Convicted killer Scott Peterson wants to be released from prison more than two decades after he was convicted of murdering his pregnant wife — and her family tells the Daily Mail they’re ‘horrified’ at the possibility.
The Los Angeles Innocence Project has filed a petition presenting new evidence and witness statements that they say will exonerate Peterson of the December 2002 slaying of his wife, Laci Peterson, and unborn son, Conner.
‘We are representing him because we believe he is innocent, based on the evidence,’ says John Sonego, the board chair of the LA Innocence Project. ‘This is about the evidence, not about emotion. If we thought he was guilty, we wouldn’t represent him.’
The new filing has distressed Laci’s family and other supporters.
‘This is a nightmare,’ a relative of Sharon Rocha, the mother of Laci Peterson, tells the Daily Mail. ‘This is something we put behind us 20 years ago, and now it’s back.
‘We believed then and we believe now that Scott killed Laci and belongs in jail for the rest of his life.’
Laci was eight months pregnant when she disappeared from her home in Modesto, California in December 2002. Her body was discovered in April 2003 in San Francisco Bay.
Scott has posited that Laci was killed as she walked the couple’s dog after he left to go on a solo fishing trip.
Convicted killer Scott Peterson wants to be released from prison more than two decades after he was convicted of murdering his pregnant wife
Scott and Laci Peterson met while they were students at Cal Poly in 1994
When Scott and Laci married, friends said they were ‘a match made in heaven’
But as the investigation moved forward, cops discovered Scott’s dark secrets, including a months-long affair with a woman named Amber Frey, who said she was unaware that Scott was married.
Frey called Modesto police to disclose the affair and later worked with prosecutors to record damning phone calls with Scott.
After he was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder, Scott was sentenced to death row in 2005.
The death sentence was overturned in 2020, and Scott was sentenced to life in prison at the Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, California.
But Scott’s legal team insists the wrong man is in jail — and furnished the Daily Mail with a copy of their filings after a judge previously granted them a discovery period to uncover potential evidence in October 2024.
Much of the new evidence is centered around a December 2002 burglary of a home across the street from the house where the Petersons lived.
Attorneys had previously argued that Laci was killed after witnessing two men break into their neighbor’s home while walking her dog.
The LA Innocence Project claims that a witness allegedly ‘overheard a conversation among the burglars about Laci seeing and confronting them,’ according to the petition.
After authorities focused on Peterson, he dyed his hair and headed towards Mexico with $10,000 cash in his pocket
For months, the Modesto area was blanketed with missing flyers and posters
Authorities soon found that Scott Peterson had been seeing Amber Frey, who didn’t know he was married
‘This evidence exonerates Scott Peterson because it shows Laci was alive when he left home on December 24, since the burglary took place.’
The LAIP claims to have new evidence about the burglars’ van, where they believe Laci was killed.
According to Scott’s team, there was a mattress in the back of the van, that was was later found burned out, with apparent bloodstains on it.
‘There is new evidence showing the prosecution suppressed evidence of the police investigation into that van fire at the time of trial,’ the LAIP says.
The judge does not have a specified timeline to respond to the new filing.
‘It could be days or it could be weeks,’ Sonego tells the Daily Mail. ‘But the judge will hear this evidence and will make a decision.’
But Laci’s family is vocally opposed any attempt to reopen the case.
‘It has been almost 22 years since I have seen or talked to my daughter,’ Laci’s mom, Sharon Rocha, wrote in her most recent victim impact statement. ‘She was murdered by her husband. She was murdered by the man she loved with all her heart.’
Scott, now 52, has been in prison for more than two decades
‘Since his conviction in 2004, he has been in court numerous times trying to get his conviction overturned. Each attempt he makes for freedom feels like ripping the scab from the wound (family’s trauma).’
‘He continues to file claim after claim,’ she said.
‘Time after time. I believe this is not about proving his innocence, but instead about his relentless pursuit (to be freed) from prison. When will this end?’
