The Scott Peterson Case

Scott Peterson Case Laci Rocha Peterson, 27, was nearly eight months pregnant with her first child on Dec. 24, 2002, when her stepfather reported her missing from her Modesto, Calif., home.

College sweethearts Laci and Scott Peterson were married five years at the time of her disappearance. Scott Peterson said he had gone fishing Christmas Eve morning and returned home to find his wife gone.

Friends and family who believed the Petersons were a happy couple were shocked to learn Scott Peterson was having an extramarital affair with Amber Frey, a single mom who says she was unaware Scott was married.

The day before Laci Peterson went missing, she went with her husband when he got a haircut at her sister’s salon. It was the last time Laci Peterson’s family saw her alive.

Peterson belonged to the Del Rio Country Club and according to his sister-in-law, Amy Rocha, had firm plans to golf there on Dec. 24, 2002, the day his wife disappeared.

Scott Peterson promised his wife and sister-in-law, Amy Rocha, that he would pick up a gift basket from Vella Market Christmas Eve while he was in the area golfing. But he was a no-show at the store and when Rocha called his cellphone that afternoon, there was no answer.

The extensive search for Laci included regular searches in San Francisco Bay. The partial corpses of Laci and her unborn son, Connor, washed up on shore in April. After the gruesome discovery, divers continued searching the waters for more evidence.

Peterson stored his fishing boat in this warehouse, which he used for his job as a fertilizer salesman. After Laci Peterson disappeared, police searched the building and found a black hair on pliers in the bottom of the boat. The FBI linked the hair to the missing woman.

Four months after her disappearance, Scott Peterson was arrested for the murders of his wife and unborn son. Peterson was captured in San Diego after police pulled him over driving a Mercedes-Benz.

At the time of his arrest, Peterson had grown a beard and dyed his dark brown hair blond. He was also carrying $10,000 in cash and his brother's identification.

Peterson went back to his roots for a May 2003 pretrial hearing, appearing in court with his natural brown hair color and a clean- shaven face.

Peterson wanted all members of the media and the public barred from his preliminary hearing. Judge Al Girolami denied that request, but prevented cameras in the court for the proceeding.

Amber Frey leaves court with a police escort after giving her first day of testimony. Prosecutors asked Frey about her courtship with Peterson, which lasted only six weeks and ended when police informed Frey that the man she thought was single was a suspect in his pregnant wife’s disappearance.

Scott Peterson was arraigned on two counts of murder on April 20, 2003, and could face the death penalty if convicted.

Because he faces two murder charges, one for his wife and one for his unborn son, Peterson, seen with his attorney, Mark Geragos, is eligible for the death penalty under California law.

Jurors found Scott Peterson guilty of first- degree murder in the slaying of his pregnant wife, Laci, and of second-degree murder in the death of his unborn son, Conner. The conviction means Peterson will face the death penalty.

Three witnesses testified that Peterson's behavior at the candlelight vigil seemed inappropriate for a worried husband. One woman said he showed no emotion during the service and was grinning as he "socialized" with friends afterwards. The jurors saw this photo which appeared in the Modesto Bee.

So…what are the signs? Why do some men murder their wives and children? Are women murderers too?

Neil Entwistle, a British man charged with killing his wife and infant daughter, is scheduled to go on trial in October. James Keown, a radio reporter accused of killing his wife by spiking her Gatorade with antifreeze, is also expected to go on trial this year. their_wives?mode=PF their_wives?mode=PF Latest cases:

The Department of Justice statistics suggest that approximately one-third of intrafamilial killings are done by women, and that more than 50 percent of murders of children by a parent are done by the mother. Nevertheless, when it comes to wiping out an entire family, fathers lead the pack, with adolescent sons next on the list. Why do you think this is so?

EXAMPLES: 1. In 1989, Robert Lynch owned a business that went into decline. He went into debt, but then his wife got pregnant with their fourth child. Unable to cope with the extra burden, he shot them all and killed himself. 2. Bruce Sweazy had been laid off and had become suicidal. He got a prescription for an antidepressant, which he declined to take. Then one day in 1994, he used a long-handled ax to hack his wife and three sons to death before shooting himself in the chest. 3. A doctor in Philadelphia, Anthony Paul, had a severely arthritic wife, a retarded and asthmatic daughter and a healthy son. To end the sufferings of his family, but not leave his son to be a ward of the state, he planned a suicide pact with three unwilling victims. He administered a lethal dose of medication to each of them before killing himself.

Despite the differences among these scenarios, there is a common profile of men who have killed their wives and children. PROFILE: 1. Most are white males in their 30s or 40s who react badly to stress and who view their families as extensions of themselves. 2. They typically use a firearm or knife that they have owned for some time. Often they're depressed or intoxicated. 3.Invariably they're described as controlling and quite dependent on their families being what they envision, and believing that they are the only ones who can fulfill the family's needs.

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