Authorities Feared Scott Peterson Planned Escape to Mexico (used wire taps, radio transponder)

AP ^ | April 18, 2003

[hotpotato]

MODESTO, Calif.

[hotpotato]

Authorities said he would wave and basically "act smart" (my words) letting them know he knew they were watching.

[libertylover]

Apparently, the cops were waiting until they found the body to make the arrest.

[Snerfling]

Peterson was arrested by plainclothes police in San Diego before noon

On a side note, has anyone else noticed that SP was arrested in SD before noon, but was not booked in Modesto until right after midnight of the 19th? That's a twelve-hour car ride from SoCal to the central valley.

Now, everyone knows that Friday afternoon traffic is a bear getting through LA - and this is Easter weekend, so the early getaway traffic must have been horrendous.

Imagine being the cops driving 250+ miles in stop-and-go traffic with SP in the back seat? Imagine the number of other drivers who saw them as they drove up the I-5 or I-15 and didn't realize at the time who it was? (I'm assuming the car was unmarked.)

This would be a perp-walk (or drive) for the ages.

[dwilli]

If the authorities arrested him because they feared he was about to cross the border, I wonder if their case might not be airtight yet.

[DB]

If they believe she was killed in Modesto they have evidence to that affect.

They know more than they're telling us.

[mombonn]

I would guess the case is tight as a drum, but they didn't want to mess around with exradition issues.

[hotpotato]

Hard to imagine he couldn't be convicted on this. But I understand his folks are already claiming someone dumped the bodies there to implicate him?

I think the biggest fear about his getting into Mexico is extradition from Mexico of a prisoner who might be tried for a death penalty case.

[randita]

Peterson's behavior alone nails him. Imagine you're waiting the outcome of DNA evidence to confirm that dead bodies are those of your wife and son. Do you go out on a golf outing?

[hotpotato]

OJ would. He was looking for Nicole's real killers. Or meditating. Or getting a tan.

I see Scott Peterson was busy bleaching his hair.

[Illbay]

Imagine the number of other drivers who saw them as they drove up the I-5 or I-15 and didn't realize at the time who it was? (I'm assuming the car was unmarked.)

I guess it's because it's a "California thing," but the last thought that would come to my mind concerning this awful case is that people could get a glimpse of Scott Peterson as he was taken to jail.

Sort of like the "O. J. Simpson low-speed Ford Bronco chase" back in '94. People were actually sitting there glued to their TV screens watching that.

It's just the "cult of celebrity" taken to a nauseating extreme.

[Illbay]

They know more than they're telling us.

Do you believe they have an obligation to tell us everything?

[dwilli]

This guy has never seemed to me to have the sharpest of criminal minds. He has done a lot of things that are absolutely dumb, (frat-boy stuff).

I am suprised that he was able to pull these murders off and it took the authorities this long to wrap up the case.
He just doesn't seem that smart to me.

[Glenn]

Do you believe they have an obligation to tell us everything?

Why not? His attorney will know. The state's esquires know. What's the problem in making it public?

[Illbay]

Bill O'Reilly reported in the aftermath of the arrest of Alejandro Avila for the murder of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion, that police had feared Avila would make it over the border. It seems that Mexico NEVER extradites in a capital murder case because they do not have the death penalty.

In fact, they don't even have "life in prison" according to O'Reilly. The "stiffest" sentence you can get is 40 years.

[NoControllingLegalAuthority]

OJ was an "airtight case", too.

[Illbay]

Peterson's behavior alone nails him. Do you go out on a golf outing?

I'm not sure I follow your logic here. One could argue that his going on a golf outing was very "unconcerned" behavior that indicates he believes he's innocent.

More to the point is: Why was he in San Diego, with Mexico just a 45 minute drive away?

[Illbay]

His attorney does NOT know everything they have on him, because until now he is not a suspect.

Sorry, I just disagree with your thinking here--and I know it's shared by many. This isn't a spectator sport; it's a murder investigation. That's serious stuff, and the public's "need to know" is very much low on the priority list compared to nabbing the murderer and getting a conviction.

[Illbay]

O.J.'s case WAS airtight, but the unfortunate bigotry of a group of urban African-Americans set him free.

[ken in texas]

I am suprised that he was able to pull these murders off and it took the authorities this long to wrap up the case.

Up until now all we've had is a lot of speculation and circumstantial evidence. Just because you seem to have had the case solved does not mean that he could be convicted.