| Before Frey, two other affairs for Peterson, detective says September 28, 2004 Scott Peterson cheated on his wife with two other women before his tryst with Amber Frey, an investigator conceded at the fertilizer salesman's capital trial Monday. Modesto police detective Craig Grogan acknowledged under cross-examination that Peterson lied to both women about his marital status — as he did with Frey — and that his wife knew of at least one of the affairs and forgave him, as he claims she did with Frey. One woman, a college classmate, discovered that Peterson was married when Laci Peterson gave him a passionate kiss at graduation. Another found out when she dropped by Peterson's apartment unannounced. "The way she found out Scott Peterson was married was she had walked in on him and Laci in bed together," defense lawyer Mark Geragos asked Grogan, the lead investigator in the case. "Yes," the detective replied. He said the women described the relationships to police investigating Laci Peterson's disappearance. Peterson, 31, insists he told his pregnant wife of his relationship with Amber Frey in early December 2002 and that she quickly "made peace" with the affair. Prosecutors and the victim's family have said the 27-year-old mother-to-be, known for her feistiness, would never have tolerated such an arrangement. But the accounts of Peterson's former lovers indicate she had taken him back before and without confiding in friends or family. The defense got additional support Monday when Grogan recalled a conversation he had with Peterson's half-sister about Frey. Anne Bird told the detective that Peterson had told her his wife was "extremely pissed" when she learned about the massage therapist but "put it on the back burner" because they had weathered adultery before and she wanted to focus on the upcoming birth of their child. In television interviews, Peterson said his wife was not happy about the affair with Frey, which began Nov. 20, but that she accepted it. It was not something she wanted to end the marriage over, he said. Peterson also allegedly told Bird it was his wife's idea to keep the infidelity a secret, according to Grogan. In that conversation, Laci Peterson had singled out her stepfather, Ron Grantski, as a reason for secrecy, according to Grogan's account. "Laci didn't like him and she didn't want her mother or he to know about the affair at all ... she said Laci was very adamant about it," Geragos said, reading from Grogan's report. Prosecutor Birgit Fladager objected to the third- and fourth-hand account as "self-serving" and hearsay, but Judge Alfred Delucchi allowed the testimony, saying the jury could use it to determine the "reasonableness of the investigation." Peterson has accused the Modesto police of deciding immediately that he was the culprit and then refusing to accept his explanations or investigate other possible assailants. Grogan also admitted that a close friend of Laci Peterson said the expectant mother expressed a lack of interest in sex just a few days before her disappearance. Renee Tomlinson said her high school pal told her in a Dec. 20, 2004, talk that sex was "not a priority anymore" because of her pregnancy. The defense is likely to argue the relationship with Frey was purely physical and not the type of relationship that would lead Peterson to kill his wife of five years. -GROGAN INDEX HOME INDEX LACI SCOTT TRIAL ALIBI-WITNESS LIST WIRETAPS MAGAZINES SCOTT'S AFFAIRS AUTOPSY |
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| RON GRANTSKI |
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| RENEE TOMLINSON |
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| LACI & CONNER MAY THE TRUTH BE TOLD |
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| ANNE BIRD |