| Expert: Peterson researched extensively before San Francisco Bay trip ~ Prosecutors work to show premeditation ~ August 4, 2004 - Story in part by Harriet Ryan Scott Peterson looked for used boats on the Internet a day after a friend of his mistress confronted him about being married. Prosecutors put a computer expert on the witness stand to help prove their theory that Scott used the Internet while plotting the murder of his pregnant wife, Laci. Five computer hard drives seized from Peterson's home and office showed he checked several Web sites using terms such as "pacific, boat ramp" and other seemingly innocuous words for information on fishing, currents in San Francisco Bay and area boat ramps, and to purchase a gift for his mistress, Lydell Wall of the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department High Tech Crimes Task Force testified. The expert walked jurors through a minute-by-minute account of Peterson's Internet usage on one particular weekend about two weeks before his wife, Laci, disappeared. He said sales ads for used boats had been searched on the Modesto Bee & Fresno Bee Web sites on Dec. 7& 8, 2002. Scott used one of four laptops he owned to search ads on Saturday December 7, 2002. The following day, he visited a plethora of Web sites about the San Francisco Bay and looked at maps, fishing reports and a U.S. Geological Survey chart of water currents. The chart was "clickable," allowing users to enlarge specific areas, Wall said, and Peterson zoomed in on an area of the bay that included Brooks Island. He later told police he was fishing off Brooks Island December 24 when his wife went missing. A hydrologist from the USGS is expected to testify that the location of Laci Peterson's remains and those of the child she was carrying indicate they floated ashore from a position near the island. The day after he researched the currents, Peterson bought a 14-foot fishing boat and told Amber Frey, that he had once been married but had "lost" his wife and would be spending his first Christmas season alone. Prosecutors have hinted that Peterson hatched the murder plan that weekend after learning his mistress was about to find out he was married. Prosecutors allege Peterson murdered his wife, Laci, in their Modesto home around Dec. 24, 2002, then drove to the bay and dumped her weighted body from a small boat he had purchased just weeks earlier. The badly decomposed remains of Laci Peterson and the couple's fetus washed ashore in April 2003, not far from where Scott Peterson said he launched a solo fishing trip the day she vanished. The Dec. 7 date is important because Shawn Sibley, the woman who set Peterson up with Amber Frey, his mistress, testified earlier in the trial that she confronted him on Dec. 6 after learning he was married. Wall also said Peterson received e-mails from Sibley a month before his wife went missing but did not discuss the contents. Wall also analyzed e-mail and said one December 23 message concerned a gift Peterson had shipped to Frey. The e-mail receipt identifies the item as a "Star Theater 2." According to its manufacturer, the Star Theater 2 is a home planetarium that projects light in the shape of stars and planets on ceilings. Peterson's second date with Frey included star-gazing, according to a police report obtained by Court TV's Catherine Crier. Wall also showed jurors files from eBay that indicated Peterson was selling a diamond watch inherited by his wife. Her sister, Amy Rocha, testified that Laci Peterson found the watch too gaudy to wear. Prosecutor Dave Harris noted the online ad listed Scott Peterson as the seller. Wall said Peterson thoroughly researched how to fish for sturgeon and striped bass on San Francisco Bay. Peterson told police that's what he was fishing for the day his wife disappeared, but prosecutors say his gear was not suited for catching such fish. Wall later testified that Peterson searched Web sites from the computer in the warehouse where he stored the boat prosecutors allege he used to dump Laci's body. He said Peterson spent about 26 minutes on the computer on the morning of Dec. 24, 2002 — the same day prosecutors claim he disposed of the body. The 31-year-old defendant always appears engaged in court proceedings, but as Wall described his Internet habits, Peterson seemed to pay especially close attention. He whispered to his lawyers while flipping through evidence binders and occasionally pointing at the large projection screen displaying images of the sites. HOME INDEX LACI SCOTT TRIAL ALIBI-WITNESS LIST EVIDENCE-NEWS INCONSISTENT STATEMENTS WIRETAPS |
| LACI & CONNER "I have been watching the case since the very beginning and it is my solemn hope that justice will prevail." Susan Robertson ~ CA ~ Guestbook |
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