by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright April 19, 2003
All Rights Reserved.

wirling currents and strong tides finally dislodged the decomposed bodies of missing pregnant Modesto 27-year-old Laci Peterson and her eight-month-old fetus. Washing up on the rocky shoreline of San Francisco Bay, the skeletal remains of an adult female and full-term fetus were found by two separate people, only one-mile apart, within the same 24-hour period, and, yes, only 2-miles from the Berkeley Marina where Scott Peterson claimed to go fishing the day his wife disappeared. DNA testing was immediately ordered, proving that the fetus was genetically linked to Scott, who was living incognito with his parents in San Diego. Shortly after the DNA match, California Highway Patrol and Justice Department agents arrested Peterson in the parking lot of San Diego's Torrey Pines Golf Club. Scott's been in virtual seclusion since his ex-lover went public with their affair in January, causing a media feeding frenzy.

     From the day Laci disappeared, suspicions dogged Scott who insisted he went fishing in the Berkeley Marina on Dec. 24. Little did anyone know that he picked the wrong-size concrete shoes for his eight-month pregnant wife, whose remains eventually swept ashore. In a late-night news conference, Modoesto Police Chief Roy Wasden refused to speculate about either Peterson's motive or Laci's cause of death. Wasden did say that no "credible witness" saw Laci after Christmas Eve or tried to collect the handsome $50,000 reward, ruling out other suspects and fingering Scott, a 30-year old fertilizer salesman. "This is a case where it's a process of elimination," Wasden told CNN. Authorities had bugged Scott's car, tracked his whereabouts and were alarmed he had died his hair blonde and grown a beard. Concerned that he was as flight risk, state and federal agents nabbed him without delay on April 18.

     Despite suspicions, authorities had little grounds to arrest Scott before DNA confirmed as positive identification. "There is no question in our minds that the unidentified female is Laci Peterson. The unidentified fetus is the biological child of Laci and Scott Peterson," said Calif. Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyear, convinced that indisputable DNA evidence solved the crime. "We're scientifically convinced the match is one in billions," after comparing DNA samples from the badly decomposed corpses, prompting authorities to order Scott's arrest. Scott's paternity was firmly established by matching his epithelial cheek cells with DNA from the fetal skeleton. "Well, they finally arrested the son of a bitch," said Laci's father Dennis Rocha, uncorking months of pent-up frustrations after learning about Scott's affair in January. Since Scott's admission, Laci's family expressed grave doubts about Scott's story.

     Before going into seclusion in January, Scott tried to humanize his relationship with Laci and spin the affair as an everyday event. He told ABC's "Good Morning America," "It was not a positive, obviously. . . but it was not something that we weren't dealing with." "It wasn't anything that would break us apart," Scott said, giving the impression that he and Laci were working it out. Yet Laci's close friends, at the time, doubted whether Scott disclosed anything about an affair during her pregnancy. Pretending that he and Laci were "working on" everyday problems cleverly redirected suspicious minds away from Scott's own guilt. Taking a page out of OJ's playbook, Scott even staged a publicity stunt in Los Angeles, handing out flyers at a local hotel. "We simply have to expand the geographical area," he said, again leading investigators on a wild goose chase.

     Over the course of a long investigation, Scott proved to be a clever psychopath, staying away from cameras and microphones. But like accused killer and former Emmy-winning actor and child film star Robert Blake, he thought he could dupe the media with measured public appearances. Speaking publicly for the last time to MSNBC in February, Scott took out the violin, claiming he painfully missed his wife and his unborn child named Connor. "I can't drive. I can't sleep," he said. "Sometimes I feel I just can't do it. I feel like I'm in a dark corner and I just can't function," proving he quietly grieved the loss of his wife and child. In reality, he felt the law breathing down his neck, watching him like a hawk while he played golf and meandered around the San Diego area. Now awaiting arraignment in Modesto, Scott Peterson faces charges of double-homicide that could land him on death row.

     Scott's worse nightmare occurred when his wife and baby washed ashore in San Francisco Bay, blowing his airtight alibi that he was "fishing" in the Berkeley Marina the day his wife disappeared. Unlike OJ Simpson or Robert Blake, Scott won't have the legal dream team to discredit DNA evidence or concoct fabulous theories of how his wife and fetus were found only two miles from the exact spot he claimed to be fishing on Christmas Eve. Yet, like Chandra Levy, another Modesto resident whose mysterious disappearance torpedoed the career of Rep. Gary I. Condit and whose skeletal remains were finally found in a remote D.C. park, Scott's own DNA won't decide the outcome of the trial. Despite Lockyear's overconfidence, it's unlikely that forensic tests will pinpoint the exact cause of death or establish the killer's identity. At least for now, Scott will spend some quality time thinking about his wife and baby.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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