Long-time lover and consumer of *most* things true-crime (living alone and immersing myself in brutal crimes don’t always go hand in hand), I don’t know that I’ve ever devoted an entire blog to a case. However, after guzzling down three series on the Laci Peterson murder, and having a hot take, I felt it was time to sear my thoughts into the internet forever and give you the scoop on each docu-series. I guess we could say this blog contains spoilers but if you didn’t hear about this murder that was legit on every news station and magazine cover 20 years ago then I’m concerned for you. Also feels a little odd to reference spoilers when it comes to a woman and her unborn child being murdered as this is real life and not the latest blockbuster. Basically, if you don’t want to dedicate any time to watching these three series, you can use this blog as a summary of takeaways, or you can use it as a teaser to decide if you want to watch. Either way, I think it goes without saying that the murder of a woman who was just beginning her life and her first baby is horrific and I’m not trying to downplay that fact or create some sort of sensational blog about it. I’m simply sharing my opinion based on what I’ve consumed, with some Salty Ju sarcasm sprinkled in.
Hulu (A&E): The Murder of Laci Peterson, 2017
This is the first doc I watched that flipped my whole perspective on this case and made me a Scott Peterson is innocent truther. I mean, I was literally bringing this murder up in casual Christmas party convo so that I could tell the unsuspecting victim of my doc-fueled chatter that Scott was wrongfully accused and we need to get him out of jail. Let it be known that I am ABSOLUTELY the perfect consumer of docs. I’m the type of person that will absorb the info presented to me in a documentary and not only think I’m an expert on the topic, but also believe every single thing that was said without question. Obviously every doc has an angle and is showing you the story they want you to see. But I’m usually flying too high on having all this newfound knowledge that I don’t even care about a controversial take being spoonfed to me. I remember literally ARGUING with someone that they didn’t know Scott like I did. From a 6-part series. I also spent a very obnoxious week acting like an aviation expert after seeing the doc about the missing Malaysian flight. Unrelated but totally related, I’m very aware of why I’m still single. Much like Scott….who got FRAMED by the court of public opinion to be a cheating dirtbag sociopath murderer.
Although I haven’t revisited this series since I originally watched it in 2019, I do remember really enjoying it (clearly) and would recommend it for anyone dipping their toe in the “did Scott really do it?” waters. It presented the counter-evidence in a direct way for dummies like me to be like hmm..it IS weird that I never knew they lived 5 mins away from a high-crime area. And hmm, that burglary that happened the same day directly across the street wasn’t reported on the cover of People magazine… My takeaway after watching this and what I’ll MOST definitely repeat throughout this blog as we’re talking about the same case being trotted out and dissected by 3 different directors/producers, is that at the end of the day, a man was convicted of a murder and sentenced to death with no DNA evidence or eyewitness testimony. The evidence that they did have was all circumstantial and YES IT LOOKS VERY, VERY BAD. His somewhat sociopathic void of all emotions demeanor from the minute he reported her missing to the day he was arrested, the extra-marital affair he had where he told this woman his wife was gone, driving very far away to go fishing and having homemade cement anchors and the bodies washing ashore where he was fishing that day. Do all of those things make Scott look like a stone cold killer? Yea, 100%. And that’s how he got convicted. Because I never heard a LICK about any of this other evidence to show that something else could’ve happened. So once you start to hear the evidence that isn’t all about Scott, it definitely makes you wonder if he actually did it. I’ll dive into that evidence more from the other doc because it’s fresher in my mind and I can’t remember what specifically was covered in this one or what has evolved since. But the bottom line is, knowing this other evidence was out there and not really as widely shared as the pieces condemning Scott, I would not be able to pin this murder on him beyond a reasonable doubt.
Netflix : American Murder – Laci Peterson, 2024
As it’s now the 20 year anniversary of this case, we must of course get more content on it. I had heard stirrings of Scott getting picked up by The Los Angeles Innocence Project this year and wasn’t surprised that we would be getting something new from him now that there might be fresh info in the case. I was, however, surprised that Laci’s family clearly wanted to put something out there too. Hollywood hasn’t quite figured it out yet as they regurgitate the same content over and over again but there is such a thing as too much repetition. This is a 20 year old case that was well-documented in the media and someone has been on death row for since it happened. We don’t need b2b docs from each family within a week of each other. Clearly Netflix cut a deal with Laci’s crew and Peacock cut a deal with Scott’s. And true to the case, they are very much dueling opinion docs. If you 100% believe without a doubt that Scott is the killer, watch this VERY heavy – handed HOW COULD HE DO THIS TO OUR BB GIRL Netflix doc. If you aren’t fully convinced, watch the Peacock special. If there’s one thing both sides can agree on it’s that the Modesto cops who were a part of both docs, certainly don’t shy away from camera time or a fat appearance paycheck. And anytime there is any comment or accusation that they perhaps dropped the ball on some things or honed in on Scott prematurely, putting blinders up to any contrary evidence to that theory, they deny it completely and say they’re confused as to why there’s even a question of if he did it. Not that I expect two detectives to publicly admit any wrongdoing with such a highly publicized case, but also, they don’t need to keep doing interviews about it either.
This was a fluff piece, which Laci’s family has every right to make in attempts to remind us all that she was real and her life was taken. But other than more glimpses into who she was as a person, there was really no new information about the murder presented. The interviews included Laci’s mom, a few of her gal pals, Scott’s sister & sister in law, other woman Amber Frey, and the cops. Home footage was used of Laci, lots of photographs, lots of stories about how she lit up a room (there’s a reason there’s a meme about that phrase. You light up a room and you’re as good as dead. Nothin to worry about for me, which is comforting.) The timeline and circumstantial evidence of the case is laid out. You get walked through everything again and cop interviews as well as news footage from that time is all used. So if you’re not familiar with the case or don’t remember the deets, this is all a good refresher but keep in mind that it’s presented by the police who wanted to nail Scott from night one. I don’t care how comfortable you are as a cop but I’ve seen enough true crime docs to know that the interrogation footage is always included and that cop ALWAYS looks like a total dickbag. I’ve never seen an interview room clip where the cop isn’t lying or trying to coerce the person to say something or admit something. It’s infuriating. If I’m ever arrested you bet your nip nops I’m not squealing a sentence other than I want a lawyer. The way they take advantage of people who think they’re just helping by answering some questions is cringeworthy to say the least. At one point I believe the detective even said why don’t you take a polygraph, I wont be able to use it for anything but it’ll rule you out, it’s no big deal. Oh yea, just take a lie detector test that I will 100% pin your guilt to! Anyway, I got off track with my F the po-lice rant. This doc also includes some insider info from Laci’s mom and close friends that there were some red flags about Scott from the start. He seemed obsessed with showing off and love bombing her. They got married young and Laci was a little nervous about marrying him. Supposedly he told her he never wanted kids and then “changed his mind.” Just typical narcissistic a*hole behavior from a young hot shot. Again, you’ll never catch me saying Scott’s a cool dude. He sucks. He was for sure a shit husband who had no business being married or becoming a dad. But does that mean he’s a murderer? If you really want to get deep, I think he was way too pretty boy to be a murderer. Seems like the type that wouldn’t even change his own oil so he’s for sure not offing his wife and dumping her into the sea. Doesn’t want to get his hands dirty, might mess up his backswing. ~*~ but that’s just my opinion ~*~
Peacock: Face to Face with Scott Peterson, 2024
When they advertised this as the first time Scott would do an interview in 20 years, I nearly shit my pants in anticipation. August 20th couldn’t come fast enough. This was it, my king of innocence who I’ve ridden hard for since 2019 was going to get out in front of it and give us all a reason to believe he’s been rotting on death row for NOTHIN. And then I watched episode one. And holy shit this was a letdown. So much so, that instead of tearing through all three episodes, it took me almost a week to get through it. Honestly, he should’ve stayed off camera. There’s a reason his lawyer didn’t have him testify. Boy does NOT give good interview. Which we obviously know from 2004 when he did a media tour and made everyone hate him 18 billion times harder. He’s monotone, he shows no emotion, and he can’t seem to explain away any of the things that make him look like a murderer. Which…was the whole point of interviewing him. The things he said, and did, and lied about, and the shady activities in and around his boat. He didn’t have a concrete explanation for literally ANYTHING. If I were him I’d be bringing Heather from RHOSLC energy to these interviews with the filmmaker.
His standard answer for everything was some variation of, “that’s crazy that they said that or thought that.” Well that’s how you ended up getting sentenced to death, Scotty boy. I don’t know if he’s truly a psychopath or if he just doesn’t present well and has a lot of internal strife, but keeping him out of this would’ve made this doc much more convincing. Because again, I was convinced once before and reminded once again, that there is other evidence out there that was never presented at trial or was dismissed or explained away by the police. The biggest one being A BURGLARY THAT HAPPENED ACROSS THE STREET FROM LACI’S HOUSE THE DAY SHE WENT MISSING. I’m sorry but that is not coincidence.
And since you’ve been patiently waiting, I’ll hit on some of the other pieces of evidence that were buried or explained away by police. The police interviewed a neighbor who saw their dog wandering around with its leash on and put her in their backyard at like 10ish in the morning. That ONE interview created the entire timeline for Laci’s murder. They refused to hear anything that countered this theory and decided that because this woman found the dog at 10am, Laci was already dead. There were MULTIPLE eyewitnesses that saw Laci walking the dog after this time. There were witnesses to the burglary that occurred across the street that morning and ID’ed non-white men with a brown van. Two whites came forward and confessed to the burglary and said they absolutely had nothing to do with Laci’s disappearance. Also claimed they did the act after Christmas, which wouldn’t have been possible as Laci’s street was storming with cops and media at that time. No one is pulling off a home invasion in that environment and obviously it wasn’t these guys who did it or at least they weren’t the only ones who did it, they might’ve just been fall guys. In more eyewitness accounts, a man and his wife saw a pregnant woman being pulled into a van and what looked like a struggle. A correctional officer overheard a conversation with inmates that had to do with the burglary and Laci and tried to report it multiple times and they never followed up with him from the tip line. A burned van fitting the description of the burglary was found days later and the police tested it, concluded it wasn’t involved and then were done with it. Same thing with a homemade anchor found in the water near where the bodies washed up. They literally threw the anchor back into the water. Laci’s very specific diamond watch that Scott gifted her showed up at a pawn shop days after her disappearance. Do you remember hearing about any of this evidence? NOPE YOU SURE DON’T BECAUSE THEY EITHER OUTRIGHT BURIED IT OR SAID IT WAS STUPID. I mean literally, the Modesto cops flat out (in both docs) said this is all stupid, Scott did it. They didn’t have any sort of understanding as to why we (Scott Innocence Truthers) would be like well, this is a little fishy and seems like legit evidence to present alongside the prosecution’s evidence. Scott’s family had hired private investigators and there was a reporter formerly with ABC I believe who also became invested in the case over the years and was looking into all of this evidence and digging deeper. The biggest thing that made me think twice was when it was pointed out that police shared Scott’s alibi on day 1 or 2 of Laci’s disappearance at a public press conference. If you had her or had her body, you now know exactly where to dump it so that it gets pinned to Scott. And honestly, I never once thought about that but it’s NOT OUTLANDISH! You share the exact area he’s fishing on that day and all of the deets and that would be a prime opportunity for whoever killed her to get away Scott-Free.
So anyway, as it stands now, Scott is no longer on death row, and the Innocence Project is trying to make appeals for some of the new evidence to be considered/tested. Unfortunately, they were denied the right to get DNA testing on a TON of evidence, which according to this doc was unheard of. No one has ever really been denied so I don’t know how hopeful this whole thing really is. But they did get approved for testing of one thing I believe, and if Scott’s DNA isn’t on that one thing, he’s out of prison (according to his sister in law who became a lawyer after he was convicted so she could help get him out of jail.) This is definitely the type of case where you’re firmly for or against Scott and both docs had a mixture of the vitriol that people feel toward him and how they believe in their bones that he’s a killer and the ‘he cheated on his wife and kinda sucks but that doesn’t make him a murderer’ side. If there’s one thing I know for sure, they will continue to push out content about this with updates via The Innocence Project. After being somewhat let down by these two recent dueling docs, I’m not sure if I’ll be foaming at the mouth to see anything more on this topic, but I will be interested to see how things progress with them trying to get him out based on this defense evidence that was never presented twenty years ago before a group of 12 jurors decided he should die. And of course, I wouldn’t be a comedy blog if I didn’t mention the obvious…Scott looks pretty damn good for being in prison for half of his life now. In an MFK sitch, I’d probably F him. Definitely wouldn’t M him as we’re not 1000% convinced he wouldn’t kill me, and I’ll leave the K to the US gov if he ends up back on death row. *Note: all of this is a joke and very, very unserious and I mean no disrespect but also I’m here to entertain and if you just read a full true-crime ramble from me, you deserve to end it with a laugh. **Double Note: If he flipped that hat backwards it’d be on like Donkey Kong.
The Salty Ju 