Peterson tackles rumors, reports

The Modesto Bee ^ | Jan 30, 2003 | Ty Phillips

[runningbear]

Peterson tackles rumors, reports
ADRIAN MENDOZA/THE BEE

At center, Los Angeles radio station KFI radio personality Ken Chiampou broadcasts live as he and other members of the media go to Scott Peterson's side gate after he arrives home Wednesday afternoon. Peterson later ordered the media off his property.

Scott Peterson talks with Modesto police officers Billy Hamilton, left, and G.E. Paglione as they arrive at his house to answer a complaint.

Peterson tackles rumors, reports

By TY PHILLIPS
BEE STAFF WRITER

Scott Peterson conducted several televised interviews at his home on Wednesday, address-ing numerous allegations and rumors surrounding the investigation into the disappearance of his wife, Laci.

By 5 p.m., more than a dozen TV trucks had set up camp near the Petersons' house on Covena Avenue in Modesto's La Loma neighborhood.

Wednesday night, Peterson called police when other reporters -- hopeful for an interview -- followed him to his back gate and remained on his property after he told them to leave. Officers arrived, stayed 10 minutes and left, making no arrests.

Peterson declined to be interviewed by The Bee, saying that he was upset with two articles the newspaper had published.

One of the articles described Peterson at a New Year's Eve vigil for his wife, saying he was laughing and smiling a good deal of the time. He did not say what the other story was.

"With the feelings I have about the newspaper right now, I am not interested in talking," Peterson said by phone. "The articles need to have more with Laci in them and not be focused on me."

Laci Peterson's family reported her missing Christmas Eve. The 27-year-old is more than eight months pregnant with her first child.

Scott Peterson, 30, said he last saw his wife at 9:30 a.m. the day before Christmas when he left for a fishing trip and she prepared to go for a walk with their dog.

Police say they have not named Scott Peterson as a suspect, nor have they ruled him out of the investigation.

Wednesday began with the second part of Peterson's videotaped interview on ABC Television's "Good Morning America," with co-host

Diane Sawyer talking not only with Peterson but with his family.

In the interview, Peterson said:

Both he and Laci have $250,000 life insurance policies, taken out two years ago. He called untrue a report that he took out such a policy on his wife only last summer.

His wife may not have opened the drapes Christmas Eve morning because it was probably 40 degrees outside, and keeping the drapes closed helps keep the house warm. Family members and neighbors have said that Laci Peterson opened the drapes every day.

He routinely cuts his hands in his work on farms. Peterson, a fertilizer salesman, made the comment and showed his hands in response to reports that police had found blood in one of his and Laci's vehicles.

He loaded large umbrellas to take to his warehouse on Christmas Eve. A neighbor reportedly saw Peterson putting something into a vehicle that day.

During the interview, Peterson described his marriage as "glorious" even though he admitted to cheating on his pregnant wife. "We took care of each other very well," he said. "She was amazing. She is amazing."

Asked about the baby boy due within weeks, he responded: "That was, it's so hard."

At his home, Peterson sat down with several news outlets. He went through the interviews alone, without an attorney.

Speaking with Gloria Gomez of Sacramento TV station KOVR, Peterson explained why he said he told his wife about his affair with Amber Frey: "It was the right thing to do. And, as you know, when you're not doing the right thing, it eats you up. You know you feel sick to your stomach and you can't function. And you have a hard time, you know, looking at someone."

Throughout Wednesday, people drove and walked by the Peterson house, apparently to get a closer look.

"It's innocent until proven guilty in a court of law," said Elvira Varse, who lives a few streets away. "But he's guilty until he's proven innocent in this neighborhood."

Among the media throng was a pair of shock jocks from a Los Angeles radio station. When Peterson came home, one of them yelled into a megaphone: "Nobody believes your story."

Lyanne Melendez, a reporter with San Francisco radio station KGO, walked up to the shock jocks' radio van and told the DJs: "That's just bad journalism."

One of them responded: "We're not journalists. We're entertainers."

Bee staff photographer Adrian Mendoza contributed to this report.

Bee staff writer Ty Phillips can be reached at 578-2331 or tphillips@modbee.com.

Posted: January 30, 2003 @ 05:30:15 AM PST

[Yaelle]

What was the final conclusion? Did he go to jail?

Yeah, they finally got Dr. MacDonald. It took over 10 years, I am sure, to get him, though. He did LOTS of TV shows and interviews, always expressing his innocence. Yet his story of the way things happened was really full of holes. Another arrogant b*stard who thought he was smarter than everyone else. He practiced medicine and lived at the Marina in L.A. chasing skirts and sailing yachts while they tried to build up a case against him.

[muggs]

I bet Scott wishes he could kill John and Ken too.

[Uncle Hal]

I live in the Bay area. I keep weather data as a hobby and Grace is wrong on many counts. Where I live it did not rain that day and had not rained for several days before. Temperatures were in the 50's. If it was 30 degrees it would be snowing not raining.

[spectre]

He used nothing. He did not go fishing, IMO.

sw

[muggs]

A neighbor found it wandering around and returned it to the yard.

[Jael]

I have seen numerous news clips of dogs searching for Laci. I don't know what kind they were.

[Yaelle]

Ooh, that is creepy about the MacDonald house being left for 9 years. The coolest thing about the case for me was that they figured out that ALL FOUR FAMILY MEMBERS had different ABO blood types. I think that was about as sophisticated as DNA typing went in those days. But with the four different types, they were able to piece together from the blood all over the house what happened and in what order. And it totally contradicted MacDonald's cheesy story. I thought that was awesome, as though the poor souls were able to point to their killer from their graves.

[BonneBlue]

On John Walsh. One of Laci's friends, Stacy, spoke with Laci the night before she went missing. She said she seemed very happy and told her about her doctors appt, said everything was going normal with the baby, and wanted to wish stacy a merry christmas.

[Doc Savage]

He either sprang it on Laci on the evening of the 23rd (say 8 or 9 o'clock) as a cover story for seeing Amber and to perhaps deliver a Christmas present to her,...or he simply invented the story as a cover line, one which would supposedly place him a 100 miles away while his wife was being abducted in the park.

[tubebender]

I wondered why Scott would wrap the umbrella in a tarp to transport it.Seeing the picture made me think that perhaps some of the chemicals he hauls are no doubt caustic or leave a powdery substance in the PU that would have stained them.

[BlondieTx]

Please add me to the ping list.

[tubebender]

As I understand it and have heard it discussed, the law in California, as instructed to a jury, is that if you tell ONE LIE everything else you say can be considered a lie.

Does that apply to prosecution witnesses as well?

[shezza]

...as a cover story for seeing Amber and to perhaps deliver a Christmas present to her...

Amber was upset because he told her he could NOT spend Christmas with her because he was in Maine for the holidays...then called her from "Paris." So I don't think he saw Amber at all that day. Called her, probably, but didn't see her. He was supposed to be on the other coast. Maybe he had some other fish on the line, or maybe, as you suggest, he was establishing his "I wasn't even in the neighborhood" alibi.

[Rusty Roberts]

Correct, the Bee did not say he was drinking. They also did not print that photo of Scott smiling until several weeks after the vigil, only when things went south for Scott. Actually, the only place I ever saw anyone ever "say" Scott was holding a drink was on forums like this, which tells me Scott has been a busy little chatter bug, hasn't he? I clearly remember someone saying Scott had a drink in his had and another poster reposting the picture to point out that although he was smiling/laughing, he was holding a candle in the cup.

Now we know why he was always "responding to emails" in the Volunteer Center every day--the police had taken his computer, and it was the best access he had to follow the pulse on what people were saying. Bingo.

[Yaelle]

As I understand it and have heard it discussed, the law in California, as instructed to a jury, is that if you tell ONE LIE everything else you say can be considered a lie.

Well, that certainly happened to Mark Fuhrman, didn't it?

[Jackie-O]

If I remember correctly, the murdered wife's parents began to doubt son-in-law very quickly much like Laci's parents/family.

[BonneBlue]

I always suspected he was lurking on forums and such to get the pulse of opinion. Laci's family said he would disappear for long periods of time. He may have visited libraries or places where he could have access to a puter.

[Space Wrangler]

I would guess that he was trying to rationalize his strange (and guilty) behavior as merely a tactic to keep the case in the media by pretending to be guilty. If you think about it, not a bad idea if you're sole purpose was to keep your wife's picture up, but nobody is that smart. He told Diane Sawyer that he wasn't media savvy, and that was why he looked bad. So, he has now explained away his behavior by saying a)he isn't media savvy, and b)he is VERY media savvy. So many contradictions, what's a person to believe? My answer: GUILTY!

[Rusty Roberts]

However, the temp was 30 degrees that day, was he dressed for fishing on such a cold, wet day, on the spur of the moment? Plus, you need special bait for sturgen: smelt and so on, no sign he purchased any at this point. That small boat on such a cold day on the water--just how the heck was he dressed--big difference in what you were to go work a few hours in the office and what you wear to go fish in SF Bay on a 30 degree day.

[vikingchick]

Thanks again, runningbear, for all the posting and pinging you've been doing on this story.