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Chapter 1: What happened to Lacey Peterson on Christmas Eve?
On a quiet Saturday morning, five women walked into a Lane Bryant store and never came home. The man responsible for their deaths was heard and even described by the lone survivor. But despite nearly being caught, he vanished into thin air. In the years since, new technology, new investigators, and new questions have changed what's possible. But the families are still waiting for answers.
The evidence is still there. And this case isn't cold. It's unfinished. Listen to CounterClock Season 8 wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back to the 2020 True Crime Vault. East Bay Park authorities discovered two bodies.
The unidentified female is Lacey Peterson.
it's either someone actively framed scott peterson after kidnapping his eight-month pregnant wife or he did it that's it but now after 18 years his sister-in-law doesn't just think he's innocent she says she can prove it we made the decision to record some phone calls with scott That's something that you want to say.
There really was nothing we shied away from talking about in those conversations. Just how frustrated I've been when people say that I was the last one to see Macy that day. Scott told me he was not married. We did have a romantic relationship. As soon as Amber Fry showed up, people were like, he's guilty. He is guilty. He's guilty. Scott Peterson has been found guilty of first degree murder.
Scott Peterson is where he deserves to be. You can't just pick Scott as the default because you don't know what else it could have been. It's Scott Peterson's voice, and he tells his story. State of California versus Scott Peterson. We, the jury, and the above entitled cause find the defendant, Scott Lee Peterson, guilty of the crime of murder of Lacey Denise Peterson.
You want to talk about the verdict first? Oh, it was crazy. There was just like this amazing, horrible physical reaction that I had. Everything just went kind of silent. I couldn't hear anything. I couldn't feel anything. I couldn't feel my feet on the floor. I couldn't feel the chair I was sitting in. My vision was even a little blurry.
And I just had this weird sensation that I was falling forward and forward and down. And there was going to be no end to this falling forward and down, like there was no floor to land on. This office is where we keep everything related to Scott's case. We keep the trial transcripts. We keep the case discovery here. This board represents the details of the day.
My name is Janie Peterson, and I am Scott and Lacey Peterson's sister-in-law. constantly evaluating the information we have from different perspectives. It's been 18 years and there should be answers to questions. I think if people step back and look at the evidence in this case, they're going to see this crime isn't solved. What's your sister's name? Lacey.
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Chapter 2: How did Scott Peterson's actions raise suspicions?
When he gave it to Scott, Scott just looked at it and threw it in the garbage because he thought it was kind of a joke until she came back. As I said, she wasn't intimidated about anything. How did you know you were in love?
Driving along a highway, I remember vividly. And for no reason, I was just smiling. That's the biggest smile. And she asked me, what the heck are you smiling about?
And the only thing was that she was there. When I met him, I was impressed. He was very likable. He was a gentleman. He was just a very nice person. They were just starting out. They had been married not very long. They had bought the house a couple of years earlier. Lacey was a homemaker. I mean, she loved to cook and her home was, she was fastidious. You see the photos of them, all smiles.
Lacey, by all accounts, was just a bundle of energy and was always concerned about helping other people. He was a fertilizer salesman. He had a decent job. He's in the cigar club. He's in the wine club. He belongs to the country club. He wants to be that rich guy with a trophy wife. He was still in his 20s. He was about to turn 30.
How did Scott feel about the fact that he was going to be a father? Very excited. Called us at 7 a.m. in the morning when she took the test. And I said, how do you know? She said, I took the test. I said, those aren't always accurate, you know. And she said, yes, it is. Yes, it is. Because they had been, they tried for three years to have a child. They did? Yes.
I remember the last time I saw Lacey. She and I were sitting side by side and Scott was sitting on the floor. And we were watching TV and She said the baby was kicking, so I put my hand on her stomach because I'd never felt him kick. She leaned over to me and she said, Mom, Scott doesn't like to do this.
She said, I asked him to feel my stomach when the baby kicks and he never wants to touch my stomach. That really, really bothered me. And that was the last time I saw her. It seems that when she got pregnant with Connor, things started going sideways.
It breaks my heart because she was trying so hard to have this perfect home for baby Connor to come into, and she had no idea it was a house built on sand that was sinking quickly. No idea. Law enforcement zoned in on Scott immediately. It may have been to the detriment of opportunities missed. Our family has known since the beginning that Scott is innocent.
There was a burglary across the street from the Petersons' house, directly across the street. So you have someone who goes missing in this window of time, and you have a felony occurring in this window of time. And to think that they're not related is a difficult thing to ignore. We began an immediate search of the car. And he's like, well, have you tried cadaver dogs? I mean, it threw me.
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Chapter 3: What evidence led to Scott Peterson's arrest?
But I remember doing that. When it's happening to somebody else, you think, that's a horrible thing to happen to those people. And you think that you can imagine how they feel. You don't. You have no idea what it's like. I mean, everything, every, from that minute on, your life is completely changed. She didn't turn up at the park where she would have walked the dog.
She was not in the neighborhood. Her body was nowhere. She was nowhere. There was no evidence of a struggle. The exterior of the house was secure. No evidence of tampering or forced entry. We didn't find any fingerprints that were present in the house that didn't belong there. There was nothing that was missing from the house.
TV was still there, all the normal things that burglars will take quickly so that they can get out of there. So what scenario does that leave? An unknown assailant grabs her in a park where there are other people and spirits her away? Typically, that is not how an unknown assailant murder occurs. The murder goes down, the body's left on the scene, and bam, the killer's gone. OK?
So of course, the police start looking at him. Well, I suspected Scott when I first met him. Didn't mean he did it, but I was a little bit thrown off by his calm, cool demeanor. On Christmas Eve, he was cooperative. In my mind, I'm not even thinking he did it yet. But I am documenting all this stuff.
When we get to his shop to look at his bow, Scott tells me, I have no power in the shop, meaning there's no lights. This shop is in a strip mall, and it's the middle of the night. There ain't nobody there. It's just us. And so I'm not even thinking that suspicious. I just, OK, there's no power. Do you mind opening the door? I'll put my headlights in. I want to look at the boat.
So I put my headlights in, and I take four or five pictures of the boat. And then later, I called MID, and I talked to the supervisor to find out when the power was out for that area. He said, the power's never out for that area. So he was questioned for over seven hours the first night that Lacey went missing. Continued to talk to police. Well, I mean, like a little island kind of deal there.
to dump his wife's body in broad daylight. It just defies logic. Whoever has her, please, please, please let her go. Bring her back to us. We love her so much.
We want her back.
Please, let us have her back. In the suburbs of D.C., a woman fails to show up for work and is found brutally murdered. 911, what's your emergency? We just walked in the door and there's blood in the foyer. For the next two decades, the case remained unsolved until new technology allowed investigators to do what had once been impossible. A new series from ABC Audio in 2020, Blood and Water.
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Chapter 4: How did the media coverage impact the trial?
He went fishing? Where'd he go fishing at? And he got up and walked out. Scott did. And so we obtained a search warrant for his house. And we went in and he was reading the newspaper at the dining room table. So we give him this form and it says, I give consent for us to search all that stuff. And all he has to do is sign it and we could search.
And he picks it up, he reads it, and he's like, you don't expect me to sign this without a lawyer, do you? Well, we weren't sure, but we have a search warrant. And he's like, he looks right at me and he's like, Al, where's the trust? I mean, that's what he says to me. Where's the trust?
Scott Peterson wanted to give off the impression that he was being completely forthcoming and helpful to the police. But there were lines that he drew. Scott was always in the background. He was adamant that his photo not be put on posters, that pictures of him not be taken. He didn't want their picture up at all. Everything of her and him had to come down off the wall.
It only could be pictures of her. But the way he took it down, he goes, oh, I'm going to keep this. We had this wall in there. When you first walk in, there was this wall and we had pictures of her everywhere. And he would make sure every picture of him was down off the wall. Daily? Daily. We would put more up, they would come down. Let me go to you, Jackie Peterson. Where is Scott tonight?
I would imagine he would be out begging the viewers to help in the search for his wife. He is, and he has, and he is with friends this evening that have been searching all day.
There is a lot of questions on why I have not been in the media. Media will put, I believe, the emotional stuff out there for a couple days, and then the story will get dropped for something else. It was our thoughts that if I was to hold back from the media, The media would continue to come because, frankly, cameras, reporters, they want something they can't get right away.
So this was our way of keeping the media coming back for us.
He's as smooth as they get. He's cool. He doesn't seem to get rattled. He seems authentic. So many people say, Christmas Eve, you have a very pregnant wife. And you decided to go fishing?
My day was open to either play golf or go fishing. I chose fishing that day, which was a choice I made. And I obviously regret now. I could just decide to stay home.
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Chapter 5: What were the main arguments during the trial?
We pretty much dealt with all of the satanic cults, the dog walkers. The only thing we couldn't eliminate was Scott. I'm Lacey's mother-in-law and Scott's mother. And I want to thank all of you for the love and outpouring. So now there's a big memorial for Lacey in Modesto, Candlelight Memorial. I want to thank everybody for coming out here tonight.
Lacey would be so happy to see she had so many friends and supporters. I just keep looking for Lacey. Please don't give up. There were a lot of people who came to that vigil in the park. Lord, tonight we lift Lacey Peterson to you, Father. I do remember I didn't see Scott the entire evening. He was there, apparently, but I didn't see him.
The only thing I saw were the pictures in the media from him that night. I never saw him. They ask about the candlelight vigil that we held in the park. And they asked, why weren't you on that stage with the family?
And frankly, because this isn't about us to be out in front of the camera. It's about us to work towards bringing home the one person who's hurt the most, the piece of our family that's missing right now.
We are kindling a fire in this cold world full of hatred and selfishness. Our little blaze may seem to be unveiling. There's a vigil going on for Lacey, a candlelight vigil. And I said, well, where's the husband? Well, I'll tell you where he was. He was off in the corner talking on the phone to his mistress, Amber Fry. And she recorded it. Amber, three years here. Are you there? Yes.
Are you having a good time? I'm by near the Eiffel Tower.
New Year's celebration is unreal.
Earlier this week, the Modesto Police Department was made aware of an article that was to appear in the National Enquirer revealing new information regarding Lacey's case. Out of respect for the family, the police department felt they should provide the information to them directly so they wouldn't have to read it in the media.
At that time, the family members were shown very recent pictures of Scott and a girlfriend. Okay, first of all, I met Scott Peterson November 20th, 2002. Scott told me he was not married. We did have a romantic relationship. I am very sorry for Lacey's family and the pain that this has caused them. And I pray for her safe return as well.
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