Criminology - Scott Peterson

Episode Date: April 23, 2023

Scott Peterson became one of the most despised criminals ever after being convicted of the murder of his wife and unborn child. Just before Christmas in 2002, 27-year-old Lacie Peterson, who was 33 weeks pregnant with a boy they planned to name Conner, vanished. Less than a month after she vanished, both Lacie's and Conner's bodies were found after they washed ashore. It didn't take long for police to suspect Scott Peterson. Jon Mike and Morf as they discuss Scott Peterson and the murders of Lacie and Conner Peterson. At first, the things that Scott told the police seemed to line up. Even Lacie's family was convinced he was innocent. But that changed when it emerged that Scott had multiple affairs during the marriage, the latest was with a woman named Amber Frey. Amber came forward to police with information that put Scott in a bad light. But, even with his conviction, there are some who do not believe he did it, or at least do not believe that there was enough evidence to convict. You can help support the show at patreon.com/criminology An Emash Digital production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you love chilling mysteries, unsolved cases, and a touch of mom-style humor, moms and mysteries is the podcast you've been searching for. Hey guys, I'm Mandy. And I'm Melissa. Join us every Tuesday for moms and mysteries, your gateway to gripping, well-researched true crime stories. Each week, we deep dive into a variety of mind-boggling cases as we shed light on everything from heist to whodunit.

We're your go-to podcast for Mysteries with a Motherly Touch. Subscribe now to moms and mysteries wherever you get your podcast. Criminology is a true crime podcast that may contain discussion about violent or disturbing topics. Listener discretion is advised. Hello everyone and welcome to episode 254 of the criminology podcast. I'm Mike Ferguson. And this is Mike Morford. Mr. Morford.

What's going on with you, buddy? Oh, a whole lot. Getting my house repainted, getting some nice landscaping and just getting ready for spring and summer. What's new with you? Yeah, that sounds good. It's the time of year to, you know, kind of make some improvements, get ready for the warm weather, people out. You know, you want your house looking nice.

I get that. I get that. Now, we've actually had a heat wave here. It was 80 one day. I couldn't believe it. It was out walking the dog. Just getting that sunshine, that, what is it, vitamin D? Just makes me feel good.

Yeah, especially when you've been cooped up. Now, obviously, we don't have that problem in Florida. It's pretty much warm for the most part all the time. But where I live in southwest Florida during the spring, it rains starting in May or so and rains for three months every day during the day for at least, you know, half hour, 45 minutes. So you've got to pick your good days of sunshine and get out there and do stuff. Yeah, yeah. Let's go ahead and give our Patreon shoutouts. We had Abigail Covert, Christy LaPetri, and Ali Vedder.

So that's some great new support. We really appreciate it. Yeah, thank you so much for supporting the show. that means a lot to us and helps us get these episodes out. To anyone that would like to support criminology, you can do so by going to Patreon.com slash criminology. All right, buddy. Let's go ahead and jump into this case.

And we're talking about a big one, one that dominated headlines. The 2002 murders of Lacey Peterson, who was eight months pregnant and her unborn baby, a son she planned to name Connor. The crime itself was shocking enough, but what really seemed to attract people to the case? was that it eventually was proven that the deaths of Lacey and Connor came at the hands of Scott Peterson. As Lacey's husband and Connor's father, Scott Peterson was supposed to protect his wife and child. But when the shocking details of what Scott did emerged, it really seemed to enrage people and make Scott one of the most despised criminals ever. It's been almost 21 years since Lacey and Connor were murdered.

For many, this was one of the first big cases. They remember seeing on the news and in the media, Lacey Peterson's face was on every magazine cover at the grocery store, and eventually the story of her husband's infidelity made waves in the national media. To really understand this case, we need to start at the very beginning. In 1994, Lacey Rocha was majoring in ornamental horticulture at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California. One day, as she often did, she went to the Pacific Cafe in Morrow Bay, where one of her friends worked. The difference that day is that she met Scott Peterson, who was also working at the cafe. The two chatted and Lacey thought Scott was a nice guy and handsome, so she gave him her phone number

and told her mother that same day that she had met her future husband. They dated for two years before moving in together. On August 9, 1997, the two were married at Sycamore Mineral Springs Resort in San Luis Obispo. In June 1998, Scott received a Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural business. They opened a sports bar together called a shack, but decided to sell it and moved to Modesto, California, Lacey's hometown. Scott began to sell fertilizer for Trade Corp, USA, and Lacey worked as a substitute teacher. By 2002, 30-year-old Scott and 27-year-old Lacey were expecting their first child,

a son named Connor. Around Christmas that year, Lacey was 33. weeks pregnant and Conner's nursery was already prepared. It was blue with the nautical theme. Lacey saw a table in a catalog that she wanted. So Scott built her one just like it and painted a dresser to match. People around the couple said they were excited for their February 16, 2003 due date the day they were planning to meet their son.

To the outside world, they look like the perfect couple. In photos, they were all smiles. and by all accounts, they were looking forward to starting their family together. On December 23, 2002, Lacey and her mom, Sharon, spoke on the phone. Around 8.30 p.m., they finalized their plans for the next night, Christmas Eve. They were going to have dinner at Lacey's parents' house. Later that night, Scott and Lacey Peterson went to bed. From here, a lot of what we have is just Scott Peterson's account about what happened.

The next day on December 24th, Scott claims that Lacey woke up at around 7 a.m. and changed out of her pajamas. Due to morning sickness, Lacey always ate very soon after getting up, which seemed to help her stomach. Scott says he woke up at around 8 or 8.30 and had some cereal, Trader Joe's cinnamon puffins, while Lacey had a piece of toast. She had already eaten her cereal earlier. After breakfast, Scott headed to the shower and Lacey got on the computer. Using Yahoo, she looked up the weather and looked a red scarf from the gap and a yellow umbrella stand. she was online for just five minutes, apparently shutting off the computer when Scott was done in the shower. As Scott got dressed, Lacey laid out her plans for the rest of the day.

She was very busy, especially for being almost eight months pregnant. She was going to walk to family dog before she went to the store for bread that she needed for a recipe she planned to serve for brunch on Christmas Day, along with preparing that bread. She planned to make gingerbread. Scott would later tell Lacey's mother, Sharon, that Lacey looks so cute because she was sitting on her bench in front of the mirror styling her hair the way Lacey's sister Amy had shown her. Amy taught Lacey to Fun Flip her hair with a hair straightener instead of a curling iron just two days before. On December 22nd, Lacey and Scott had gone to Amy's hair salon. Amy gave him a haircut and taught her the new technique. After he was dressed, Scott took three large patio umbrellas and loaded them into the bed of his pickup truck.

He planned to take them to his warehouse. Kristen Dempwolf, a neighbor, passed by as he loaded his truck. They exchanged greetings. Once back inside, Scott filled a bucket with water so that Lacey would be able to mop the floor later and the two-watch Martha Stewart segment about Moran cookies on the Today Show together. A friend of the Peterson's, Kristen Reed, recalled seeing both of their cars in the driveway at 9.30. By 10.08, Scott Peterson was at his warehouse just nine minutes from home. He stayed there until around 11.20 a.m. Scott claimed that he did some work on the computer while at the warehouse

before heading off to do some fishing in his new boat. At 12.54 p.m., Scott purchased a boat launch ticket at the Berkeley Marina and headed out in the bay in his boat. At around 2.15 p.m., Scott Peterson left the marina and headed back to his warehouse. He called Lacey, but she she didn't answer and he left a voicemail for her saying, Hey, beautiful, I just left you a message at home. It's 2.15. I'm leaving Berkeley. I won't be able to get to Vela Farms to get the basket for Papa. I was hoping you would get this message and go on out there.

I'll see you in a bit, sweetie. Love you, bye. At 3.25 p.m. Peterson got gas from a Chevron station in Livermore. At 352, he called Lacey again. but this time didn't leave a message. At 4.15, he was back at the warehouse. He unhooked his boat and saw facts that had come in about an upcoming shipment. He then headed home, arriving at around 4.30.

When Scott went into the house, McKenzie, Scott and Lacey's dog, had its leash on inside the house, which, according to Scott, seemed odd. He took it off and noticed that the mop bucket was still full, so he dumped it out in the yard before heading to the mailbox. He saw Lacey's car in the driveway, but she clearly wasn't home. Scott assumed that Sharon had picked her up, and they were preparing Christmas Eve dinner together. He took off his clothes and put them in the washer. He had a snack of leftover pizza and a glass of milk before showering and getting dressed to go see family.

Before heading out, Scott checked the messages on the answer machine. His message around 215 hadn't been listened to. Another message from Lacey's stepdad, Ron Gransky, asked Lacey or Scott to bring whipped cream when they came over for dinner. Scott found this odd because he had assumed Lacey was already over at their house helping out, so he called Ron and Sharon at 517 p.m. to ask if Lacey was there. But Lacey wasn't there. At that point, they all became worried. Sharon and Ron called hospitals while Scott checked Lacey's walking around to see if she had somehow gotten hurt or stuck while walking McKenzie, who he thought had just run home on instinct. At 547 p.m., Ron Gransky

called 911 and officially reported his stepdaughter Lacey Peterson missing. When investigators walked through the Peterson home, there was some evidence that seemed to back up Scott's version of events. Lacey's hair straightener was on the bathroom counter with its court extended like it had been recently used and unplugged but not yet put away. The stool was not put away as if someone had recently sat in front of the Vandemere, a recipe for Grand Marnier, a bread dish was on the kitchen counter. So this was the bread dish that Lacey was going to make the one that she needed the bread for, but she never bought the bread and she never made the dish.

And it was definitely something that you needed to prepare ahead of time because it had to marinate for at least eight hours. Police worked to establish a timeline to both figure out when Lacey may have gone missing and if her husband was both truthful and accurate in its statements. It turns out that Martha Stewart was on the Today Show that morning, at 948 that morning, to be precise. Michael Vestry, a maintenance worker at the Berkeley Marina, verified Scott Peterson's account of having trouble backing his truck down a loading ramp. A fax had come in between Peterson leaving and arriving back at the warehouse. Some people later would call Scott's washing of his clothes immediately after coming home suspicious,

but he often worked with chemicals, and it was a regular practice of his to wash clothes immediately instead of leaving them in the house. There was no garage on the Peterson home, so anything with chemicals would have to be left outside or sitting around or inside where there was a dog and a pregnant woman. So washing his clothes immediately doesn't seem that suspicious to some people. And that's a big thing in this case, you know, as we go through the known facts and Scott Peterson's account, There are many people who find certain things suspicious. Other people don't find them suspicious.

Me personally, if I go out fishing and I come home, I may wash my clothes because, you know, fishing is a smelly activity. Now here we have chemicals. So, you know, people look at that type of stuff different ways. When police talk to neighbor care and service. she told them that she had seen McKinsey in the street alone with the leash on so she had put McKenzie back in the Peterson's yard according to Scott's account somehow the dog made it back into the home Scott claimed he had eaten leftover pizza and there was a box of pizza on the kitchen

counter so a lot of things Scott Peterson told police seemed to be valid seemed to add up but there were some things that didn't for example the umbrellas were still in Scott Peterson's truck and not in the warehouse where he had planned to take them. The weather that day was cold and the water was choppy. So to some, Scott taking his small boat out to fish on that day of all days seemed odd. And he only fished for a very short amount of time. But if police had any suspicion early on of Scott Peterson, it wasn't shared by those who knew Scott.

Most people felt that he was a handsome and charming good guy, and this included Lacey's own family. They liked Scott and thought he was a good husband to Lacey and would be a good dad to Connor. But their opinions would eventually change. Needless to say, the holidays were rough for Lacey's family, not knowing where she was or what happened to her, weighed on them. On January 15, 2003, Sharon and Ron learned that Scott was having an affair while Lacey was pregnant. and that he had continued seeing this other woman after Lacey disappeared. This was a shocking disappointment to those who knew the couple, but it cleared the way for suspicion of Scott Peterson to creep into their minds.

Before this news, they could think of no reason that he would have had to kill Lacey. No problem in their seemingly picture-perfect marriage. But this changed everything. The woman Amber Fry, who Scott was having an affair with, decided she needed to come forward to police after seeing Scott on newscast. coverage of Lacey's case. On January 24th, 2003, the Modesto Police Department held a press conference, and Amber Fry spoke to the media, giving a statement about her involvement with him. Her statement in part read, I met Scott Peterson November 20th, 2002. I was introduced to him.

I was told he was unmarried. Scott told me he was not married. We did have a romantic relationship. when I discovered he was involved in the Lacey Peterson disappearance case, I immediately contacted the Modesto Police Department. Although I could have sold the photos of Scott and I to tabloids, I knew this was not the right thing to do. For fear of jeopardizing the case or the police investigation, I will not comment further. I'm very sorry for Lacey's family in the pain that this has caused them.

And I pray for her safe return as well. I would appreciate to my friends and acquaintances to refrain from talking about me to the media for profit or recognition. I am a single mother of a 23-month-old child and I ask you to respect my privacy. Thank you. So Amber Fry came forward. She asked for her privacy to be respected, but following her statement, she was hounded by the press and followed, the world finally had a name and face of the other woman

in Scott's life, and they had only met months before Lacey vanished. And more of I think we have to talk about Amber a little bit. You just imagine meeting someone who, you know, you're attracted to. You start a relationship. And then all of a sudden you find out not only is this person married when they told you that they were not married, but they're possibly involved in, you know, this disappearance case. And you're being asked to stand in front of the press and make a statement. And now the press is following you. They're hounding you. Yeah, that had to be pretty shocking to see Lacey

all over the news headlines. And there's Scott Peterson right next to her. And this is someone who claimed that he was single and available and you're in a relationship with him. And you find out all that's a lie. And then, not to mention, that had to be pretty shocking for Lacey's family as well, they really liked and respected Scott and thought he was a good guy. Yeah, I think it was for them a big turning point, right? In the beginning, they were staunchly behind Scott Peterson. But once all this came out, it had to have changed things in their mind drastically. On November 20, 2002, Scott Peterson met Amber Fry, a massage therapist at the Elephant Bar in Fresno, where she was living.

They hit it off and had dinner together at a Japanese restaurant before staying the night at a hotel together. Scott claimed that he would be traveling a lot in the future, trying to explain to her why he would be unavailable in the near future. In reality, he was trying to cover up the fact that he had a wife. He told Amber that he would be in Alaska for a fishing trip over Thanksgiving in Maine for Christmas and in Paris for work in January. On December 2nd and 3rd, Scott stayed overnight at Amber's house. On December 6th, a mutual friend, Sean Sibley, discovered that Scott was married and called him to confront him. Scott first claimed that he wasn't married before admitting that he had been married, but explained that he had, quote, lost his wife. Sean told Scott that if he didn't tell Amber by the next Monday, then he would.

And Scott assured Sean that he would tell Amber. On December 9, 2002, Scott and Amber went to a birthday party together, and on the 14th, they went to a Christmas party together. While their photo was taken of both of them, which you can still find online, Scott spent the night at Amber's house after the party. The morning of December 15th is the last time he ever saw Amber in person, at least as a free man.

They spoke multiple times on the phone after this, but Amber didn't realize that Scott was married to the missing Lacey Peterson until December 30th. As soon as she realized this, She called the Modesto Police Department and gave them her information. At 11 a.m. Amber met authorities at a radio shack where they helped her purchase what she needed for recording her phone calls with Scott. It seemed like the second Amber realized what she was involved in, she was cooperating with the investigation. And I really thought this was strange, morph, that they helped her purchase stuff at radio.

Shack. You would have thought that they just had that stuff and could give it to her. And maybe there's a reason why they couldn't, maybe a legal reason. Maybe it would hurt the case and she needed to purchase it on her own. That I don't know. But I just thought it was a little strange because obviously they probably had better equipment than you could purchase at Radio Shack. Yeah, you would think they would have specialized equipment that they purchase that they use in investigation. like this, but maybe that day they just didn't and they had to go to Radio Shack. I miss Radio Shack, by the way. Oh, I do too. I remember going to Radio Shack as a kid, and it was like a...

In the suburbs of D.C., a woman fails to show up for work and is found brutally murdered. I wonder what's emergency. We just walked in the door, and there's blood in the foyer. For the next two decades, the case remained unsolved, until new technology allowed investigators to do what had once been impossible. A new series from ABC Audio in 2020. Blood and water. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts.

Wonderland of electronics and just, they had everything. On December 31st, New Year's Eve, Scott and Amber spoke on the phone, and Scott wished Amber a happy New Year, describing what the New Year's celebration in Paris had been like. This call was widely reported to have been made during the time of vigil for Lacey was being held. According to Scott Peterson Appeal.org, the last call with Amber that day ended 10 minutes before the vigil started.

Even if it's true, it's still not a great look for him. On March 16, 2003, Scott purchased camping equipment at REI. While Scott had been an outdoorsy type, the timing was odd considering he was supposed to be worrying about his missing wife and unborn child, as we'll get into, there may have been an ulterior motive in buying the equipment, as opposed to just going camping. camping. Less than a month later on April 13th, 2003, a couple walking their dog in Point Isabel Regional Shoreline Park just north of Berkeley, California, found the body of a late-term fetus baby boy. The next day, the body of a woman wearing khaki pants and a maternity bra was found just one mile from where the fetus had been found. The fetus was not decomposed at all. But the

woman had decomposed so severely that only the clothes made her body recognizable as that of a human, DNA testing confirmed that these were the bodies of Connor and Lacey Peterson. Despite the relatively good condition of the baby's skin, there were signs of mutilation on one side of his body. This could have been from some type of sea life, fish, some other type of animal. Lacey's body was in rough shape. Most of her internal organs were gone, except for her uterus, which had protected Conner's body.

For most of the time, they were submerged in the water, explaining the early stage of decomposition his remains were found in, even in death. It turns out that Lacey protected Connor until nature forced the baby's body from Lacey's uterus,

and the waves carried it to shore. It was reported that Lacey's body was missing her limbs and head, and that there was a piece of tape stuck to her clothing. Connor's body had some kind of plastic or nylon tape wrapped around his neck. Dr. Robert Goldberg, a forensic pathologist in Marietta, Georgia, explained to ABC News that the tape could have been picked up as some artifact in the water, or even something used to keep the child weighted down. There was no way to tell whether Lacey's limbs had been removed before she was placed in the water, or if it was due to the decomposition, and there was no way to tell how the tape ended up on their bodies.

Dr. Brian Peterson, who was of no relation to the Peterson's, and performed the autopsies, speculated in a heavy.com article that Lacey may have died from strangulation or smothering, which could leave behind no forensic evidence, but it was impossible to be sure due to how much of her body was never found. she could have had head trauma and the doctor would have been unable to see it. People wondered if Lacey and Connor had been held somewhere until after she gave birth. But authorities dismissed this theory.

The news and details of Lacey's and Connors remains being found on the shore was gruesome and sad to say the least. And it launched a new phase of the investigation as police began looking for a murderer. And at the top of their list of suspects was Scott Peterson. On April 18, 2003, Good Friday, less than a week after Lacey's and Conner's bodies were found, Scott Peterson was pulled over in his Mercedes in La Jolla, California near San Diego. He had lost more than 20 pounds and had bleached his dark hair to a brassy blonde, and he was sporting a goate. His appearance was vastly different than it normally was.

He had just over $14,000 in cash with him. There was a knife in the driver's door of the car. Authorities followed him for four hours over 100 miles before he was stopped. The proximity to Mexico, his changed appearance, large amounts of cash, and camping equipment that he had bought not long before were taken together as signs that he was planning the fleet of Mexico and live off the grid. Also found in the car were Viagra pills and an extra driver's license that belonged to Scott's brother. Police later learned that the knife found with Scott actually belonged to the person he bought the car from. It was an oversight when that person cleaned out the car before transferring ownership to

Scott. When police asked Scott what he was doing so far from home, he claimed he was meeting his dad and brother for a round of golf. Investigators didn't buy it. Three days after being detained, he was charged with two felony counts of murder, with premeditation and special circumstances. News of Scott Peterson's arrest, along with photos of his markedly different appearance, quickly made the rounds on news outlets all over, and it certainly didn't help paint a picture of an innocent man, but rather one who was fleeing after realizing his days of freedom were numbered. On August 30, 2003, almost four months after they were discovered, Lacey and Connors remains were buried at Burwood Cemetery. While friends and family were trying to get through their grief,

Scott Peterson pleaded not guilty to charges of murdering his wife and son. He was planning his defense and his team was plotting what to do at trial. His trial was slated to start in June of 2004. On April 4th, 2004, Lacey and Connors law, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, was signed into law by President George W. Bush. This law makes any injury to or death of an unborn child, a separate charge to the charge for the commission of the crime against the pregnant woman that leads to the injury or death of her fetus. At the trial, which started on June 1, 2004, prosecutors argued that Scott Peterson killed Lacey by suffocating her on their bed. Authorities had found that the relationship Scott had

with Amber Fry was actually at least his third affair. The first time Scott cheated on Lacey was as early as his senior year in college when they were living together. Prosecutors argued that Scott Peterson didn't want to be a father, and he didn't want to be married. He also didn't want to pay alimony and child support, and divorcing Lacey and leaving her as a single mother would cost him financially, as well as socially, because he would no longer be seen as the good guy. After all, how would it look leaving his wife as she was having their first child? According to prosecutors, a $250,000 life insurance policy pay out, after Lacey's death, and a future with no obligations, was all the motivation needed for Scott Peterson to straddle his pregnant wife and suffocate her.

Prosecutors also contended that the small things around the house, like the dog McKenzie being on a leash and the hair straightener being out, were little things done by Scott Peterson to help back up his story. Prosecutors claimed that he put the leash on McKenzie and let the dog loose in the neighborhood so that it would appear as though Lacey had been abducted while she walked a dog. dog. According to Heavy.com, authorities believe that he moved the body to his Modesto warehouse by putting it in the toolbox in the back of his truck where he attached homemade cement anchors to the body and placed it in the back of his 14-foot boat, which he then towed to the Berkeley

Marina. Once in the water, he pushed the body with the anchors overboard. The prosecution claim that Scott Peterson made five cement anchors from one 90-pound bag of concrete. Scott Peterson didn't deny making an anchor, but he claimed to have made only one anchor, the one that was

found in his boat. He claimed he used the rest of the concrete mix in the driveway. Prosecution and defense experts disagree on whether the anchor mix was consistent with the mix used in the driveway. The other four anchors

if they existed were never found. When the defense got their turn, they argued that Scott Peterson had been framed and that witnesses placed him elsewhere when Lacey went missing. According to the defense, her true killer had cut Connor from Lacey's womb before strangling the baby with the nylon

that was found around his neck. Dr. Peterson, the medical examiner, said, I believe that for whatever reason Lacey met her demise. It was her death that caused Connor's death, and that strengthened the prosecution's case that Lacey's murder had killed Connor, not his being cut out from her womb. And we've definitely heard of cases where babies are stolen or cut out of their mother's bodies, usually

killing the mother in the process. But the fact that both of their bodies washed up, not far from where Scott Pearson went fishing, looked very damning. In November 2004, after hearing all the arguments and seeing all the evidence, a jury found Scott Peterson guilty of the murders of Lacey and Connor Peterson. Multiple jurors have been clear and very public about how vital the location of the discovery of Lacey and Connor's bodies was for their decision to find Peterson guilty. One juror said on Larry King Live in 2005, I can personally say for myself, if they would never have washed up, I could never have convicted Scott Peterson.

another juror said on Larry King Live in December 2004, if these bodies had been found anywhere else other than right where Scott Peterson had described he had been fishing on Christmas Eve, we wouldn't be having this conversation. And more if we didn't, you know, delve too deeply into the trial. But I think these comments by jurors are very telling.

I mean, they're coming out and talking on, you know, shows and basically saying it was too much of a coincidence for them that the bodies washed up that close to where Scott said he was fishing. And, you know, truthfully, this was a case without much in the way of, you know, what you would think of like bombshell evidence. There just wasn't that much. And so, you know, these are big statements. Yeah, and just imagine if their bodies never washed up, would Scott Peterson have ever been charged in the first place? Because there was very little in the way of physical evidence or eyewitnesses, anything like that that conclusively linked Scott Peterson to the deaths of Lacey and Connor. So this was a very circumstantial case. And, you know, we'll talk later about the fact that there are a lot of people that don't believe there.

was enough evidence to convict Scott Peterson. There are a lot of people that don't believe that he actually did it. But we'll get into that. On December 13, 2005, Scott Peterson was sentenced to death. At the time in California, the method of execution was a lethal injection. Lacey's biological father, Dennis Rocha, gave his victim statement to Scott Peterson publicly, saying, you are going to burn in hell for this, you are. Scott Peterson was incarcerated. in San Quentin. Despite most people believing in Scott Peterson's guilt, there were still lingering questions as to how and when he actually killed Lacey. Many people believe that Scott killed Lacey on December 23rd, and had all night and the next morning to clean up and stage the scene. However, Lacey wasn't wearing

the same pants she had been wearing when she saw her sister Amy on December 23rd, and she wasn't wearing pajama pants. It seemed that she had gotten ready for the day on December 24th. On April 8th, 2018, 71-year-old Ron Gransky. Lacey's stepfather passed away in his sleep. He was buried at Burwood Cemetery next to Lacey and Connor. On December 9th, 2018, 72-year-old Dennis Rocha. Stacey's father passed away. In 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a moratorium on executions. This was mostly a formal announcement as the last execution. in California happened in 2006. Attorneys for Scott Peterson appealed his conviction.

All death sentences are automatically appealed. Most of these appeals are denied. This time, though, the court found that some of the jurors who had been dismissed had voiced opinions that did not support the death penalty, but not so severely in opposition that they could not have served because a juror may not be dismissed merely because he or she has expressed opposition to the death penalty as a general matter. These dismissals were deemed to be erroneous. In August 2020, Scott Peterson's death sentence was overturned, but his conviction was upheld. Two months later in October,

Scott Peterson got one more chance for freedom when the California Supreme Court ordered a review of his conviction. Similar to the first issue with the trial, there was another juror issue, but this one had a specific claim of juror bias. Peterson's attorneys claimed that one of the jurors had lied on her questionnaires before being seated on the final jury. The juror, Breschelle Nice, wrote a book about the trial and was later featured on Dr. Phil. In the end, the motion to dismiss the conviction or to get a new trial was tossed out. There would be no new trial. But there would be a new sentencing phase where a judge would consider the mistakes in deciding Scott Peterson's fate. On December 8th, 2021, Scott Peterson was resentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole,

as well as a concurrent 15-year sentence for the murder of Connor. And I don't know about you, Morph, but I don't really view this as a big deal or a real negative. You know, they haven't put anyone to death in California in what? 17 years now. I don't know that they will anytime soon. So really switching his sentencing from death to life with no parole, that's probably what it was going to end up being anyway. Scott Peterson would have probably died in prison even with the death sentence. In a public statement to Scott Peterson,

Lacey's mother spoke about Connor and about how Scott should have just waited and gotten a divorce if he didn't want to be a father. She said, Connor would have been 18 years old by now. Ten months ago, you would have been free of child support and not have to worry about being responsible for a child. Instead, Scott Peterson has been in prison for most of that time.

In October 22, Peterson was finally moved off death row. According to Fox News, Janie Peterson, Scott's sister, law still believes in his innocence, maintaining that he did not have an impartial jury. She told Fox, we will not stop fighting until Scott is free and we find who murdered Lacey and Connor. Janie is married to Joe Peterson, Scott's older brother. She studied law at the California Western School of Law in San Diego and now lists J.D. Jurist Doctor on her Twitter by it.

Janie told the Sun News in 2021, the justice system has failed here, and a lot of aspects have failed. She believes the failure started with the Modesto Police Department, and it started with the fact that they didn't follow up on evidence that showed Lacey was alive the morning of December 24th. Scott Peterson's Marina alibi was released to the public less than 24 hours after Lacey went missing, causing those who believe in his innocence to think that this was a critical mistake, allowing whoever really did kill Lacey to easily frame Scott Peterson by ultimately disposing of her body exactly where everyone knew he had been that day.

If someone did want to frame him, dumping Lacey in the area he was fishing would do the job. But there was more in the way of arguments that Scott might be innocent. According to the pro-Peterson site, Scott Petersonappeal.org, there were 31 sightings of Lacey out walking her dog the morning of Christmas Eve, proving that, she was alive after Peterson left for the warehouse and thus proving that Scott Peterson was not the one who had killed her. But only three of those witnesses who claimed to have seen her that morning were ever called by investigators and none were ever followed up with in an in-person interview. One witness saw Lacey just one block away from her home walking McKinsey that morning between 10 and 1030 a.m. But again, according to this site, investigators never followed up.

on this lead. One woman who worked at the hospital reported seeing two men yelling at a pregnant woman walking her dog. And a retired reserve officer reported seeing a pregnant woman being shoved into the back of a van just blocks from the Peterson home. Both of those incidents were never looked into. A corrections officer in a California prison reported to the Modesto police department that he had heard something suspicious on a recorded call between an inmate and his brother in Modesto. Reportedly, the two men discussed Lacey's Peterson confronting them on Christmas Eve morning when she caught them burglarizing a home in the neighborhood. And it turns out, the house directly across the street from the Peterson home was

robbed on Christmas Eve. What this possibility was never looked into, and the recording of the phone call was ultimately lost. Mackenzie, the Peterson's dog, is very important to the timeline if you think Scott Peterson is innocent. At 10.15 a.m., a neighbor said she saw McKenzie in the Peterson's gated yard, but just 15 minutes later at 1030, the mail carrier said McKenzie was gone. If Scott Peterson left around 10.08 a.m., Lacey must have taken McKenzie for a walk soon after, and only McKenzie returned.

And so, Morph, you know, I think if you're a person who's in the camp that thinks, you know, Scott might not be guilty of these murders, some of these things are troubling and probably backing up that, thought process. And I would say this, if all these things are true and they weren't looked into, then, you know, I do think that's an error on the part of the police. Yeah. And my takeaway is that Scott Peterson is guilty as charged. But at the end of the day, I still think that these things should have been properly looked at. And if they turn out to be true, if Lacey Peterson was walking her dog that morning,

When all those people said that she was, if that was really her, then that would clear Scott Peterson because he couldn't have done this crime as it was alleged that he did during that timeline. So that would be a huge, huge clue. According to the pro-Scott Peterson website, these things were never properly investigated. And so that's kind of where we have to say, if it is true. If that is true, then I do think that's a big oversight. but I also think it's why there are so many people who do believe that Scott Peterson is guilty, but there is a large contingent of people that do not.

This case really divides people. And I think more of over the years, some people have changed their opinion on Scott Peterson because in the beginning, you get all of the reporting. So you have the affair, you have this, you have that. It really makes him look horrible. And then obviously a jury found him guilty. So, you know, that is huge in the minds of, of most people. What concerns me is you have jurors saying that in large part, they base their decision on where the bodies were found.

Yeah, I think we could probably agree all the way around, as most people would, that Scott Peterson has a husband. and as a husband was at the very least a piece of shit. Yeah. And not good to his wife. And what he did was terrible. But then again, that doesn't necessarily make him a murder. Obviously, as we mentioned, the jury convicted him or murder. So that's where he remains behind bars.

Yeah. Yeah. And for now he should because I hate to go against the jury. You know, they went through that process. They heard information that we probably, probably don't know about. We weren't privy to. And so until something comes out that definitively clears him, you got to go with that, in my opinion. There is still an active page on the Scott Peterson appeal website listing a $5,000 reward for specific information leading to an arrest and

conviction for the abduction and murder of Lacey and Connor Peterson or for specific information leading to the exoneration and release of Scott Peterson. The same reward is being offered for specific information leading to the recovery of Lacey's missing Croton watch, which Lacey may have been wearing on Christmas Eve. Janie Peterson says, we don't have justice. This crime is not solved.

Is there something to these sightings of Lacey in her neighborhood after Scott left the house? Is it possible that Scott, was guilty of being a cheating husband, but not guilty of murder. It seems as though most people are glad that Scott Peterson didn't receive the chance for another trial, believing that the jury heard everything they needed to, and they made the right decision the first time around, and that Scott Peterson was a lying, conniving narcissist. Amber Fry told Fox News, it's relieving to hear Scott Peterson will not get a new trial.

She would have been willing to testify again if need be, but said, I'm relieved that my testimony will not be necessary. The truth does not change over time. Scott Peterson is now 50 years old and serving his life sentence at Mule Creek State prison in California. Provided there are no other issues with his trial or jurors, we're borrowing a smoking gun piece of information that could clear Peterson. This should be the last update in the case.

So Morph as we wrap up this episode, you know, I remember so well. And I think a lot of people will when this case was active. I think we talked about it in the beginning. You couldn't go into a grocery store, a newsstand and not see a magazine with Lacey's picture on it. You know, sometimes we talk about why some cases receive so much attention while others do not. I think in this case, there was just so much to it. Lacey was pregnant. You had the cheating husband.

All of that stuff really draws people to a case. Yeah, and I think a lot of people probably empathize with Lacey. In the pictures we saw of her, she was so excited. She was happy. Her due date was just, you know, days away. And for this to happen, it was just shocking. And I think it sort of proved that this could happen to anyone any place and she was the typical average mom that disappeared and was later found dead and

the details were just shocking. Yeah, this case really did shock people. The one thing that I would talk about is motive. You know, who had a motive to kill Lacey? And really, the prosecution put forth that the only person who had one was Scott Peterson. You know, he didn't want to be be married. He didn't want to be a father, but he also didn't want to get a divorce and have to pay all this money. He wanted to, you know, date all these women and, and do all this stuff. Now, is that true? Is that not true? Obviously, he was having affairs. So if it's true, then there is a motive there. But outside of, you know, someone having a motive, could this have been a stranger of doc, and murder. And I would say, yes, if it wasn't Scott, then it would have to have been,

probably somebody who saw her out walking. But again, I just, I got to go with the jury until somebody proves to me that it couldn't have been him. I'm in the same camp, I have to believe the jury and go with what they went with. But those things are still troubling in my mind, those unanswered questions that his team claims weren't really looked into properly. If those are accurate, then it could open up the possibility that they did get the wrong person for this. But I remember thinking early on, almost like it was yesterday when this first happened, why would a guy risk going to prison the rest of his life when he could have simply divorced

Lacey? And maybe that's just me being naive. I still feel that way. I wonder why people do this stuff when they could just simply get divorced and move on to the next chapter of their life. But we know that people make terrible decisions and do things that, you know,

make most of us scratch our head. And it happens all the time. And it could have happened in this case. Yeah, we cover cases, you know, all the time where people could just move on, separate, divorce, live separate lives. but I think, you know, some of these guys, they want their freedom, but they want their money, too. They don't want to have to part with any of it, and they think they're going to get away with it.

At the end of the day, it's just a very sad case. Here we have Lacey, as I mentioned, happy in those photos and excited about the next part of her life, and instead her life ended. And, you know, Connors and her family never got to meet Connor, and he would be over 18 now. So there's a life that never happened. Yeah, he might be married by now. He might have his own children. We don't know.

But that's it for our episode on Scott Peterson. If you love the show and you haven't done so yet, take a minute, go out, give us a five-star rating, leave a review. Keep telling your friends. That word of mouth is huge for the podcast. If you want to find us on social media, we're on Twitter with the handle at CriminologyPod. You can also find us on Facebook at Facebook. com slash criminology podcast or you can join our Facebook discussion group criminology podcast discussion and fans so that's it for another episode of criminology but morph and I will be back

with all of you next Saturday night with a brand new episode so until then for Mike and Morp we'll talk to you next week take care everyone