A California jury convicted Scott Peterson of murdering his 27-year-old pregnant wife, Lacey, and their unborn son, Connor, in 2004 after a five-month trial.
Over the years, he has had his appeals rejected numerous times, but has successfully overturned the death penalty in favor of life in prison without the possibility of parole. But his latest appeal, picked up by the Los Angeles Innocence Project, alleges there is previously untested DNA evidence that points to someone else being responsible for the double murder.
Prosecutors disagree, pointing to a trove of evidence in a 337-page court filing that opposes the request for new DNA testing and the “overwhelming” case that led to his conviction in the first place. explained.
They pointed out that Peterson repeatedly lied to detectives, his mistress Amber Frey, and the media. They included a photo of him smiling at Laci Peterson’s wake days after her disappearance. But much of it is tied directly to his alibi, a boat trip in San Francisco Bay on the day his wife disappeared.
Prosecutor Scott Peterson asks judge to lock down killer’s latest appeal
A family photo shows Laci Peterson before she disappeared on Christmas Eve 2002. She was more than eight months pregnant at the time of her disappearance. Police later discovered her body and that of her unborn son Connor in San Francisco Bay. Her husband, Scott Peterson, was convicted of murdering them in 2004. (Getty Images)
Police said a police K-9 sniffed her at a boat launch in Berkeley. And they said her hair was recovered from needle-nose pliers recovered from his boat. The autopsy also suggested that her body was weighed down on the ocean floor before it was dismembered and washed ashore, and prosecutors said Peterson constructed multiple homemade anchors from concrete and rebar. It also includes evidence.
A photo of concrete dust found in the warehouse where Peterson’s boat was stored. Investigators believe the dust indicates he made multiple concrete anchors, but only one was recovered after his wife went missing. An autopsy revealed that her body may have been dismembered underwater with weight on her limbs. (Supreme Court of San Mateo County, California)
Prosecutors portrayed Peterson as a charming figure who showed up with dozens of roses and home-cooked meals.
When he met his mother-in-law for the first time, he handed her and his wife each a bouquet of flowers. In the weeks before the murder, Peterson had an affair with a woman named Amber Frey. He showed up on our second date with fresh groceries.
Prosecutors also pointed to the web of lies he told before his wife’s remains were washed ashore. Her friend claimed that when he found out that he was married, she died a month before his wife actually died.
When interviewed by detectives, he denied having an affair. In a television interview, he claimed that he told police about Frey “as soon as” his wife went missing.
Timeline: Laci Peterson Incident
Still image taken from police video of Scott Peterson during an interview with investigators on Christmas Day 2002, hours after his pregnant wife Laci Peterson was reported missing. It was photographed in (Supreme Court of San Mateo County, California)
Prosecutors said the suspect, who had bleached blonde hair and $15,000 in his possession, bought a Mercedes with cash and told the seller his name was “Jacqueline” before being arrested by police near the Mexican border. It is said that
The seller, who identified himself as Michael Griffin, asked if the car belonged to his wife.
Scott Peterson appears via video call for a status hearing in San Mateo County Superior Court on March 12, 2024 in Redwood City, California. (Andy Alfaro/Modesto Bee/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
“No, that’s my name,” Peterson replied, according to the filing. Griffin asked if it was a “French thing”.
“No, it’s like a boy named Sue,” Peterson told him. “My parents told me that. I call him Jack.”
On August 18, 2004 in Redwood City, California, Amber Frey, who unknowingly began dating Scott Peterson shortly before his wife was murdered, was arrested in San Mateo Superior County after Peterson’s trial was delayed. left the court. She became a key witness for the prosecution, and she recorded a phone call with the convicted murderer. (Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
To secure the boat, Peterson created a homemade anchor by pouring concrete into a container and leaving a steel ring sticking out.
Prosecutors said his wife’s hair was “crushed” between his teeth using needle-nose pliers found on the plane. A police K-9 sniffed her at the Berkeley Marina boat ramp, where Peterson told detectives he had left to go fishing.
Read the full submission – App users please click here:
After returning from a Berkeley marina where he allegedly dumped his wife’s remains overboard, Peterson returned to his Modesto home to find his dog on a leash in the backyard. He entered through the unlocked rear French doors, ate pizza and drank milk.
Scott Peterson and Amber Frey photographed at a Christmas party on December 14, 2002, before Laci Peterson was murdered and before Frey knew Scott Peterson was married. (Supreme Court of San Mateo County, California)
Prosecutors said police immediately challenged Peterson’s story and asked him why he was wearing so little clothing on a cold, cloudy day fishing. The man claimed to have changed his clothes and told police he had washed his fishing clothes. However, officers at the scene noted that the couple’s basket was full, and police found a pile of wet rags on top of the washing machine. Inside were wet jeans, a blue T-shirt and a green pullover, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said these photos of a smiling Scott Peterson were taken at Laci Peterson’s wake on New Year’s Eve 2002. Jurors found at the end of the 2004 trial that Scott Peterson killed her several days later. She was over eight months pregnant with her son Connor. (Supreme Court of San Mateo County, California)
The officer asked him what he was fishing for and what bait he used.
“At that point, the defendant stopped and looked blank for about a second, his eyes moved slightly and he hesitated to answer, then he mumbled something but did not answer the officer,” the prosecutor said. Stated. I have written.
A short time later, prosecutors said, officers saw Peterson walk out the front door, throw the flashlight on the ground and say, “Fuck.” He told several other people that he had gone golfing that day.
Peterson gave other contradictory statements to police. The suspect claimed that his wife had gone for a walk in a park near her, but other evidence suggested that she had stopped walking in the rough terrain there due to her pregnancy. was. He claimed that she was supposed to go grocery shopping the morning she went missing. Police found a receipt from the previous day in her wallet. He claimed that the handgun recovered from the glove box was used for pheasant hunting.
A pregnant district attorney’s office employee who is about the same height as Laci Peterson poses in various compartments of Scott Peterson’s boat, raising the possibility that he was able to fit her body on board It shows that there is a gender. (Supreme Court of San Mateo County, California)
Peterson has long suggested that suspects in a 2002 robbery at the Medina home across the street from where he lived with his wife may have killed her, but prosecutors have said the break-in occurred when she was already there. He said it happened at least two days after he disappeared.
Laci Peterson disappeared on Christmas Eve 2002. Dozens of people gathered to help search for her. Police dispatched a FLIR-equipped helicopter. There was no sign of her.
Prosecutors included in their filing a photo of Scott Peterson smiling during the solemn New Year’s Eve wake for Laci Peterson, who had not been found at the time. Shortly after midnight, he called Frey to wish him a Happy New Year. By then, she had learned of Laci Peterson’s disappearance through reporting on the case and had recorded the conversation for police.
Photo evidence shows a single homemade concrete boat anchor recovered from Scott Peterson’s warehouse. (Supreme Court of San Mateo County, California)
On April 13 and 14, 2003, the decomposing bodies of Lacey and Connor Peterson were found on a beach about a mile from where Peterson told police he had been fishing when his wife disappeared. was launched on. The missing woman’s body was found floating with her head, forearm and lower left leg missing, but her autopsy found no evidence that she had been mutilated. Instead, a forensic pathologist said her body was likely broken into pieces by the marine environment, with her limbs held in place. He concluded that she was still pregnant at the time of her death. He could not determine her cause of death.
Days later, police arrested Peterson near the Mexican border with a large amount of cash, bleach-blond hair, and a new goatee. He had his brother’s ID, four cell phones, outdoor equipment and a relative’s credit card, according to court documents.
In November 2004, a jury convicted him of first- and second-degree murder in the deaths of his wife and son.
lawyer Los Angeles Innocence Project They are seeking new DNA evidence for a hammer linked to the robbery across the street from the Petersons’ home and a soiled mattress found in a burnt-out van parked less than a mile away.
Click to get the FOX News app
Peterson has always maintained his innocence and is currently serving a life sentence.
He is scheduled to reappear in court on May 29 for a hearing on the DNA dispute.
FOX News’ Michael Lundin contributed to this report.
