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Betrayed
Laci's family, quite frankly, just doesn't know what to think of it all. They are
upset, disappointed, confused, angry and fearful... all at once. At the same time a part of them is still very
hopeful that whatever has happened to Laci, Scott had nothing to do with it; that time will bear that out. And
there is certainly plenty of good reason to hold on to that hope, despite the recent police disclosures.
But allegations that Scott might have been having an affair have devastated them. Understandably, they feel betrayed
-- even if in the final accounting, it turns out that Scott is not involved in Laci's disappearance... which even
her family hopes and prays is the case.
On Monday evening, January 21, 2003, the CBS network TV affiliate in San Francisco, KPIX, reported that Scott had
spoken by telephone over the weekend with Laci's brother, Brent Rocha. Brent is said to have asked Scott, bluntly,
"Where's my sister?" to which Scott replied, "What do you mean? I'm looking for her, too!"
Brent is said to have pressed Scott for information about the affair and, according to sources close to Laci's
side of the family, Scott finally confirmed to Brent that, indeed, he had been unfaithful to Laci in an affair.
When asked about it later, on camera, Brent confirmed that he had a conversation with Scott over the weekend, but
would not comment on what Scott said about the affair.
In a press conference on Friday, January 17, 2003, Kim Petersen, of the Sund/Carrington Foundation, speaking for
the family, pleaded with the public to allow Laci's family to have some quiet time together, adding that they would
not be making any public statements until sometime next week.
And that time came one week later on Friday, January 24, 2003, when the family broke its silence for the first
time in over a week at a press conference at the Red Lion Hotel. Beginning promptly at 2:30 PM PST, as planned,
family members filed into the room packed with reporters and camera crews. Laci's younger sister, Amy Rocha, tried
to read a statement but became too emotional to continue after just one sentence. Her older brother, Brent, read
a statement, becoming choked with emotion about halfway through. The exact same thing happened when their mother,
Sharon Rocha, read hers. The family refused to take questions and exited the room in single file at the end of
the reading of their brief statements.
Brent's statement confirmed that Scott had admitted to him that he had had an affair behind Laci's back. That admission
was, indeed, during Brent's phone call with Scott on January 16, 2003. Brent then added that he could no longer
support Scott because of the lies and his refusal to communicate with the family and his failure to fully cooperate
with police. He then spoke directly to his missing sister in an emotional statement of his grief. Clearly indicating
that he believed she was dead, but not actually saying so, Brent lamented that he was so looking forward to his
children being able to grow up with their cousin, Connor, and that now that would not be possible. He then called
upon whomever took Laci to bring her back. And he asked Scott to please cooperate with police.
Sharon Rocha, Brent, Amy and Laci's mother, read her statement of thanks to all who have helped them so much, including
public officials, volunteers, the folks at the Red Lion Hotel where the command center was located, the Sund/Carrington
Foundation, and even the thousands of people who have visited the web site and shared their good wishes in the
guestbook. She then spoke emotionally about how much she misses Laci and the specific things about her that she
misses, from her smile to talking about the upcoming birth to watching her plan her future. She appealed to whomever
took Laci to please send an anonymous letter or make an anonymous phone call to the tip line at (209) 342-6166.
The family's
full statements
at the press conference, verbatim, are on this web site. Click here to read them.
Police had also said on the 17th of January that there would be no more press conferences or statements about the
case until and unless there is something major to report or there is a break in the case.
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Some
Homicide Facts
According to the California
Department of Justice, more than 63 percent of the people who were arrested in California on homicide charges in
2001 knew their victims.
Approximately 46 percent of victims were related to the killer in some other way.
Nearly 7 percent of victims were killed by their spouses.
About 7 percent of the victims were killed by a parent or child.
About 4 percent of the killers had an "other" relationship with the victim. That could mean they were
dating or roommates, for example.
About 36 percent of the victims did not know the person who killed them.
According to a 2001 study by the American Medical Association, the leading cause of death for pregnant women is
homicide. The study randomly looked at the cases of 247 pregnant women who died and found that 50 of them -- about
20% --were murdered. The rest died from heart problems, car accidents, previously unknown medical problems or complications
from the pregnancy.
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On Friday, January 24, 2003, just three and a half hours after the Rocha's press conference, the Modesto police
also broke its silence in a last-minute press conference of its own. In a stunning move that seemed to take at
least one part of this case from the bizarre to the surreal, police paraded Scott's girlfriend before the assembled
members of the press.
Modesto Police Det. Doug Ridenous stepped to the microphone and introduced a Fresno woman named Amber Frey, 28,
whom he said was Scott Peterson's girlfriend. He said police were revealing her identity at that time and in that
way because earlier in the day police learned that reporters had figured out who she was and had begun to contact
her. Having promised police not to speak with the press, she, in turn, contacted police and asked what she should
do. Police immediately brought her to the police station to keep her away from the press. And the decision was
made to go ahead and call a press conference and have her give a formal statement.
An obviously frightened, slender, blonde woman walked to the microphone, took a deep breath and, with a slight
trembling in her voice, Frey read a very brief statement in which she said that she had met Scott on November 20,
2002 and had had a romantic relationship with him. She told reporters that she was told at the time that he was
not married, and that he also said he was not married. She
said she realized that she could have sold her pictures of Scott and her to tabloids but she realized that that
was not the right thing to do. She asked people who knew her to refrain from talking to the press in order to preserve
her privacy. She closed by saying that she was sorry for the pain she caused Laci Peterson's family, and she hoped
for her safe return.
Ridenour stepped back to the microphone and told reporters that Frey, a massage therapist with a 23-month-old daughter,
had contacted police on December 30, 2002 after seeing in the press associated with the disappearance of his wife.
He said she was surprised to see that he even had a wife. And she wanted to tell
police whatever she knew. Calling her "courageous," Ridenour said Frey cooperated with police and had
been eliminated as a suspect in Laci's disappearance. He stated that police had asked her not to give any interviews
or answer reporters' questions, and he asked the press not to try to contact or interview her during the investigation.
For a complete transcript of Frey's brief statement, click here.
The next day, on January 25, 2003, CNN spoke briefly with one of Laci's close family members who said that they
had been warned by the police that Frey's identity would be revealed at the press conference. Still, Laci's family
was unprepared for what they saw and heard. They were surprised. But they also felt sorry for Frey and said they
bore her no ill will; that she was a victim, too. And they wished her well.
A few hours later on Saturday, January 25, 2003, there were reports on cable news stations that Frey had met with
Laci's family and was providing them with details about her relationship with Scott.
In an article that appeared in the
Modesto Bee
on Sunday, January 26, Amber Frey's father, Ron Frey said, "I keep telling her she didn't do anything wrong.
He not only fooled her, but he fooled the nation for a month. She's single, she met someone she liked and she really
thought he was the real thing," he continued. He added that she never meant to hurt anyone; that she really
thought he was a fine person; that she had no clue in the world he was married; and that she was proud to be with
him. He said his daughter never would have struck up a romantic relationship had she known Scott had a wife.
Now, he said, she has become a victim of someone she trusted, and now feels "embarrassed and shattered."
Frey said Scott had told his daughter that he traveled all over the country for his job, and that it was not unusual
for him to be gone from home for up to 30 days at a time. According to Frey, Scott had told Amber that he could
not be around for Christmas because he was going to Paris. Amber, Frey said, was very hurt by this.
Frey said it was not easy for his daughter to come forward and contact Modesto police about her relationship with
Peterson. He said he watched the Friday news conference on television.
"It was very important for the public to know right away that my daughter is also a victim in this thing."
Because of all the publicity, she does not know when or if she will return to her job in Fresno, her father said.
"Right now she just wants everything to go away. How do you make this go away?"
Another
case of convicting ahead of facts
San Jose
Mercury News writer Peter Delevett tiptoes into dangerous ground by posing a modest question: What if Scott Peterson
didn't do it?
Click here to read the story. |
On Monday morning, January 27, 2003, KCRA TV
spoke very briefly with Scott
as he was leaving his home. Asked what he thought of Frey's stepping forward and identifying herself as the woman
with whom he had had an affair, he suggested that it helped to clear things up.
"It gets things in the open," he said.
He added that he wasn't planning on speaking with reporters about the case any time in the near future.
"I plan on meeting with the family to make that decision," Scott said.
When asked which family -- the Petersons or the Rochas -- Scott replied, "Everyone."
In the days since he gave his January 26, 2003 interview to the Fresno Bee, Amber Frey's father, Ron Frey, has
received seemingly countless phone calls from local and national media outlets.
Network television news programs and talk shows across the nation want to put him or his daughter on the air. So
far, he has talked to Larry King and Connie Chung and to representatives from Geraldo Rivera, "Dr. Phil,"
"Inside Edition" and others. Some of the producers have offered to pay travel expenses to their studios.
Frey, however, said Tuesday neither he nor his daughter plans to grant those interviews.
"I'm not a media person, I'm a dad," he said.
As for his daughter, Amber, who will be 28 on Feb. 10, she has taken refuge with friends,
"All she wants is to get her life back again," Frey said.
Frey said he agreed to an interview with The Bee on the 26th because he wanted to stand up for his daughter and
let the public know she was just a young woman who met someone she liked and struck up a romantic relationship,
but instead became a victim.
Frey said the resulting story led to a flood of interview requests, but also attracted telephone calls from people
throughout the country who wanted to let his daughter know they support her.
"I've gotten calls from people crying and telling me my daughter was very brave to step forward," he
said. "People are offering their prayers and saying how proud they are for her courage."
Frey said he talks to his daughter on the telephone several times a day, passing on phone messages, offering to
run errands for her and just generally keeping in touch.
"She wants to thank everybody for all their support," he said.
During clean
out of the room at the Red Lion Hotel which had housed the command center on Monday, January 20, 2003, family spokesperson
Kim Petersen, while speaking with a KPIX reporter, appealed on behalf of the family for anyone who knows of Laci's
fate or whereabouts to please just tell authorities. She urged whomever knew the truth to contact the anonymous
tip
The command
center at the Red Lion Hotel was empty Friday, January 17th.
Photo
by ADRIAN MENDOZA
of The Modesto Bee |
line or to send an anonymous letter and "tell us where we can find her, once and for all." When the KPIX
reporter asked her if that included Scott, Petersen replied, "Whomever."
It was a message Petersen drove home more forcefully a little while later when she appeared on CNN's Larry King
Live. She said that the family "can't keep living this hell."
"They've been living it for so many days and they appeal to have a heart, come forward and let them know where
she is," said Petersen. "They know Laci didn't walk away on her own. And they asked me to appeal to those
persons or person that has taken her to call in anonymously to the tip line or send an anonymous letter to tell
them where she is."
Regarding the affair, Petersen said the family is convinced that Scott had a girlfriend, but would not say whether
they suspected he had anything to do with Laci's disappearance.
"But they know he's lied to them and they want him to come forth and be cooperative with the police department,"
she said.
Janey Peterson, Scott's sister-in-law, said his family was standing behind
him.
"We have no reason to doubt him," she said on "Larry King Live." "We know he had nothing
to do with Laci's disappearance."
In the days since the revelation of Scott's affair came to light, the clarion call of Scott's side of the family
has been: That what everyone should really be concentrating on is finding
out what happened to Laci and, better yet, where she is. Scott's father, Lee Peterson, also drove home that point
several times during his January 18th telephone interview with Rita Cosby on the Fox News Channel's "Fox Wire"
program.
Laci's side of the family, on the other hand, seems to have focused more on putting pressure on Scott to come clean
with whatever he knows about Laci's disappearance and hasn't yet told anyone. Understandably, his lie about the
affair has given them cause to wonder what else he's lied about... including,
possibly, what he knows about what happened to their daughter and sister.
"I think our whole side of the family would like to talk to Scott," said Kathy Rocha, Laci's cousin,
on January 22, 2003. "We have a lot of questions... I think we just hung our head (when told by police about
Scott's affair and the insurance policy) and it just kind of felt like a stab in the back. So that's how our side
of the family feels, you know? Betrayed. We don't have good feelings right now and we hope something proves us
wrong."
The Rochas were interviewd on Saturday night, January 25, 2003 on the television program America's
Most Wanted with John Walsh
(AMW). The family had taped an interview with AMW shortly after Laci's disappearance. The program was to have appeared
on Saturday, January 18, 2003, but it was preempted that night by the FOX network for reasons not related to this
case. So Laci's story was rescheduled for Saturday, January 25, 2003. Since then, of course, the startling revelations
about Scott's affair and the insurance policy were revealed to Laci's side of the family. And the ever-deepening
rift between Scott and his in-laws began.
As a result, Laci's side of the family asked AMW to re-tape their segment of the broadcast. That re-taping happened
on Wednesday evening, January 22, 2003.
The AMW program in which Laci's story was told aired on Saturday, January 25, 2003 at 9:00 PM Eastern, Mountain
and Pacific time, and at 8:00 PM Central time, on the FOX Television Network.
Laci's segment on the AMW program was short. In it, members of her close family made an impassioned appeal for
her return. Her stepfather, Ron Grantski, said that when police met with them on January 15, 2003, they were shown
four photographs of Scott with Amber Frey, the woman police alleged at that time was Scott's girlfriend (a fact
which Frey, herself, confirmed in a stunning press conference on January 24, 2003). At the same time, Grantski said, the
family was told by police about Scott's having taken-out a $250,000 life insurance policy on Laci. Grantski did
not say if police thought Laci knew about the policy. Police will not confirm the life insurance policy part of
the story.
Modesto Police Det. Doug Ridenour also appeared on the AMW program. He said one reason investigators quickly discounted
the possibility that Peterson had left voluntarily was that most all of her belongings were still at the house,
"her cell phone and those types of things that she would have probably taken with her if she had intentionally
left," he said.
On Sunday, January 26, 2003, AMW's John Walsh traveled to Modesto to tape his other program, THE JOHN WALSH SHOW. The hour-long, syndicated program
was taped in front of Scott's and Laci's home on Covena Avenue in the morning, and at the Doubletree Hotel in the
afternoon.
Walsh contacted Scott prior to the taping to plead with him to appear on his show. But Scott refused.
"I talked to Scott on the phone for about 45 minutes and his parents for about an hour," Walsh said in
the lobby of the DoubleTree Hotel. "I said, 'You need to show you are cooperating with the police fully, and
you need to clarify the situation.'"
Walsh said he told Scott that the affair is "old news" and the investigation needs to refocus on finding
Laci. He said he reminded Scott that the parents of Danielle van Dam, a 7-year-old who was murdered last year in
San Diego County, came forward and talked about their daughter even though news of their recreational drug use
and "swinger" lifestyles swirled around them.
"That put everyone's attention back on the victim, and a man was arrested and then convicted for the murder
because the parents stepped up to the plate," Walsh said he told Peterson. "That's what you need to do."
Laci
Peterson has something to teach all of us
Modesto Bee staff writer Constance Nguyen explores what Laci's story
means even to those who think their only involvement is as distant witnesses to it; and what we all can take from
it.
Click here to read it. |
Walsh also
spoke with Scott's parents, who seemed to agree with him that the time for Scott to begin defending himself had
come. And they, too, had agreed to appear on Walsh's show at first. But soon after, family spokesman Steve Howard
contacted Walsh and told him that the Peterson family would have no comment on the case.
"We just don't understand why (Scott) won't talk," said Walsh, whose own son, Adam, disappeared in Florida
in 1981 and was later found murdered. "I told him that when Adam went missing, I would have stood naked in
the middle of Times Square and let people shoot at me just to get my son back."
Though he had failed to convince Scott and his parents to appear on his program, Walsh went ahead with the taping.
For the morning taping, police blocked Covena Avenue so that camera crews could set up with the Peterson's home
showing in the background. In the afternoon taping at the Doubletree Hotel, Walsh interviewed a Modesto police
detective and some of Laci's friends.
The reason Scott refused to talk to Walsh (or to any other reporters) was almost certainly due, in part, to what
his attorney, Kirk McAllister, told reporters on Saturday, January 25, 2003.
"He's not going to talk to you, under my orders," McAllister said.
John Walsh
opens The
John Walsh Show
on January 30, 2003 from in front of the Modesto Police Department, holding one of Laci's MISSING posters. |
The episode of the JOHN WALSH SHOW featuring Laci's story aired on Thursday, January 30, 2003. The program began with Walsh standing in front of the Modesto Police
station, holding one of Laci's MISSING posters, explaining the case to viewers.
Sharon Rocha, Laci's mother, and Ron Grantski, Laci's step-father, appeared on the program. They said they were
desperate for answers and reiterated their plea for Scott to come forward and disclose all he knows to authorities.
Laci's half sister, Amy Rocha, also appeared. She talked about what she misses most about her sister and expressed
her desperation for information on Laci’s whereabouts.
Laci's father, Dennis Rocha, discussed his complete frustration at the lack of information about Laci’s disappearance.
Four of Laci's closest friends, Rene Tomlinson, Stacey Boyers, Lori Ellsworth and Renee Garza, also appeared.
Laci's mother,
Sharon Rocha, her father, Dennis Rocha, her half-sister, Amy Rocha, and her step-father, Ron Grantski, appear on
The
John Walsh Show
on January 30, 2003. |
Rene Tomlinson
talked about how she had been a friend of Laci’s since high school, and was planning her baby shower when she disappeared.
She said she and Laci had grown very close in the past few years and had even discussed going into business together.
Rene said she last saw Laci at a Christmas party right before she went missing.
Stacey Boyers said she has been a friend of Laci’s since the 3rd grade, and was Laci’s maid of honor at her wedding
to Scott. Stacey also said she last saw Laci at a Christmas party right before she disappeared.
Lori Ellsworth said she has been a friend of Laci’s since 7th grade. She talked about things she and Laci did throughout
their friendship, and also said the last time she saw Laci was at a Christmas party right before her disappearance.
Renee Garza stated that she has been a friend of Laci’s since kindergarten, and the young women have maintained
their friendship through the years. She talked about her missing friend.
Walsh also interviewed Sgt. Al Carter, supervisor of the Modesto Police Department’s Missing Person’s Unit. Walsh
and Carter talked on camera as they walked together through the park where Laci was believed last seen. Carter
talked about the kind of information that could be helpful to the investigation.
Left-to-right,
Stacey Boyers, Rene Tomlinson, Renee Garza and Lori Ellsworth appear on The John
Walsh Show
on January 30, 2003. |
The final segment of the program
featured Donna Raley, Barbara West and Denise Smart -- all of whom have lost their children under similar circumstances
as Laci's.
Donna Raley’s daughter, Dena Raley McCluskey, has been missing since 1999 from the same town as Laci's, Modesto,
CA. She and Susan Levy, Chandra Levy's mother, co-founded Wings
of Protection,
a support system for families whose loved ones are missing under suspicious circumstances.
Barbara West is the biological mother of Donna’s daughter, Dena. She lent her experience of having a missing loved
one to the television program's discussion.
Denise Smart’s daughter, Kristin, has been missing since 1996 from the California Poly Technical Institute where
she was a student. In an ironic twist, after Laci's disappearance, and once police started looking at Scott Peterson
as a possible suspect, San Luis Obispo police announced that they, too, were looking at Scott -- but this time
related to Smart's disappearance. San Luis Obispo police announced later that same day that they had eliminated
Scott and he was no longer being considered in that disappearance. Click here to visit the official Kristin
Smart missing person web site.
Before Scot
began talking to the press (see further down in this story) a sign appeared on Saturday, January 25, 2003 on the
front door of his parents' home in the Solana Beach section of San Diego. "We will not talk to anyone,"
were the words written on it. "My wife is ill; you are contributing to that. Please respect our privacy."
The sign asked people to direct "any questions" to a family friend, Steve Howard, and gave Howard's telephone
number.
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