Michael Looby (top center) recounts for jurors Tuesday his discovery of the remains of Scott Peterson's son.
Posted on 07/07/2004 5:55:51 AM PDT by runningbear
Grusome Testimony About Baby's Body in Peterson Case
Grusome Testimony About Baby's Body in Peterson Case
Scott Peterson is accused of killing his wife Laci and her unborn child.
Len Ramirez
Testimony in the Scott Peterson double-murder case was so heart-wrenching Tuesday that Laci Peterson's family left the courtroom.
Witness Michael Looby described walking on the shore of San Francisco Bay after a storm in April of 2003 and finding the decomposing body of a baby. Laci's mother and stepfather Sharon Rocha and Ron Grantski and her brother Brent Rocha quickly left the courtroom during the.......
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TESTIMONY TOO MUCH FOR LACI'S KIN, JURORS
TESTIMONY TOO MUCH FOR LACI'S KIN, JURORS
By HOWARD BREUER
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July 7, 2004 -- REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — Laci Peterson's mom, stepdad and brother rushed out of court yesterday as a witness took the stand to describe how he found her fetus washed up on a bay shore.
Even some jurors appeared disturbed by photos of the bodies of the unborn baby boy and Laci that were displayed — cupping their hands over their mouths as if sickened, and rubbing their foreheads.
The body of the unborn boy — whom the Petersons planned to name Conner — was found Sunday, April 13, 2003, a day before his mother's headless torso was discovered nearby.
Both washed ashore in the San Francisco Bay, near where Laci's husband, Scott — who is on trial for their deaths — says he went fishing the previous Christmas Eve. That was the day he reported the eight-months-pregnant Laci missing.
"As you're walking along, does something attract your attention or your dog's attention?" prosecutor Dave Harris asked witness Michael Looby. .......
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Laci's family stunned by large-screen images of decomposed bodies
Article Last Updated: Wednesday, July 07, 2004 - 3:35:40 AM PST
Grisly photos shock trial
Laci's family stunned by large-screen images of decomposed bodies
By Jason Dearen, STAFF WRITER
REDWOOD CITY -- Grim photos of Laci Peterson and her unborn child's badly decomposed bodies were projected on a large screen in the Scott Peterson double-murder trial Tuesday, evoking gasps from the seating gallery and forcing the dead woman's family to flee the courtroom.
When the macabre images were shown, the defendant's mother, Jacqueline Peterson, covered her eyes, slumping down in her chair.
Determining the age and condition of the fetus' remains are instrumental to both sides' theories about how Laci Peterson died -- and could be the deciding factor in the case. Defense attorney Mark Geragos promised the jury during opening statements that he will prove that the baby was 36 to 38 weeks old before it died. .........
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Peterson trial witness describes finding infant's body
Peterson trial witness describes finding infant's body
Stacy Finz and Diana Walsh, Chronicle Staff Writers
Tuesday, July 6, 2004
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Laci Peterson’s family rushed out of the courtroom this morning, minutes before a witness described finding the body of the Modesto woman’s infant on the Richmond shoreline.
Scott Peterson, on trial in Redwood City for allegedly murdering his wife and their unborn child, watched the witness attentively.
Michael Looby said he and his wife were walking their dog along the beach near Point Isabel on April 13, 2003, looking for a good spot for the dog to take a swim. The tide was low, so they decided to take a walk down the coastline instead, Looby testified for the prosecution.
When they got to a point where the sand ended, they climbed over some rocks into a marshy area. It was there, Looby said, that he saw the tiny corpse. ........
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Peterson denied affair, polygraph expert testifies
Peterson denied affair, polygraph expert testifies
Tuesday, July 6, 2004 Posted: 5:07 PM EDT (2107 GMT)
REDWOOD CITY, California (AP) -- A day after his wife, Laci, disappeared, Scott Peterson told a state polygraph expert that he was not having an affair and that his marriage was fine, the expert testified Tuesday at Peterson's murder trial.
Peterson was, in fact, having an affair with a massage therapist, Amber Frey. Prosecutors have suggested that he killed his pregnant wife so that he could be with Frey.
Douglas Mansfield said he interviewed Peterson on Christmas Day 2002.
"He said there was no third ......
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Peterson looks away as jury sees graphic photos of wife, child
Michael Looby (top center) recounts for jurors Tuesday his discovery of the remains of Scott Peterson's son.
Peterson looks away as jury sees graphic photos of wife, child
By Harriet Ryan
Court TV
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — Scott Peterson turned away as prosecutors displayed graphic photos of his slain wife and unborn child at his capital trial Tuesday.
The double-murder defendant angled his chair to the side and stared toward away across the courtroom as the gory images of the severely decomposed bodies were flashed onto a giant projection screen.
Several jurors appeared disturbed by the pictures of Laci Peterson and the baby the couple planned to name Conner. One female panelist put her hand to her temple when she first glimpsed a photo of the baby's body. Another woman looked away entirely.
The pictures accompanied testimony about the separate discoveries of the mother-to-be and child on April 13 and April 14, 2003. A dog walker found the boy's remains in grassy marshland on the shores of San Francisco Bay. The next day, about a mile away, another dog owner came across Laci Peterson's body wedged in some rocks on the bayshore.
Story continues ..........
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Exclusive document reveals identity of Peterson defense's 'mystery woman'
Exclusive document reveals identity of Peterson defense's 'mystery woman'
(Court TV) — What do a gold watch, a brown van and an eBay auction have in common?
According to documents obtained by Court TV's Catherine Crier, they resurrect defense attorney Mark Geragos' theory that Satanists in a brown van were involved in the murders of Laci Peterson and her unborn son.
Deanna Renfro pawned a gold watch like one belonging to Laci Peterson.
The host of Court TV's "Crier Live" obtained a pawn shop receipt revealing the identity of a "mystery woman" cited by Scott Peterson's lawyer and her possible connection to the owners of a brown van allegedly spotted in the Petersons' neighborhood before her disappearance.
The document indicates that Deanna Renfro pawned a gold Croton watch six days after Laci Peterson's disappearance — a gold watch almost identical to one Laci tried to auction on eBay weeks earlier, according to the records of the Petersons' eBay account.
Laci Peterson, 27, disappeared Dec. 24, 2002. Four days later, a rape crisis counselor told police that an unidentified woman reported she had been raped by two men and two women in a brown van during a satanic ritual.
A watch Laci Peterson attempted to sell on eBay
According to the counselor's account, the victim said that, during the ritual, the group mentioned a Christmas day death, one she would read about in the papers.
When police tracked down the van to a nearby campsite on Dec. 30, among the four people in the van were Donny and Mary Renfrow. Court TV sources indicated that Deanna Renfro (despite a different spelling in documents) is related to the Renfrows and may be Donny Renfrow's daughter.
The receipt from the pawn shop indicates that, the day after the police visit to the campsite, Deanna Renfro, who has a long criminal history including at least one methamphetamine arrest, pawned the gold Croton watch for $20.
The pawn shop where Deanna Renfo pawned a gold Croton watch for $20.
The bodies of Laci Peterson and her unborn son were found four months later on the shore of San Francisco Bay. Her husband, Scott, faces the death penalty if convicted of both murders.
"Is the pawned watch the same as Laci's? Are the Renfrows related?" Crier said. "Court TV is working to resolve these unanswered questions, but in the meantime, a conspiracy theory is born."...........
If Geragos successfully proves the baby was as developed as that, it could exonerate his client. Prosecutors believe the baby died on Dec. 23 or 24, 2002, which would have made the fetus 33 weeks old. Peterson was under intense surveillance after Dec. 24, so if Geragos proves the baby was alive two or three weeks after Laci's disappearance, it would go a long way to disproving the prosecution's scenario.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbs5.com ...
Okay, you guys, try to remember what this guy's name is! Someone needs to e-mail the prosecution about him!
All this info is awesome!
Not so awesome is this thought: doesn't it sound like the person who beat Laci was almost... aiming at the baby?!?
Greta and Geragos: fellow travelers.
No--believe it or not, I'm pretty sure coffin birth means the baby actually gets forced out (gases) through the birth canal.
And it's almost like the person who disposed of Laci's body had heard of it, too, considering that they taped up her crotch area and left her pants on her.
Hey--what you said about meconium! That it can be expelled into the amniotic fluid due to some sort of stress. I've heard that: I've heard that if they find meconium in a sample of amniotic fluid (during labor), that that is a good reason to do a Caesarian right then. Fetal distress.
Now, we have heard for the first time that the ribs may have been broken b/c she was beaten. Obviously if she was beaten, it was... brutal... so might that not have caused some change in the baby? Might that not have caused fetal distress? But the fact that the meconium was right where it should be argues AGAINST there having been fetal distress...?
Now I'm really confusing myself... Oh, well, I have to keep reminding myself how I FELL flat on my back during each of my pregnancies. (One time I tripped on a wet floor in a public building... the other time I stupidly ran into a flock of birds to make them fly away to impress my small child, and I slipped on mud. DUHHHHHHHH!) And when I would ask the doctor about these unfortunate incidents, he told me, the baby is VERY well-protected in there. Neither incident caused any problems.
SO I guess she could suffer a fair amount of trauma before it finally affected the poor baby...
Good grief, CO, have a whirlpool handy!
Amazing story! Some thief was disappointed when they returned to that spot. Good for you!
Sure it was on her wrist--right next to the Geneva watch that she wore habitually.
Laci liked to go up to people with multiple watches on and say, "Wanna buy a watch?"
That's a perfectly plausible theory about how her ribs may have been broken. But now we hear that that Dr. DiMaio, who apparently examined the bodies, has the opinion that the broken ribs came while she was still alive! I don't know how he could know this, but there are many things a forensic doctor can tell about a body which I would of course miss completely!
I'm excited about hearing that he said that, b/c to me it means MAYBE we finally have a clue as to how she was killed!
That is PATHETIC!! You expressed it exactly: court was cancelled so that big-nosed gargoyle could go MUG IT UP!
Exactly--why not have the other lawyer(s) do the work that day?
And oh, we're all so impressed that Geragos went to the funeral for a member of a Hollywood family...NOT.
Yeah, well, when you are faced with the knotty problem of disposing of a body which is stiffened by rigor mortis (I hate it when that happens), you might have to cut or break a few limbs off...
Ever tried Blackend Shrimp--
I made it tonight... WONDERFUL.. It Starts with Shrimp Butterflied or split in half, leaving tails, and browning in browned butter, with onions, etc....
Good point--rigor mortis is certainly a gradual process! (How else would people ever hide bodies, if it wasn't??)
You never have to face rigor mortis with Blackened Shrimp..
Oh, so it has to be a DEAD body in the boat for the demo, according to Geragos?? Well, didn't Geragos just go to a FUNERAL?
PS The more pudgy little Justin #5 talks on TV, the more ideas he's giving the prosecution! I distinctly remember the little loser saying he didn't think the body could fit... so just in case any other jurors had that flaky idea, the prosecution has proved that it COULD fit!
That's right: "at peace". It is OFTEN said of the DEAD!
And add to that his bizarre thank-you poster for the volunteers (paraphrasing):"I tell Laci about how you are searching... early this morning I felt she could hear me... she thanks you."
If THAT doesn't sound like he's speaking of someone who's dead, I don't know what does! And he wrote that in early January!
Justin is round like a ball. A pregnant woman is round like a ball. Maybe Justin would like to volunteer to be the demo?
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