Divers Search Bay Waters For Peterson Evidence

RICHMOND, Calif. -- Divers from several Bay Area law enforcement agencies and members of an FBI dive team joined police boats equipped with side-scan sonar Friday, searching the waters off Richmond for further evidence in the murder case of Laci Peterson and her unborn son, Connor.

The search was taking place not far from where the bodies of the missing Modesto woman and her child were found washed up on the shore of a Richmond regional waterfront park.

"It's unknown whether we'll finish today or if we'll go beyond," said Sgt. Doug Pittman of the Marin County Sheriff's Office, which has 11 divers involved in the search.

"All I can say is, I know the Modesto Police Department has certain objectives that they want to accomplish with this search," he said.

The Coast Guard provided security around the diving area, according to the agency's station in San Francisco.

Meanwhile, a reliable source has told KTVU Channel 2 that Peterson's remains were missing her head, hands, feet and some internal organs when recovered. However, the source would not speculate on whether the missing parts were the result of the natural decay of the body or from dismemberment.

There was a broadcast report circulating Friday Laci Peterson's may have fallen victim to a satanic cult.

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Police divers have resumed a search in San Francisco Bay for more evidence in the murder case of Laci Peterson, the 27-year-old pregnant Modesto woman who disappeared just before Christmas last year and was found dead in the Bay last month with the remains of her unborn son, Modesto Police said Friday.

Modesto Police Department Capt. Greg Savelli said police dive teams began an underwater search Friday related to the murder investigation, and added it could continue through the weekend.

Contra Costa County Sheriff's officials said their marine patrol officers and at least two divers were working at the scene at the request of the Modesto Police Department. U.S. Coast Guard officials also confirmed Friday they were providing security for police divers in an ongoing criminal investigation.

Peterson's body, and remains of her unborn eight-month-old son, Conner, washed up in San Francisco Bay near Richmond and were discovered by passers-by on April 15. Published reports indicated at the time that not all of Laci Peterson's remains were found, and that they may have been wrapped in plastic and held down by heavy material.

The bodies surfaced about three miles from where Peterson's husband, Scott, said he went sturgeon fishing on the day of Christmas Eve.

Divers return to bay in Laci Peterson case
MORE EVIDENCE SOUGHT IN DEATHS OF WOMAN, FETUS

Members of the Marin County sheriff's dive team returned to San Francisco Bay on Friday to search for more evidence in the Laci Peterson case, authorities said.

Stanislaus County Chief Deputy District Attorney John Goold confirmed that divers were out in the bay but said he couldn't comment about what they were seeking for fear of jeopardizing the investigation into the slayings.

The Coast Guard, the Marin County Sheriff's Office and a patrol boat from the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office started the search Friday and may continue to comb the waters for more evidence today.

Peterson's body and that of her unborn son washed ashore near Richmond in April. Scott Peterson, Laci's husband, was arrested in the killings and is being held without bail in Stanislaus County Jail. There have been reports that Laci Peterson's body was not intact.

Prosecutors declined to say whether the search is designed to add to evidence against Scott Peterson, who may face the death penalty. The bodies washed ashore about three miles from the spot Peterson said he was fishing Dec. 24, the day his wife disappeared.

Autopsy reports on the bodies by the Contra Costa County coroner concluded this week were sealed Thursday by a judge in Stanislaus County Superior Court, prosecutors said. It wasn't clear whether a cause of death had been determined.

MODESTO, Calif. -- The autopsies of Laci Peterson and her unborn son were completed by the Contra Costa County coroner and sealed Thursday by a judge in Stanislaus County Superior Court, prosecutors said.

The autopsies were completed sooner than expected, but it wasn't clear if a cause of death had been determined in the homicides. Jimmy Lee, a spokesman for the Contra Costa sheriff would not comment, but has said in the past that the cause of death may never be known.

Scott Peterson, 30, is being held without bail on two counts of murder and could face the death penalty if convicted. He has pleaded not guilty.

He was arrested last month after the decomposed remains of his wife and the son they planned to name Conner were found on the shore of San Francisco Bay in Richmond near where Peterson told police he went fishing on Christmas Eve, the day he reported his wife missing.

Police have not revealed how they believe Laci Peterson, a 27-year-old substitute teacher, was killed or any of the evidence they compiled against her husband, a fertilizer salesman.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers asked to seal the autopsy and Judge Al Girolami agreed. The autopsy report could be unsealed at a May 27 hearing in which news organizations are seeking the release of other court documents, including search warrants and police reports.

About 12 court records, including a wiretap and an affidavit supporting an arrest warrant, have been sealed.

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With the Golden Gate Bridge in the background, searchers cluster together Friday as divers search the frigid waters of San Francisco Bay for evidence in the Peterson case.

Coast Guard and Marin County sheriff's vessels meet off Point Isabel in San Francisco Bay. Officials returned to the bay Friday to search for more evidence in the Laci Peterson case. BART AH YOU/THE BEE

RICHMOND -- Divers returned Friday to search murky San Francisco Bay for evidence in the slayings of Laci Peterson and her unborn son, Conner.

Authorities declined comment late Friday on the search, and it was unclear what evidence, if any, was recovered.

Dive teams from the Marin County and Contra Costa County sheriff's departments assisted investigators from the Modesto Police Department. Coast Guard crews also took part, with their vessels taking up positions near divers south of Brooks Island, about 2 1/2 miles from where Laci Peterson's decomposed body was found last month along a rocky shoreline near Point Isabel.

Conner's body was recovered roughly a mile north of his mother. Peterson was eight months pregnant when she was reported missing Christmas Eve from her Modesto home. Her husband, Scott, has told authorities that he went fishing off Brooks Island on Dec. 24.

Stanislaus County prosecutors allege that Scott Peterson murdered his wife Dec. 23 or 24, according to court documents.

Peterson, in jail since his arrest last month near San Diego, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

Friday's bay search lasted from at least 9 a.m. to about 2 p.m. Two orange buoys bobbed to the east of a diver at about 1 p.m. as three law enforcement boats maneuvered in the area.

A statement from the Marin County Sheriff's Department said the search "began early (Friday) and will continue under the direction of the Modesto Police Department investigators."

Unspecified "civilian assets" were used in the search, according to a written statement from Stanislaus County District Attorney James Brazelton.

Modesto police spokesman Doug Ridenour refused to say whether Brazelton referred to diving or sonar equipment. Police Chief Roy Wasden also refused to comment.

Gene Ralston, who conducted a side-scan sonar search of the bay in mid-March for Modesto police, said his "strong opinions on what's going on" kept authorities from inviting him back for Friday's search. He would not elaborate, saying he continues to be involved with the case.

In late April, Ralston told The Bee that he believed he saw Peterson's body during the March search, about one month before it washed up.

Waves prevented retrieval of the suspected body in March, and the object was gone when searchers returned a week later, Ralston has said. He speculated that large ships in the channel set the water churning, and that could have moved the object.

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May 15 (AP) — A dozen Holstein cows grazing near Skywalker Ranch in Marin County apparently got spooked and ran off a 50-foot cliff, according to authorities.

Motorists on Lucas Valley Road saw the cows cascade over the hilltop at about 11 a.m. Wednesday, said Marin County Sheriff's Sgt. Doug Pittman.

Some of the cows tumbled end-over-end as they slid down the slate and gravel cliff, witnesses told sheriff's deputies......

Not sure what article, or subject stuff. Seems a slow Sunday in news on Laci, or Scaught, or remainder of remains. The search team continues today in BEAUTIFUL SF BAY... watching MSNBC showing the bay, lovely day there. Typical for SF Embarcadero tourism..

HERE is just some links I came across within the past few hours of looking.

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Limelight also shines on the other Newsom She's a big attraction on the chat circuit

Step aside, Gavin.

There's a new Newsom in the national spotlight -- the San Francisco supervisor's wife, Kimberly Guilfoyle Newsom, whose looks, brains and lawyerly background have made her a star commentator on the Laci Peterson chat circuit.

The lissome Guilfoyle Newsom has become a regular -- as in very regular -- guest on CNN's "Larry King Live" in recent weeks, providing sharp-edged courtroom analysis. And fabulous close-ups.

So much so that Larry King has her flown down to L.A. to appear on set rather than via satellite.

In fact, the Kingmeister is so covetous of the prosecutor's analysis that he's barred other CNN shows from talking to her on air.

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No new developments in investigation into slaying

An image of Chandra Levy dominates the stage at a 2002 memorial in Modesto. DEBBIE NODA/THE BEE

Susan and Robert Levy discuss their late daughter in an April 2002 interview. Past Articles AL GOLUB/THE BEE

No new developments in investigation into slaying

By MICHAEL DOYLE
BEE WASHINGTON BUREAU

Published: May 18, 2003, 07:45:28 AM PDT

WASHINGTON -- There is an afterlife to every murder, especially Chandra Levy's.

Almost a year after her remains were discovered in Rock Creek Park in the nation's capital, the investigation has long since gone cold. Other inquiries continue, and other lives go on, though shadowed by her disappearance.

Here, the police chief is fighting a subpoena ordering his testimony in a libel case stemming from the Levy investigation. In California and New York City, big-dollar defamation lawsuits filed by former U.S. Rep. Gary Condit and his wife have put reputations on the line.

And in Modesto, Levy's family awaits the return of her remains.

"When this first happened, we were all pretty numb," said Linda Katz, Levy's aunt by marriage formerly known as Linda Zamsky. "Now I'm angry, and I'm frustrated that we haven't gotten any answers."

Levy's family last heard from her May 1, 2001, by e-mail, and she was last seen the day before in Washington, where she had just completed an internship with the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

She was 24, an Ohio native who was raised in Modesto. Her link to then-Rep. Condit of Ceres brought national attention to her disappearance.

A man walking his dog came across Levy's remains on May 22, 2002, and the discovery temporarily revived public attention and sparked hope that the mystery would be solved.

The available evidence enabled Washington's chief medical examiner, Dr. Jonathan Arden, to declare that Levy had been murdered. Means, motive and murderer, however, remain unknown.

A grand jury has heard testimony about Ingmar Guandique, now in prison for attacking two women in Rock Creek Park, and investigators told The Washington Post last month that they are interested in several dozen sex offenders. But without any indication of progress, Washington police employ a rote description of the case:

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Levy case: Frustration, anger Amid civil suits and a probe gone cold, family seeks answers.

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And in some respect, another missing women, never found but husband is under arrest:

Detectives arrest husband of missing nurse

Jan Scharf
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Her husband says he last saw the UC Davis Medical Center nurse on May 14, 2002.

Detectives arrest husband of missing nurse

By Niesha Gates and Elizabeth Hume -- Bee Staff Writers Published 2:15 a.m. PDT Saturday, May 17, 2003 A year and two days after emergency room nurse Jan Scharf disappeared from her Cameron Park home, El Dorado County sheriff's detectives arrested her husband, Glyn Scharf, on suspicion of homicide Friday.

The arrest came after an all-day search of his Center Street home in the Amador County city of Jackson while he was out of town, said El Dorado County sheriff's spokesman Lt. Kevin House.

After returning home about 5:30 p.m. Scharf was arrested, House said in a telephone interview.

Detectives would not say if any property was seized, but did say the search lasted 24 hours.

The arrest followed a yearlong investigation that family members complained was not making any apparent progress.

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Peterson home called key probe site Police suspect the killing occurred in Modesto just before Christmas.

Repost of crime scene article

The suspected site of the killing and approximate time of death -- between Dec. 23 and Dec. 24 -- are the only details about the investigation contained in a brief criminal complaint filed in connection with Peterson's arrest Friday.

He had told police he left his wife in their home on the morning of Christmas Eve to go fishing at the Berkeley Marina.

Details of what evidence authorities have gathered from the couple's home, Scott Peterson's truck and boat, and a storage locker are in court documents that have been sealed by court order.

Stanislaus County District Attorney Jim Brazelton has declined to discuss what evidence authorities have gathered, as has the Modesto Police Department.

The evidence would certainly become public if the 30-year-old Peterson goes through a preliminary hearing, which would determine if there is enough evidence for a trial.

But Brazelton has said he might opt to submit the evidence to a grand jury, which would make the determination of whether there is enough evidence. Grand jury proceedings are secret.

In California, grand jury proceedings are optional, unlike in the federal court system, which must use grand juries to indict anyone for serious crimes, said David W. Miller, a law professor at McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento.

The primary reasons for choosing a grand jury are to keep the information secret and to allow prosecutors to shift the political pressure of going to trial to another entity, Miller said.

(snip it)

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Peterson's friends saw no hint of a criminal path

Scott Peterson grew up in the San Diego area. He moved to Modesto two years ago with his wife, Laci, so that she could be closer to her family. Modesto Bee file, 2003/Debbie Noda

(snip it)

Peterson's friends saw no hint of a criminal path By Laura Mecoy -- Bee Los Angeles Bureau Last Updated 7:47 a.m. PDT Thursday, May 8, 2003 SAN DIEGO -- In his high school yearbooks, Scott Peterson displays his "pulverizing" golf swing and tells his classmates to "watch for me" after his 1990 graduation.

The young man who led his golf team to an undefeated season in 1990 was hoping his golf swing would bring him fame.

Instead, at age 30, he's become known as a philandering husband, arrested with $10,000 in cash and charged with murdering his pregnant wife, Laci, and the unborn son they planned to name Conner.

Former classmates and others who watched Peterson grow up here wonder how the well-mannered youth they knew could be suspected of committing such a chilling crime.

And finally, an interesting article dated, some facts to link back to

Rumors leave lives in limbo

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From yesterday's search ending

Searchers Continue Looking For Clues Divers Came Up Empty-Handed Friday

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