GUILTY CA - Laci Peterson, 27, pregnant, Modesto, 24 Dec 2002 #2

[crussell821]

I watched the Netflix documentary last night. I know quite a bit about this case as I’ve followed it from the beginning. During the search for Laci, I was dating a guy who lived in Modesto and was in the area often. I remember all the buzz and activity.
This documentary just solidified, again, that the right man is in jail for this crime. Scott is a monster and he deserves to be locked away the rest of his life. MOO

 

[crussell821]

to add to your line of thought, burglars do not know to dump the body of their victim in a place you will later put yourself at to police.

And those burgers just HAPPENED to dump her body in the last place Scott was. Give me a break.

 

[NetSleuth_41]

Okay thank you for stating your position. That being said, who do you think did it?
Should Scott get away with this crime just because he left no forensic evidence like blood or DNA? Maybe he was good at cleanup. Circumstantial cases can be just as strong as Direct Evidence, It's not a crime show. Affairs are often motives for murder, and Scott also didn't want to be a father. Also he told Amber on Dec. 9th that it'd be his first Christmas without his wife. (That's pre-meditation). Sharon Rocha didn't know about the affair when she sang his praises. As far as his "odd behavior"- it's Guilty behavior. He was getting ready to flee. The dyed Orange hair, the $10,000 cash and camping gear in his trunk. I used to live in San Diego. Torrey Pines Golf Course is about a 30 min. drive to the US-Mexico border. The Death Penalty overturn is a California thing. Our governor hasn't put anyone to death in years, so that's irrelevant. And I think the Innocence Project is fishing. The judge only granted DNA testing on one item of out many that they requested.

First off, thank you for being cordial and civil and not attacking me for having a different opinion. I appreciate that!!
I don't want to see ANYONE get away with this crime. I want whomever did this to Laci to spend the rest of their life in prison. Period. I just don't think it is Scott. It has also come to light that the actual investigation into what happened to Laci, specifically Scott, was not conducted properly with evidence being overlooked. I completely agree with you that there were behaviours and actions of his that would make anyone suspect him. But key word being there suspect him which is different than him actually being the killer. Let me just respond to a couple of your points:

Affairs are often motives for murder - Yes, they absolutely can be but in my opinion, with affairs unfortunately being such a common thing, to me it doesn't tell me anything. He had an affair, he's a liar and a cheat for sure, but a murderer? I am not convinced

Sharon Rocha didn't know about the affair when she sang his praises - You are absolutely right, she did not know about the affair at the time she gave those statements and press conference. But, as soon as the affair came out, she and the rest of Laci's family completely turned on Scott. And, I can understand why. Here it is, their daughter and her unborn child are missing and on top of that unimaginable stress and despair, they find out that their son-in-law was cheating on their daughter. With everything else they were dealing it, I can see how that would be enough for them to say he is guilty. The palpable anger they must have felt finding that out on top of their sadness.

I also fully agree with you that it appears he was intending to flee. But, if I was the prime suspect in a murder that I absolutely knew I was not guilty of and the police were honing in on me, it may be enough for me to be paranoid and scared and anxious and for me to want to get the hell out of there. I know it would be easy to say "well if someone isn't guilty than why are they fleeing?" but look at it from the perspective of, holy F, I didn't do this and I am terrified. I want to just run away.

 

[charminglane]

First off, thank you for being cordial and civil and not attacking me for having a different opinion. I appreciate that!!
I don't want to see ANYONE get away with this crime. I want whomever did this to Laci to spend the rest of their life in prison. Period. I just don't think it is Scott. It has also come to light that the actual investigation into what happened to Laci, specifically Scott, was not conducted properly with evidence being overlooked. I completely agree with you that there were behaviours and actions of his that would make anyone suspect him. But key word being there suspect him which is different than him actually being the killer. Let me just respond to a couple of your points:

Affairs are often motives for murder - Yes, they absolutely can be but in my opinion, with affairs unfortunately being such a common thing, to me it doesn't tell me anything. He had an affair, he's a liar and a cheat for sure, but a murderer? I am not convinced

Sharon Rocha didn't know about the affair when she sang his praises - You are absolutely right, she did not know about the affair at the time she gave those statements and press conference. But, as soon as the affair came out, she and the rest of Laci's family completely turned on Scott. And, I can understand why. Here it is, their daughter and her unborn child are missing and on top of that unimaginable stress and despair, they find out that their son-in-law was cheating on their daughter. With everything else they were dealing it, I can see how that would be enough for them to say he is guilty. The palpable anger they must have felt finding that out on top of their sadness.

I also fully agree with you that it appears he was intending to flee. But, if I was the prime suspect in a murder that I absolutely knew I was not guilty of and the police were honing in on me, it may be enough for me to be paranoid and scared and anxious and for me to want to get the hell out of there. I know it would be easy to say "well if someone isn't guilty than why are they fleeing?" but look at it from the perspective of, holy F, I didn't do this and I am terrified. I want to just run away.

Would you bleach your hair before you innocently left?

 

[NetSleuth_41]

Scott sold Laci's car while she was missing. He looked into listing the house. He turned the nursery into a storage room. Circumstantial evidence.

On the day Laci was reported missing, Scott was fishing in the exact location where the bodies were later found washed on shore. I think she was murdered the night before.

Scott mimicked two things that Laci did every morning. He watched Martha Stewart, and checked the internet for sunflower umbrellas and tennis bracelets. Laci did not open the curtains on December 24, and Scott didn't think to open them, like she did every morning.

Altogether, circumstantial evidence explains what happened. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts ~ Aristotle

In the recording where he talks about selling the house, he says that he is looking to put it on the market ASAP because "there's no way if Laci comes back that we're going to stay there" That is a direct quote. He clearly, with his tone, indicates in this response that with everything that has happened, he would want them to move somewhere else, a different home, for a 'fresh start'. Turning the nursery into a storage room (which he didn't do, he just stored things there, he did not clear it out and make it a storage room, specifically) could have been his way of dealing with the missing/loss of his unborn child. Distracting himself from the room and starting to use it for something else. People handle grief and extreme emotion in a myriad of ways.

Scott told the authorities directly where he was fishing. Why would Scott, if he was the murderer, tell police exactly where he was fishing, knowing that is where he disposed of her body and knowing that they would put two and two together? A murderer isn't going to tell police they were in basically the exact same area/waters where they disposed of a body. Scott was honest with them about where he was fishing and his location because he didn't murder her and he wasn't the one that disposed of her body.

I don't know how your last points are circumstantial evidence. Scott said he watched the Martha Stewart program with Laci and it was proven that the topics on the program, about the meringue that he tells investigators about, were in fact what that episode was about on that date. He could have easily gotten up with Laci that morning and took part in her morning and what she was doing before he left.

 

[NetSleuth_41]

Would you bleach your hair before you innocently left?

If I was terrified that the police were coming after me for a crime I did not commit and was THAT scared, yeah, I would probably do something like that. I never said he innocently left. I didn't say that at all.

 

[NetSleuth_41]

If not Scott, then who, pray tell.......

Just because we don't know, if not Scott, also does not mean it was Scott. There are countless cases where an innocent person goes to jail OR a killer isn't caught for several years.

 

[charminglane]

If I was terrified that the police were coming after me for a crime I did not commit and was THAT scared, yeah, I would probably do something like that. I never said he innocently left. I didn't say that at all.

Correct, if YOU were innocent and left.

 

[I am not Sherlock H.]

I believe the convicted murdering felon SP had confidence in where and how he had placed Laci (and unborn Conner) in that bay. And he did not expect the currents, bay elements, and time to cause portions of the remains to free themselves from their weights.

And that is why IIRC he confidently spoke as to where he had been that day to ‘fish’. He didn’t expect police investigators to readily find any remnants of the body. But it seems mother nature and time had other plans.

IIRC I seem to also remember concrete weights that were believed fashioned to weight the remains, and there were some matches and similarities to items and / or materials found at the Peterson residence? It’s been ~22 years so my recollection could be a tad fuzzy. MOO