Husband of missing Modesto woman lied about girlfriend, family says

Modesto Bee ^ | 1/17/03 | Jim Wasserman

[Spunky]

How come this case is national news when scores of people go missing each day?

Condidit Country. Same town that Chandra Levy was from.

[spectre]

Thank you for your reply.

It was already answered, but yes, he had only a $25,000 policy on himself.

I can only imagine that Scott would have thought the insurance company would take pity on him, and pay out...before he became a suspect, that is :~)

regards, sw

[muggs]

If you find it let me know, I will try to jog my memory for more info.

[cerberus]

He bought a $25,000 policy on himself at the same time he took out the policy on Laci.

If true that sounds very fishy unless he already had, say half a million on himself. No doubt police have talked to that insurance agent. I would sure want to know what went down.

[texasbluebell]

OK, now Fox reporting that LE say SP is NOT being considered in the Smart disappearance.

[cerberus]

I can only imagine that Scott would have thought the insurance company would take pity on him, and pay out...before he became a suspect, that is :~)

There is no doubt that the insurance company would pay on a legitimate death claim, their reputation is on the line. However, without a body, it may be a problem for SP since a death certificate needs to be submitted to collect the benefit. (Here again I'm sure there may be some kind of exceptions that someone may know better than I do.) If SP is the perpetrator, it would perhaps be easier to collect if the body were found (drowned for example).

[RGSpincich]

Wish Kristin Smart's family a resolution soon.

[kcvl]

To Scott,

Scott, I know you said that you don't care if the world believes you had something to do with your wife missing because it kept her name in the newspapers. I'm here to tell you that that tactic is not working. This is the first news I have read of Laci in some time now, you best get on the ball and cough up the truth to everyone, for Laci's sake. Always remember that making a mistake is just that, you made a mistake (maybe a few). It's never to late to correct the injustices and/or untruths, it's never to late to correct wrongs and most importantly, it's never to late to be forgiven. Unfortunately for you, the world is now viewing your life, not just the area in which you live. And the saying that "innocent until proven guilty" is for the 'perfect world'. We do not live in a perfect world, so it's time to get real and end this, no matter what you have to do to accomplish your goal (except untruths). Again, you can right the wrongs, set the records straight and then gain back the trust you once had. The woman with whom you had the supposed affair with will be drug into this as well, frankly speaking here.... I don't want to hear about her. It's not about YOU or HER, it's all about Laci and your unborn child. You know everyone world wide knew you were hiding something from the beginning, if it was only the affair, then bring that out, use the media if need be and bring your wife and child "home".

---

Record Number: 229 Posted: January 18, 2003, 8:12 am

Name: Angie
Found: Saw it in TV or radio news report
E-mail: agildart@shaw.ca
Location: Victoria, BC Canada

Comments:
This is directed at the husband. You DIRTBAG! You are a waste of SKIN. I knew from the 1st news on this missing mother to be...and automatically knew the so called husband would have to be involved.

You are a piece of shit!! SHAME ON YOU!!! GOD WILL GET YOU!!

[DWar]

Bump

[Queen Jadis]

ping

[kcvl]

To Scott:

If your not guilty take a lie detector, be the man you pretend to be. What are you afraid? Afraid of the fact you might get caught is a lie? COWARD!!!!!!!! If you have something to do with this, how do you sleep at night? probably not to well huh! And this women your apparently with, what kind of sick relationship do you have, how could she be with you? You smiling at the vigil is sickening. You better pray for the death penalty buddy, because life in jail wont be a picnic. And besides who wants to spend tax dollars on such a waste of human life. God bless you and your family, they need it more than ever. I knew you had something to do with is you sick man, you had that dumb guilty look from day one, you never fooled me or obviously the police, they were watching you and it smacked you back in the face. Your selfish ways will haunt you forever, dont think it wont, and if it doesnt you are the devil himself!

[Iwo Jima]

I have been involved on the legal end in more double indemnity cases than anyone I know. I am glad to have some expertise to share with the group.

First, the insurance company never calls it "double indemnity." It is a rider to your basic life insurance policy called "accidental death benefit." It basically says (and of course different policy terms will vary somewhat) that the policy pays double the face value of the policy in the event of accidental death of the insured.

The accidental death benefit rider costs very little in additional premium. You would be foolish to forego this benefit, especially if you are young and healthy and the most likely cause of death for you would be a car wreck or some other freak event.

Second, whether or not a death is "accidental" is determined from the perspective of the insured. Therefore, murder is accidental; suicide is not. Of course, state laws vary, but the basic question is: did the insured substantially bring about his own death? Driving while intoxicated? Not an accident. Jumping off a skyscraper with a bungee cord? Not an accident. An act of aggression which leads to someone to kill you in self defense? Not an accident.

Third, the question of accidential death is quite different from the question of the "homicidal beneficiary." As far as I am aware, every state has laws prohibitng anyone from benefiting in any way from the death of a person whose death he caused. If an insurance beneficiary caused the death of the insured, the insurance company is not off the hook for any portion of the proceeds, whether face value or accidental death benefits. Instead, the insurance company is obligated to pay the contingent (secondary) beneficiary or, failing that, the estate of the insured. The insurer never "makes out better" financially by proving that the beneficiary killed the insured. On the contrary, if it is shown that the insurer knew or should have had reasonable doubt about the culpability of the beneficiary, it can be made to pay the entire proceeds AGAIN to the rightful claimant.

Insurance companies have their own investigators, and they really do not like people killing their insureds. I have been privileged to be involved in many insurance investigations in which the outcome could not possibly benefit the insurer, but which the insurer was determined to make sure that the truth came out (and that they didn't have to pay the benefits twice). The insurance investigators whom I have known have many times been more competent and certainly more focused than the police homicide investigators.

In one notable case, the police had declared the deaths of a husband, wife, and infant to be a murder/ suicide with the primary insured/husband shooting the secondary insureds (wife and baby) and then committing suicide. The police were never concerned about the fact that there was no gun found on the premises. (Think about that.) My insurance company through its investigators dogged that case until the police were forced to concede that the murderer was really the wife's brother (the third contingent beneficiary -- the primary beneficiary of the husband and wife being each other and then the baby). The accomplice to this heinous crime was the insurer's own agent who had sold the policy and set it up so that the murderer would recive the proceeds when these events unfolded.

As a result of the insurer's actions, the brother and the agent were convicted and the brother untimately received the death penalty. I'm not sure what happened to the agent, but it wasn't good.

It's not often that you can say something good about an insurance company, but trust me, they don't like it when you tamper with their actuarial projections. If you ever intend to commit a murder, don't take out life insurance on your intended victim. It's just a bad idea and leads to complications that you don't want. The police may be lazy, dumb, and overworked, but those insurance investigators can be like the dog with the proverbial bone.

[kcvl]

Record Number: 178 Posted: January 18, 2003, 7:20 am

Name: Lisa
Found: Linked-to from a search engine
Location: Alameda, CA

Comments:
Even if Scott is not responsible for Laci's missing, he is still a jerk for a husband. He left her at her most vulnerable when she needed him most to go "fishing" (yeah right!). And on top of that he was having an affair! Shame on you, Scott! You've taken your blessings for granted. And now you've lost them or destroyed them. God have mercy on you!

[kcvl]

Record Number: 155 Posted: January 18, 2003, 6:56 am

Name: Jeff
Found: Linked-to from news media web site


Comments:
How could anyone harm a pregnant woman with such a beautiful smile? Scott, if you are responsible for this, you will have eternity to pay. Everyone can see right through you. You are a very bad liar. Why don't you give up the facade and turn yourself in? It's only a matter of time before you get caught. Your charade is unraveling more each day. God bless the Rocha family in this difficult time.

[Iwo Jima]

Agreed.

[Iwo Jima]

Agreed.

[Spunky]

Is this the same SP?? Two Scott Petersons at the same school, at the same time?

From your link. First picture and article" Peterson earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in 1997. While at Cal Poly, he won first place in the engineering category of the California Student Research Competition for his senior project entitled "Modeling Organic Forms Using Soft Primitives."

Second picture is the Scott in this case. They don't appear to look like the same person, but the first picture was 6 years ago.

[muggs]

Thanks, very interesting.

[Iwo Jima]

See my post 212. Let me know if you have any more questions. It's not often that I can accurately portray myself as an expert on something.

[Iwo Jima]

See my post 212.

And a big hello to you.