Husband of missing Modesto woman lied about girlfriend, family says

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

[hoosierskypilot]

MODESTO, Calif. (AP) - The husband of a missing pregnant woman may have lied about his relationship with a girlfriend and possibly other things, a spokeswoman for the family said Friday.

Kim Petersen, a spokeswoman for relatives of Laci Peterson, 27, of Modesto, said police have shown the family recent photographs of Scott Peterson with a girlfriend. The husband had previously denied such a relationship, the family said.

"Now, however, they believe he has lied to them about this, and possibly other things as well," Petersen said.

"Approximately two weeks ago, Ron Grantski, Laci's stepfather, asked Scott if he had a girlfriend. Scott told him no and Ron believed him," Petersen said.

"The family is asking him to tell everything he knows and to fully cooperate with the Modesto Police Department," Petersen said. "Their family is the most important thing to them and if Scott has nothing to hide, they ask him to prove that."

Laci Peterson was reported missing on Christmas Eve. She is due to deliver a baby boy on Feb. 10. Her husband told investigators he went fishing at the Berkeley Marina on Christmas Eve morning.

Police did not indicate to the family if investigators believed Scott Peterson was responsible for his wife's disappearance, according to Petersen.

"The family knows that the police are doing their job," Petersen said. "They don't want to do anything that can hurt their chances of finding Laci."

Petersen, executive director of the Carole Sund-Carrington Memorial Reward Foundation, which is sponsoring a reward for Laci Peterson's safe return, said the Modesto center closed Thursday.

Volunteers also canceled plans to open a one-day center in Los Angeles on Sunday.

"Although Laci has not been located yet, our search effort will not stop," said Brad Saltzman, general manager of the Red Lion Hotel in Modesto, who had been organizing the volunteer centers. "We will continue to search for Laci and her baby boy."

Police have repeatedly said Scott Peterson is not a suspect but has been less than cooperative.

[cherry]

spunky...he actually lives in Sandpoint Idaho....

he has a two hour talk show on crime etc mon thru friday at 3pm til 5 ususally...sometimes he has local crime but a lot of times he has national figures such as Cliff van Zandt last week , he is friends with ANn Rule, and others....you can get it on the internet I think ...radio station is out of Spokane, and it's KXLY....

[Spunky]

At Chowchilla, he could've turned west and headed to the San Luis Reservoir. If he had driven a little futher south, he could have turned east around Madera and gone to Millerton Lake. In that general area there are other possibilities but driving to them and back wouldn't fit the timeline

What is the timeline you have in mind. If I recall from when I lived in California (69-79) it would have been like about about a 3 hour drive from Modesto to Chowchilla, to San Luis Reservoir, then over to Gilroy, on up to San Jose, then past Oakland on to the Berkely Marina.

Do you live in Calif? Am I correct or way off?

[Spunky]

he actually lives in Sandpoint Idaho....

Thats right, but it is hard for me to remember since I have relatives who live in Couer'd'alene I can remember that.

I am not sure I can get KXLY here in the Tri-Cities. If you no how to find it on the internet let me know where it is.

[Searching4Justice]

Believe me this guy's got a bulls eye on his back.

pretty soon that bull's eye will be on the back of his shorts in prison !....great posts here, do you think he has been able to account for the "products" he made with the concrete he had ?

[muggs]

I knew it. I thought that all along. Still wondering about Krista too.

Yes, I knew it too. I would have been more surprised if there were not more girlfriends. Scott is such a creep.

[Iwo Jima]

You are confusing the issues of owner, insured, and beneficiary. The parties making the insurance contract are the insurer and the owner of the policy. We don't know who the owner is but it is usually the insured, who is Laci. The beneficiary is what the law calls a "third party beneficiary" and as such has the right to sue to enforce the policy, for example in order to collect death benefits. But the beneficiary is not a party to the contract insofar as the making of the contract is concerned.

We have heard that "Scott took out the policy," but we don't really know who is the owner or what that statement is supposed to mean. I think it is probably true that Scott initiated the plan to get Laci insured, but that Laci of course knew about it and was in all probability the owner, exercising her ownership rights to name Scott as beneficiary.

Laci of course committed no fraud on the insurer in procuring the policy, but what is almost as certain is that neither did Scott. Beneficiaries don't have to sign anything on an application. Certainly, there is no question asking the bene if he intends to murder the insured.

The law will never allow the insurer to void the insured's and owner's rights with respect to a life insurance policy just because the bene killed the insured. Benes kill insureds all too often, and the insurance company pays -- they just don't pay the killer!

This is not like the situation where the insured takes out a policy with the intent to commit suicide and does so within two years, or misrepresents that he is in good health when he is actually dying of cancer. In those situations, the insured (and likely owner) has procured the policy by fraud and the contract is voidable.

So stop worrying. This contract is not void or voidable. The insurer will pay when they have a death certificate, the amount of the proceeds can be determined (face value or double for accidental death), and the rightful payee is determined (just a wild guess here -- it won't be Scott!

[muggs]

Or you could make a huge sign that says 'WHERE IS SHE SCOTT?' and walk around with it...and then give us a report!

LOL

[muggs]

Wow good ideas! I may (i am driving my husband crazy with this new obsession).

LOL, my husband is becoming a bit annoyed at my obsession with this case too.

[nicmarlo]

It's a rider to the policy that will pay double the amount insured for. In Scotty Boy case his policy would pay out $500,000. I could be wrong on this, so somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks, and you must be right; everyone else is confirming....just with the additional info that double is paid in case the death is related to accident.

[SunnyUsa]

Thanks for the ping!

WOW that post on the Laci guestbook is really scathing, spoken like someone who really knows the murdering jerk.

Just thinking of what he did to that poor sweet woman, newborn kicking inside her makes me sick - and I'm sure everyone around him SICK too.

I hope they get this bastard behind bars soon.

I often wonder what his parents must be thinking, what's that like realizing what a monster your son is?

[nicmarlo]

I thought most life insurance plans include double indemnity?

Someone probably already responded to you on this, but I haven't been able to read through the 500 posts yet, lol; I've been told this is EXTRA and additional, requiring more money to paid on the premium (but I think not a lot more).

[cerberus]

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.

Excellent and very interesting information.

Thanks

[AnAmericanMother]

Hi Mr. Hatfield, good to see you again too.

I don't recall the Omni hotel case, but it could have slipped by me while I was looking at something else!

Don't worry about the insurance money going to the estate. A finding that somebody was involved in the murder of an insured excludes them from ALL inheritance as well as out of the insurance money.

[AnAmericanMother]

Here's a question that occurred to me.

We've had an awful lot of litigation in GA over exactly what the term "external, accidental and violent means" includes for purposes of the accidental death benefit. At one point, I believe it was argued that a murder was not "accidental" but intentional. I know that in GA "accidental" for these purposes means "unintended by the insured" whether or not it was intended by somebody else i.e. the murderer. Do you know where Calif. stands on this question?

[muggs]

Thanks, and you must be right; everyone else is confirming....just with the additional info that double is paid in case the death is related to accident.

FWIW, murder is considered an accident.

[nicmarlo]

murder is considered an accident.

Really, to whom? How is murder an accident?

[nicmarlo]

Benes kill insureds all too often, and the insurance company pays -- they just don't pay the killer!

I was involved in a civil case related to the beneficiary killing her husband two months after they were married and about a month or so after he took out two HUGE life insurance policies. The "grieving" widow had her husband murdered while he was hunting by her boyfriend of years. She was found guilty of accessory to murder in the criminal case, even though she declared herself innocent. The she proceeded to try and collect on his life insurance policies (millions of $$). She is in prison, for life, on the criminal charge. We had to fight to prevent her (my boss, actually) from collecting on the policies.....the murdered husband's brother and sister ended up collecting on the policies, but not without first amassing large attorney fees fighting the "grieving" widow....it was not a simple task to keep her from benefitting from plotting the death of her husband. It was absolutely sickening.

[LQQK at Me]

I'm curious about the trucker's statement regarding the "80 miles". Does anyone know where the trucker was when he/she first noticed SP and at what exit did SP leave the freeway? From Modesto to Chowchilla it's about 60 miles. Could the trucker have just said "80 miles" when in fact it was 60 miles or less? In Chowchilla, SP could connect with westbound Highway 152, which crosses both the Delta Mendota Canal and the California Aqueduct and also goes by San Luis Reservoir and O'Neill Forebay.

And at what time was Scott supposedly seen at a gas station in Manteca that day? Manteca to Chowchilla is about 80 miles or so.