Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Scott Peterson: Convicted and Still Fighting. Fox Special Reporter's Notebook: The Scott Peterson Case

Episode Date: April 6, 2023

Twenty years after Scott Peterson was convicted of murdering of his wife and unborn son, his family is still proclaiming Peterson is innocent. Fox News Correspondent Laura Ingle talks with Nancy Grace about her new investigation, "Reporter's Notebook: The Scott Peterson Case."  Ingle tells Nancy about her new interviews witnesses and her return to the places prominent in the story. And Ingle reveals her in-depth conversations with Peterson's staunchest supporter, his sister-in-law, See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Okay, I'm going to tell you two words and I don't want you to be afraid. Scott Peterson. There, I got it out. It kind of stuck in my throat like a chicken bone, but I did get it out. Why is it important? Because my friend and colleague Laura Engel has just completed an incredible, incredible coverage of Scott Peterson. It's called the

Reporter's Notebook, the Scott Peterson case. It's now streaming on Fox Nation and with me right now is Laura Engel. Laura, thank you for being with us. Nancy, thank you so much. I mean, talk about timing.

This is 20 years that Lacey Peterson went missing last Christmas, December 24th, 2002. We are taking a look back. And as I was getting ready to come on your show, I was having the memory of being on TV with you in Modesto when Scott Peterson was just under suspicion at that point when he was about to have a preliminary hearing, you and I on TV just about 20 years ago talking about this. You know what? I remember that too. Isn't it funny, Laura? You have covered so many cases and you have an encyclopedic institutional memory of so much of it. In many cases, I can remember where I was at a certain moment when I learned a particular fact. The Scott Peterson case from the very beginning, it was all wrong.

The way he was acting, what he was doing, what he wasn't doing. But I remember distinctly, Laura Engel, it was cold outside and I was in New York and I walked into the lobby of my apartment building and I was looking at emails and somebody sent me before it was released the picture of Scott Peterson with his paw on Amber Frye's rear end in that red satin dress. I'm like, stop. I sat down right there and I started calling and emailing. I cannot believe this guy. While his wife's feet are swollen up. Remember she had to go to her little Christmas party all by herself?

While he was out with Amber Fry who thought he was single. Who thought this was Scott Peterson's first Christmas without his wife. Because he was a widow. I went berserk. Because there it was. There was a smoking gun. Now tell me what you learned. So I went berserk because there it was. There was a smoking gun. Now, tell me what you learned.

So here's what we did, Nancy. So this is, you know, a 20 year look back when when you have an anniversary, as you will, with something like this, the case this large. You know, we felt it was appropriate to just kind of stop for a second and look back at not only the case, because I covered this case from beginning to end. I actually moved. I was a radio reporter in Los Angeles, which we talk about in the special. And I was down in LA when the story broke. And all those moments that you remember, right? You remember where you were. I remember hearing about a missing pregnant woman in Modesto. I'm from Sacramento, so this is very close to my hometown. And I went to my news director and I said, we've got to go cover this. Look, we need to help. That's always the badge of a reporter is that you can actually help. And with your shows too, that's why you do what you do. In part, you get these stories out there so you can help. You can put some exposure to a story, to something that's unsolved. I wanted to do that.

So off we went up to Modesto when Scott Peterson was still, you know, walking around here and there with the flyers. Oh, yes, walking around. He kept to himself a lot. Making up his lies to Amber. Go ahead. As the story goes and as the family will tell you, his family will tell you, that everybody behaves differently. People grieve differently. So that is something that we talked about in the special.

Did Laura Hengel actually just say that? Jackie, Sydney, did she actually just say everybody grieves differently? I think she did. Did you say that? And that's a quote. Okay, you were quoting somebody. Grieving differently, I don't know, does that include calling your mistress and lying about where you are pretending you're in Paris? While you're really at your wife's vigil where you don't say anything because you don't want to be on TV and get caught?

Right. So I spoke to, and if you guys know the story, anybody listening or anybody that is digging into this for the first time, if you know this story, you know that Scott Peterson's sister-in-law, Janie, has been leading the charge for two decades now to try and exonerate her brother-in-law. That family does believe that he did not do it. Obviously, police, prosecution, jurors, family on Lacey's side all believe he did not do it obviously police prosecution jurors family on lacey's side all believe he did it and he has you know he was sentenced to death his death sentence was overturned he is serving life in prison without the possibility of parole i went to his prison this actually during christmas break i was in california soprano i was unable to get into mule creek state prison

he is currently being housed that's a yes or no question miss lady that you didn't get any pruno no sorry go i so he's on so what what's interesting is he goes from san quentin when his death sentence is overturned. And that was that happened by the California Supreme Court. Twenty twenty one. His death sentence is overturned. So he goes to Mule Creek State Prison, where he is now serving his life without parole. It's on a two.

It's on a two lane road in the middle of what used to be gold country. It's on this dusty two lane road by a town named Ione, and that is where he will be. But in the meantime, there are appeals. Nancy, we all know this, as everybody listening knows, that there is an appeal process. So that was one of the things we wanted to do was let's talk about where we are now, 20 years later.

Yeah, because I wanted to break in, but I didn't want to interrupt you because I don't like look backs. I don't like to look back on what's already happened. I like to look forward. I like to be in the now and looking forward because I can't change a darn thing about what's already happened. I can only learn from mistakes or learn from history. So I'm very curious about what scott peterson's

family and i got to give credit to jamie peterson she's never given up i don't agree with anything she says but she's loyal she is loyal so i got to give jamie peterson that you know and you will see in our special her evidence room i flew to san diego to see her and she did i'm looking at you with her right now in her evidence room i'm looking right at it go ahead she's got these bulletin boards that she's put together and she actually it used to be just one now it expands to three different boards that circle the room that go over every single minute of when the lacy was last heard from from to the end of the story and the burglary across the street, which she still to this day believes.

And so this Scott Peterson's family had something to do with Lacey's disappearance. Question, the burglars that the cops spoke to and interviewed, those burglars? That's correct. Okay. Question to you, did did you also in addition to speaking with Janie Peterson and seeing her war room as it were did you speak to Al Brocchini who worked the case for the state I sure did and you know Nancy it's so interesting because as somebody who sat in that courtroom every single day of this trial and the sentencing. And remember, I moved to Redwood

City. I got an apartment and I moved in across the street from the courthouse and jail so I could be there every single minute of this trial. And that's exactly what I did. And I never had a chance to talk to Al Brocchini until... He is a great guy. He's a great he was he was so kind to give us his time he came and he met me for this special we went over everything and but there there are right so i go and i talked to jannie peterson who was convinced that the burglary had something to do with it and so i spoke to doesn't she outright say the brokers killed or kidnapped lacey? She believes... Isn't that her theory? Essentially, yes. Essentially, her theory is that these two guys,

Stephen Todd and Glenn Pierce, who were arrested, polygraphed, confessed to the burglary, served time, and had alibis confirmed, she does still believe that they had something to do with it because there were more than these two guys present according to neighbor diane jackson who drove by on the 24th said i saw a van with several men and the safe was on the lawn you know this is before we know that lacy is missing we before anything happens there's something else going on across the street.

So there's a witness who says that there were other men there. Have you ever watched Bewitched? I sure have. Didn't you know about Gladys Kravitz? Yes. Okay. The busy neighbor that always thinks she sees things. Right?

Her. Right. Her. Right. Okay. So this woman says there were more than two burglars in the van. And therefore, what am I supposed to do? Let's follow that through, Laura Engel. You're the investigative reporter. Let's follow that through to its natural conclusion.

What am I supposed to believe? That the burglars split up and some of them killed Lacey and some of them didn't? Well, there are questions. She has questions, Janie Peterson does, about the investigative measures that were taken about this burglary. Because remember, when the guys get caught, the Medina, the Medina family is the family across the street right yes the medina's leave the medina's leave for christmas eve to go visit family they leave at 10 30 a.m on december 24th they return at 4 20 p.m on december 26th they walk in holy cow we've been we've been burglarized and all they have to do is walk across the street because the world is there across the street at the Petersons investigating Lacey's disappearance.

They say, we have had our house has been hit. Everything is upside down. And then they do track down the burglars, and the burglars say, yeah, we did the deed on the 27th. They're like, well, that's not possible because we were all there. Can I ask you a question? Doesn't Diane Jackson, the neighbor, report that she saw three men, three men only, not a gang, three men loading a safe into a van in front of the Medina home the morning Lacey went missing? Isn't that her theory? Yes? That's correct.

Diane Jackson sees a van, three men in a van. Three men. And cops tracked down two guys. Is that correct? That's correct. Diane Jackson sees a van, three men in it. Three men. And cops track down two guys. Is that correct? That's correct. And they confess to the burglary. They took a polygraph and the police say that they found alibis. Is that correct? That's correct. But there is, where is this? There's a third person, maybe more. We don't know who else might have been in the van. A guy named Mark. There was an Indian male, a man with a 666 tattoo, possibly involved, five suspects, two arrests. That's the question. And then there's, you know, not lieutenant who was working at a jail who overheard a conversation of Steve and Todd, allegedly, that he had a conversation with a family member.

And he tells somebody on the phone, according to this lieutenant, that he heard an inmate talking with his brother who said Lacey witnessed the break-in. The theory is that she stumbles across the burglary. She maybe doesn't even confront them. She confronts them. She doesn't confront them, but she's there. They panic. They do something. Well, wait a minute.

They panic and do something. Okay. Why didn't they kill Diane Jackson? She was driving. She was driving by. She's also was driving. She was driving by. She's also a neighbor. She was driving by the house. Right.

She's also a neighbor that they can find. But she lived. Right. So I don't know if you have it handy, the detective Brocchini, and I spoke to Detective Buehler about this. I asked Al Brocchini, do you believe there is any chance, any way, any how, that burglary across the street had anything to do, was there anything that was missed? If you have that sound, you can play that. You know what? As a matter of fact, Laura Engel, we do. Take a listen.

Is there a chance that the burglary across the street from Scott and Lacey's house had anything to do with her disappearance? 100% no. No way. We'd know. They can't keep a secret. It ain't like that. Those guys, they polygraphed, they confessed, they went to jail, they gave us all their info, we confirmed their alibis.

No chance that she came out to walk the dog. She saw what was going on, went over and said, hey, what are you guys doing, confronted the burglars. She wasn't even there. She was already gone with Scott. What do you have to say to those who are out there currently, including Scott Peterson's family, who say that the Medina burglary was connected to the disappearance of Lacey? When it comes to the burglary,

that was probably the most thoroughly investigated burglary that had ever been done at Modesto Police Department up to that point. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Is there a chance that the burglary across the street from Scott and Lacey's house had anything to do with her disappearance? 100% no. No way. We'd know. They can't keep a secret. It ain't like that. Those guys, they polygraphed, they confessed, they went to jail, they gave us all their info. We confirmed their alibis. No chance that she came out to walk the dog. She saw what was going on, went over and said, hey, what are you guys doing? Confronted the burglars. She wasn't even there. She was already gone with Scott. to those who are out there currently, including Scott Peterson's family, who say that the Medina burglary was connected to the disappearance of Lacey. When it comes to the burglary,

that was probably the most thoroughly investigated burglary that had ever been done at Modesto Police Department up to that point. And let's hear more to my friend and colleague, Detective Brocchini in our cut for. I think she was killed on the 24th in the morning. And I think it was a soft kill. If you look at her bed, he's either behind her or in front of her, bags her or just strangles her. And she scratches him. He rolls her up in the blue tarp, puts her in the truck. Somebody sees him. Now he's got to put something else in the truck, some umbrellas,

make sure it's in a blue tarp, and then takes her to the shop. There ain't nobody there. It's an industrial area. There ain't houses around. Can I ask you a question, Laura Engel? You've got so much more to tell me. Guys, let me tell you again. This is called Reporters Notebook, the Scott Peterson story or trial? Case. Case. Thank you. So, Reporters Notebook, the Scott Peterson case, and it's streaming on Fox Nation right now, and it's pretty incredible.

And this is all Laura Engel's idea, and she has executed it incredibly. When you're talking to Janie Peterson and you're asking her about facts, what was her theory about why her brother-in-law, Scott Peterson, places himself at the scene of the disposal of Lacey and Connor, his wife and unborn baby boy, on the day they were dumped there and went missing. The marina. Well, she said that he had this boat and he wanted to simply get it in the water and take it out for a spin. And that's really it but what her point of contention is about the fact that they do you remember i mean i remember so well the police coming out and saying

we need to verify lacey peterson's husband's alibi here's his truck here's his boat if anybody has seen the truck in the boat please contact the modesto police department because he says he was there on the 24th now if you're janieie Peterson and you're watching this and you're the Peterson family, you're thinking, well, they just gave away his alibi. So if somebody did have Lacey or the body, then they've given away, you know, they've given a very easy way to frame this guy. Put the body in the water where this guy said he was that day. Now, she has a very detailed timeline that we go over in our... Okay, wait, wait, wait.

Again, again, Laura Engel, you're going warp speed. Let's take what you just said. You're quoting Jamie Peterson, the sister-in-law, through to its logical conclusion. So what her theory is regarding the marina is that the real killer sees where cops have said, hey, if any of you know anything

about this boat and this truck being at this marina, tell us. So her theory is that the real killer saw that and heard it and went, wow, instead of burying her out in the woods, I'm going to go and risk getting caught and taking her body and I'm going to dump it at the marina to make it look like he did it. Is that the theory? That is one of the possible theories.

Okay. All right. Yes. Yes. Yes. And can I ask if you questioned Janie Peterson on her brother's clairvoyant abilities, telling that Amber Frye, and this is well before Lacey was murdered, telling know that was listen you know i had we sat down and we talked about scott peterson's infidelity and she can't defend that she said i don't care he's sleeping with laura engel don't care i care about him admitting that this would be the first Christmas that his wife was dead, and then lo and behold, a few days later, it was. So he is clearly sleeping with whoever he can manage to convince to hop into bed with him.

That's his problem. My question is about his clairvoyance. How did he somehow know, look into his crystal ball and know Lacey would be dead by Christmas? Now, I'm going to say, I don't think he did say this was going to be my first Christmas without my wife. He did, in my interpretation

of what he told Amber Fry, imply that she was dead. I don't know if he ever used the words she's dead. Whatever,'t know if he ever used the words, she's dead. Whatever, what does that mean to you? And agreed, and agreed, and agreed. But the point is, is that Janie can't defend that part. And she says, you know, my brother, my brother-in-law

has a problem with women, with sleeping with women and making up stories. And, you know, she can't defend that. But she says the lies that were told in regards to what his marital status was, where, you know, all of that can't be defended, but there are no lies when it comes to the murder. She said there are fair lies, but there's no murder lies crime stories with Nancy grace can I just give you a quote by Al Brocchini that you interviewed in depth? According to Brocchini,

Detective Al Brocchini from Modesto PD, Peterson told Amber Fry, quote, he had lost his wife and this would be his first holiday without his wife. The detective said

he later learned Scott Peterson called Fry daily starting Christmas Day, the day after Lacey disappeared. His first holiday without his wife. That's from Brocchini. Two weeks

before his wife was murdered, Scott Peterson told his mistress his wife was already dead and that he was about to spend his first Christmas without her, says the lead detective in the case. That was his testimony at trial. And I'm quoting. That's what he said. Well, you're right. I'm just remembering the conversation I had with Janie. We didn't hear we didn't talk about the word dead, but she did say that she just couldn't defend the affair part but in terms of the murder he didn't do it you did an extensive investigation and i don't want to call it an anniversary but you're not just marking the time when lacy left this earth and peterson became a

suspect and went to trial you actually reinvestigate quite a bit of it yourself, hopefully putting some of the fires out that have arisen over time. What was your biggest takeaway, Laura? And guys, I'm talking to my friend and colleague, Laura Engel, about her incredible new venture, Reporter's Notebook. The Scott Peterson case is streaming right now on Fox Nation. I've seen it and I'm going to watch it again because there's so much information in it. I couldn't really digest it all at once. But what's your big takeaway, Laura?

Well, I think one of the big takeaways is the lacy sing, the investigative measures. And I do believe that it is not just the Modesto Police Department. It was the Stanislaus County District Attorney's Office as well. And there's this big, huge question. Were all the Lacey sightings followed up on? Were they all investigated? And there's this couple in Modesto. They still live just a few blocks away from where Scott and Lacey Peterson lived on Covina.

I went and spoke to them, Homer and Sue Maldonado. They claim that they spoke to the police. They called in a tip. He swears to this day, 20 years later, that he saw Lacey Peterson in the window of time after Scott Peterson had already left for the marina. And there's this critical 30 minute window, right? So right around that time, he swears that he saw Lacey Peterson struggling with the dog didn't that come forward at trial? He did not testify. Did Gary goes bring that up?

That witnesses saw her after Peterson took her away, took her body away. Don't you remember that they had like a pregnant person lineup? They had, incredibly, there were multiple pregnant women with dark hair, with golden retrievers. One even with the name of Mackenzie, the same name as the Peterson dog. I remember that. It's like, you know, and this was somebody that worked for law enforcement and had recently received threats. So could it be that Lacey was mistaken for that person?

That was investigated. And so when some people say the Modesto police never called me back, the Stanislaus County D.A. and I asked Brocchini about that. He said, we had an entire team of Lacey Peterson sightings, task force, if you will, of people that went around and followed up on those sightings. So Brocchini tells me

that every Lacey sighting that was relevant was followed up on. Homer Maldonado, who I talked to, told me they never, they, meaning police or any authority, came back and spoke to him and we talked about what he says he saw that morning he says that he saw a woman with dark hair who matches lacy's description perfectly with the exact same dog struggling with the dog and that

conversation is in our special reporter's notebook um and that is that's been a big contention of were all of those sightings followed up on depends on who you talk to jamie will tell you they all were not brocchini will tell detective brocchini will tell you the ones we had a team of people that were assigned to that and brocchini you know there were so many people that said throughout this trial that or throughout this case and investigation that investigators zeroed in on Scott, and we know that that happens, right? They always look at the husband or the boyfriend first. And Brocchini told me, and he said it on the stand, he said, my job was to clear Scott.

My job was we wanted to clear him so that we could move on. He said, and I just could never do that. I just couldn't get there. Guys, with me is Laura Engel. You see here all the time on Fox News. And now she is bringing this to you for all of you that still have lingering questions regarding Scott Peterson's guilt or innocence. Laura Engel has presented Reporter's Notebook. The Scott Peterson case is streaming right now on Fox Nation. And it's incredible.

Just like you, Laura. Thank you for being with us. Bye, buddy. This is an iHeart Podcast.