Kim McGregor and the video camera
After Laci disappeared, Sharon suggested to Scott that Kim McGregor could walk McKenzie, and so Scott gave Kim a key to the house. She appears to have been in and out of the Peterson home over the next few weeks. Access was easy, because she lived just around the corner on Encina.
Just before 2 a.m. on January 19, 2003, Kim broke into the Peterson home and stole several items, including a video camera and several items of clothing, including Laci's wedding dress, which she tried on while still at the house. Amy Krigbaum, a neighbor, saw her and called the police. Kim changed her story several times and agreed to cooperate with the police to get information from Scott. Scott was in Los Angeles at the time. The circumstances of the burglary remain mysterious.
Kim dumped the video camera into a grease barrel at Fast Eddy's. Eddy found the camera and thought it could be salvaged, as it was a better camera than the one he had. When he played the video that was in it, he immediately recognized Laci and called the police.
Where did these pictures come from?
We are familiar with most of the pictures taken from the video camera, but these four are rather striking for their content and the dates they have displayed. Some excuse the dates by explaining that some of the footage was shot over other footage, and so the dates might apply to the footage filmed over, but these pictures are time-stamped AFTER the burglary -- 14 hours later -- when the camera was in Kim McGregor's possession. So, neither Scott nor Laci could have been filming over anything.
Did Kim McGregor use the camera to film some footage of her own home? If so, what relevance would the pictures have to Laci's disappearance?
The other portions of the video showing a Jan 03 date are of Amy Rocha cutting Lee Peterson's hair. On that date, January 10, Amy was still friends with the Petersons and neither the Prosecution nor the Defense, to my knowledge, challenged the validity of that date.
The four January 19 pictures
Analysis of the 4 Photos
by Lon Winters
in collaboration with members of the SII-BB
Overview
At 6 minutes, 15 seconds into the video we see about 5 seconds of footage taken inside what looks to be a small bedroom in an unknown house. The timestamp on this footage is Jan 19 2003, 4:23 PM. The first question is, is the time stamp accurate? If so, this means that this was taped while in the possession of McGregor or someone she knew.
This segment is clearly taped over a previous segment dated August 2002. It interrupts a continuous segment of video (the part where Scott seems to be mixing chemicals or fertilizer).
The other segments in the video appear to be time-stamped correctly as well Laci in the kitchen, the time spent in the car and the fishing trip.
Another small clip – which is also recorded over a previous segment in the same manner appears at 6 minutes 46 seconds into the video. The time stamp here is Jan 10 2003 at 11.24 PM where Amy is giving Lee a haircut in the Peterson bathroom. The background noises indicate there were at least a few people in the house.
Both of these time-stamps appear to be accurate. On January 10, the families were still united and were preparing to go on LKL on the 13th.
The other footage – shows an unfamiliar location – during the time that Kim would have had the camera, and appears to be daylight hours – as the stamp indicates.
While looking at the video and stills – it’s easy to read things into it and see things that may not be there. Look at the video a few times to try to get a perspective for the room. It starts with the initial shot – hovers there, then quickly pans down and to the right, then to the left. The most accurate visuals are when the camera is steady or there is a good enough color contrast. The fast movement causes blurring and adds artifact to the images that makes details hard to make out.
Also keep in mind that in some of the stills I adjusted contrast, brightness and resolution to try to enhance certain elements – but that may throw off other aspects such as color balances.
Video clip Audio of background sounds
Initial Shot
The initial shot – this helps to establish perspective. The doors to me are confusing – the white door is perhaps a closet door, but it’s hard to tell about the other – which way it opens. (click to enlarge)
In the above we also see the bed and blanket. To the right is an interesting object – not on the bed because it’s lower.
Close up of the interesting object. Looks like a metal clasp or clamp around something. (click to enlarge)
Another close up of object.
Calendar
This is the best I could get of the calendar on the wall. Zooming in did not show any of the text on it. The most we can get from this is that there are 5 people.
