Laci Peterson was the second child of Dennis Rocha and Sharon Anderson. She attended California Polytechnic State University studying ornamental horticulture, this is where she met her husband Scott Peterson. They got engaged two month before graduation and married soon after.Missing:
On Christmas Eve of 2002, Laci Peterson was reported missing by her husband. Search parties, helicopters and rescue unit searched all day for her with no luck. Posters were put up rewarding twenty five thousands at first, then to two hundred and fifty thousand then finally to five hundred thousand. Still no one was able to locate her. In April of 2003, a women was walking her dog when she found a male fetus near the San Francisco bay. One day later, a woman's body was discovered a mile away. The male fetus had 1.5 loops of nylon tape around its neck, there were also distinct cut marks on the body. The women was found and the autopsy concluded that the women was recently pregnant and the woman was missing her right foot, both forearms, left leg from the knee and was wearing creamed colored maternity pants and shirt. DNA testing was done on both body and concluded that the bodies were indeed Laci and her son, which Scott named him Conner. The medical examiner confirmed that the birth was not coffin birth.
Trial:
Scott at first was reluctant to talk to the press, however, Laci's brother claimed Scott was innoncent. After further investigation, it was revealed that Scott had numerous affairs. Shawn Sibley, one of Scott's friends quoted Scott saying "I should put a name tag saying 'horny bastart' to attract more women". Shawn then introduced him to Amber Frey, a therapist and they started to have an affair. During the trial, it was revealed that Amber Frey, upon hearing that Laci disappeared, immediately called the police and told them about her relationship with Scott. She also quoted him saying, two weeks before Laci disappeared, "I am a widower and it would be my first christmas without my wife". On April 13, 2003, Scott Peterson was arrested at La Jolla, California in a golf course parking lot. The police found numerous suspicious items in the trunk of his car, these items include: 15,000 dollars in cash, four cell phones, camping materials, a gun, a map of Amber Frey's place, his brother's driver license and 12 viagra tablets. Scott was later found guilty of first degree murder and was put on death row for cruel, heartless, and uncaring murder.Bibliography:
http://www.nrlc.org/federal/unbornvictims/keypointsuvva/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Laci_Peterson
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/law/12/11/court.archive.peterson10/
Disturbing but very interesting article! I had never heard about this case before. To add to the alarming nature of the case, I researched some more and found that the autopsy report also stated that Laci was found decapitated. I wonder what would drive someone to commit such a violent act.
ReplyDeletehttp://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=90600