The Laci Case Gets Weird

CBS News ^ | May 20, 2003 | Andrew Cohen

[Devil_Anse]

Amen to that!

[Is2C]

"There has been some chatter (we are on high alert after all) about a missing girl in the area where SP attended college. There is some mystery around the story - somthing like SP left the university before police could question him and his reason for leaving wasn't clearly established. Hopefully someone on this thread can shed some light on this or debunk it completely."

Kristen Smart is the girl you are thinking about. You can read about her disappearance at http://www.findkristinsmart.org/ and at http://www.sonofsusan.com/. It is a truely heart-wrenching story for anyone but especially for those with daughters of their own. The memorial video is long but poignant.

There doesn't seem to be a link between her and SP but I do think that you are correct in that not even SP's parents know why he left the school.

[Devil_Anse]

I don't think the mutual friend lived in Modesto. I don't think Scott did anything with Amber in Modesto. Their affair seems to have been mostly carried on in Fresno, where she lived.

[Devil_Anse]

You might try looking on some of the earlier threads on this case, as it was extensively discussed around the time of her first press conference.

[Diver Dave]

Have you ever gone to work after getting ready in the wee hours of the morning ... then you look in the mirror and (awk!) ... too much blush or your eye makeup went wacky?

Uh, No. Can't say that has ever happened to me. :)

[Devil_Anse]

That's an interesting thought--tell 'em about the wife, in case you accidentally say her name, but tell 'em she's dead. Hmmm!

Gary Condit came close--telling certain people that his wife was "sickly".

[Devil_Anse]

Thanks.

Look at all those knives. Wonder if all the knives in that set are accounted for?

[Poincare]

So what the prosecution boils down to is that if Scott Peterson is capable of lying about extramarital sex then he must be guilty of premeditated murder which in turn means the death penalty but not impeachment.

[San Jacinto]

Good grief.....where did you find those factoids!

Would you believe I got them from Jayson Blair?.....No?....Okay, I just made them up. We were playing around with the idea of gratuitously using someone's name in the same sentence with that of Charles Manson, the way the reporter of this article did with Paula Jones and Charles Manson.

[Southflanknorthpawsis]

Well, if she becomes a heroine and some people change their opinion, they will be doing nothing more than Geragos has done.

In what way? I believe that Geragos (actually I don't believe it) changed his mind from guilt to innocence.

What is Amber guilty of?

Did she knowingly date a married man?

Is it a crime that her appearance is an issue for some people?

Is the fact that her profession makes some automatically cast aspersions an offense, punishable by law?

Is she accused of and appear guilty of murder?

I don't see the connection unless you are merely fishing for a response to a question that points out the pettiness of Amber's haters.

[Devil_Anse]

I didn't think she was from Modesto, b/c I understood that they met at some sports bar in Fresno.

However, those of us who followed this case early on noticed something that occurred in the days before anyone in the public knew anything about Amber's existence.

People here would go to the Guestbook at the lacipeterson.com site, and read the messages people wrote to the family. At that time, almost all the messages were just words of comfort, prayers, etc. This was even before anyone had publicly expressed doubt about Scott.

There was one message that stood out. It was from a woman who said she was from Modesto. I can't remember her name. Maybe clouda or someone can remember it. She posted in the guestbook something close to this paraphrase:

My heart goes out to the Rocha family, but Scott had a girlfriend, and was not as excited about this baby as Laci was.

[homeschool mama]

Scott left college in Arizona and enrolled at Cal State San Louis Obispo, where Kristen Smart was also enrolled.

[Quilla]

Thanks for the links. As the mother of a 17 year old, absolutely gorgeous (just a tad prejudiced) daughter, the Kristen Smart story is indeed heart-wrenching. It does appear that her family thinks this Ruben fellow is somehow involved in her disappearance. Yet, with no one ever having an opportunity to interview Peterson, they may not have all available information at their disposal. I'm saying a prayer for both families, as I couldn't imagine the horror and pain associated with losing a child.

[joyce11111]

wonder if snotty used one of them on Laci.

[Devil_Anse]

Thanks for the Kristin Smart links.

I think there were two different schools involved, as pertains to Scott. Scott went to a state university in Arizona as his first college, but left after 6 months or so, and his parents say they don't know why. Later, I think he went to a community college in San Luis Obispo. I think that one in SLO is the one that Kristin Smart also attended.

I guess your links can tell us if I am accurate about where Kristin went to school.

[pbear8]

Just returned from Costco and checked Point Isabel while there. The media is out, saw three big trucks, KRON, big NBC satellite truck and something else. If they are planning on doing a live shot this afternoon it could be funny, we are expecting the wind to come up and the fog to roll in.

Looks like they are pinging this side of Point Blunt (end of Angel Island).

[Devil_Anse]

Of course you wouldn't do that, Diver Dave! And you look just fine now! Why, I can't even tell if you're wearing make-up.

[Devil_Anse]

I would be more than happy to settle for impeachment of Scott, if we could give that other person the death penalty.

[proud_2_B_texasgal]

><> I didn't think she was from Modesto, b/c I understood that they met at some sports bar in Fresno. <><

I never thought that Amber was from Modesto (I may have sounded that way .. lol), but I could swear that the person that introduced them was either from Modesto or had a mutual friend in Modesto. Anyway, I guess it's a moot point, and will probably come out eventually again.

[Devil_Anse]

I didn't say that the subject matter of what the people (including Geragos) thought, and their later changes of mind, were the same.

I said that if some people change their opinion of Amber later, they will be doing something that is similar to Geragos' having changed his opinion of Scott.

When Amber was first discovered by the public, there were fierce debates on these threads over "what kind of person she must be". I see that these debates have been revived, perhaps due to her recent press conference.

It doesn't matter what she is; it matters whether what she testifies is the truth.