Peterson's other 'other woman' didn't know he was married either

Updated July 20, 2004

(Court TV) — Scott Peterson's family-man image was marred when investigators discovered weeks after his pregnant wife disappeared that he was cheating on her with massage therapist Amber Frey.

But according to an exclusive document obtained by Court TV, Peterson two-timed his wife Laci while they were still newlyweds, and told his mistress that he did not want children because they would ruin his "lifestyle."

"Before there was Amber, there was another 'other' woman," Court TV's Catherine Crier reported Tuesday.

Just a year into his marriage, Peterson embarked on a serious five-month affair with a woman named Janet, who, like Frey, believed her new boyfriend was single, according to the document.

"We're keeping her last name private," Crier said, adding that the relationship ended when Janet walked in on Scott and Laci in bed together.

"The unknowing mistress had merely caught a husband and wife in the act," Crier said.

When Janet met Scott Peterson in 1998, she was a sophomore at California Polytechnic State University, and he was a senior, according to a police report written by Modesto police detective Allen Brocchini. The detective interviewed Janet over the phone in January 2003, after she left a message about her college affair with Peterson on a police tip line.

Janet appears to be the "vegetarian girlfriend" Peterson once told Amber Frey he had dated in college for six months. According to Frey's statements to police, Peterson once described giving up meat for a vegetarian girlfriend, because the "sex was great."

But according to the document, Janet had different recollections about their sex life. Peterson, Janet told Brocchini, was "very self-conscious about the size of his penis and whether he could please a woman." She also recalled hearing from his roommates that some time after they broke up, Peterson got drunk at a bar and began exposing his penis to bar patrons.

According to the report, Janet said she was initially attracted to the "cowboy-type gentleman," who was generous with his money and showered her with roses, jewelry and clothes, but she had no idea he was married because he never wore a ring or mentioned Laci.

Janet told Brocchini that Peterson was living with roommates in San Luis Obispo at the time, and the pair discussed moving in together. Peterson also allegedly told his secret girlfriend he wanted to take her on a long vacation to Mexico.

At one point, Janet said, he confided that kids were not in his future. During a date at a rodeo where children were present, Peterson told her "he did not want kids because they would get in the way of his lifestyle."

Peterson's alleged behavior during his marriage to Laci may reinforce the prosecution's assertion that he was a serial adulterer who did not want to be tied down and killed his pregnant wife when the added pressure of impending fatherhood sent him over the edge.

It's not known if Janet will be called to testify, but some of her statements also could be used by Peterson's defense. The former fertilizer salesman has always maintained that Laci knew about his affair with Amber and had made peace with it.

Likewise, Janet told Brocchini that she was "positive" Laci knew about their college affair, because Janet confronted the married couple after finding them in bed, and made it clear that she was having an intimate relationship with Scott.