Scott Peterson is shown in a courtroom in Modesto, Calif. in this Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2004 file photo, during a change-of-venue hearing in his trial. Judge Alfred A. Delucchi was set to decide Wednesday whether to grant Peterson a new trial, sentence him to death _ as a jury recommended _ or give him life in prison without the possibility of parole. Peterson, 32, was convicted Nov. 12 of two counts of murder in the deaths of his wife and her fetus. The jury recommended the death penalty a month later. (AP Photo/Al Golub, Pool, File)
Judge Upholds Death Sentence for Peterson
By BRIAN SKOLOFF, Associated Press Writer
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - Scott Peterson was sentenced to death Wednesday for murdering his pregnant wife, Laci, more than two years ago.
Judge Alfred A. Delucchi denied a defense request for a new trial before upholding the jury's recommendation that he be sentenced to death, calling the slayings of Laci and her fetus "cruel, uncaring, heartless and callous."
"The court is satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant, Scott Lee Peterson, is guilty of first-degree murder" and second degree, Delucchi said.
Peterson, shackled at the waist and wearing a dark suit, was escorted into court under heavy security. He will be sent to death row at San Quentin State Prison outside San Francisco, the infamous lockup that overlooks the same bay where Laci Peterson's body was discarded.