Laci Peterson’s mother said in a new interview that she had fears for her former stepson Scott from the moment she met him, years before he was convicted of killing his pregnant wife and dumping her body in San Francisco Bay.
“I remember Laci telling me stuff about Scott before she met him,” Laci Peterson’s mother, Sharon Rocha, said in an interview for the new Netflix documentary series, “and I remember as a mother I said, ‘I hope he’s not feeding her any crap.'”
“I learned to follow my instincts,” she added.
Prosecutor Scott Peterson presents ‘overwhelming evidence’ against murderer’s new appeal in 337-page document
An undated family photo of Laci Peterson and Sharon Rocha, featured in the upcoming documentary series “American Murder: Laci Peterson.” (Courtesy of Netflix)
“American Murder: Laci Peterson,” directed by Skye Borgman and available to stream from Aug. 14, features interviews with another key figure in the shocking case: Amber Frey, her stepson’s former mistress who helped prosecutors secure a conviction.
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During his 2004 murder trial, prosecutors portrayed Peterson as a charming man who would show up bearing dozens of roses and home-cooked meals.
When he met Rocha for the first time, he presented her and Rashi with a bouquet of flowers each.
Laci Peterson’s mother, Sharon Rocha, is interviewed for the upcoming documentary series “American Murder: Laci Peterson.” (Courtesy of Netflix)
That attraction continued into his affair with a woman named Amber Frey, who, concerned by his apparent lies after hearing of Lacie’s disappearance, gave evidence to the police. A few weeks before the murder, he showed up on their second date with fresh groceries and offered to cook for her at her house.
Timeline: The Laci Peterson Case
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Key evidence against Scott Peterson:
- Peterson was having an affair with a woman named Amber Frey, who testified against Peterson and cooperated with law enforcement.
- Frey told police in April 2003 that Peterson told him his wife had died a month before she went missing.
- In the recorded call, he told her he didn’t want to be a father and was considering getting a vasectomy, according to court documents.
- Peterson, who was living in Modesto at the time of the murder, told police he had been fishing in Berkeley the day his wife disappeared.
- Her body and that of her son, Connor, were found in San Francisco Bay.
- Prosecutors argued that the robbery in Medina, across the street from the Peterson home, happened on Dec. 26, after Laci Peterson was already missing.
- Peterson had dyed his hair blonde and was arrested near the Mexican border with more than $10,000 in cash and his brother’s passport when Frey came forward.
A still of Scott Peterson and Laci Peterson, featured in the upcoming documentary series “American Murder: Laci Peterson.” (Courtesy of Netflix)
Peterson had previously declined to discuss the matter with Fox News Digital, citing his ongoing appeal, but is expected to break his silence for the first time in 20 years in another interview on Peacock titled “Face to Face with Scott Peterson.”
Peterson has always denied killing his wife and has fought his conviction in court, but has lost multiple appeals over the past two decades and suffered a major defeat earlier this year in a lawsuit seeking additional DNA testing. He is serving a life sentence without parole after successfully challenging his original death sentence.
Laci Peterson was 27 years old and eight months pregnant when she disappeared on Christmas Eve 2002.
Prosecutors said police recovered Laci Peterson’s hair from the teeth of the pliers on the boat of her husband, convicted murderer Scott Peterson. (California Superior Court, County of San Mateo)
Peterson claimed his wife had disappeared while he was fishing in Berkeley, but at trial prosecutors said her hair had been “crushed” between the teeth of a pair of pliers found on his boat, and a police dog picked up her scent at a boat launch at Berkeley Marina, where Peterson told detectives he had sailed.
He also created a homemade anchor by pouring concrete into a container with a steel ring protruding from it, and prosecutors speculate he may have made more anchors to use to keep his wife’s body on the ocean floor.
On April 13 and 14, 2003, the decomposed bodies of Laci and Connor Peterson washed up on shore about a mile from where Peterson told police he had been fishing when his wife disappeared.
Photographic evidence shows one homemade concrete boat anchor recovered from Scott Peterson’s shed. (California Superior Court, County of San Mateo)
She was missing both forearms, the lower left leg and her head, but investigators said there was no sign she had been mutilated.
A forensic pathologist concluded that her body was likely dismembered by the marine environment and that her limbs were set in place. He concluded that she was still pregnant at the time of her death. The cause of death could not be determined.
Amber Frey, the former mistress of murder suspect Scott Peterson, leaves the San Mateo-Superior County Courthouse after a postponement of Peterson’s trial in Redwood City, California, on August 18, 2004. Frey was a star witness for the prosecution. (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
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A few days later, Police make arrests Peterson was found near the Mexican border with a stack of cash, bleached blonde hair and a new beard. He also had his brother’s identification, four cell phones, outdoor gear and a relative’s credit card, according to court documents.
In November 2004, a jury found him guilty of first- and second-degree murder in the deaths of his wife and son.
