I am wondering several things in this Scott Peterson case. Though he may not fit the iconic profile of a guy that would decapitate his 8 month pregnant wife, I hesitate to say he didn’t do it himself. But I will not be at all suprised if it comes out that he hired someone to do it. Either way he’s a slime ball and needs to be removed from society.
So does anyone think he’s not the killer, or that he did it himself?
You just want our opinions? My opinion is that we should wait until we see what the evidence is against him, as other than the fact that he was cheating on his pregnant, I don’t see anything that would warrant demanding his “removal from society”. Lots of slimeballs cheat on their pregnant wives.
I’ll wait with interest to see what actual evidence the cops have, as other than the tabloids’ shrieking, “She was killed in her own kitchen!” I haven’t heard anything as to how they’re going to prove their case.
It should also be considered that in february the torso of a salvadoran woman was found I think near where Laci Petersons body was. She dissappeared from the same general area as Laci peterson did but a month or two earlier. She was full term pregnant when she dissappeared though in her case a baby was not found with her body.
These cases may not be related at all but they do have enough similarities to make one wonder. The salvadoran woman did not recieve anything like the coverage that Laci peterson did but I think she was a single mother and did not have the same deep family roots as Laci peterson.
There is no evidence that she was decapitated. More than likeliy if she was disposed of in water, she would be weighted down with ropes/wires. It seems feasible that once decomposition proceeded far enough, the body would tear where the ropes are. Perhaps around the neck and legs?
There are so many unanswerable questions at this point. I dont have a good feeling about this guy, but lets give him the benefit of the doubt. What if he IS innocent and has list his wife, son and is being implicated. Can you think of a worse fate?
The reports I’ve heard say that the body was missing its head and hands. This sounds to me like someone was trying to keep the body from being identified as long as possible. You know, no dental records and no fingerprints?
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I would like to give him the benefit of the doubt, but for the love o’god, he took out a substantial life insurance policy on his wife only, tried to sell his missing wife’s car and their home, then he was picked up in San Diego in an unidentified vehicle, with dyed hair, a goatee, ten thousand dollars in cash, and his brother’s ID.
Innocent until proven guilty and all that, but the boy should write a book entitled “How to Look Like the World’s Stupidest Wife Murderer”. If he is innocent, he’s doing everything possible to not look that way, heh.
Peace,
~mixie
It seems to me that if he’d hired someone to do the job, he’d have a better alibi.
Oh and yeah, it’s possible he didn’t do it; presumption of innocence etc. - but let’s face reality - it’s more likely than not that he did it.
Not quite true. The Salvadoran woman was from San Francisco or Daly City in any event the Penisula. Modesto is a bedroom community roughly 100 miles away (see this map, Modesto would be further east (about 30 miles) from Livermore. As with the Peterson case though, her SO is considered the primary suspect. Another thing to consider (being a BA resident) it’s not too unusual for bodies dumped in the bay to turn up in that general area, generally form Oakland to Richmond, must be something to do with currents.
Stufy and PhuQan G Nyus - that is very interesting. And I would assume the defense will use the salvadorian woman and the coincidental nature of the bodies and pregnancies to aid peterson. Unless of course he is a serial matricidal killer. Though not his own mother, but a mother non-the-less.
Does anyone remember if he caught any fish on his expedition on Christmas eve? I never hear anyone talk about this, but it would sure help his alibi if he did.
The Salvadoran woman lived in SF, was a single mother already, and the father of her unborn child was (and still is) married. It’s a shame the story didn’t get anywhere near the coverage that Laci’s did. In the latter case, I would suspect the family’s organized effort to find her (call center, multiple large scale searches, etc.) made it easier to report on. Not sure if the Salvadoran community in SF put up a similar structure.
But Scott will get his day in court. It was somewhat disingenuous of his parents to go on national TV and talk about what a loving, caring husband he was while conveniently leaving out the fact that he was carrying on an affair. This story has CSI written all over it.
Parents don’t normally turn their backs on their sons just because their sons screwed up really appallingly badly. It is possible to “love the sinner and hate the sin”, plus haven’t we had this discussion before, the one about “look at those parents of that bomber/murderer/hijacker/rapist/serial killer, how can they go on TV and say what a good boy he is?” Whether he killed his wife, or whether he was just cheating on her, they’re still his parents. That’s what parents do, is stick up for their son even when he screws up really appallingly badly.
I’m reminded of the scene in Quiz Show where what’s-his-name’s parents grit their teeth and go into the Congressional hearing room with him…
Interesting Point Duck - the parents do seem a bit convincing. It even seems they are going a bit beyond the normal “…I love my son he is not guilty because he’s my son…” routine. They keep mentioning the botched police work. Damn the guy even gave an interview to Diane Sawyer. If I had to bet, I’d say he hired someone close to him to do it. And he was on the lamb because he was scared, not because he actually comitted the crime. We have yet to see though.
I want to give Scott Peterson the benefit of a doubt, but being caught in San Diego with dyed hair, a new goatee, his brother’s ID, and $10,000 in cash certainly raises a few eyebrows.
I’m leaning towards him looking guilty but according to his parents the life insurance policy thing has been blown out of proportion among other things.
*Lee Peterson: You can take this thing from the very beginning. There’s no motive. That $250,000 life insurance policy they had for two years and it was on each of them. They did that when they bought the home.
Jackie Peterson: It’s not a policy. It was a retirement policy that has insurance attached. (The police) lied to Laci Peterson’s mother about that.*
AFAIC recall, the family may be crying “botched investigation” because of several newspaper stories that appeared in the Modesto Bee, claming police failed to follow up on several leads.
Personally I have a hard time getting past:
SP being seen leaving his house with a tarp wrapped bundle. (He says they were lawn umbrellas)
His wife’s body turning up in the area where he was fishing (again a hundred miles from home)
Bodies that have been in the water that long are going to be in pieces at best. I don’t believe she was dismembered. I also believe there is a reasonable doubt as to Scott Peterson’s guilt. Coupled with the facts coming out about the character of the “justice” department out there this case needs to go to full trial before any assumptions are made or ANYONE is tried in the media. The mere rumor that someone in that area may have declared open season on pregant females that has yet to be refudiated is shocking.
Mixie:
"the boy should write a book entitled “How to Look Like the World’s Stupidest Wife Murderer”
I’ll put that on my list and read it after I finish Saddam Hussein’s book on “Military Strategies and Tactics Not to Use Against a US Invasion”.
Maybe in the days of Sherlock Holmes somebody would have thought of cutting off the head and hands to deter identification through dental records or fingerprints, but nowadays any murderer with half a brain knows about DNA.
Of course, but at least it gave him a couple days between the announcement of the discovery of the body and a positive DNA identification to scurry off to Mexico. I have no idea how long dental records take to compare, but I imagine the investigators would have had them close at hand for when the body was found, and facial recognition and fingerprints could have been positively matched almost immediately. Removal of the head and hands wouldn’t have stopped identification, but it would give the murderer a bit more time.
Peace,
~mixie
In 7th grade they teach about DNA. I doubt anyone cntemplating a murder would think they could get away with it by removing the teeth and fingerprints. She was in the water for 4 months, probably weighted down. After that long, the body is going to be in pretty bad shape…
This is awkward and hard to phrase, but I’ll try. The reason that DNA was useful in the Laci Peterson case and in certain others is that they knew she was missing, had been for some time, and that there was a reason to think her body would be found in that area. Therefore, they could test the DNA of the body against any samples they had of her DNA, and see if it matched. Often, if a body is found without head or hands, or badly decomposed, there’s no way of knowing whose it could be - therefore, there’s no one to test the DNA against. Without a national DNA database, with everyone on file, you have to already have a suspicion as to the identity of the corpse before you can use DNA to find out who they are.
Does that make any sense? I feel sort of like I’m babbling.