Laci Peterson murder revisited in dueling docs: What we know

This November marks 20 years since a jury convicted Scott Peterson of killing his wife Laci and their unborn son. The child, who was to be named Conner, would’ve been the couple’s first.
Ahead of the milestone, two documentaries revisit the 2002 tragedy that began when Laci, who was eight months pregnant, disappeared on Christmas Eve. Scott claimed he went fishing at Berkeley Marina, about 90 miles west of their home in Modesto, California. When he returned Laci’s car was in the driveway and her purse undisturbed, but she wasn’t home, he said. He put his clothes in the wash, ate pizza, took a shower, and then phoned Laci’s mom to say he believed she was missing.
Laci and Conner’s bodies were found near the marina. Days later, authorities arrested Scott, who had $15,000 and multiple cell phones in his possession. He is currently serving a life sentence at Mule Creek State Prison, about an hour southeast of Sacramento.
Netflix’s “American Murder: Laci Peterson” began streaming Wednesday, nearly a week ahead of Peacock’s “Face to Face with Scott Peterson.” which begins streaming Aug. 20.
The projects are the latest of many to chronicle the saga. “American Murder” reviews evidence and builds a convincing case against Scott. It also includes interviews with Laci’s family, friends and law enforcement. “Face to Face” features the first interview with Scott, who continues to insist he’s not guilty, since his arrest, and efforts by the Los Angeles Innocence Project to seek a new trial in light of new evidence.
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“I regret not testifying (at my trial), but if I have a chance to show peoplewhat the truth is, and if they are willing to accept it, it would be the biggest thing that I can accomplish right now — because I didn’t kill my family,” Scott says, according to People.
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Skye Borgman, director of “American Murder,” says her team was in contact with Scott for several months, but he ultimately declined to participate. Which was fine with her, she says.
“My project really is about Laci, and a lot of the other projects that have happened in the past few years or a lot of the current headlines in the news now are really about Scott. And I think we’ve lost sight of who the victims were in this crime,” Borgman says. “It’s something that’s really important to me and the work that I do is having it be very victim-forward.”
The one question she would’ve had for Scott? Simply, “Why?”
In Borgman’s three-part docuseries, Laci’s mom, Sharon Rocha, shares her early suspicions of Scott, and says she was concerned he was too good to be true and “filling (Laci) with crap.”
“Talking to Sharon — and maybe it’s because she’s had 20 years to reflect on this — where she was really able to recognize that that she didn’t always trust him 100%, that there was always this little tiny gut feeling that had a little bit of mistrust for Scott,” Borgman says. “And when she says, ‘I’ve learned one thing: to listen to my gut,’ it’s another thing that we can all take from this series and try to implement in our lives.”
“American Murder” gives Amber Frey the chance to clear her name. Though headlines dubbed her Scott’s mistress, Frey says she thought Scott was single when they started dating in November 2002. Before Laci’s disappearance, Scott allegedly told Amber he’d lost his wife and was preparing himself for the first holiday season without her.
When Frey realized Scott was married and his wife had gone missing, she contacted the Modesto Police Department and helped authorities by recording her phone conversations with Scott.
“We don’t really know how brave Amber was,” Borgman says. “Everybody thinks about her as ‘the mistress,’ and I really want people to think about Amber in a much more complete way, as this very brave woman who came forward and — against a lot of odds and in a very tenuous situation — continued talking to Scott for weeks … and really presented some recorded compelling evidence that helped Modesto PD build their case against Scott Peterson.”
“American Murder” also features conversations with Scott’s sister, Susan Caudillo, and sister-in-law Janey Peterson, who obtained a law degree to help prove Scott’s innocence.
Borgman says her team investigated Caudillo and Janey’s theories.
“We looked in police reports and we were fully ready to say, ‘OK, there’s something here,’” says Borgman. “We couldn’t find another source that backed up what they had to say.”
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The director hopes her docuseries brings attention to intimate partner violence and the fact that homicide is the leading cause of death for expectant women in America.
“We are in danger as women living in this world,” Borgman says. “And I’d like for people to walk away from this and to just be thinking about that a little bit more.”