To this day, Scott Peterson maintain your innocence about the murder of his wife Laci and unborn son Conner, and he will likely continue to do so in Peacock’s next film Face to Face with Scott Petersonin which he makes his first on-air comments in more than 20 years. However, it’s hard to imagine him providing notable revelations after watching American Murder: Laci PetersonNetflix’s three-part docuseries about the case that captivated the country in the early 2000s, arriving this Thursday, August 14, before the Peacock doc.
Featuring interviews with all the key players in this sordid case except Scott himself, American Murder is a straightforward overview that offers both sides opportunities to present their respective arguments about Scott’s guilt and innocence – though it’s hard to imagine viewers coming away from it with doubts about his culpability.
Directed by one of Netflix’s favorite nonfiction directors, Skye Borgman (Girl in the photo, I just killed my father, The truth about Jim), American Murder: Laci Peterson does not present any surprising new information about Laci Peterson, who disappeared on December 24, 2002, from her home in Modesto, California, while eight months pregnant. Her disappearance was first reported by her husband Scott, who stated that upon returning from a day of fishing on Christmas Eve, he found no one home and their dog in the yard, running around dragging its leash – a sign that the dog had appeared. alone after a supposed walk in the park with Laci.
Laci’s mother, Sharon Rocha, her close friends Lori Heintz, Stacey Boyers, Rene Tomlinson, and Heather Adams, and Scott’s sister, Susan Caudillo, and sister-in-law Janey Peterson, all recount those terrifying early moments when worry turned in horrified panic, with leaflets quickly made, a command center quickly established and search parties organized to scour the area for any signs of Laci.
Throughout this beginning, Scott remained calm, emotionless and largely off-camera, avoiding the press even as everyone else turned to reporters to break the news. More than once, Scott’s behavior is described as “odd” in American Murderand this impression was enlarged by his strange story about the days and nights in question. Scott told the neighbor that he was not fishing but playing golf on Christmas Eve. Sharon and the rest of the family knew nothing about his boat, which he had purchased just a few weeks earlier on December 9th. law Ron?) didn’t make sense, nor did the fact that he drove 90 miles to the Berkeley Marina to test the boat for the first time.
None of this was proof that he was involved in Laci’s disappearance, but it raised intriguing red flags – as did the news that, upon arriving home and discovering Laci was missing, Scott had washed his clothes, eaten pizza and showered beforehand. to notify someone about Laci’s disappearance. strange circumstances he discovered.
Scott Peterson’s lawyers say they have proof he didn’t kill his wife
Two decades later, Laci’s mother understandably still chokes up when discussing these events, and her comments — along with those of friends as well as detectives Al Brocchini and Jon Buehler — lend American Murder: Laci Peterson a first-hand intimacy that justifies its existence. Borgman marries his interviews with the usual mix of home movies, archival reports, photographs, and audio recordings. However, his trump card is a meeting with Amber Frey, who soon took center stage in this drama. Upon hearing about Laci’s story on the news, Amber called the police and reported that she had been in a relationship with Scott for the past few months, and that Scott had first told her that he was single and then, on December 9 (the same day he bought the boat), that he was married, but his wife had passed away.
As far as bombshells go, this was a big deal, and in American Murder: Laci PetersonAmber clearly and convincingly lays out the timeline of her affair with Scott, elucidating in the process that she was the victim of his deceptions. Secretly recorded phone calls between Amber and Scott suggest that he imagined a future with her, thus giving him a reason to want to escape his wife (who was pregnant with a child that, Sharon says, Scott originally didn’t want).
When Laci’s body was found in the water near Brooks Island — the same spot near which Scott told Al he was fishing on December 24 — the prosecution decided they had enough evidence to move forward with trial. The ensuing court cases were a treat for the media and ultimately ended with convictions and the death penalty – an outcome that jurors Greg Beratlis and Mike Belmessieri say was not predetermined.
In American Murder: Laci PetersonScott’s sister and sister-in-law say he was wronged by the criminal justice system. However, they do not offer any exculpatory evidence or competing version of events that would make anyone think that Scott did not murder his wife and child. As criminal investigations analyst Sharon Hagan asserts, even without a smoking gun, Scott’s pattern of behavior in the weeks and months after Laci’s disappearance — including avoiding the media and using her unborn son’s nursery as storage — spoke to of a cruel disconnection that there is no mourning. husband/father would feel in this situation.
Meanwhile, there is reason to think he made several anchors (most of which were never found), researched the bay’s tides online on December 8, obtained his fishing and bait license on December 20, and – what’s more blunt of everything – he said Laci was at home in Modesto walking her dog when, in fact, she was being thrown into the exact waters where Scott admitted to being on the day in question.
Added to all this is the fact that Scott was arrested 30 miles from the Mexican border with a car full of supplies (and almost $15,000 in cash), and the idea that some other mysterious assailant committed this crime – like a couple of drug traffickers. junkie thieves who robbed the house across the street from Scott and Laci’s residence – seems far-fetched at best and ridiculous at worst. American Murder: Laci Peterson It won’t impress anyone familiar with this tabloid-ready saga, but it’s a reasonably definitive summary of Scott Peterson’s villainy.
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