Peterson's truck at center of blood trail
By JOHN COTÉ
BEE STAFF WRITER
Last Updated: December 3, 2003, 05:51:02 AM PST
Investigators found Scott Peterson's blood in the cab of his pickup and "cement-like material" in the bed of the truck, according to prosecution documents filed Tuesday in Stanislaus County Superior Court.
Prosecutors contend that Peterson wounded his hands "during, or after, the murder of Laci Peterson," according to the documents. Peterson has said he cut them during his work as a fertilizer salesman.
Prosecutors also allege Peterson used the truck to carry his pregnant wife's body to his Modesto warehouse and then to San Francisco Bay.
"The pickup truck was an instrument used in the murder of Laci Peterson," Dep-uty District Attorney Rick Distaso wrote.
Prosecutors could attempt to tie cement traces in the truck bed to spilled cement on a flatbed trailer in Scott Peterson's warehouse -- where he might have made anchors.
Laci Peterson, a 27-year-old substitute teacher from Modesto, was almost eight months pregnant when she was reported missing Christmas Eve. Prosecutors contend that her husband murdered her and their unborn son, Conner, late Dec. 23 or early Dec. 24, and they are seeking the death pen-alty.
The defense maintains that police doggedly pursued Peterson, conducting a sloppy investigation while ignoring other leads.
Laci Peterson's body and that of her son were found in mid-April along the bay's eastern shoreline, less than two miles from the spot where her husband told police he fished on Christmas Eve. No cause of death has been determined.
Prosecutors contend that Peterson ferried his wife's body into the bay in his boat.
The defense has asked for the pickup's return to Peterson. In documents opposing the release, prosecutors acknowledged that investigators found blood in the truck.
The issue is one of a handful that Judge Al Girolami is expected to consider today during the 31-year-old Peterson's arraignment on double murder charges. The arraignment stems from Peterson's recent preliminary hearing, which ended with the judge concluding that prosecutors had presented sufficient evidence to warrant the case going to trial.
In a TV interview taped Jan. 27, Peterson said there would be "plenty of blood in there (in his truck) from me."
Peterson said he routinely cut his hands on the job.
"I work on farms. And you can take a look at my hands now and they have cuts all over them," he told Diane Sawyer of ABC's "Good Morning America."
"They do?" Sawyer asked........
Hmmm!! Okay, I'll grant that he's most probably talking about the body having been transported in it... but what if there were another explanation for those broken ribs? What if, out in the country, he took an unconscious Laci and ran over her with the truck?
I mean, we already knew Scott's blood was in the interior of the truck. We never heard that any such trace of Laci was in the interior of the truck. But what about the wheels or the undercarriage of the truck? Just speculating, as usual.