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| Defense grills cop on theft
Thursday - July 22, 2004 The defense again tried to deflect suspicion from Scott Peterson, this time by pointing to a prostitute who police say stole checks from his business mailbox after his pregnant wife disappeared. Prosecutors say Peterson murdered his wife just before Christmas 2002 so he could be with his new girlfriend, Amber Frey. On Tuesday, they called to the stand a police detective who said Peterson had purchased a mailbox at a Mailboxes Etc. the day before his wife was reported missing -- implying he intended to use it to get letters from Frey. Geragos says his client purchased the box because people were stealing mail from the business complex where he stored fertilizer for his job as a salesman, and Wednesday a police detective testified during cross-examination that in fact such thefts were a common problem at the complex. In fact, said Detective Mike Hermosa, just one month after Laci disappeared, a woman stole checks from Scott Peterson's mailbox at the warehouse and gave them to an Asian gang in exchange for methamphetamine. Hermosa said the woman, whom he arrested, stole checks that had Laci and Scott Peterson's names on them on Jan. 22, 2003. Geragos said there were several reasons police should have looked carefully at the woman in Laci's disappearance. Hermosa said the woman had suffered a miscarriage in July 2002 -- raising the implication that she might have had a motive for kidnapping Laci, who was eight months pregnant when she vanished that December. In response to Geragos' questions, Hermosa said the woman, who had admitted to being on a drug binge for days, reported being high on methamphetamine on Dec. 24, 2002, the day Laci was reported missing. She said she had nothing to do with the disappearance and had been hanging out with gang members that day. On cross-examination, Peterson's lawyer Mark Geragos asked Hermosa if he checked the woman's alibi for Dec. 24, 2002, the date Laci was reported missing. "No, I never did that, sir,'' Hermosa replied. Under questioning from prosecutors, Hermosa later added that police did not believe the woman had anything to do with Laci Peterson's disappearance. The woman admitted stealing the checks from the Petersons and giving them to Asian gang members to use for identity theft, Hermosa said. The woman told police that gang members had taught her how to break into the mailboxes and provided her a car and a place to stay in exchange for the stolen mail. The woman told the investigators that she would have been too frightened to steal the mail out of the couple's home mailbox. Prosecutor's pointed out the checks were stolen after Laci vanished, implying the woman wasn't involved in her disappearance. HOME INDEX LACI SCOTT TRIAL WITNESS LIST EVIDENCE PHOTOS EVIDENCE NEWS ATTORNEYS WIRETAPS AUTOPSY |
| Mark Geragos & Pat Harris |
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| LACI & CONNER Forever In Our Hearts |
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