SCOTT: I WEEP IN JAIL

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October 31, 2003 -- MODESTO, Calif. - Jail is a bummer to Scott Peterson, who says in letters to a pal that he's cried in his bunk over the deaths of the wife and son he allegedly killed.

"I am finding it so difficult to grieve for them here," he wrote in letters revealed by a local TV station.

"At night, I have my head buried in a blanket. I don't want the other inmates to see the tears."

Peterson's letters to a friend - written in pencil on a yellow legal pad - were reported by KTVU, a Fox affiliate in Oakland.

The suspect, held without bail in a solitary cell in the Stanislaus County Jail, said his grieving was especially difficult in the early hours of May 4, which would have been Laci's 28th birthday.

"I woke up early today to a crashing cell door. I figured it must be after midnight and, therefore, Laci's birthday," he wrote.

"I lay in this bunk dreaming about her, being able to hold her and Connor [his unborn son]. As the morning went on, all I could do was lay here in tears."

"You get to move around a room that is 8 feet by 20 feet without chains on," he wrote. "I try to spend as much time there as possible."

Word of Peterson's letters came as his lawyers battled in court yesterday to keep some DNA evidence out of his trial on grounds it was unreliable and may have been tampered with by cops.

The evidence - a strand of hair found in Peterson's boat, may prove the key piece of evidence that shows Laci Peterson, who was pregnant, was killed in the boat and dumped into San Francisco Bay.

Defense attorney Mark Geragos said the FBI should have matched the hair with a bone from Laci Peterson's body. But an FBI criminologist said that because the hair matches a DNA sample from Laci's mom, more tests aren't needed.

Yesterday was the second day of a hearing to determine if there's enough ..............

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Reporters pounce when someone such as attorney Gloria Allred, left in purple, talks about the case during a break. AL GOLUB/THE BEE

FBI DNA expert Candace Fisher testified about mitochondrial DNA testing; prosecutors are seeking to have it allowed as evidence.

Prosecutors indicated that they intend to call to the stand Laci Peterson's sister, Amy Rocha, and Scott and Laci Petersons' house cleaner.

Laci Peterson's brother, Brent Rocha, apparently won't be called to testify despite family members having said they were all tabbed as potential witnesses. Brent Rocha attended the entire proceeding Wednesday.

Judge Al Girolami ruled that Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred, who represents Peterson's former girlfriend, Amber Frey, can remain in the courtroom as other witnesses testify.

Defense attorney Mark Geragos said he intends to call a DNA expert from Shields State University in New York.

FBI DNA expert Candace Fisher is expected to take the stand again today for continued cross-examination.

The DNA expert from Shields State University is expected to testify Monday, defense attorney Mark Geragos said.

Laci Peterson's family: Sharon Rocha (mother), Ron Grantski (stepfather), Dennis Rocha (father), Brent Rocha (brother), Amy Rocha (sister).

Scott Peterson's family: Jackie Peterson (mother), Lee Peterson (father), Susan Caudillo (sister), Joe Peterson (brother), Janey Peterson (sister-in-law).

Others: Gloria Allred, attorney for witness Amber Frey; Greta Van Susteren, Fox News TV personality

A cell phone or electronic data assistant clearly on vibrate went off at least three times in the media section during the morning session. A sheriff's deputy standing in the back of the courtroom told the bailiff he thought it was Fox News TV personality Greta Van Susteren's phone.

The judge has forbidden any broadcasts from the courtroom, and bailiffs repeatedly instructed attendees to turn off their cell phones.

During testimony by FBI DNA expert Candace Fisher, bailiffs handed a note each to Scott Peterson's parents, Lee and Jackie, on separate occasions.

The couple sat with other family members in the front row behind the defense table. All Scott Peterson's family members appeared to wear pins in the shape of a yellow ribbon overlaid with blue.

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Few members of the public lined up early Wednesday to get a seat in court on the first day of Scott Peterson's preliminary hearing. BART AH YOU/THE BEE

In the morning shadows of the Stanislaus County Courthouse, the rose garden provided great cover. Eldon Day peered through his binoculars, staring into the electronic media morass coagulated on 11th Street.

The 62-year-old Newman resident hoped to get a look at Geraldo Rivera or any of the other television celebrities he thought might be in town for Scott Peterson's preliminary hearing Wednesday.

Yet other than Day and a couple of Modesto Junior College students who snuck in to hobnob on media row, it was business as usual downtown on the first day of what could be a weeklong preliminary hearing.

And as they learned, there's really nothing interesting about being on the outside looking in.

This is Modesto -- not Los Angeles, where hundreds of people swarmed around the L.A. County Courthouse to stargaze at every proceeding during the O.J. Simpson trial.

This is Modesto, where working class folks aren't nearly as enamored with the national media as the national media is with itself.

Consequently, the opening day of the Scott Peterson hearing didn't cause nearly the problems authorities feared when they briefly considered shutting down a portion of I Street.

If you didn't already have a pass to get into the courtroom, there was little reason to be there. Only a few seats are available to the general public. The rest go to the families of Laci and Scott Peterson and the media.

With the number of media trucks the police anticipated, there was no better day to avoid going downtown unless you absolutely needed to be there. There were fewer people on the courthouse lawn Wednesday morning than on most other days.

Those who visited the civil court offices dealt with their business and didn't linger, as some often do.

The police did a commendable job of preparing for the media onslaught, using the future home of the Gallo Arts Center as a TV truck lot.

The Modesto Convention and Visitors Bureau set up a booth inside the media area on 11th, offering free coffee, doughnuts and sodas to the media. Kevin Shand said the bureau's intention is to convince the visiting media to do positive "sidebar" stories about Modesto while they're here.

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MODESTO -- Patrick the property manager came to get autographs. "Dan Abrams!" he blurted, lunging for the NBC correspondent.

Around the corner, Jerry the hot-dog stand owner hated to say it, but he was figuring to make money, perhaps double the usual take. Andy the social worker, who works nights, was drawn to this spot first thing in the morning -- a time he could be sleeping -- for reasons he couldn't quite explain, other than his burning curiosity.

They came here Wednesday on a perfect autumn day, gathering near a cordoned-off section of downtown Modesto. From a distance, the scene resembled a street fair with blue-and-white tents, portable bathrooms and clusters of spectators milling about.

Up close, there was no joy or celebration, only the trappings of a sensational murder case.

As fires raged in Southern California, garnering international media attention, this city of about 200,000 held its own in the week's news wars. Wednesday was the day the public and press had been waiting for in the legal proceedings against 31-year-old Scott Peterson, the former fertilizer salesman accused of murdering his wife, Laci, and unborn son, Conner.

"Oh, the plot twists!" said 43-year-old Patrick Kelly of Tracy, who drove to Modesto to collect autographs for his 13-year-old son outside the Stanislaus County Courthouse. "It's not been cut and dried at all."

And so it hasn't. It remained so Wednesday, as prosecutors made no stunning revelations, presenting exhaustive scientific testimony about DNA analysis.

But there is more to come -- the preliminary hearing could last five days -- and there is little doubt that the death of a pretty young pregnant woman and her son will continue to captivate this city and the nation.

This much is also true: In 2002, the same year Laci disappeared just before Christmas, 454 women were murdered in California -- shot, stabbed, beaten, poisoned, drugged, strangled, burned, drowned, asphyxiated and otherwise eliminated. The year before, there were 445, with more than one-fifth between ages 20 and 29 -- young females, like 27-year-old Laci Peterson, just moving into womanhood.

But Laci's is the case people remember, that many follow like a communal mystery novel. So many journalists tried to attend this week's proceedings, but could not get courtroom seats, that an "overflow" audio area was set up across the street under a large white tent.

On the sidewalk, Jack Williams, a 71-year-old retired appliance repairmen from Modesto, was so mesmerized by the spectacle he brought his video camera to "take pictures for posterity."

The murders have been a lot to bear for this community, which was central in the disappearances and murders of four other women in the last four years. First came Yosemite sightseers Carole and Juli Sund and Silvina Pelosso, kidnapped and murdered in 1999. Next came Chandra Levy, the young Modesto woman found murdered last year in Washington, D.C.

And then Laci, the dimpled expectant mother whose baffling disappearance had residents leaving their Christmas turkeys to join in the search.

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Defense attorney Kirk McAllister, center, walks into court followed by his client, Scott Peterson on Oct. 17, 2003. (Associated Press)

From the time the Modesto woman vanished Christmas Eve to the days in April when her remains and those of her unborn baby were found in Richmond, investigators have pieced together a strange mix of clues. Those leads, authorities said, point to the woman's husband, Scott Peterson, who was arrested April 18 and charged in her killing.

But defense lawyers using the same evidence and roundly different theories say the evidence not only exonerates their client, but also shows who really committed the brutal crime.

Both sides will begin using that evidence Wednesday at a preliminary hearing to convince a Stanislaus County judge that their theory is accurate. Only the judge can decide if there is enough evidence incriminating Peterson to hold him for trial on murder charges and special circumstances that allow prosecutors to pursue a death sentence.

Once off-limits, much of the evidence that is expected to be presented at the preliminary hearing has slowly filtered to the reporters who have been digging away at one of the country's hottest real-life dramas. In the beginning, leaks were to blame, even as officials worked to conceal from the media what they had found.

Leaks about Scott Peterson's mistress and an insurance policy he reportedly had taken out on his wife months before she disappeared found their way into the headlines. There were leaks about cement residue in his boat and on human remains that turned out to be Laci Peterson and her unborn son.

An investigator leaked information about photographs and hair samples authorities collected from Scott Peterson early in the case. "A source close to the defense" leaked information about taped phone calls and evidence that pointed to "credible suspects" in Laci Peterson's disappearance.

There was a leaked autopsy report, providing eager reporters with information that Laci's fetus was found with tape around its neck and a gash to its body.

There also were leaks about the "true killers," who, according to the defense, remain at large.

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Good scenario. The part about proving to oneself that one can still live the carefree life even with a baby, that rings true. (Though in the final analysis, I wouldn't trade the encumbrance of "babies" for any freedom!)

He learned from mommy that children are disposable.

Wow, that one's a zinger, straight to the heart of the matter!

So he'd be able to bring Amber around the folks, eventually, and Amber and the folks would each know what the other was talking about when one of them mentioned Scott's dear-departed-wife. Except, Amber would be talking about her death in 2001, whereas the family would be talking about her death/disappearance in 2002. "No, Amber, I said December 2002--you just remembered it wrong!" ?

Yep, talking heads were commenting on that this weekend. Why would he get a seperate storage when he could use his warehouse?? NOT because the boat was a surprise, I don't think a used 14' crummy little boat is worth that much trouble. He was trying to hide that damn thing.

I wouldn't trade my encumbrances either, nor would my hubby. But! When I was pregnant with the first one, he went through a kind of panic that I've since heard many dads-to-be experience.

Hubby wanted to "clarify" right upfront that he would still be able to do some of the things that he enjoyed. I asked him what it was he was concerned about and he said well...."I want to make sure I still get time to work out at the health club." I said: "We aren't members of a health club you dork!" But we joined the club.

The second she was born, neither of us went back to the club. It was much more fun (for him too) to go for walks with the stroller....

It's always struck me as particularly good timing for being uninterrupted by anyone looking for Laci

Exactly! He knew that nobody would be coming over for a surprise visit.

Oh! I missed that, for sure! Now I'm confused about the dog. So that part where they put the dog in Scott's boat, that took place at Scott's second, formerly secret, storage facility?

And Scott's story was that he left the house, then went by his warehouse to get his boat. So he was referring to his "secret" warehouse...? This is confusing me!

Oh, yeah! The moment they see the baby, even the most indifferent-to-having-children man is smitten. I think Laci was trying to get through whatever problems they had, counting on that phenomenon. But he never gave it a chance to happen.

"And I think finally, Amber will give bombshell testimony to motive. I've been watching Gloria on shows all weekend and she seems like she is stifeling her glee that Amber's testimony will be something big."

I agree, she really does act like she knows something big. I can't imagine what it would be (beyond what we already know). I guess we'll have to be patient for another day or two.

I think when he "left to go fishing", he went and picked up the boat at the secret location and drove it to his office warehouse where he could "work for a couple hours".

I would guess that he was planning on returning the boat to the secret location, but he must have thought he could do that later on. I don't think he expected that the cops would check out his office. That's why he had to lie and say there was "no power".

Your explanation sounds plausible to me. Furthermore, if he really was stashing this boat that no one knew about in his secret warehouse that no one knew about, now THAT really starts to look significant.

So where did he make the anchors? What I do remember about that is that apparently he didn't volunteer that info. I read that the cops saw some trace impressions in "the ground" (?) that looked like something had been set there, and he explained about the anchors to explain the impressions. I believe that's when he had to go into detail and say how many anchors.

I laughed when she said that no one has been preparing Amber. When MG tried to have her booted last week, she came on one of the shows saying that she needed to be at the pre-lim so she COULD prepare her client, to be ready for testimony. She needs to keep track of what she says when she flaps her mouth on all of these shows. IMO she should get her mug off of these shows until Snotty is convicted...she and Amber will make plenty of cash when this is all over.

"Man, Gloria Allred has really lost my respect given her recent "acts." There's that smarmy, self-satisfaction she has that does indeed look like glee over Amber's upcoming revelations. But even worse were her declarations that NO ONE, not even the prosecution, has been prepping Amber. Does Gloria think her co-panelists, hosts, and we, the general public, are all morons?"

Well, Gloria hasn't changed. She surely loves the attention. She's probably doing this pro bono for the publicity. I do respect her for her work representing victims. IMO we don't have enough of that in our system. Also, it appears that she is doing a good job representing her client (in contrast to that Frank Muna who was representing one of the convicts). Of course Amber has been prepped. I heard Lisa Bloom (Gloria's daughter) on TV not long ago say that Amber will be one of the best prepped witnesses ever! Gloria's on the prosecution's side, she's very capable, and you can tell that her presence drives MG nuts. Go Gloria!!!

Nobody was ever supposed to know that he had a boat. I think he was going to dump her and then dump the boat, pronto. (It's really not the type of boat you'd expect Snotty would be proud to own, anyway.....it served a functional purpose)

I think he had to quickly change his story to *include* the boat because he knew he was spotted by someone. His rush to change his "planned story" is why none of the fishing story makes any sense. He didn't have time to think out reasonable explanations for taking the boat out.

For example, if he TOLD Laci that he was going fishing, what the heck did she think he was going fishing IN?

S: "Honey, I'm going fishing this morning."

L: "Fishing? You we don't have a boat?"

S: "Um, well....I'll explain tomorrow on Christmas. I have a special surprise for you, just have to test drive it today."

Don't think so!

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