The Scott Peterson Case
Scott Peterson Case
• Laci Rocha Peterson, 27,
was nearly eight months
pregnant with her first
child on Dec. 24, 2002,
when her stepfather
reported her missing
from her Modesto, Calif.,
home.
• College sweethearts
Laci and Scott
Peterson were married
five years at the time
of her disappearance.
Scott Peterson said he
had gone fishing
Christmas Eve
morning and returned
home to find his wife
gone.
• Friends and family
who believed the
Petersons were a
happy couple were
shocked to learn Scott
Peterson was having
an extramarital affair
with Amber Frey, a
single mom who says
she was unaware
Scott was married.
• The day before Laci
Peterson went
missing, she went with
her husband when he
got a haircut at her
sister’s salon. It was
the last time Laci
Peterson’s family saw
her alive.
• Peterson belonged to
the Del Rio Country
Club and according to
his sister-in-law, Amy
Rocha, had firm plans
to golf there on Dec.
24, 2002, the day his
wife disappeared.
• Scott Peterson promised
his wife and sister-in-law,
Amy Rocha, that he
would pick up a gift
basket from Vella Market
Christmas Eve while he
was in the area golfing.
But he was a no-show at
the store and when
Rocha called his
cellphone that afternoon,
there was no answer.
• The extensive search for
Laci included regular
searches in San
Francisco Bay. The
partial corpses of Laci
and her unborn son,
Connor, washed up on
shore in April. After the
gruesome discovery,
divers continued
searching the waters for
more evidence.
• Peterson stored his
fishing boat in this
warehouse, which he
used for his job as a
fertilizer salesman.
After Laci Peterson
disappeared, police
searched the building
and found a black
hair on pliers in the
bottom of the boat.
The FBI linked the
hair to the missing
woman.
• Four months after her
disappearance, Scott
Peterson was arrested
for the murders of his
wife and unborn son.
Peterson was captured
in San Diego after police
pulled him over driving a
Mercedes-Benz.
• At the time of his
arrest, Peterson
had grown a beard
and dyed his dark
brown hair blond.
He was also
carrying $10,000 in
cash and his
brother's
identification.
• Peterson went back
to his roots for a
May 2003 pretrial
hearing, appearing
in court with his
natural brown hair
color and a cleanshaven face.
• Peterson wanted all
members of the media
and the public barred
from his preliminary
hearing. Judge Al
Girolami denied that
request, but prevented
cameras in the court
for the proceeding.
• Amber Frey leaves court
with a police escort after
giving her first day of
testimony. Prosecutors
asked Frey about her
courtship with Peterson,
which lasted only six
weeks and ended when
police informed Frey that
the man she thought was
single was a suspect in his
pregnant wife’s
disappearance.
• Scott Peterson
was arraigned on
two counts of
murder on April
20, 2003, and
could face the
death penalty if
convicted.
• Because he faces two
murder charges, one
for his wife and one for
his unborn son,
Peterson, seen with
his attorney, Mark
Geragos, is eligible for
the death penalty
under California law.
• Jurors found Scott
Peterson guilty of firstdegree murder in the
slaying of his pregnant
wife, Laci, and of
second-degree murder
in the death of his
unborn son, Conner.
The conviction means
Peterson will face the
death penalty.
• Three witnesses
testified that Peterson's
behavior at the
candlelight vigil
seemed inappropriate
for a worried husband.
One woman said he
showed no emotion
during the service and
was grinning as he
"socialized" with friends
afterwards. The jurors
saw this photo which
appeared in the
Modesto Bee.
So…what are the signs?
Why do some men murder their
wives and children? Are women
murderers too?
Latest
cases:
Neil Entwistle, a British man charged with killing
his wife and infant daughter, is scheduled to go
on trial in October.
James Keown, a radio reporter accused of
killing his wife by spiking her Gatorade with
antifreeze, is also expected to go on trial this
year.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/07/22/why_do_men_kill_t
heir_wives?mode=PF
The Department of Justice statistics suggest
that approximately one-third of intrafamilial
killings are done by women, and that more
than 50 percent of murders of children by a
parent are done by the mother.
Nevertheless, when it comes to wiping out
an entire family, fathers lead the pack, with
adolescent sons next on the list.
Why do you think this is so?
EXAMPLES:
1. In 1989, Robert Lynch owned a business that went into decline. He
went into debt, but then his wife got pregnant with their fourth child.
Unable to cope with the extra burden, he shot them all and killed
himself.
2. Bruce Sweazy had been laid off and had become suicidal. He got a
prescription for an antidepressant, which he declined to take. Then one
day in 1994, he used a long-handled ax to hack his wife and three sons
to death before shooting himself in the chest.
3. A doctor in Philadelphia, Anthony Paul, had a severely arthritic wife,
a retarded and asthmatic daughter and a healthy son. To end the
sufferings of his family, but not leave his son to be a ward of the state,
he planned a suicide pact with three unwilling victims. He administered
a lethal dose of medication to each of them before killing himself.
Despite the differences among these scenarios, there is a
common profile of men who have killed their wives and
children.
PROFILE:
1. Most are white males in their 30s or 40s who react badly
to stress and who view their families as extensions of
themselves.
2. They typically use a firearm or knife that they have owned
for some time. Often they're depressed or intoxicated.
3.Invariably they're described as controlling and quite
dependent on their families being what they envision, and
believing that they are the only ones who can fulfill the
family's needs.
http://www2.oprah.com/video/20
0310/oats/tows_after_20031016
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