| MARTIN LAFFER
Accountant for Defense PAGE 1 |
| Expert: Scott Peterson did not stand to profit from wife's murder Monday, October 18, 2004 Scott Peterson had no money motive to kill his pregnant wife and unborn son, a financial expert testified Monday, the first day of the fertilizer salesman's defense. A certified public accountant from Beverly Hills and a former criminal investigator for the Internal Revenue Service was hired by the defense to look over Peterson's financial documents and to research Tradecorp. "From a financial standpoint, he would've been better off if they were alive," forensic accountant Martin Laffer told jurors at Peterson's capital trial, calling the Prosecutions account of the Peterson's finances as "fuzzy math". He said the murders of defendant's wife, Laci, and her unborn son meant Peterson would not share in an estimated $160,000 inheritance his 27-year-old spouse was poised to receive on her 30th birthday. Instead, that money will go to her relatives, Laffer said. Laffer, however, said the auditor who testified for the prosecution, Gary Nienhause, overstated Peterson's financial woes. "There was no indication they were living beyond their means," Laffer said. Laffer said the couple was making more than they were spending. Scott Peterson's fertilizer business was owned by a Spanish corporation that had reported earnings of $500 million in 2002, the year Laci disappeared and was planning to subsidize losses of its subsidiary for at least four years. "The Modesto auditor (who testified for the prosecution) made it sound like the business was going into bankruptcy, and that just isn't true," Laffer said. Even if it was, he said, Peterson had no financial obligations to the company. He was merely an employee. As far as their personal finances, Laffer said the Petersons' records showed that the couple was never late with bills and even paid extra toward the mortgage each month. He said Nienhuis relied on outdated financial data and noted that Peterson was paying more toward his mortgage each month than the bank required. He said the fertilizer operation Peterson was running for a Spanish conglomerate was expected to lose money because it was a start-up, but that the lack of profit had no financial consequences for Peterson personally. "He would have none of the liabilities of the corporation," Laffer said, adding that his bosses in Europe were pleased enough with his performance to reward him with a year-end bonus. "I didn't see any indication that they were living beyond their means," he said. Furthermore, Laci Peterson was going to inherit more than $150,000 from her grandmother's estate in four years, when she turned 30, and would receive a portion of $2.4 million when her grandfather died, he said. "Was there any financial motivation," Geragos asked, "for Scott Peterson to seek any harm to come to Laci Peterson or Conner?" "No, I concluded just the opposite. There was all this money sitting out there and with both of their demises he wouldn't get anything," the accountant said, referring to the deaths of Laci Peterson and the couple's unborn child. "From a financial standpoint he would have been better off if they were alive." Prosecutors will cross-examine Laffer Tuesday. HOME INDEX LACI SCOTT TRIAL ALIBI-WITNESS LIST WIRETAPS AUTOPSY |
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| LACI & CONNER "They did not deserve to be murdered. Laci just seemed like everyones friend." ANDREA KAGAN ~ Illinois ~ GUESTBOOK |
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