American Murder: The Complete Timeline Of Laci Petersons Murder And Scott Petersons Trial
This article contains discussions of murder.
Spoilers for American Murder: Laci Peterson and Face to Face with Scott Peterson are ahead!
Summary
- The documentaries offer new perspectives on the complicated Laci Peterson murder case timeline, detailing events leading up to the disappearance.
- Significant events during the investigation after Laci’s disappearance, outlined by American Murder: Laci Peterson, showcase the evidence against Scott Peterson.
- Scott Peterson’s court trial, appeals process, and recent updates show his ongoing efforts to seek a new trial.
The Netflix docuseries American Murder: Laci Peterson and Peacock’s Face to Face with Scott Peterson focuses on the murder of Laci Peterson, the police investigation, the trial of her husband Scott Peterson, and his numerous appeals – creating a complex timeline that takes place over two decades. One of the biggest cases of the early 2000s was the murder of Laci Peterson, a sweet and vibrant woman who was eight months pregnant, by her husband, Scott Peterson.
Though information about the case has been available since the end of the trial in 2004, the new true crime documentaries – both of which are three episodes long – both offer new perspectives on the investigation and the murder trial. Because they focus on different parts of the story, it’s easy to be confused about what happened when. Moreover, the story spans twenty-two years, making it so even the most fervent true-crime fans have missed key pieces of information about the story. By looking at the full picture, viewers can better understand how each side came to their conclusions.
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The Disappearance And Search For Laci Peterson
Laci Peterson Disappeared On Christmas Eve 2002, And Her Body Wasn’t Found Until April 14, 2003
What happened leading up to and on the day of Laci Peterson’s disappearance is a subject of debate explored in American Murder: Laci Peterson, with Scott Peterson presenting a very different account than what the prosecution said. Some of the events are verifiable through concrete evidence, while others are a matter of speculation. However, it’s important to get a clear picture of the early parts of the story in order to have a clear idea of what happened to Laci Peterson and why Scott Peterson was convicted.
| Verifiable Events Leading up to and on the Day of the Disappearance | Date & Time |
|---|---|
| Peterson started researching boats and tides. | December 8, 2002 |
| Peterson bought his boat. | December 9, 2002 |
| Scott bought a fishing license and lures. | December 20, 2002 |
| The neighbor found Mckenzie, the dog, wandering with his leash attached down the street alone. | December 24, 2002 @ 10:18 am |
| Scott Peterson entered the Berkeley Marina and launched his boat | December 24, 2002 @ 12:54 pm |
| Scott Peterson left a voicemail on Laci Peterson’s phone. | December 24, 2002 @ 2:15 pm |
| Scott Peterson called Laci’s mom, Sharon Rocha, to see if Laci was at her house and then told her mom that Laci was missing. | December 24, 2002 @ 5:17 pm |
| Scott Peterson called Lori Heintz, Stacey Boyers, and Laci’s mom (for a second time) to tell them that Laci was missing. | December 24, 2002, between 5:17 pm and 9:55 pm |
| Laci’s friends and family started searching for her. | December 24, 2002, between 5:17 pm and 9:55 pm |
| Laci’s dad called the police to report Laci missing. | December 24, 2002 @ 5:47 pm |
| Detective Al Brocchini was called to go to the crime scene. | December 24, 2002 @ 9:55 pm |
While detectives and prosecutors believe Laci Peterson was killed the night of the 23rd or the morning of the 24th, Scott Peterson has a different account of events the day she disappeared. Some of Scott’s actions have concrete evidence, like the emails and the phone calls. Others are the firsthand accounts of the convicted murderer, making them dubious. Sadly, there’s also very little to verify Laci’s actions the morning of her disappearance, and the few pieces of evidence available are subject to scrutiny.
| Scott Peterson’s Defense’s Timeline of the Day of Laci’s Disappearance | Time on December 24, 2002 |
|---|---|
| Scott and Laci went to Laci’s sister’s salon for haircuts. They picked up pizza after and watched Monday Night football. | 5:45 pm to 8:30 pm (December 23) |
| Laci spoke to her mother on the phone about Christmas Eve dinner. | 8:30 pm (December 23) |
| Laci Peterson woke up. | 7:00 am |
| Laci Peterson got dressed and ate cereal. | 7:00 am to 8:00 am |
| Scott woke up. | 8:00 am |
| Laci shopped for a GAP scarf and a sunflower umbrella stand. | 8:40 am to 8:45 am |
| Laci and Scott watched Martha Stewart Living. | 9:00 am to 9:30 am |
| Scott Peterson last saw Laci Peterson alive. | 9:30 am (note: he has stated different times between 9:30 and 10:30) |
| Scott checked his emails at his warehouse. | 10:30 am to 10:56 am |
| Scott left the warehouse for the Berkeley Marina. | 11:30 am |
| Scott Peterson bought a boat launch ticket at Berkeley Marina | 12:54 pm |
| Scott Peterson left a voicemail on Laci Peterson’s phone. | 2:15 pm |
| Scott bought gas at a Chevron in Livermore | 3:25 pm |
| Scott Peterson returned to his warehouse. | 4:15 pm to 4:45 pm |
| Scott Peterson got home, found the door unlocked, found Mackenzie in the yard with a leash on, called out for Laci, washed his clothes, ate a piece of pizza, drank some milk, and took a shower. | 4:45 pm to 5:17 pm |
| Scott Peterson called Laci’s mom, Sharon Rocha, to see if Laci was at her house and then told her mom that Laci was missing. | 5:17 pm |
The investigation on the days after Laci’s disappearance is outlined in American Murder: Laci Peterson, focusing on the steps they took to hone in on Scott Peterson as the murderer. However, it’s worth noting that the police investigated other leads, such as the burglars across the street; Laci being held in Tracy, California; and sex offenders in the area. However, the police do acknowledge that they didn’t follow every lead since the tip line resulted in 11,000 tips.
| Major Events In The Investigation The Days After The Disappearance | Times & Dates |
|---|---|
| The Petersons found out that Laci was missing. | December 25, 2002, around 10:00 am |
| Detective Brocchini interviewed Scott Peterson at the police station. | December 25, 2002 |
| The detectives requested to search the house again. Scott refused, and they presented a search warrant. | December 26, 2002 @ 7:56 pm |
| Detectives searched Scott Peterson’s warehouse. | December 27, 2002 |
| Detectives thoroughly searched the house. | December 27 and 28, 2002 |
| The search moved to the wetlands along the Stanislaus, Tuolumne, and San Joaquin Rivers. | December 28, 2002 |
| Amber Frey called the police and agreed to help in their investigation. | December 30, 2002 |
| Scott Peterson called Amber Frey while at the candlelight vigil for Laci Peterson. | December 31, 2002 |
| Police asked anyone in the public who saw Scott Peterson’s truck or boat on December 24th to come forward. | January 2, 2002 |
| Craig Grogan confronted Scott Peterson during an interrogation about the picture of him and Amber. | January 3, 2003 @ 4:19 pm |
| Divers searched San Fransico Bay. | January 4, 6 to 8, and 11, 2003 |
| Scott Peterson called Amber Frey and said that his wife was missing. | January 6, 2003 |
| Police searched Merced and San Joaquin counties. | January 12, 2003 |
| The Modesto police privately revealed to Laci Peterson’s parents that Scott Peterson was having an affair. | January 15, 2003 |
| Scott Peterson leads an effort to post missing-person fliers in Los Angeles, California. | January 19, 2003 |
| Amber gave a press conference, sharing the details about her relationship with Scott Peterson. Laci’s family subsequently gave a press conference revoking support for Scott Peterson. | January 23, 2003 |
| Scott Peterson went on Good Morning America with Diane Sawyer. | January 28, 2003 |
| Scott Peterson does interviews with the media at his house. | January 29, 2003 |
| A Modesto used car dealer turns over Laci Peterson’s Land Rover to her family after Scott Peterson traded it in. | February 4, 2003 |
| Laci Peterson’s due date. | February 10, 2003 |
| Police searched the Peterson house another time. | February 18 and 19, 2003 |
| Amber Frey cut off contact with Scott Peterson. | February 19, 2003 |
| The police classify Laci Peterson’s disappearance as a homicide. | March 5, 2003 |
| A couple discovered Conner Peterson’s remains. | April 13, 2003 @ 4:00 pm |
| Laci Peterson’s body was found. | April 14, 2003 @ 11:45 am |
| The coroner’s office declares no clear cause of death for the woman or her baby. | April 15, 2003 |
| Scott Peterson was arrested. The bodies are confirmed as Laci and Conner through DNA testing. | April 18, 2003 |
Despite the mountain of evidence, American Murder: Laci Peterson reveals that the District Attorney refused to sign an arrest warrant for Scott Peterson until they found Laci’s body, which isn’t necessarily surprising since no body cases have a higher threshold of evidence to go to trial. After Scott Peterson was arrested on April 18, 2003, everything related to Laci and Conner’s murders moved into the court system; however, the case wouldn’t start for over a year.
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Scott Peterson’s Relationship With Amber Frey
Amber Frey Was Unaware Of Scott Peterson’s Marriage When They Started A Relationship
The documentary American Murder: Laci Peterson includes an interview with Scott Peterson’s ex-girlfriend, Amber Frey, who was with him at the time of Laci’s disappearance and worked with the police to investigate Scott. Though Amber Frey never knew about Laci Peterson, the media tore her apart after news came out about her relationship. Despite all this, she cooperated with the police both before and after Scott Peterson’s affair became public knowledge, taping their phone calls.
| Major Events in Scott Peterson And Amber Frey’s Relationship | Date |
|---|---|
| Scott Peterson and Amber Frey met through Shawn Sibley. | November 20, 2002 |
| Amber Frey and Scott Peterson went hiking, then they went to pick out a Christmas tree. While decorating the tree, she asked if he’d ever been married or had children. | December 2, 2002 |
| Amber Frey gave Scott Peterson a car seat and a key to her house, asking him to pick up her daughter at daycare. | December 3, 2002 |
| Shawn Sibley confronted Scott about his relationship with Amber. | December 6, 2002 |
| Peterson told Amber Frey that he lost his wife. | December 9, 2002 |
| Scott Peterson attended a Christmas party with Amber Frey, while Laci went to a different Christmas party alone. | December 14, 2002 |
| Amber Frey got a phone call from a friend to tell her about Laci Peterson, and she called the police. | December 29, 2002 |
| Amber Frey called the police a second time. She agreed to wiretap her phone calls and worked with the police to get information from Scott. | December 30, 2002 |
| Scott Peterson called Amber Frey while at the candlelight vigil for Laci Peterson, saying he was at the Eiffel Tower for New Year’s Eve. | December 31, 2002 |
| Scott Peterson called Amber Frey and said that his wife was missing. | January 6, 2003 |
| Amber gave a press conference sharing the details about her relationship with Scott Peterson and confirming she didn’t know about Laci or Conner Peterson. | January 23, 2003 |
| Amber Frey cut off contact with Scott Peterson | February 19, 2003 |
After about two months of helping the police, Amber Frey stopped speaking to Scott Peterson when she and the police became confident that he wouldn’t give them any more useful information. She later testified at the trial. The jurors in American Murder: Laci Peterson confirmed that the affair itself wasn’t significant in their decision about his guilt, but his behavior and words to Amber Frey after the disappearance were influential.
The Trial, Sentencing, And Appeals Of Scott Peterson
Scott Peterson Was Found Guilty Of First-Degree And Second-Degree Murder
Ten months after Scott Peterson was arrested, pre-trial motions were underway to give him a fair trial. The judge moved the trial to a different county in California to prevent a tainted jury and barred cameras from the courtroom. After the trial started, the judge issued a gag order to everyone involved in the case, including families, witnesses, potential witnesses, defendants, and legal representation. After six months of trial, the jury deliberated for 10 days, coming back with a sentence of guilty in both the first-degree murder of Laci Peterson and the second-degree murder of Conner Peterson.
| Major Events in Scott Peterson’s Trial And Sentencing | Date |
|---|---|
| Scott Peterson was arrested | April 18, 2003 |
| Scott Peterson pleaded not guilty to the first-degree murder of Laci Peterson and the second-degree murder of Conner Peterson. | April 21, 2003 |
| The court granted a change of venue to San Mateo County. | January 20, 2004 |
| Judge Delucchi barred cameras from the courtroom during the trial. | February 2, 2004 |
| Jury selection began. | March 4, 2004 |
| Six women and six men were seated on the jury with six alternatives. | May 27, 2004 |
| Scott Peterson’s trial began. | June 1, 2004 |
| Judge Delucchi issued a gag order on anyone involved in the Scott Peterson case. | June 17, 2004 |
| Juror number 5 talked to Laci’s brother at the security checkpoint of the courthouse. | June 18, 2004 |
| The judge warned the jury about the appearance of impropriety. | June 21, 2004 |
| Juror number 5 was dismissed from the jury. | June 23, 2004 |
| Amber Frey testified on the witness stand, and her taped phone calls were played. | August 10, 2004 |
| Jury deliberations began. | November 3, 2004 |
| Scott Peterson was found guilty of the first-degree murder of Laci Peterson and the second-degree murder of Conner Peterson. | November 12, 2004 @ 1 pm |
| Scott Peterson was sentenced to death. | March 16, 2005 |
| A judge decided that Laci’s life insurance policy would go to Laci’s mother. | October 21, 2005 |
Because Scott Peterson was sentenced to death in his trial, he received an automatic, non-waivable appeal that skipped over the Court of Appeals, going straight to the Supreme Court of California. In 2020, the Court agreed with the defense that jurors were erroneously dismissed due to their feelings about the death penalty. Case law dictates that a person against the death penalty can still sit for a death penalty-qualified case unless their opinion would prevent them from ever voting for that punishment under any circumstances. As such, his death sentence was overturned, and he was resentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
- Important definition: A writ of habeas corpus demands that a public official bring a prisoner to court and present a legal cause for the detainment. In the writ, a prisoner or legal representation can provide reasons they think the prisoner is illegally defined.
| Major Events in Scott Peterson’s Appeals | Date |
|---|---|
| Scott Peterson’s automatic appeal was filed with the Supreme Court of California. | July 5, 2012 |
| Scott Peterson’s lawyer filed a writ of habeas corpus | November 24, 2015 |
| Scott Peterson filed a second appeal with the Supreme Court of California. | November 24, 2015 |
| The Supreme Court of California overturned Scott Peterson’s death sentence. | August 24, 2020 |
| The Supreme Court of California ordered a review of whether Scott Peterson should get a new trial based on accusations of a stealth juror. | October 14, 2020 |
| The Stanislaus County DA declined to retry Scott Peterson’s death sentence. | May 28, 2021 |
| Scott Peterson was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. | December 8, 2021 |
| Scott Peterson was denied a new trial. | December 20, 2022 |
However, a different assertion in his second appeal didn’t succeed. Scott Peterson’s lawyers made the assertion that a stealth juror existed who wanted to convict the defendant. The basis of their claim was the fact that the juror lied about her history of domestic abuse to get on the jury. However, the only way this would warrant a new trial is if the juror did this intentionally and displayed a provable bias against Scott Peterson. The judge found neither of these to be true, so she denied him a new trial (via NBC Bay Area).
The Unclear Timeline Of The Burglary: Scott Peterson’s Defense
The Burglary Either Happened On December 24th Or 26th, Depending On Which Side You Believe
The biggest difference between Netflix’s American Murder: Laci Peterson and Peacock’s Face to Face with Scott Peterson is that the former sides with the prosecution while the latter sides with the defense. Both bring up the burglary across the street from the Petersons, but they paint a very different picture of what happened and when. Unfortunately, there is serious ambiguity about the timeline. Scott Peterson and his defense team say it happened on December 24, 2002. The prosecution says it happened on the morning of December 26, 2002.
Both have alibis for their whereabouts on December 24, 2002, that the police verified.
The burglars can’t confirm either of those dates because they thought it happened on December 27, 2002, which would have been impossible since the Medina family returned at 4:30 on December 26, 2002. However, both have alibis for their whereabouts on December 24, 2002, that the police verified. They also state that they saw a media presence when they went to commit the crime. On the other hand, some witnesses point to the 24th as the date they saw the burglary. This creates a hazy and contradictory timeline. As of the release of the series, there’s an argument to support both timelines, and neither has been fully proven nor refuted.
Where Scott Peterson Is Today
Scott Peterson’s Case Has Many Updates In 2023 and 2024
In the two years prior to Netflix’s Laci Peterson documentary and Peacock’s competing follow-up, many steps have been taken by Scott Peterson and his legal representation to get a new trial since he filed a writ of habeas corpus with the court. His website asserts that new evidence, overlooked leads, and untested DNA could prove his innocence. In January 2024, the Los Angeles Innocence Project picked up his case, saying his rights were violated. Since then, Scott Peterson’s case has been in and out of court regularly, pushing for a new trial.
| Recent Events in the Scott Peterson Case | Date |
|---|---|
| Scott Peterson filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. | April 19, 2023 |
| The Attorney General filed a response to Scott Peterson’s writ of habeas corpus. | July 31, 2023 |
| The Los Angeles Innocence Project officially took the Scott Peterson case and filed three motions for the prisoner. | January 17, 2024 |
| Scott Peterson went to court for his motions for evidence and new DNA testing. | March 12, 2024 |
| The judge only approved DNA retesting on only one piece of evidence. | May 29, 2024 |
| Scott Peterson’s defense presented new evidence of jailhouse phone calls | July 16, 2024 |
As of the documentaries’ release, the judge hasn’t made any ruling about the motions to have evidence turned over to Scott Peterson’s legal team and the new evidence of jailhouse phone calls. Though Scott’s representation pushed to have multiple pieces of evidence tested for DNA, the judge only agreed to have a piece of duct tape on Laci tested. The others were denied based on the prosecution’s statement that the other pieces of evidence were already tested and came back with nothing. The prosecution and defense are also still waiting for DNA results to come back from the lab.
Sources: NBC Bay Area, CBS News, SFGate, Scott Peterson Appeal, KCRA, Oxygen True Crime, and The Modesto Bee.
