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Homicide victims usually know killer
The Modesto Bee ^ | Posted: January 28, 2003 @ 04:50:10 AM PST | Patick Giblin

Posted on 01/28/2003 5:13:29 AM PST by runningbear

Homicide victims usually know killer

Homicide victims usually know killer

By PATRICK GIBLIN
BEE STAFF WRITER

If Laci Peterson has been killed, statistics say she was likely slain by someone close to her.

Police still hold out hope for the pregnant, 27-year-old woman's safe return, but veteran investigators know that with each passing day since her disappearance on Christmas Eve, the chance diminishes.

"For much of our search, when we're looking in places under water, we're looking for a body," Modesto Police Chief Roy Wasden said earlier this month.

According to the California Department of Justice, more than 63 percent of the people who were arrested in California on homicide charges in 2001 knew their victims.

That's why detectives usually start investigating family members when they suspect a homicide has occurred, said Mike Van Winkle, spokesman for the department's Division of Law Enforcement.

"About three years ago, we had a female agent who didn't show up for work," he said. "The husband said she left in the morning, but our detectives took a look at him anyway. Pretty soon, he told us where to find the body."

It makes sense statistically why police are increasingly focusing on Laci Peterson's 30-year-old husband, Scott Peterson. According to the California homicide figures:

Approximately 46 percent of victims were related to the killer in some other way.

Nearly 7 percent of victims were killed by their spouses.

About 7 percent of the victims were killed by a parent or child.

About 4 percent of the killers had an "other" relationship with the victim. That could mean they were dating or roommates, for example.

About 36 percent of the victims did not know the person who killed them.

But just because Scott Peterson is the husband does not mean he's guilty of anything, Van Winkle cautioned.

Neither does the news that he had a romantic relationship with a Fresno woman he met in late November, a criminal justice expert said Monday.

Jeanette Sereno, a lawyer and assistant professor of sociology and criminal justice with California State University, Stanislaus, warned that Scott Peterson's reported liaison doesn't make him guilty of homicide.

"In fact, just because he (might be) a suspect doesn't automatically make him the defendant," she said.

According to several studies on marriage -- including a 1998 study by the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies at the University of California at San Francisco -- nearly one-fifth of spouses will have affairs during their marriages. Yet few end up in homicide.

Laci Peterson's case has another factor -- she's pregnant. Their son is due on Feb. 10.

According to a 2001 study by the American Medical Association, the leading cause of death for pregnant women is homicide. The study randomly looked at the cases of 247 pregnant women who died and found that 50 of them were murdered.

The other women died from heart problems, car accidents, previously unknown medical problems or complications from the pregnancy.

"Typically, pregnant women don't participate in risky activities such as hiking, mountain climbing or drinking in bars," Sereno said. "They are eating well and seeing their doctors, so their deaths normally would be something out of their control."

Bee staff writer Patrick Giblin can be reached at 578-2347 or pgiblin@modbee.com.

Posted: January 28, 2003 @ 04:50:10 AM PST


TOPICS: Activism/Chapters; Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Extended News; Front Page News; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: lacipeterson; scottcheaterson
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To: runningbear
thanks for the ping ....can you imagine this lady has been missing for a month now and this guy (SP) still has not gone to the cops with his story and information as to her last hours.....what an outrage to Laci's family, he has deliberately obfuscated this investigation which says a lot more about his guilt even though its been yet to be proven....I hope they reel him in soon for their sake.
121 posted on 01/28/2003 7:10:29 AM PST by Searching4Justice
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To: Yeti; BonneBlue
I believe Thomas Capano did exactly that when they were closing in on him for the murder of Anne Marie Fahey. He had an ex-wife, or other girlfriend, and he finagled it so that this woman came over to his house around the time he'd killed Anne Marie. Then he tried to pin Anne Marie's murder on the other woman, saying that it happened at his house!
122 posted on 01/28/2003 7:10:42 AM PST by Devil_Anse
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To: Devil_Anse
Nope. Don't think trollop at all. Just playing off Amber's "romantic" statement.

For all we know she might have wanted to wait on the sexual part of the relationship.

If any one wanted sex it was Scotty! He was on the prowl and went after her licking his lips.

A young single mother must have been the perfect target for him. Vulnerable, looking for a loving relationship, perhaps a future committment.

Hey,... he's the sleaze here!

123 posted on 01/28/2003 7:12:11 AM PST by Doc Savage
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To: Hillary's Lovely Legs
He also said that Laci ' Was at peace' with the affair. Isn't it DEAD PEOPLE who are at peace?

He's really saying she's at ETERNAL peace.

124 posted on 01/28/2003 7:12:38 AM PST by wimpycat (Hands off my Moral Compass!)
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To: Devil_Anse
Yes keep talking Scott. I am sure LE is eating this up.
125 posted on 01/28/2003 7:13:37 AM PST by BonneBlue
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To: BonneBlue
Very good points!

Hope some prosecutor's assistant is writing them down for possible cross-examination of Scott--IF he is ever tried, and IF he decides to tesify!
126 posted on 01/28/2003 7:13:58 AM PST by Devil_Anse
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To: Devil_Anse
He had an ex-wife, or other girlfriend, and he finagled it so that this woman came over to his house around the time he'd killed Anne Marie. Then he tried to pin Anne Marie's murder on the other woman, saying that it happened at his house!

Sneaky. I have wondered why people go to such elaborate lengths, when it might be easiest to just change your name and move.

I think some people just hate to lose and walk away. not meaning to blame victims, but you have to wonder what kind of relationship it could have been that ended in a premeditated murder. I can understand a crime of passion, but plotting to kill someone ....

127 posted on 01/28/2003 7:17:01 AM PST by Yeti
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To: Devil_Anse
Did you notice that he didn't diss Amber as just an affair that meant nothing to him...no it was a romantic relationship. He even commented on her character. I almost expected him to say something like "Yea you saw her, isn't she great...what a nice girl" Now he either doesn't want to piss her off any further be saying that she meant nothing knowing that she is talking to LE or his feelings for her are very strong, in which case, it would make sense that maybe he wanted a wife and baby out of the way. I am curious, if Lacy knew, wouldn't she have been distraught when she talked to her mother on the 24th? Has an her mother commented on her demeaner on that last day?

Doesn't it seem like the word "inappropriate" when speaking about sex seems to be the p.c. way to refer to affairs lately (Clinton, Condit, now Peterson)?
128 posted on 01/28/2003 7:21:28 AM PST by freedom loving butterfly
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To: spectre
Scott had his reasons to come out and confess that Laci knew about the affair. By further stating 'she was alright with it' and they didn't argue about it, means he is nixing any theories she found out and they fought like hell and she ended up dead! He's desperately trying to control the outcome.

Very good points!!

Let's see, if we believe all that he said about this....why, whaddya know, that poor girl (Laci) probably just got depressed about the affair, bravely hiding her sadness from her husband, but then sneaking off to some lonely spot and killing herself.

Or: poor Laci, though putting on a brave front of accepting the affair in front of Scott, was secretly angry and decided to go away where no one would ever find her or her baby.

All this will work (for the gullible) until another girlfriend surfaces, and he has to tell everyone, "Oh, sure--Laci knew all about THAT one, too!"

129 posted on 01/28/2003 7:21:32 AM PST by Devil_Anse
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To: Tijeras_Slim
Not.
130 posted on 01/28/2003 7:23:19 AM PST by TexKat
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To: Yellowcat; All
Let me guess. You're a man, right?

A snowman, actually. Unjustly labelled as "abominable" by my detractors.

But seriously, folks -- why is it so hard to throw things out for speculation here? I don't "think probably" that is how it was. I don't advocate extra marital sex during pregnancy. I think pregnant women are beautiful -- goddesses even -- and would be more likely to cheat "with" a pregnant woman than "on" one. I wouldn't do either one, anyway.

I am just trying to explore and verbalize some of the possibilities.

The "obvious" has been verbalized over and over again, with dittos all around. Doesn't anyone want to think about some of the less cut-and-dried scenarios that are consistent with the facts we know?

The Van Dams had much to hide, and lied to police at first. Everyone said "they are so unemotional, they are horrible." We now seem to think that was justified or excusable, or at least not proof of guilt. Lying and sleaziness doesn't make him guilty.

This woman was married to him for several years. If she didn't know anything about him at all, she at least had it figured out that he is a sneak and a liar and a con by now. So knowing that, how do you think she would react? I don't know, but "coniption fits" would only be expected if she had no idea that something like that was going on, something most of us seem to doubt. And I do know and have known more than one marriage with those attitudes and values. I don't now, and never have felt comfortable with those values, but neither am I comfortable with wife-killing. So, what I am comfortable with, and what I am used to and expect don't have much bearing on analyzing this case, do they?

I just think we could all avoid pouncing on anyone who "thinks aloud" about some of the possibilities here(especially when it's me). Scott may well have done it or had it done for him, but I don't know yet, and think we can all speculate as much as we want, and should keep our minds open to all of the possibilities until they are really ruled out.

There are others on this thread who seem to have some reason to believe that Scott punched her in the stomach and called her a fatty before he killed her. I really think that if you can let something like that pass without comment, you can consider some other, less imagination-based possibilities.

131 posted on 01/28/2003 7:24:24 AM PST by Yeti ("Bang...Bang...Bang" against the headboard in the motorhome.)
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To: freedom loving butterfly
I thought he almost seemed sheepish using the term
"inappropiate". He knew he got this term from Clinton, Condit and practiced it over and over again. But when it came to actually using the term in public, it felt strange on his lips.
Last night Laci's mother and sister were on Greta. The mom said that her last phone call conversation with Laci was perfectly fine and normal. They talked about Laci and Scott coming to her house for dinner on christmas eve. She said that Laci did not mention to her that Scott was going fishing.
132 posted on 01/28/2003 7:27:48 AM PST by BonneBlue
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To: clouda
as he tells Diane that he walks the dog every morning to feel closer to Laci.

LOL!!!!

...and as Diane nods in sympathy, a tear comes to her eye as she sees this broken man sitting before her...

Wait'll February 10 comes. I am sure that Scott will spend that day sobbing behind those closed blinds in their little nursery with the nautical theme, gently fondling the tiny clothes that were meant for his son who was never born.

He'll probably play a couple rounds of golf, then go to a sports bar and have a few beers.

When asked how he felt on Feb. 10, he'll say, "Feb. 10? Oh, didn't you guys know? The due date wasn't Feb. 10--uh, it was, uh, Feb. 9."

133 posted on 01/28/2003 7:30:35 AM PST by Devil_Anse
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To: spectre
Let's see, who do I believe, Amber or Scott?

Yeah--there's a toughie!!

134 posted on 01/28/2003 7:34:18 AM PST by Devil_Anse
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To: Yaelle
He is such a liar as to defy belief.

He sure is. Watch out for Scott's next blockbuster revelation: "Laci wasn't really pregnant."

135 posted on 01/28/2003 7:36:20 AM PST by Devil_Anse
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To: Doc Savage
It might even be that SP had purchased an expensive gift for Amber and was obviously going to attempt to see her on Christmas Eve for a quickie prior to his "leaving" for Paris

Very intriguing idea!

136 posted on 01/28/2003 7:39:51 AM PST by Devil_Anse
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To: Devil_Anse
Diane frustrates me. For that matter most reporters frustrate me with the lack of thorough followup questions. Why didn't she ask Scott what does he think happened to Lacy? Or why did he start fooling around on his wife in her 8th month of pregnancy? If you guys were so happy than we did you mess around? Why did you get a life insurance policy on her but not on yourself? I mean I could go on but you get the point. They never ask the most obvious questions. Also it was obvious that he had been prepped for this interview. His answers were very prepared and not at all spontaneous. For crying out loud, if your wife and baby are suddenly missing without a trace, why do you need to be coached on how to answer questions, your grief would speak for you. There was no grief that I could see.
137 posted on 01/28/2003 7:41:03 AM PST by freedom loving butterfly
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To: Hillary's Lovely Legs
I will bet you that they will find that his boat was never in salt water.

I would think there would be water left over inside the outboard motor they could check. This guy should have read a book on body language before doing this interview...after seeing that, there isn't a doubt in my mind he killed her now.....stupid people are limited by their own intelligence and I think the rest of the world is seeing right thru this guy now.

138 posted on 01/28/2003 7:44:51 AM PST by Searching4Justice
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To: twigs
You're pregnant. What do you think you would do if you realize that you were married to a creep, maybe a dangerous one at that?

I think she would have been too emotional to stay there and act like nothing was wrong. She would have told someone about the affair.

I think she did not know about his philandering, because he liked it that way. His "telling her was the right thing to do" was BS. It would have upset her possibly enough to have caused her to go into labor early. He is a proven liar. He wants people only to know what they HAVE TO KNOW about him. He is only talking now because he HAS TO.

He thinks he can get away with this. I pray we prove him wrong.

139 posted on 01/28/2003 7:45:59 AM PST by Yaelle
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To: Yeti
One thing is for sure. The LE know if he is lying.

I can't imagine that his lawyer would allow him to go on TV and lie about something that could be brought out against him in a trial.

Could be that this is why Amber was brought forward by the LE. He had told them about her but was lying to the family and the press.

On the other hand, he may be so conceited that he doesn't think he needs to follow his lawyers advice.

140 posted on 01/28/2003 7:46:06 AM PST by Jrabbit
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