Scott Peterson seeking a new trial, claims he is innocent
Fox News’ Claudia Cowan on Scott Peterson’s efforts to seek a new trial after being convicted of killing his wife and unborn child in 2002.
Laci Peterson's mom revealed in a new interview that she had uneasy feelings about her former son-in-law Scott as soon as she met him – years before he would be convicted of killing his pregnant wife and dumping her remains in the San Francisco Bay.
"I remember, before I met Scott, Laci telling me all these things about him," Sharon Rocha, Laci Peterson's mother, told interviewers for a new Netflix docuseries. "And I remembered saying, as her mother, 'I hope he's not filling her with crap.'"
"I've learned to go for my gut feeling," she added.
Laci Peterson and Sharon Rocha in an undated family photo appearing in the forthcoming docuseries, "American Murder: Laci Peterson." (Courtesy of Netflix)
"American Murder: Laci Peterson" was directed by Skye Borgman and begins streaming on Aug. 14 and features interviews with Rocha, another key figure in the shocking case – her son-in-law's former mistress Amber Frey, who helped prosecutors secure the conviction.
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During his 2004 murder trial, prosecutors painted Peterson as a charmer who would show up with dozens of roses and home-cooked meals.
When he first met Rocha, he handed her and Laci each a bouquet.
Laci Peterson's mother, Sharon Rocha, sits for an interview in the forthcoming docuseries, "American Murder: Laci Peterson." (Courtesy of Netflix)
The charm carried over into his extramarital affair with a woman named Amber Frey, who grew concerned about his apparent lies and shared evidence with police after she heard about Laci's disappearance. In the weeks before the murder, he had showed up to their second date with fresh groceries and offered to cook at her place.
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 him and cooperated with law enforcement
- Frey told police in April 2003 that Peterson told her his wife was dead a month before she actually went missing
- In recorded calls, he told her he didn't want to be a father and was considering a vasectomy, according to court documents
- Peterson, who lived in Modesto at the time of the murders, told police he was fishing in Berkeley the day his wife disappeared
- Her remains and the remains of their son Conner were discovered in the San Francisco Bay
- Prosecutors maintained the Medina burglary, across the street from the Peterson home, happened on Dec. 26, after Laci Peterson was already missing
- Peterson had bleached his hair blonde and was carrying more than $10,000 cash and his brother's passport near the Mexico border when he was arrested after Frey came forward
Scott Peterson and Laci Peterson in a still photo appearing in the forthcoming docuseries, "American Murder: Laci Peterson." (Courtesy of Netflix)
Peterson previously declined to discuss the case with Fox News Digital, citing an ongoing appeal – but he is expected to break his silence for the first time in two decades in another forthcoming interview on Peacock, called "Face to Face with Scott Peterson."
Peterson has always denied that he killed his wife and is still fighting his conviction in court, although he lost multiple appeals over the last 20 years and suffered a major defeat in his recent quest for additional DNA testing earlier this year. He is serving a sentence of life in prison without parole after he succeeded in getting his original death sentence overturned.
Laci Peterson was 27 years old and 8 months pregnant when she vanished on Christmas Eve in 2002.
Prosecutors said police recovered Laci Peterson's hair from the teeth of these needle-nosed pliers, which they found on her husband and convicted killer Scott Peterson's boat. (Superior Court of California, San Mateo County)
Peterson had claimed she went missing while he was fishing in Berkeley, but at trial, prosecutors revealed that a pair of needle-nosed pliers found on board his boat had his wife's hair "mashed" between the teeth – and a police K-9 picked up her scent at the Berkeley Marina's boat ramp, where Peterson told detectives he'd launched the vessel.
He also made a homemade anchor by pouring concrete into a container and leaving a steel loop sticking out. Prosecutors suggested he made more and used them to try and hold his his wife's body on the seafloor.
On April 13 and 14, 2003, the decomposed bodies of Laci and Conner Peterson washed ashore about a mile from where Peterson told police he was fishing when his wife vanished.
An evidence photo shows the single homemade concrete boat anchor recovered from Scott Peterson's warehouse. (Superior Court of California, San Mateo County)
She was missing both forearms, her lower left leg and her head, but investigators said there was no evidence she'd been dismembered.
The forensic pathologist found it was likely that her body had been broken apart by the marine environment and that her limbs were probably anchored in place. He concluded that she was still pregnant at her time of death. He was unable to determine her cause of death.
Amber Frey, former mistress of murder suspect Scott Peterson, leaves the San Mateo Superior County Courthouse after a delay in Peterson's trial August 18, 2004 in Redwood City, California. Frey, was a key prosecution witness. (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Days later, police arrested Peterson near the Mexico border with a stack of cash, bleach-blonde hair and a new goatee. He had his brother's identification, four cellphones, outdoor gear and a relative's credit card, according to court documents.
In November 2004, jurors found him guilty of first- and second-degree murder for the deaths of his wife and son.
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