Murder of Laci Peterson: Difference between revisions

2002 murder of an American woman in California

Laci Denise Peterson (née Rocha; May 4, 1975 — c. December 24, 2002) was an American woman killed while eight-months pregnant with her first child. Laci’s husband, Scott Lee Peterson (born October 24, 1972), was convicted of first-degree murder for her death and second-degree murder for the death of their unborn son. Originally sentenced to death, Scott’s sentence was overturned in 2020,^[1] and, in 2021, he was re-sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.^[2] Scott has maintained his innocence.^[3]

Early life and marriage[edit]

Laci Denise Peterson[edit]

Laci was born May 4, 1975,^[4][5] to Sharon Anderson^[6]: 4 and Dennis Robert Rocha,^[7] who had met in high school^[6]: 5 and owned a dairy farm west of Escalon, California.^[5] Laci’s older brother, Brent Rocha, was born in 1971.^[6]: 5 Laci worked on the farm from a young age and also enjoyed gardening with her mother. Sharon and Dennis divorced when Laci and her brother were young. Sharon and the children moved to Modesto, though the children visited the dairy farm on weekends.^[4][5] Sharon eventually married Ron Grantski, who helped raise Laci and Brent from the time Laci was two years old.^[5][8] Laci was a cheerleader in junior high and high school. After graduating from Thomas Downey High School, she attended California Polytechnic State University,^[5] majoring in ornamental horticulture.^{[9][10]: 30}

Scott Lee Peterson[edit]

Scott was born October 24, 1972, in San Diego, California, to Lee Arthur Peterson, who owned a crate-packaging company, and Jacqueline “Jackie” Helen Latham,^[9][12][13] who owned a boutique in La Jolla called The Put On.^[9] Lee and Jackie had six children from previous relationships. Scott was their only child together.^[12][13] As a child, Scott shared a bedroom with his half-brother John in the family’s two-bedroom apartment in La Jolla.^[9] He began playing golf at an early age,^[12] and, by age 14, he could beat his father at the game.^[9] For a time, Scott had dreams of becoming a professional golfer, and he was teammates with future-pro Phil Mickelson at the University of San Diego High School.^[12] By the end of high school, he was one of the top junior golfers in San Diego.^[9]

In 1990, Scott enrolled at Arizona State University (where Mickelson had also enrolled) on a partial golf scholarship.^[14] Scott’s father, Lee, later testified that Scott was discouraged by the considerable competition that Mickelson and an unnamed future-pro presented.^[15] According to Chip Couch, the father of another young golfer, Chris Couch, Scott was taken off the golf team after Chip discovered that Scott had taken his son out drinking; Chip complained to the Arizona State golf coach, who subsequently kicked Scott off the team.^[15] Scott transferred to Cuesta College and then to California Polytechnic State University.^[15] He initially planned to major in international business, but changed his major to agricultural business. Professors who taught Scott described him as a model student. His agribusiness professor, Jim Ahern, commented, “I wouldn’t mind having a class full of Scott Petersons.”^[9]

Relationship[edit]

While at California Polytechnic, Scott worked at a restaurant in Morro Bay called the Pacific Café, which Laci would occasionally visit, as she was friends with a coworker of Scott’s.^[9][5] In mid-1994, Laci sent Scott her phone number; she also told her mother that she had met the man that she would marry. Scott later called Laci and they began dating, their first date being a deep-sea fishing trip on which Laci got seasick.^[5] As the relationship grew more serious, Scott put aside his dreams of professional golf in order to focus on a business career.^[12]

The couple dated for two years^[5] and eventually moved in together.^[9] In 1997, after Laci graduated, they married at Sycamore Mineral Springs Resort.^[9][14] While Scott finished his senior year, Laci took a job in nearby Prunedale. Prosecutors later stated that, around this time, Scott engaged in his first extramarital affair, though they did not reveal the details of the relationship. Scott graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural business in June 1998,^[9] and the Petersons opened a sports bar in San Luis Obispo called The Shack.^[5][9][12] Business was initially slow but eventually improved, especially on weekends.^[9] The Petersons decided to put The Shack up for sale when they moved to Laci’s hometown of Modesto, California to start a family;^[5][12] they completed the sale in April 2001.^[16]

In October 2000, the Petersons purchased a three-bedroom, two-bath bungalow house for $177,000 on Covena Avenue in an upscale neighborhood near East La Loma Park.^[9][12] Laci took a part-time job as a substitute teacher,^[12] and Scott got a job with Tradecorp U.S.A., a newly founded subsidiary of a European fertilizer company, for which he earned a salary of $5,000 a…