The Laci Peterson murder case in 2002 transfixed the nation. Her husband, Scott Peterson, was convicted for double murder two years later for killing Laci and their unborn son, Conner.
Now 20 years later, speaking on camera for the first time, the murderer denied that he killed his family, though he admits to cheating on his pregnant wife. Calling himself a “total a**hole” for having an affair, the 51-year-old told his side of the story to a documentary film crew making a movie for NBC’s streaming platform Peacock. The filmmakers interviewed Peterson over a video call, and the movie will be released on August 20.
The three-part series focuses heavily on the work being done on Peterson’s behalf by the Los Angeles Innocence Project, a group that works to free prisoners it believes have been wrongly convicted. Scott Peterson believes, or says he believes, he fits that definition, and apparently that has convinced the LAIP.
Calling the police work in the wake of his wife’s murder a “so-called investigation,” Peterson said he regretted not taking the stand in his own trial (defense attorneys almost universally recommend their clients do not testify). He said he wants to be able to “show people what the truth is.”
Americans were shocked and outraged at Laci Peterson’s killing; her pregnant status made the crime much more gruesome and unforgivable for most. The case was a mainstay of broadcast and television news for years, somewhat reminiscent of the wall-to-wall coverage of the famous OJ Simpson trial in which he was acquitted of the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman. Simpson died in May of 2024.
Laci was eight months pregnant when she went missing from the couple’s home in Modesto, California on Christmas Eve, 2002. Her body was not found until April of the following year when investigators found it in the San Francisco Bay near a place where Scott Peterson had been fishing the day his wife disappeared.
Police immediately suspected Scott, as murders are most likely to occur between people known to each other. True crime viewers have a saying, “It’s always the husband/wife.” Scott had numerous extramarital affairs, and one of his girlfriends on the side, Amber Frey, testified against him in court.
