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
Not so! It could be worse. There are SOME families around this area where if you looked closely you could find an "uncle-daddy" or two.
I am only speculating how the average pregnant person would react to the news their husband was screwing around. There are, those women who would put up a good front, tho, protecting their husbands and marriage from the wrath of their family. Once a wife smears her husband to the family, especially saying he had an affair, they never look at him the same way again.
All the things we have talked about, that are possible motives for Scott to kill Laci, don't amount to a hill of beans. It doesn't prove he did it, only that he is suspect. So, he lied? Unfortunately, so what? Proves only that he lied.
IF they don't have forensic evidence to link Scott to a "dead Laci", then he walks.
Now, if they find her body enclosed in one of their suitcases, or one of his home-made weights attached to it, then Scott is busted. Tough case.
sw
sw
As stupid as he appears so far...that could happen!......now step away from those Soprano DVD's!..lol
I hope no one got the wrong impression about one of my posts either!
I in no way was condoning men who stray when their wives are pregnant, only addressing the issue that there's a possibility that this could have been going on here.
That is the same thing I thought when I heard it. That boy has alot to hide.
Okay. But if one of "my" four theories turns out to be right, I get to do the Yeti vicory dance, and you have post over and over how smart I am.
Only if the "winning theory" isn't the one where Scott turns out to have done it, because that's also "mine." As a matter of fact, I have some scenarios involving Scott:
1. Scott did it--premeditated murder, with or without an accomplice but if there is an accomplice, the accomplice is only helping him cover up--an accessory after the fact, if you will.
2. Scott did it--unpremeditated murder, with or without an accomplice.
3. Insurance money not primary motive but may be a factor.
4. At least one or two more women will pop up out of nowhere, likely one of them Laci's friends.
If Scott turns out to have done it, you don't get to do your victory dance, and you must acknowledge that I was right. If it's somebody else, you get to do the full Church Lady Superior Dance, and I will post at least once how smart you were for thinking outside the box.
I am gonna quit defending myself on that one, too. There was nothing in the original post, or anywhere on this thread, where you or I or anyone indicated that was a proper thing to do -- just that it could have been going on.
I don't understand why *some people* think that just because a pregnant woman gains weight, a man can punch her in the stomach and call her fat. Maybe in some people's world it's okay like that, but I take a dim view of it and I can't help but *cringe* when women advocate that kind of brutality against women. What a horrible person.
Say it again, and explain yourself. Make it good.
Okay, but since I think Scott probably did it or had it done, I think I should still get something if he did it.
Can I maybe do something like a little "I considered that!" strut?
Explain yourself!
sw
But some people seem apalled at precisely that.
Suggesting that a man has to fulfill his needs elsewhere if he isn't getting it at home from a pregnant wife, is what YOU suggested.
YOU have the nerve to call me a horrible person? ROTFLMAO!
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