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
You mean, what was Amber's alibi, right?
Amber's alibi is that she did not know there was such a person as Mrs. Scott Peterson. The police say they first heard from her on Dec. 30. They say they accept her story that she first realized who Scott was, and realized his true marital state, on or about Dec. 30. The police are not pushovers. Scott says he did tell Laci about Amber, but did not tell Amber about Laci, his wife.
Yes, we know Scott's credibility is in the toilet. But there is no reason to doubt that particular statement of his, since there is no apparent gain to him from making it look like Amber didn't know about Laci until Dec. 30. Hence, that is one of his more believable assertions.
Amber lives and works in Fresno, 90 miles from where Laci was last seen. Scott lives and works in Modesto, zero miles from where Laci was last seen.
I completely believe that the police DID check to see if Amber had an alibi for the 23rd-24th. If it had been in any way questionable, I feel sure they would still be checking it.
Another factor is that Amber could probably not have moved the body of a 140 lb. deceased pregnant woman by herself. The body was moved--or Laci was taken to a lonely place, then killed. How would Amber get Laci off to some lonely place?
If Amber had killed Laci, her only motivation would have had to have been Scott. This leads to 2 possibilities: 1. Scott knew she was going to do it and approved, in which case the police are barking up the right tree in hounding Scott, or 2. Scott didn't know, he loved his wife, he would be horrified if he thought Amber did that, and he would be screaming for the police to arrest Amber (and clear him). I saw that "New Detectives" show where the ex-girlfriend killed the guy's wife and baby. I know that such a thing is possible. But it is not probable here.
How embarrassing, especially since I'm wearing jeans.
Trust me, you are not alone on that one. I have been trying to figure out who is whose kid in this thing for the LONGEST!
You get: A shiny new digital top-of-the-line........................................MORAL COMPASS!
The words IN BOLD I belive are being missed here. Also SP said that he could NOT say that Laci was OK with it but that it was not something that was going to split them up.
Your statement accepts the fact that Laci thought it was OK for Scott to have an affair because MANY people feel that way.
He suggested "we might be surprised how many people are like that ..." and you change that to his (factually) stating that MANY people FEEL that way?
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