Behind the Laci Peterson Murder
CNN People in the News
Aired July 26, 2003 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: Next on PEOPLE IN THE NEWS what
appeared to be a perfect marriage becomes the plot for a national murder
mystery.
SCOTT PETERSON, CHARGED WITH WIFE'S MURDER: I had nothing to do with Laci's
disappearance.
ANNOUNCER: A pregnant wife who was bright and vivacious.
ANNE-MARIE O'NEILL, SENIOR EDITOR, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE: I guess you could call
Laci an all-American girl.
ANNOUNCER: The seemingly ideal husband, accused of murdering her.
ABBA IMANI, OWNER, PACIFIC CAFE: People really liked him. He was a very likable
guy.
ANNOUNCER: A storybook relationship that ended in a tabloid confession.
AMBER FREY, HAD AFFAIR WITH SCOTT PETERSON: We did have a romantic relationship.
ANNOUNCER: A murder case that's got the country talking.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Even though Scott has been convicted around
every water cooler in America, the actual evidence against him is far from
overwhelming.
ANNOUNCER: Beyond the hype and the headlines. The story behind the relationship
of Scott and Laci Peterson.
Then...
JOHN WALSH, "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED": The crime of the century.
ANNOUNCER: He's the television force who's helped put many of America's most
wanted behind bars.
WALSH: We're the fifth longest running show in the history of television.
ANNOUNCER: But before the bright lights and stardom, a phone call that no parent
should have to get.
WALSH: I was so heartbroken. I wished I was in another place. ANNOUNCER: He
turned his tragedy into a crusade for the rights of missing children. The story
of the man who's made it his mission to stop crime of all sort. John Walsh.
Their stories and more now on PEOPLE IN THE NEWS.
PAULA ZAHN:, ANCHOR: Hi. Welcome to PEOPLE IN THE NEWS. I'm Paula Zahn.
They seemed like the all-American couple, happily married, anxiously a waiting
the birth of their first child. She was the girl next door and he was the
adoring husband. At least that's how it seemed until Laci Peterson and her
unborn son were murdered.
Now Laci's husband, Scott, is awaiting trial for the killings in a case that has
fueled a media free for all.
Here's David Mattingly.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHARON ROCHA, LACI PETERSON'S MOTHER: I love my daughter so much. I miss her
every minute of every day.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is a story that has
captivated the country. A murder mystery played out daily in the media.
TED ROWLANDS, REPORTER, KTVU: People wanted to know where she was, whether she
was OK and whether that babe was OK.
MATTINGLY: Last year in the state of California alone, thousands of adult men
and women were reported missing, but in the final days of 2002, one of those
cases went from an ordinary disappearance to an extraordinary media phenomena
that has mesmerized the country.
S. PETERSON: I had nothing to do with Laci's disappearance.
TOOBIN: One of the great mysteries about the Peterson case is yet public has
responded to it so passionately, because it doesn't have a celebrity involved.
No one had heard of these people before, but there is something about it that
has grabbed many thousands of people.
MATTINGLY: Twenty-seven-year-old Laci Peterson, gone without a trace on
Christmas Eve. The media was flooded with images of a beautiful, beaming young
woman and the tearful family members desperately seek her return.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Laci Denise, if you're hearing dad, we love you very much and
we want you home.
MATTINGLY: it just didn't make sense. Laci had a handsome, loving husband,
parents, siblings and in-laws who cherished her. Plus, the substitute teacher
was eight months pregnant when she suddenly disappeared. Things had been good
for Laci Peterson. She was starting a new chapter of her life in the place where
her very first chapter began.
Modesto, California, a mid-sized city with a very small town feel, a place where
happiness is spelled out in the welcome sign.
Laci Peterson was born in Modesto on May 4, 1975. Even as a young girl, Laci
Denise Rocha had the same sunny disposition that was so familiar in her
adulthood.
STACEY BOYERS, CHILDHOOD FRIEND: Laci is always smiling, no matter where we are
or what we're doing. She's always bubbly and talkative and she's usually the
center of attention.
MATTINGLY: Laci was into everything and she had no shortage of friends. As a
student at Downey High, Laci wasn't your typical angst- ridden rebellious teen.
Quite the opposite, in fact.
O'NEILL: I guess you could call Laci an all-American girl. You know, she was a
cheerleader in high school. She was vivacious. She was outgoing and friendly.
Her stepfather used to call her Jabber Jaws because she talked so much.
MATTINGLY: Pretty soon, cooking and gardening joined chatting on the list of
favorite Laci pastimes and her green thumb planted her at San Luis Obispo at
California Polytechnic State University with a major in horticultural sciences.
There she would meet the man who would become her husband. Scott Peterson was a
handsome, athletic California boy from San Diego.
O'NEILL: People who knew Scott at high school have described him as -- as a kind
of jock. Very confident. Slightly arrogant and yet still friendly and easy to
talk to.
MATTINGLY: The consummate outdoorsman, Scott loved hunting, fishing and golf,
but he also had an entrepreneurial spirit. As a student at Cal Poly, Scott made
a good impression on his teachers in the agriculture and business department.
JAMES AHERN, PROFESSOR, CALIFORNIA POLYTECHNIC STATE UNIVERSITY: Very nice guy.
A good guy. A capable student. Interested beyond just getting grades and
interested in knowing people and a good interactor, charming person that could
talk well and was interested in what other people had to say. A very likable
guy.
MATTINGLY: Scott's agreeable personality worked for him outside the classroom,
as well. He parlayed his charm into a part-time job at the Pacific Cafe.
IMANI: His mom and dad were a customer here. They ate here regularly. And then
when Scott graduated from high school he came and ate with them a few times and
then he asked for a job.
He was a very good worker. Very responsible, but most importantly, very polite
person. People really liked him. He was a very likable guy.
MATTINGLY: One customer in particular took a liking to Scott, fellow Cal Poly
student Laci Rocha. After talking to Scott a couple of times, Laci asked a
friend who worked at the Pacific Cafe to give Scott her number. He called right
away.
RENEE GARZA, CHILDHOOD FRIEND: They're like teenagers in love.
MATTINGLY: That's how most everyone described Laci and Scott. The relationship
turned serious quickly and when Laci said she was bringing her mom to dinner
meet Scott, he went out of his way to impress her.
IMANI: He asked me to make some special appetizer for them. And I did. Some
scampi, if I remember right, and he had some flowers on the table.
MATTINGLY: The storybook courtship led to a storybook union.
O'NEILL: The wedding was really elaborate. Laci had a big part in planning the
wedding. She made sure the flowers were just how she liked them. And there was a
white dress. Him feeding her cake, the full routine.
He carried her up the stairs. For awhile there, his family thought he that might
drop her, but he didn't.
So the wedding by all accounts was a big and happy affair.
IMANI: It was a gorgeous day out on the beach, outdoor wedding. Perfect.
Everything was just right and a nice couple. They were, like, perfect for each
other.
MATTINGLY: It was a picture of perfection that would suddenly be shattered.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: We now return to PEOPLE IN THE NEWS.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Laci and Scott Peterson went from ocean front wedded
bliss to a shack. The couple wanted to create a hangout spot where students from
their alma mater Cal Poly could eat well for cheap. This was a dream they shared
and they each took an active role.
BLAKE REED, FRIEND: Scott's an entrepreneur, and he pretty much just built the
place up, you know, from the ground up.
CHRISTINE REED, FRIEND: Laci's involvement, too, in the restaurant was
significant. She loved to cook. She would go on these trips to France and learn
to cook for a week or two and then come back and they kind of both sat down and
developed the concept and the menu and then went and then found a location.
MATTINGLY: The restaurant soon took off.
When they weren't working, Laci and Scott were out spending time with friends
like Blake and Christine Reed. They say this picture taken at a dinner party
perfectly summed up the dynamics of their relationship.
B. REED: All of the guys were sitting out in the back porch and we were all
smoking cigars and drinking a scotch or whatever and just hanging out and it was
all of the guys.
And so somebody wanted to take a picture of all of the guys sitting back there
and they were just getting ready to snap the shot and Laci comes behind all of
the guys and she wanted to get right in the middle and that's a really good way
to describe Laci. She was really gregarious and she liked to be in the center of
things and be -- you know, she was real comfortable being the center of
attention.
C. REED: You know, I never saw Scott feel -- or I never saw the expressions or
his behavior never said he was embarrassed by that or angry by that. I mean, he
kind of just stood back and smiled and said, "That's my wife"
MATTINGLY: Though surrounded by friends and fulfilled by the success of their
restaurant, Laci and Scott decided to move back to Modesto to be closer to
Laci's family and to start a family of their own.
O'NEILL: Laci was really excited about getting pregnant. They'd been trying to
get pregnant for some time and when she did get pregnant and she got the news
she was pregnant she was on the phone at 7 a.m. the next morning, calling her
relatives and telling them of the news.
SUSAN CAUDILLO, SCOTT PETERSON'S SISTER: She and Scott were just thrilled about
the coming of their baby boy and everything in their life that they had planned
for the past five years and their marriage was coming. This was a big event for
them and everything was going wonderfully.
MATTINGLY: Which is why it was so stunning when Scott called family members on
December 24, saying he had just come home from a fishing trip and couldn't find
Laci anywhere.
JACKIE PETERSON, SCOTT PETERSON'S MOTHER: They were all ready for Christmas,
their presents wrapped, their plans laid and they had a little free time. And
it's just like Laci to let Scott go do something he wanted to do, and she wanted
to do a little more shopping privately, so that was their agreement and it was
only for a few hours. It should have been fine.
MATTINGLY: But it wasn't fine. Hours passed with no sign of Laci. The family
sprang into action, pleading for help on the airwaves and putting Laci's picture
on every tree, lamppost and window in sight. ROWLANDS: When Laci was missing,
literally thousands of people who didn't know her came out to help search for
this missing woman and they started to know her.
MATTINGLY: Laci's family, her parents, her brother and sister, as well as
Scott's parents, became familiar faces.
ROCHA: I'd like to make a plea to the person or persons who have my daughter.
MATTINGLY: They appeared on television night and day. Noticeably absent, her
husband Scott.
ROWLANDS: When someone's going through this you don't know how they're going to
react, but normally you've got a father or a spouse or a family member of a
missing person who wants media coverage, who wants the picture out there, the
flyers, wants to do interviews. Wants to really do anything to get help to find
this person.
And with Scott it was a little different story where he was real standoffish;
didn't want us to take his picture, didn't want us to interview him.
MATTINGLY: Slowly, people began to question Scott's demeanor.
TOOBIN: For better or worse, the public seems to have kind of a script in mind
for how bereaved relatives ought to behave and he didn't follow that script. He
was not quite sad enough.
MATTINGLY: Modesto police also seemed to think something about Scott wasn't
right. He wasn't named a suspect, but he wasn't ruled out either. Police
repeatedly questioned him and searched the home he shared with Laci.
But the people who knew him best ignored all that whispering.
LEE PETERSON, SCOTT PETERSON'S FATHER: If you knew Scott as far as him being
implicated it's just a non-issue.
O'NEILL: Laci's mother Sharon told us that she was calling Scott every day. They
were speaking on the phone and she was telling him that they loved him and not
to worry.
MATTINGLY: With Laci missing for one full week, the family in the town of
Modesto came out on New Year's Eve for a candlelight vigil.
Scott Peterson raised eyebrows and got stares of disbelief as he laughed and
joked with friends and even took a cell phone call while the rest of the family
was in tears.
That, combined with frequent out of town, overnight trips and his steadfast
refusal to speak publicly, turned Scott into a villain in the media.
But it only got worse. When PEOPLE IN THE NEWS continues, a potential motive for
murder surfaces.
FREY: I met Scott Peterson November 20, 2002. I was introduced to him. I was
told he was unmarried.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Welcome back to PEOPLE IN THE NEWS.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Nearly one month after the disappearance of Laci
Peterson, a shocking revelation.
KIM PETERSON, ROCHA FAMILY SPOKESPERSON: Approximately two weeks ago Ron
Grantski, Laci's stepfather, asked Scott if he had a girlfriend. Scott told him
no and Ron believed him.
Now, however, they believe that he has lied to them about this and possibly
other things, as well.
MATTINGLY: At first, Scott continued to deny the affair, but a press conference
with the other woman, Amber Frey, erased all doubts.
FREY: Scott told me he was not married. We did have a romantic relationship.
When I discovered he was involved in the -- the Laci Peterson disappearance
case, I immediately contacted the Modesto Police Department.
TOOBIN: The fact that Peterson was having an affair at the time his wife
disappeared certainly raised suspicion on him and obviously gave him a motive
for murder.
MATTINGLY: It was also the turning point in Scott's relationship with Laci's
family.
TOOBIN: That was the moment when they went from being largely supportive of
Scott to neutral to hostile.
MATTINGLY: Engulfed in a torrent of bad press, Scott Peterson agreed to what he
had resisted for so long, on-camera interviews, but it had to be on his terms.
ROWLANDS: He called me on the phone the night before and said no lights, just
one camera guy. I just want it to be a simple interview. He said I'd like to see
the questions you want to ask me. I've never had anybody ask me that before,
so it was a definite situation where he was in control and he didn't want to say
anything that quite frankly, would, I think, make him look bad.
MATTINGLY: And when it came time to speak he chose his words carefully.
S. PETERSON: I had nothing to do with Laci's disappearance. Even if you think I
did, think about Laci.
MATTINGLY: He seemed the most emotional when speaking of the empty nursery for
the baby they had decided to name Connor.
S. PETERSON: The nursery's ready for him. That door is closed. I can't look, you
know? All of the little bitty clothes and all of those wonderful things we have.
MATTINGLY: But public reaction was mixed.
ROWLANDS: I think that people thought he was guilty, and I think seeing him in
his sort of pat answers and his reluctancy to really open up didn't help him.
TOOBIN: And then he started doing things like trying to sell Laci's car. Actions
that seemed inconsistent with a grieving relative and more consistent with a
criminal suspect.
MATTINGLY: The downward spiral continued for Scott Peterson, but the darkest
days were just ahead.
On April 13, just miles away from where Scott said he was fishing on Christmas
Eve, the body of a fetus washed up on the shores of San Francisco Bay, followed
by the partial remains of a woman.
The question on everyone's mind, could this be Laci Peterson and baby Connor?
Claiming Scott was a flight risk, the Modesto police didn't wait to find out. On
April 18, he was arrested near a posh golf course in San Diego, just an hour
away from the Mexican border.
Despite appearances, the Peterson family stayed strong and supportive.
L. PETERSON: They made a rush to judgment because of all of the media pressure,
I believe, and politics. And he's in there, he should not be and we're going to
find out who did it.
MATTINGLY: But the attorney general disagreed, calling the case a slam dunk. And
the state of California said it would seek the death penalty against Scott
Peterson.
After DNA results confirmed their worst fears, that the bodies that washed up
were indeed Laci and her baby, Laci's family held one final heart-wrenching
press conference.
ROCHA: I literally get sick to my stomach when I allow myself to think about
what may have happened to them. No parent should have to think about the way
their child is murdered.
RON GRANTSKI, LACI PETERSON'S STEPFATHER: I know all of you would like for us to
say something about Scott, but we're not going to do that. We owe it to Laci to
let the courts bring the facts out.
MATTINGLY: The family took the high road and refused to publicly discuss their
feelings toward Scott.
TOOBIN: Anyone who has followed the case at all closely can see that the Rocha
family, Laci's family, has gone pretty much over to outright hostility to Scott,
even though they have never said the words publicly, "We think Scott did it."
MATTINGLY: Laci Peterson's family was done talking, but the rest of the country
was not. Television was filled with talking heads, debating the case against
Scott Peterson.
MARK GERAGOS, SCOTT PETERSON'S ATTORNEY: The most damning piece of
circumstantial evidence comes out of his own mouth and his own hands when he
hands the police that receipt from the very location where two miles away she's
found. I mean, that is just a devastating thing.
MATTINGLY: In the early stages celebrity defense attorney Mark Geragos was among
the crowd on TV saying the evidence against Scott was overwhelming. But after
meeting the accused and his family, Geragos made a surprising about face.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Mark Geragos is the attorney, also?
GERAGOS: That's correct, your honor. I represent Mr. Peterson.
TOOBIN: It is almost a perfect symbol of this case as a media phenomenon that
the defense found its lawyers on "LARRY KING LIVE".
MATTINGLY: Wasting no time, the new defense tried to provide alternative
theories.
GERAGOS: We know that there are specific individuals who have information that
relate to this -- to the kidnapping and the abduction and the murder. And we're
asking that you come forward and we'll do everything possible to protect you.
TOOBIN: A cult murder. A random murder. A kidnapping. That gives the public
something to think about except the obvious possibility, which is that her
husband did it.
MATTINGLY: The defense had also worked hard to remind potential jurors that
their client had a perfectly clean record.
ROWLANDS: He has a history of cheating which is coming out, but as far as could
he be responsible for this? There was nothing in his past and especially in the
beginning, people were ready to stand up for this guy and say yes, he's acting
strange, but believe us, he's a great guy.
MATTINGLY: The prosecution has largely kept quiet, allowing the circumstantial
evidence to speak for itself.
TOOBIN: The prosecution will undoubtedly focus on a basic appeal to common
sense, which is who else could have done this? Who else had the motive? The
opportunity?
MATTINGLY: But the prosecution still has to prove guilt beyond a reasonable
doubt.
TOOBIN: This case is not a slam dunk, at least not in terms of the evidence
that's public. There is no murder weapon. There is no eyewitness. There is no
time of death established. Those are all things that the defense can explore.
MATTINGLY: In the meantime, two families are left to grieve the loss of Laci
Peterson and her unborn son Connor. Forced to wonder how their loved ones came
to their deaths in a watery grave, so close to home.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: The preliminary hearing that will decide whether the case goes to trial has been postponed until September.