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Making the Rounds
On Tuesday, January 28, Scott finally broke his near silence. In a move that made defense attorneys around the
country shake their heads in disbelief, Scott began making the rounds to national and local Bay area television
stations to tell his story and begin shoring-up his public image.
He began by flying to Los Angeles and meeting with ABC's Diane Sawyer, co-host of Good Morning America (GMA) --
the same program on which Scott appeared shortly after Laci's disappearance, and the same program on which former
FBI profiler Candice Delong said she noticed Scott speaking about Laci in the past-tense, even though it was very
early in the case.
Scott taped a 90 minute interview with Sawyer that was broadcast over two days on January 28 and 29, 2003. His
parents, sister, brother and sister-in-law appeared with him in the second part. Only about 20 minutes of the 90
minute interview was aired on Good Morning America. It was unclear if any of the rest of the interview would be
used in any other way on GMA or on Sawyer's
He continued on to San Francisco's KTVU TV where he spoke with Ted Rowlands in a two part interview, both parts
of which were broadcast in the first and second hours, respectively, of the station's popular "Mornings on
2" program on Wednesday, January 30, 2003. The interview took place at Scott's Covena Avenue in Modesto's
La Loma neighborhood.
Scott Peterson
with a phone to his ear while standing in front of his Modesto home Tuesday, January 28, 2003.
Photo
by ADRIAN MENDOZA
of The
Sacramento Bee |
Scott sat
down with several news outlets on Wednesday. He went through the interviews alone, without an attorney present.
As word that Scott was giving interviews spread throughout the news media community, local TV stations and newspapers
began arriving at his home, hoping for some time with him. By 5:00 PM PST, more than a dozen TV news trucks had
set up camp near Scott's home.
Wednesday night, Peterson called police when other reporters, hopeful for an interview, followed him to his back
gate and remained on his property after he told them to leave. Officers arrived, stayed 10 minutes and left, making
no arrests.
Throughout Wednesday, people drove and walked by the Peterson house, apparently to get a closer look.
"It's innocent until proven guilty in a court of law," said Elvira Varse, who lives a few streets away.
"But he's guilty until he's proven innocent in this neighborhood."
Among the media throng was a pair of shock jocks from a Los Angeles radio station. When Scott came home, one of
them yelled into a megaphone: "Nobody believes your story."
Lyanne Melendez, a reporter with San Francisco radio station KGO, walked up to the shock jocks' radio van and told
the DJs: "That's just bad journalism."
One of them responded, "We're not journalists, we're entertainers!"
In an exclusive interview aired in the first hour of
ABC's Good Morning America program on Tuesday morning, January 28, 2003, Scott finally broke his almost month-long
virtual silence. He had flown to Los Angeles on Monday night to meet with GMA's Diane Sawyer and conduct the live
inteview on the ABC television network.
Scott said he decided to speak out after a month of silence because the suspicion about his involvement in Laci's
disappearance had distracted the public from the search.
Scott Peterson
breaks his month-long virtual silence on ABC's Good Morning America program on Tuesday morning, January 28, 2003
ABC
News video stillshot |
In the one-and-a-half-hour interview with ABCNEWS, Scott was composed at moments, and soaked in tears at others.
He said he didn't murder his wife Laci, but admitted she knew about his affair with 28-year-old massage therapist
Amber Frey, a single mother from Fresno, CA.
He said he told Laci about the affair in early December, 2002, and she was quite unhappy about it, "but it
was not something we weren't dealing with," he said, adding that there was not a lot of anger, no physical
altercations and that his wife made peace with the affair.
"No one knows our relationship but us," he told Sawyer.
"You know, I can't say that even, you know, she was OK with the idea, but it wasn't — it wasn't anything that
would break us apart," Scott said.
"Violence towards women is unapproachable," Scott said. "It is the most disgusting act, to me."
Scott says he never loved Frey, but "I'd have to say that I respect her" for making the public appearance.
He added that he couldn't explain why he pursued a relationship with her or why he continued it after telling his
wife.
"That's a question you should have an answer to definitely, and I don't know," he said.
He told Sawyer he notified police of his relationship with Frey immediately last Christmas Eve, and that Frey was
the only person with whom he had an extramarital relationship.
"It was inappropriate and I owe a tremendous apology to everyone," Scott said. "It should have been
brought forth by me, immediately..."
Scott told Sawyer he didn't kill his wife and added there is no proof she is dead. Sawyer asked, "Did you
murder your wife?"
"I had absolutely nothing to do with her disappearance," Scott replied. "And you used the word 'murder,'"
he said, pausing, "because right now everyone's looking for a body. And that's the hardest thing because that's
not really a possibility for us. You used the word 'murder,' and, yeah, I mean, that is
a possibility [meaning yes, it's a possibility that someone murdered her]. But it's not one we're ready to accept,
and it creeps into my mind late at night and early in the morning."
"In the morning I've been taking the dog down to the park where [Laci] walked," Scott said. "It
was our time. It's a way to experience her now, for me. A lot of times I can't make it very far," he said,
crying. "I get part of the way. I certainly can't make it to the part of the park where currently there's
a big poster of her up."
Scott said he understands that police immediately looked at him when Laci went missing.
"It's turned to me, one, because I'm her husband," Scott said. "And it turned to me because of the
inappropriate romantic [relationship] … that I had with Amber Frey."
Scott called his wife's family "wonderful people," saying, "They're obviously upset with me about
the romantic relationship with Amber. And they have little trust, as they've expressed in the media to date."
But Scott said he believes they'll still work together to find Laci.
Later on Tuesday, January 29, 2003, Laci Peterson's family issued a statement through the Carole Sund/Carrington
Memorial Reward Foundation, saying, "We are not going to make any comments on his appearance. We would just
like him to continue to speak with the police."
On Tuesday evening, cameramen scurried to surround Peterson at San Francisco International Airport upon his return
from the GMA taping in Los Angeles.
"Why did you murder your wife?" the first reporter to reach him asked.
"I had nothing to do with it," was all Peterson said as reporters pelted him with questions.
Click here to read more
about the first interview
or you may watch a video clip of the first
interview
using your RealONE Player.
On Wednesday morning, January 29, 2003, GMA aired the second part of its interview with Scott. He told Sawyer that
he loved his wife and that he had from one of their first dates.
"Driving along the highway, for no reason, I was just smiling," he said. "I'd sit there and smile
and she asked me, 'What the heck are you smiling about.' The thing was that she was there."
Sawyer asked him to tell her about his marriage. "What kind of marriage was it," she asked.
"The first word that comes to mind is... you know, 'glorious,'" Scott replied. "I mean, we took
care of each other... very well, um... she was amazing. She is
amazing."
"You haven't mentioned your son," Sawyer said.
"Hmm," Scott grunted, and then paused a long time, losing composure bit. "That was... it's so hard.
I can't go in there," Scott said of the baby's room. "That door is closed until... there's someone to
put in there."
"Christmas Eve," Sawyer said. "You have a very pregnant wife. And you go fishing?"
"Uh hum," he said, in the affirmative and then there was a long pause.
Sawyer asked, "What did that say about the two of you?"
"Well, uh, we had plans that evening, with Mom, uh, Laci's mom, at her house," Scott replied. "And
cooking there as well. My day was open to, uh, either play golf or go fishing. I chose fishing that day."
Sawyer asked Scott what he got Laci for Christmas.
"Oh, a Louis Vuitton wallet," Scott replied, gleefully.
"And the last time you saw her, was..." Sawyer asked.
"I believe it was about 9:30 that morning," he replied, "the reason being we started to watch Martha
Stewart Living while Laci worked in the kitchen. And, um, I left sometime during that."
Scott Peterson
talks with Diane Sawyer of ABC's Good Morning America in an interview which appeared on Wednesday morning, January
29, 2003
ABC
News video stillshot |
Speaking
with the rest of Scott's family members, who were present, Sawyer asked about the affair. They replied that while
they were surprised about the affair, it doesn't mean he hurt Laci. They said it really wasn't relevant to Laci
being missing; that they were desperately asking people to help them find her.
Scott's father chimed-in, speaking of Scott, "He's the gentlest soul I think I've ever... I've ever known."
Asked if he was on medication to get through this, Scott replied, "No, I don't even take aspirin. Uh, I never
have. It's been offered, obviously, but I think that you need to experience it. As sad as that is, you know, all
these emotions help us."
Sawyer then told the audience that the Petersons hoped that the police would follow-up on the many other leads
they have -- 4,600 of them in all, including the burglary across the street from the Peterson's home. Sawyer said
police admit the coincidence is bizarre, but they say they have the suspects and there's no connection.
Sawyer also said they asked police if they had followed-up on the nearby park where Laci walked her dog and where
homeless people live. Police, she said, assured her that they had and that that park is not a dangerous place in
any case.
She also said that GMA asked police about two vehicles that were seen nearby on the day Laci disappeared: A tan
van, and a violet-colored (Pontiac) Tempest with Arkansas license plates.
"The police say they're still pursuing those leads," she said. "So far they have nothing."
"Finally," Sawyer said, "Police say they are going to call as many people as they can to follow
all the leads, but they added there are questions for Scott Peterson, too. And they want him to cooperate on them."
She then asked Peterson about some of them, starting with the neighbor who said she observed Laci opening the drapes
every single morning for as long as she could remember, yet they were left closed on the morning of December 24th.
"Yeah, they were down when I returned," Scott said. "It's very common in the summer that she opens
up the curtains. But, again, you know, we're talkin' about a day that... I dunno what it was... probably forty
degrees that day or something, and during the winter we don't open up the curtains. It keeps the house warm."
Asked about a neighbor's report that he was seen loading something into a vehicle... anything large, Scott replied,
"Some umbrellas, market umbrellas... those umbrellas in the stands that are about 8 feet in diameter, for
when it's raining... (I was taking them) to the warehouse."
"And when did you do that," Sawyer asked.
"That morning," Scott replied.
Sawyer then asked Scott about reports that he took out a $250,000 life insurance policy on Laci last summer, Scott
said, "We do have insurance policies on both of us, in the same amount, $250,000 on each of us. They're an
investment vehicle. Uh, I think they're called 'whole life' or something, that we started when we bought a home
two years ago."
Regarding a report that there may have been blood found in one of the vehicles, Scott said one of them had been
cleared, but as for the other, he said, "These are vehicles that both of us ran on a continuous basis. I know
for a fact that there'd be plenty of blood in there from me. You know, I work on farms, and you can take a look
at my hands now and they have cuts all over them."
"They do?" Sawyer asked.
"Oh, certainly," he replied, and he offered his hands for her to see. She leaned forward and looked closely.
"You can take a look," Scott said. "My knuckles are always cut on me."
"They're scraped, anyway," Sawyer said as she leaned back into her chair.
"Oh, certainly," Scott confirmed.
Sawyer said the Petersons say the the focus has to remain on finding Laci, adding how much they appreciate everyone
who searches with them.
"Everyone knows how thankful we are for how how we've been supported by, I mean, not only our family and friends
who know and love us but also people we don't even know," said Janey Peterson, Scott's sister-in-law. "You
know, people praying for us, it's, it's overwhelming. That's what's carrying our family through this, and we can't
thank everyone enough that's helped us."
"On her web site... that someone would download her picture and put it in their car," said Joe Peterson,
Scott's brother. "You know, I have one on my dashboard, and, uh, you know, for a prayer, and if other people
would do that, if they have a picture of her, you know, you just, you never know."
Scott, crying, added, "My gut reaction, you know, my gut reaction is that they're at home, I just want to
be able to call her and tell her that... to see her or tell her that."
As Scott spoke, his father, sitting to his right, comforted him with a pat on the shoulder saying, "You'll
see her again, son."
Sawyer completed the interview by telling the audience that the Peterson family has set up its own toll-free number
that viewers can call with any tips.
"If you don't want to go to the police," Sawyer said, "they say call 1-866-LACI-INFO, and they also
have a web site, lacipeterson.com; and they say they're particularly
hoping people will watch medical clinics, birthing clinics, around the time of her due date, February 16th, hoping
to spot something."
Sawyer then added one other note. She said that in the previous day's interview, Scott had told GMA that he had
told police on Christmas eve about the fact of a girlfriend. Sawyer said that police told GMA after the interview
that "they dispute that."
"They say they learned about it on December 30th," Sawyer said, "not from Scott Peterson but from
the young woman who came forward."
Click here to read more
about the second interview
or you may watch a video clip of the second
interview
using your RealONE Player.
Click here to visit the Good Morning America web site.
In an interview with the Fresno Bee published on Wednesday, January 29, 2003, Ron Frey, father of Amber Frey, the
28-year-old woman whe came forward on January 24th and revealed herself as Scott Peterson's girlfriend, said he
watched the GMA interview, but declined to pass judgment on Peterson's credibility.
"I don't know the person," he said. "I have no clue if what he said is true. I'm just glad the man
did not say bad things about Amber. The man did say he didn't love her. I can accept that."
On Wednesday, January
29, 2003, Scott sat down at his home with KTVU TV reporter Ted Rowlands and did a one-on-one interview that was
broadcast in two parts, one part during each of the two hours of the station's popular "Mornings on 2"
program on Thursday, January 30, 2003.
"Obviously, the relationship I had with Amber was inappropriate and unfair to a lot of people," Scott
began. "And I owe a lot of people apologies for that, there's no question that that's the case. I'm, uh, I'm
very glad that she came forward, Amber did, in the press conference. I told Laci about it in early December. Um,
I also, uh, told Amber shortly after Laci's disappearance, a few days after, and told her I was married and told
her, uh, you know, about Laci's disappearance, if she knew. And then shortly after that she, uh, had a meeting
with the police."
Asked what his level of cooperation with police was, Scott replied, "Um, complete. Uh, I know that Laci's
family doesn't feel that, and that's unfortunate. Um, and I think the police did make a statement at one point,
um, 'somewhat cooperating' I think was the exact wording on the statement, there. Um, and I, I know, I don't know,
I think they scratched that and since then they simply don't comment. But, uh, I sat down with the captains on
numerous occasions, including the night of her disappearance, including the next days, um, and continued to, you
know, receive phone calls from them and, and talk to them on the phone."
Asked if he's taken a lie detector test, Scott said, "Well the polygraph is another one of those things, um,
I'm not saying I have and I'm not saying I haven't, that's within the scope that the investigators asked me not
to speak about."
Scott said that he had a little bit of anger, at first, toward the Modesto Police Department, but he then commented
that they did a very good job. Talking about the helicopters, canine units and the hundreds of officers, Scott
said that they continue to investigate and follow-up tips.
"I don't know if they're searching anywhere, and frankly I don't, um, I'm not interested where they're searching
because they're searching for a body, if they're doing the searches, which is not a successful resolution to this
for us."
Rowlands asked Scott about the amount of time police were spending looking at him as a potential suspect instead
of concentrating their efforts on finding Laci, and asked him why there wasn't more anger.
"Well, it seems
like just a waste of manpower in that pursuit," Scott said. "And that's unfortunate. That makes me sad
more than it does angry."
Still, Scott said, the police have worked very hard to find Laci.
When the first part of the interview ended and the focus returned to the studio, Rowlands talked about how the
police feel about Scott's level of cooperation. He said he pushed the police to finally issue some kind of statement.
He said the police told him that they want to clear Scott Peterson and that they are encouraging him to help them
in that regard.
Rowlands remarked that he was surprised that Scott did the interview without having an attorney sitting in the
room with him. He commented that most other times he's done such interviews, the attorney is always present. He
said that he knew that Scott had stopped-by his attorney's office before doing the interviews. Rowlands noted that
in the past, the only statement Scott's attorney had issued to the press was that he had avised Scott not to say
anything to the press. Rowlands speculated that Scott may have gone out on a limb, therefore, because of pressure
he's getting from his family to get out and speak to the media; that he may have gone against his attorney's advice
to appease his family.
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Possible
Laci Sighting
At almost the precise
moment that the second part of Scott's inteview on KTVU was airing, a small newspaper in a town right on the Oregon/Washington
border, about 60 miles north of Portland, OR, was posting a new story on its web site that was also running in
its morning edition in news stands. By the end of that day, every major news outlet in the country would be carrying
it, too.
According to the story, a Longview, WA grocery store cashier told police late last week that she now recalls waiting
on an unusual couple very near the end of December 2002, and that the female member of the couple matched Laci
Peterson's description.
While the man she was with stepped a few feet away to get something he had forgotten, the female told the cashier
she had been kidnapped and that the man had a weapon.
"This is serious," the cashier recalled the woman saying. "I was kidnapped. Call the authorities
when I leave."
The cashier didn't take it seriously and did nothing at the time. But after seeing a CNN news report late last
week, she suddenly remembered the incident and called police.
Police later discredited the story after reviewing more than 45 hours of store surveillance tapes from the date
of Laci's disappearance through the date that the cashier called police.
Longview Police Chief Bob Burgreen said, "Our hearts go out to the family of Laci Peterson. We had hoped that
this could possibly be a break-through lead, but we now believe that is not the case."
Click here to read the full story.
|
The second
part of the interview aired an hour later.
Asked what it was that first attracted Scott to Laci, he replied, "Um, you always look for someone that completes
you. Uh, you know, the harmony. Um.... the easiest thing... you've seen her picture on the flyers of that big 'ol
smile. And that tells you everything you need to know about her. If that doesn't attract you to someone then, you know..."
Asked if the house was happy, smiling, he said, "Oh, definitely... we like to entertain here, and have people
over. That's... it's very quiet now and it shouldn't be. And it won't be when she gets back. It'll be..."
and with that Scott began to get choked-up.
Scott talked about the Christmas presents he has still sitting in the corner. He told of a friend who came to the
house and took down the Christmas tree for him while he was out one day and he said he thought that was a very
kind thing to do because it would have been too difficult for him to do.
Scott discussed his unborn son, Connor, and the nursery he and Laci had prepared for him. He said he couldn't go
through the door into that room.
Asked if he would describe himself as a proud father to be, he replied, "I can't, I don't, it's too difficult."
Asked about the report that a neighbor had seen him loading something large into the back of his truck that morning,
Scott confirmed that he had loaded "big umbrellas" into the truck.
"Um, it started to rain, and I was taking them to storage," he said.
Scott confirmed that he had the umbrellas wrapped in a blue tarp. Asked if Scott had interacted with that neighbor,
he said he didn't know which neighbor it was.
Scott talked about reports of there being blood in his truck. He said he worked on farm equipment and that it was
very common to cut his knuckles and his hands and he said he was quite sure there was lots of his blood in the
truck.
"And Laci's, too?" Rowland asked.
"Oh, I don't know," Scott replied. "I would assume so. She drove the car... we were both in both
vehicles continually."
Asked about reports that he had mixed cement, Scott replied, "Well, you know, I'm stepping past, uh, kinda'
the rules we set up about not talking about the investigation, here, um, but I could take you out and show you
all the brick work and cement work out in the back yard, so, um, that's a real common thing around here."
Rowlands asked Scott if revealing the affair to Laci put his marriage in jeopardy.
"No," Scott replied, "didn't, definitely not put the marriage in jeopardy. Um, obviously, it's not
a positive thing. Um, and, uh, you know, uh, I think the real question that you're gettin' at and that everyone
wants to know is did that precipitate to me being involved in her disappearance and, no, it did not. And I had
absolutely nothing to do with Laci's disappearance."
Asked if it could have resulted in Laci leaving, voluntarily, Scottt replied, "No, no, no... certainly not.
You know, I mean, we'll get to the root of what the question is and that's, did I have somethin' to do with her
disappearance, no I had nothing to do with her disappearance. And please help all of our families, all of the grieving
families you've seen on TV, and help yourselves... more importantly, help Laci because she's out there being held
somewhere, she needs to be home with her family."
When focus returned back to the studio, Rowlands talked about how Scott seemed to turn his head a little and look
right into the camera during certain key things that he was saying, almost as if he wanted to deliberately convey
his message to the public. He also said that Scott had hired a P.R. team to help him repair his public image.
Marc Klaas |
Marc Klaas,
Founder of the KlaasKids Foundation, a nationally recognized advocate for protecting children
against violence, was in the studio for the the interview. Klaas, whose daughter, Polly, was kidnapped and murdered
in 1993, listened to the part of Scott's interview where he claimed to have told police on December 24th about
his affair; and he claimed that he contacted Amber Frey (with whom he had had the affair) shortly thereafter and
told her he was married and that his wife had gone missing.
"Listen," Klaas said, "First there was no affair. Then Amber came forth on the 30th and there was
an affair. Then he admitted there was an affair. Then he
claimed he told Laci about it and she was okay. And now he's saying that a few days after Laci disappeared he called
Amber and told her about it. Yet the first time anybody had heard about it was when Amber called the police. So obviously
this guy is stacking lie, upon lie, upon lie. He's indicting himself. It's kind of like watching a train wreck,
and he's the train..."
A part of the interview was played for Klass in which Rowlands told Scott that both victims advocates Marc Klaas
and America's Most Wanted's John Walsh had questioned Scott's actions so far in the case.
"I have had conversations with both those gentlemen," Scott replied. "It is entirely too selfish
of me to defend myself against these accusations... All the media time should be spent on finding Laci."
"There is no ambiguity in this," Klass commented in response. "I have never in my life spoken to
Scott Peterson. Where he comes off thinking he can make a statement like that in the public forum and get away
with it, I don't know... It's not the first time. Who does this guy think he is that he can make these statements,
and that they'll go public, and they're obvious lies?"
"He's making these statements but he's not thinking about the repercussions of them," Rowlands said,
"or he's not thinking that people are going to be around to react to them or to scrutinize them."
Rowlands then talked about Scott's earlier statement to ABC's Diane Sawyer that he had told police about the Amber
Frey affair back on December 24th. He said that a colleague was present when police watched a tape of that interview
and he said the detectives didn't say anything, but the remark really got "raised eyebrows" and that
the detectives looked at each other in surprise.
"Obviously, his lawyer's not too pleased with him," Rowlands said.
On January 30, 2003,
the Associated Press (AP) ran an analysis of Scott's round of media appearances that contained expert speculation
about how it could be helping or harming him:
Peterson says his recent
TV interviews are attempts to find Laci. While he said he wanted to keep people thinking about finding his wife,
admissions about his affair and conduct have only stoked the appetite of cable TV commentators, who analyze his
motives, probe his psyche, and pick apart his missteps, reversals and alleged misstatements.
The Internet is rife with sarcasm about his Christmas Eve fishing trip, his early smiling demeanor at a candlelight
vigil, his remarks that his wife was unhappy, but "OK" with his romantic relationship with another woman.
Meanwhile, Laci's family has publicly distanced itself and called him a liar. Life in the media crucible is demanding
for even those blessed with the resources to hire public relations help, experts say, but it's even harder for
those left to their own devices, such as Peterson.
"Right now he's like O.J. Simpson. He has no friends," said Brent Turvey of Sitka, Alaska, a forensic
scientist and author of the book "Criminal Profiling." "He's isolated and completely without any
avenue for anything."
Experts acknowledge there's no play book for someone in Peterson's position, but they say appearing on TV to tell
his side of the story only opens up new avenues for criticism and problems.
Peterson
suspicious in eyes of experts
Modesto Bee staff writer Ty Phillips talks to experts who aren't so sure
Scott is looking as innocent as he's hoping the public will find him.
Click here for the story. |
Even to
keep the focus on finding his missing wife, "this is a case where the guy should keep his mouth shut,"
says Los Angeles defense attorney Harland Braun, who quit the defense case of actor Robert Blake last October when
Blake wanted to grant an interview with Sawyer. The actor is awaiting trial on charges he shot and killed his wife,
Bonny Lee Bakley, on May 4, 2001.
"For this guy to be talking at this stage is very dangerous. It can fuel speculation," says Braun, adding
that Peterson's contention he told his wife about the affair with 28-year-old Fresno-area massage therapist Amber
Frey represents "potential proof that he knows she's dead."
If her husband had told her of the affair, Laci Peterson would likely have told her friends or mother about it,
Braun says, adding that the fact none of them claims to have known can suggest something more sinister to prosecutors.
Jonathan Bernstein, a Los Angeles crisis management and media consultant, says Peterson's TV appearances are a
mistake, given his strained credibility.
"Anybody who puts themselves in that position, they better be squeaky clean and he's already proven he's not."
Peterson's last TV appearance before the Sawyer interview was to call reports that he'd had an affair "a pack
of lies." Days later, Frey contradicted him, publicly acknowledging a romantic relationship with Peterson.
She said he has told her he was unmarried.
Experts unanimously counsel caution against judging Peterson, saying there is no evidence of any crime in Laci
Peterson's disappearance, and that an affair, a fishing trip and Peterson's demeanor and clumsiness on TV don't
make him guilty.
Los Angeles attorney Mark Geragos, who defended actor Robert Downey, Jr., against drug charges and actress Winona
Ryder in her shoplifting trial, says Peterson isn't a celebrity or politician who needs a media strategy.
Instead, Geragos says he'd tell Peterson, "'You gotta suck it up. You've gotten caught up in something much
larger than you could have ever thought of and you have to weather the storm.'
"If you get filed on" for murder, Geragos said, "then you've got a much bigger problem."
Scott is said to have
done at least a half-dozen similar interviews with other media outlets on Wednesday, January 29, 2003. In all of
them he said essentially the same things as he told ABC's "Good Morning America" and KTVU's "Mornings
on 2" programs, above.
Reached
at his home on Saturday, February 1, 2003 by reporters from both the Fresno Bee and the Modesto Bee, Scott's attorney,
Kirk McAllister, refused to comment about any of it. He added that if he were to talk about it with the press it would only on business
days during business hours.
On Tuesday, February 4, 2003, KTVU TV reported on its morning program "Mornings on Two" that Scott has
traded-in Laci's Land Rover for a white, Dodge Ram pickup truck bearing California license plate number 6M99836.
According to several of her close friends, he also met with a realtor -- possibly as soon as within the first five
days after Laci's disappearance -- to discuss selling the Covena Avenue home. No further details about the realtor
meeting we available.
The KTVU report quoted her friends as saying that Scott seems to be getting rid of anything that has to do with
Laci; that they can't believe he would sell anything that belongs to her before knowing, for sure, what happened
to her.
"It was hard to hear that," said Heather Sutton. "Just because I know that, just by looking at the
car, it's totally Laci. And hearing that she loved that car, that was difficult for me…Maybe he has his reasons,
I just don't know."
Police had confiscated Scott Peterson's Ford truck on Dec. 26 and he had been driving rental vehicles since then.
It was not known when he might get his truck back.
"We will hold on to his truck for the length of time that we need it for the investigation," said Detective
Doug Ridenour, police spokesman. "We will turn it back to him when we can no longer justify having it, but
that's a decision that will be made through the courts."
Police confiscated the Land Rover at the same time, and returned it a few days later.
At the time, Scott Peterson alone held title to both vehicles, although family and friends said the Land Rover
was his wife's.
Doug Roberts of Roberts Auto Sales on McHenry Avenue in Modesto said Peterson traded in the Land Rover as part
of his purchase of a 2002 Dodge Ram pickup. Late on Tuesday, February 4, 2003, Roberts approached Laci's family
and offered to give the vehicle to them.
Kim Petersen, speaking for Roberts and Laci Peterson's family, said, "Doug donated the car to the family today
because he wanted Laci to have a car when she came back."
The SUV is valued at $9,000 to $16,000, according to Kelley Blue Book. Roberts declined to say how much he paid
for the Land Rover or how much Peterson paid for the Dodge pickup.
Tuesday night Dennis Rocha, Laci's father, stored the SUV on his property for safekeeping.
It was also reported that Scott spent the weekend of February 1st and 2nd at the La Quinta Inn on Tulare St in
downtown Fresno. While it was noted by the reporter covering the story that he has been known to do that for business
reasons, she called to viewers' attention the fact that Fresno is also where Scott's girlfriend, Amber Frey, lives.
There was no indication from any news reports, however, that Scott actually met with Frey and no one reported seeing
them together or even hearing that it had happened or that that was either Scott's or Frey's intention. The reporter
was simply noting the coincidence and speculating for her viewing audience about the possibilities.
In earlier press reports, Laci's friends also reacted badly to Scott's assertion in his TV interviews that Laci's
reaction to his telling her of his affair with Amber Frey was sadness but not the sort of reaction that would have
ruptured their marriage. Laci's friends found that hard to believe.
"I can't say how she would have reacted," said Stacey Boyers in a KTVU report. "I do know she wouldn't
have been at peace with it. It would have been an issue. As close ... friends as we have (been), she would have
told one of us."
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