Laci Peterson Had $250,000 Life Insurance Policy
POSTED: 4:31 p.m. PDT October 6, 2003
UPDATED: 5:13 p.m. PDT October 6, 2003
MODESTO, Calif. -- In court fillings, the Principal Life Insurance Co. has asked a Stanislaus County Superior Court judge to withhold a $256,429.02 payment to Laci Peterson's estate until the murder charges against her husband, Scott Peterson, are adjudicated.
According to the insurance company's filing with the court, the policy was taken out on Laci Peterson's life on or about June 25, 2001 -- a year before the Modesto couple would have found out that the school teacher was pregnant with the couple's first child. The only beneficiary of the policy is Scott Peterson.
The company asked the court to rule that it does not have pay Peterson if he is found guilty of the double murder charges he faces in his wife and unborn child's death. Until the case is completed, the company asked that it be able to invest the money in an interest-bearing account.
The Rocha family attorney, Adam Stewart, told the Modesto Bee that her family would make a claim on the money.
"We're obviously going to make a claim to funds on behalf of her family and her estate," Stewart told the paper. "We obviously have a dispute as to who's entitled to them."
Laci Peterson disappeared from the couple's Modesto home sometime on Christmas Eve day. At the time, Scott Peterson claims he was fishing on San Francisco Bay near the Berkeley Marina. In mid-April, the partial remains of the Modesto woman and that of her unborn son were found on the shoreline park in Richmond, Calif., only a few miles north of Berkeley. .......
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Peterson's attorneys want hair strand tossed from case
Peterson's attorneys want hair strand tossed from case
Defense also questions DNA testing and a variety of other evidence.
By John Coté
The Modesto Bee
(Published Tuesday, October 7, 2003, 4:05 AM)
Scott Peterson's defense is alleging two detectives mishandled key evidence -- a single "black colored hair" attached to a pair of pliers found in Peterson's boat -- after a second strand of hair appeared before the items were taken to a crime lab.
Peterson's attorneys want the judge to keep the hair and a range of other evidence out of the double-murder case, according to more than 70 pages of documents faxed to Stanislaus County Superior Court late Monday.
DNA tests have shown that the hair may belong to Peterson's slain wife, Laci, a source said before a sweeping gag order was imposed in the case.
The defense also is seeking to exclude testimony from a hypnotized neighbor and evidence from tracker dogs and Global Positioning System tracking devices hidden in vehicles Peterson owned, rented or borrowed from family members, according to the defense documents.
Scott Peterson is charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of his wife and the couple's unborn son, Connor. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. The 30-year-old fertilizer salesman told police he last saw his wife before taking his boat Dec. 24 to go fishing in San Francisco Bay.
Her body and that of their son were found in April along the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay.
Prosecutors could not be reached Monday evening to comment. They are scheduled to file written responses to the defense motions next Monday.
The hair could be a critical physical link. Police found a single 5- to 6-inch hair in a pair of needle-nose pliers at the bottom of Peterson's boat during a Dec. 27 search of a warehouse he used for his business, according to the defense documents.
The pliers were photographed with "one hair and a specific numbered placard in the picture." Multiple police reports refer to a single hair being found, the defense contends.
Detectives Al Brocchini and Dodge Hendee "spontaneously decided to review" the hair Feb. 12, lead defense attorney Mark Geragos wrote in the documents...........
A few new docs on the Court filings...