Scott Peterson redux

In My Humble Opinion
1

Just saw a program on the Laci Peterson case. There’s something about the prosecution’s case that bugs me, even though FTR, I think her husband Scott did in fact kill her.

But here it is: part of the 1st degree murder case was motive (if he’d been charged with anything less, the prosecution would not have had to prove motive, at least in most states, and I’m pretty sure it’s the case in California). The motive proffered by the prosecution was the Peterson wanted to be with his girlfriend Amber Fry, and that’s why he killed Laci.

Because the defense was trying to prove Peterson Not Guilty (or more to the point, factually innocent) of all charges, it did little to attach motive, except to say that the affair didn’t mean that much to Scott.

If the defense had been trying to refute the 1st degree charges, in order to save Scott’s life, and allowed him to be convicted on lesser charges, which they then could have fought on appeal, I think they had a pretty good refutation of the alibi: what good did it do for Laci to be gone, if no one knew exactly what had happened to her? If her body was never discovered, which seem to be the intent of the killer, Peterson or whomever, Peterson was not free to be with anyone else. He’d need to wait a long interval before openly dating again, if he was supposed to be holding out hope that Laci would be found. He’d need to wait 7 before having her declared dead. So killing Laci secretly would seem like a bad plan if he wanted he death to be known.

Better to stage an accident, like taking her on the boat and pushing her overboard, or doing a copycat of the other murders of pregnant women that had happened in the area.

Or am I missing something?

2

Aren’t there laws allowing divorce by reason of ‘abandonment of the family’ that allow an uncontested divorce much sooner than the 7 years required before declaring a missing person dead?

So he could have sued for divorce much sooner, and it probably would have been granted. Then he’s free to marry his latest girlfriend.

3

Well, yeah, but he’s still stuck being a father, which the prosecutor maintained he didn’t want to me, and I think there was some pretty good evidence that this was true. If they really wanted him on 1st degree murder, they probably should have pursued that as a motive.

Personally, I think he killed her, but I’m inclined to think it was in a fit of rage. I don’t think he was much of a planner.

4

It was totally planned, which is why he bought the fishing boat without telling anyone. He also had bags of cement and had made anchors, and presumably weights for the body.

Plus he had no history of lashing out in anger. No, he planned it for weeks.

5

Openly is the key. It’s a lot easier to date women in private when your wife is gone forever.

A sad case.