grease barrel in an alley behind the restaurant on Jan. 19, 2003. Cold weather had hardened the grease to a consistency a bit thinner than peanut butter, and the camera had sunk only an inch or two, Gibson said. He said he moonlights as a skydiving cameraman and figured he would try to clean the camera and use it as a backup. First, he ejected a cassette and used his equipment to view it. "I got knocked off my chair," Gibson said. "A rush went through my head when I spotted Laci on there; I was just connected to the nation's highest profile murder." Gibson said he saw: -The Petersons drinking a toast with another couple on New Year's Eve. -Scenes of traffic in the Petersons' neighborhood. Friends have said the couple was interested in a controversy, which started in summer 2002, over extending a nearby road and linking it to another street. -The sunset scene with audio from a Fresno radio station. He also saw a sign pointing to Coalinga, southwest of Fresno. -Someone stirring what Gibson thought might be chemicals in a glass container. The footage was a "really boring, long sequence" that did not show faces or record a voice. -Scott's truck, with a toolbox in the bed, parked in front of a wrecking yard. Gibson said it might have been hitched to a boat. (Authorities have said they believe Scott ferried Laci's body to San Francisco Bay in a newly purchased, 14-foot aluminum boat.) -A woman who might have been Amy Rocha cutting a man's hair. Rocha works at Salon Salon in Modesto and had cut Scott Peterson's hair while Laci watched on Dec. 23, 2002. -Laci entering a kitchen wearing what appeared to be a bathing suit with a towel wrapped around her waist. Someone had written "Happy Fourth of July" on a chalkboard in the background. (Photos taken inside the home after her disappearance showed a "Merry Christmas" message on a chalkboard) They had a swimming pool at their Covena Avenue home. -In the sequence, Laci began mixing a salad, Gibson said. "A (female) with her said, 'Smile at the camera, Lace,' and when she smiled, I could tell it was her," Gibson said. Laci's signature smile by that time was well-known in Modesto. So Gibson called police. Ridenour came a couple of days later, put the camera and tape in a plastic bag and left. Ridenour called later to say the camera had been stolen from the Peterson's home the day before Gibson recovered it. The detective told him it was "unrelated (to the missing person case), end of story," Gibson said. Ridenour told reporters, "Detectives don't believe the burglary is connected to the Peterson case," shortly before he retrieved the camera. Shortly after, police said they had identified a burglary suspect who cooperated and returned stolen items, but refused to say who the person was and what the items were. In July, police cited a court-imposed gag order issued in the case of Laci, refusing to discuss the burglary. Friday, Ridenour again refused to discuss the burglary, saying, "Anything Peterson, I can't talk about." Thursday, Scott's father, Lee, said he didn't know whether authorities had returned the video camera to his son. Adam Stewart, attorney for the Rocha family, said they did not know about the tape. During Peterson's preliminary hearing, Detective Al Brocchini testified that Kimberly McGregor, a neighbor, had entered the Peterson home Jan. 18, 2003. Sources said McGregor drank alcohol and left with several items. HOME INDEX LACI SCOTT AMBER EVIDENCE-NEWS ALIBI-WITNESS LIST TRIAL NEWS |
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| VIDEO of LACI & SCOTT FOUND March 14, 2004 |
| LACI & CONNER Forever in our Hearts |