Netflix’s new investigative thriller, American Murder: Laci Peterson, is now streaming. This miniseries delves into one of the most infamous criminal mysteries: who killed 27-year-old Laci Peterson and her unborn child, and her husband, Scott Peterson, the culprit. ?
American Murder: Laci Peterson focuses on the case of Peterson, who was 8 months pregnant with her first child when she disappeared from her home on Christmas Eve 2002. The media temporarily picked up on the story, making Peterson a household name. Her circle Many family and friends were desperately looking for her. When her remains were finally found, police began building a case against her spouse, Scott Peterson, who continues to claim his innocence to this day.
Two decades after Scott’s conviction, the three-part Netflix series revisits Peterson’s disappearance, investigation and trial through news clips, interrogation footage and courtroom cameras. Array The series features interviews with detectives, lawyers, and jurors, as well as Amber Frey, the woman Peterson was concerned about. with the disappearance of his spouse. In a rare interview, Laci’s mother, Sharon Rocha, is also speaking out intensely for the first time since her daughter’s death.
All 3 episodes of American Murder: Laci Peterson are now streaming on Netflix. As you watch, delve into the details of Laci’s murder and find out why the Los Angeles Innocence Project is now involved in Scott’s case.
Laci Peterson, 27 years old and 8 months pregnant, was last seen at her home in Modesto, California, on December 24, 2002. Her spouse, Scott Peterson, said he had been fishing at Berkley Marina that day and had returned home. Locate your dog on a leash in your yard, with no sign of Laci anywhere.
Family, friends and law enforcement officers began searching for Laci. Scott Peterson cooperated with the government in the investigation, which became a media frenzy after the main points of Scott’s case became public.
He saw Amber Frey, a masseuse who lives in Fresno, who revealed that she was dating Scott. “Scott told me he wasn’t married,” the woman told a room full of reporters, according to NBC Bay Area. “We had a romantic date. “
Prosecutors revealed that Peterson told his lover that he had “lost” his wife and would spend his first Christmas alone, even though Laci was still alive at the time of that conversation.
Four months after her disappearance, the bodies of Laci Peterson and her unborn son, Conner, washed up in the San Francisco Bay Area in April 2003.
ABC News, after reviewing the full autopsy and coroner’s photographs, reported on the condition of the bodies of Laci and her unborn baby. (Warning: The main points are graphic, so be careful when reading the article. )
The federal and local government arrested Scott Peterson near a golf course in San Diego’s La Jolla on April 18, 2003, according to the Los Angeles Times, just days after the bodies of Laci and Conner were discovered in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The newspaper reported that Modesto police, the California Highway Patrol and federal agents had been tracking Peterson for months using “wiretapping, vehicle tracking devices and direct surveillance. “Scott pleaded not guilty to either murder charge when he was arraigned.
Scott Peterson’s trial for the murder of Laci Peterson began in June 2004 and lasted five months. Jurors ultimately convicted Scott of first-degree murder in the case of Laci Peterson’s death and second-degree murder in the case of her son’s death.
The jury that obtained Scott’s death penalty and a ruling sentenced him to death in 2005, calling the murders “cruel, callous, heartless and callous,” according to NBC News.
After spending more than 15 years on death row, the California Supreme Court overturned Scott Peterson’s sentence in 2020, stating in a ruling that it was a “series of transparent and significant errors in jury selection,” which went against United States precedent. Supreme court.
The ruling said the trial court “wrongly dismissed” many potential jurors who had indicated their opposition to the death penalty in written questionnaires, despite assurances that those prospects would not interfere with their ability to serve. the law.
A year later, Scott was sentenced to life in prison without the option of parole for Laci’s death. A sentence sentenced him to 15 years to life in prison for the death of the fetus.
In recent years, Peterson’s team has requested a new trial, which the ruling denied in 2022. They accused Juror 7, a woman named Richelle Nice, of hiding important aspects of her private life because she had not revealed that the victim of domestic violence and had sought a restraining order in 2000, fearing her boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend would harm her unborn baby, according to NBC News.
Meanwhile, Peterson’s attorneys argued that Laci killed after being the victim of a robbery.
Scott Peterson is currently serving a life sentence on parole at Mule Creek State Prison and has maintained his innocence for 22 years.
Peterson gave his first interview in more than two decades for Peacock’s upcoming documentary, Face to Face with Scott Peterson, which aired Aug. 20. Series director Shareen Anderson led the conversation.
“Why would anyone need to hear your side of the story?” Scott asked in a trailer released for the upcoming Peacock series. “Because I didn’t kill my family,” he replied.
Murders director Skye Borgman told Us Weekly that Scott does not need to appear in the Netflix documentary. “We contacted Scott and had some conversations with him in prison,” the warden said. “After all, he made the decision not to participate in our documentary. “
Borgman added that Scott’s lack of involvement is “good” because the docuseries “came from her family and we looked for it to be very, very direct from Laci. “
The Innocence Project of Los Angeles, a nonprofit that exonerates wrongfully convicted people, announced earlier this year that it would take on Peterson’s case.
“The Los Angeles Innocence Project (LAIP) represents Scott Peterson and is investigating his allegations of innocence,” a spokesperson for the organization said in a statement at the time.
Scott’s new attorneys at the Innocence Project hope to retry his case by seeking new DNA evidence from difficult samples using the next generation that has advanced since his original conviction. The only new DNA evidence the court agreed to allow was a single piece of duct tape discovered on Laci Peterson’s pants during the autopsy, according to NBC Bay Area.
Watch the trailer for American Murder: Laci Peterson below.
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