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Peterson tackles rumors, reports
The Modesto Bee ^ | Jan 30, 2003 | Ty Phillips

Posted on 01/30/2003 5:55:11 AM PST by 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


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: lacipeterson
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To: tubebender
Where is the tarp he used? It should be at his office, in the truck, in the boat or at home. What if it is missing? Makes one wonder!
181 posted on 01/30/2003 11:31:36 AM PST by landerwy
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To: Velveeta
Yes, he didn't want Amber to see him, and probably a host of others. To be honest, I'm quite surprised that more gf's haven't come forward. Just get ready for the long haul on this one. Until they find her body, the case will crawl along, unless the forensic evidence is a virtual mountain, which I tend to doubt. LE knows he did it, and hopefully they'll stay on this case as long as it takes. As long as her body is missing, that's one plus in Scott's column. I'm sure at some point, the Rocha's will sue Scott for wrongful death, but criminal charges will be a tall order without the body. I've gone back and looked at 'body-less' murder convictions, and haven't been able to find one with nothing but circumstantial evidence. In all of these cases, there was either enough physical evidence to establish a murder, a witness who testified as to actually seeing the body, or a strong enough motive combined with trace evidence to win the conviction. Also, in every case I found, it was years before the murderers were brought to justice. Chances are we won't be getting a resolution to this case anytime soon.
182 posted on 01/30/2003 11:34:16 AM PST by Space Wrangler
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To: Rusty Roberts
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. Okay, Which one of you is SP?
183 posted on 01/30/2003 11:35:37 AM PST by landerwy
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To: uncitizen
I can't believe Scott would be this cocky if he dumped Laci's body in some bushes. He'd only be this cocky if he dumped her in the bay.

Really, then you ARE being short-sighted because I don't think her body went anywhere NEAR the bay. After they spent so much time up there looking for it it he has only become more confident.
Read back thru my posts and you'll soon discover where I think the body could be and why if correct it would be near IMPOSSIBLE to find.

184 posted on 01/30/2003 11:37:08 AM PST by alexandria ("You are NOW posting a message on FR. Do you know where YOUR moral compass is?)
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To: Doc Savage
The only flaw in your possible scenerio is the one where she died in her sleep. The mattress would have been a huge mess. So discount that.

My main objective was to focus on the "coverup" he is trying to get away with. To show that he had ample opportunity and time to get in touch with Laci before he went fishing. He messed up! One single call to their answering machine, leaving her a message he was going fishing, would have sufficed, ESPECIALLY if he knew she was dead, and wanted to set the stage for his alibi.

But he couldn't do that, because he probably only had his CELL phone, which would have disclosed his location. He even went so far as to say he left his cell phone in the truck while fishing.

185 posted on 01/30/2003 11:37:29 AM PST by spectre (spectre's wife)
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To: Rusty Roberts
Scott says: "My silence previously was intended to keep the media involved in this case. It's a rationale that we developed after perhaps the third day she was missing. We know from experience of others ... that it's up to the family to keep the media. That's our biggest tool is the media."

Scott says: "My silence previously was intended to keep the Amber Frey from recognizing me and diming me out. It's a rationale that we developed after perhaps the third day she was missing. We know from experience of others ...like my Congressman Gary Condit, that it's up to the family to cover my ass in the media. I am to date, biggest tool in the media."

186 posted on 01/30/2003 11:41:36 AM PST by Sunshine55
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To: alexandria; BonneBlue
Bonne, I didn't know he had tried to call her BEFORE he went fishing? OK, he set up his alibi then. From where did he pretend to call HER?

Alexandria, you have had the suspicion from the get-go her body is in one of those shet ponds. I hope MPD are reading these threads..I pray they are.

sw

187 posted on 01/30/2003 11:43:16 AM PST by spectre (spectre's wife)
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To: Velveeta
Let me also add that in almost every case, the suspect did something to bring about their arrest. In most cases it was a confession to a non-LE type, and that witness went on the stand to give direct testimony about the confession. In many other cases, judges have acquitted defendants in these type of cases on directed verdict, citing a lack of evidence. As long as her body isn't recovered, LE and prosecutors have an uphill battle, sad as it is.
188 posted on 01/30/2003 11:43:31 AM PST by Space Wrangler
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To: spectre
Hi spec, glad to see you back!

Why would Scott wait until 9:30am to leave the house?...take that long to clean up and prepare plan or what?

189 posted on 01/30/2003 11:44:32 AM PST by Rheo
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To: Velveeta
And possibly others!
190 posted on 01/30/2003 11:46:12 AM PST by landerwy
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To: uncitizen
I belive his lawyers name is Kirk McAlister (sp?). He also was one of Cary Stayner's defense attorneys.
191 posted on 01/30/2003 11:46:18 AM PST by alexandria ("You are NOW posting a message on FR. Do you know where YOUR moral compass is?)
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To: All
Can anyone confirm that Scotts boat was metal, not painted, small? Nothing that would impress Scott's country club friends. Doesn't seem like the kind of boat Scott Peterson would own, financial problems or not.

Being that the boat was purchased recently, maybe it had a very specific purpose.
192 posted on 01/30/2003 11:51:43 AM PST by uncitizen
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To: alexandria
OK i'll do that. I want all the info i can get and really want her body to be found.
193 posted on 01/30/2003 11:55:33 AM PST by uncitizen
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To: uncitizen
Do we know as fact that Scott had a country club membership or financial problems or that he even bought that boat and when?

I haven't heard the family discuss that so if you have a link or can point me to the place that has that info, I would appreciate it!

194 posted on 01/30/2003 12:00:52 PM PST by Rheo
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To: Wednesday's Child
Maybe the baby was becoming the center of Laci's world instead of him.
195 posted on 01/30/2003 12:01:32 PM PST by uncitizen
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To: runningbear; All
SCOTT LIES AGAIN!!!

Klaas: 'I've Never Talked With Scott Peterson'

MODESTO, Calif. -- During a one-on-one interview with KTVU's Ted Rowlands on Wednesday, Scott Peterson said he had talked with missing person advocate Marc Klaas -- a claim Klaas strongly denied Thursday on Mornings on 2.

"There is no ambiguity in this. I have never in my life spoken to Scott Peterson," Klaas said. "Where he comes off thinking he can make a statement like that in the public forum and get away with it, I don't know...It's not the first time."

Klaas was reacting to Peterson's answer to a question from Rowlands about his actions. The KTVU reporter told Peterson that both Klaas and John Walsh had question his actions so far in the case.

Peterson responded: "I have had conversations with both those gentlemen. It is entirely too selfish of me to defend myself against these accusations...All the media time should be spent on finding Laci."

Klaas went further when asked about Peterson's account of his affair with Amber Frey.

"Listen, first there was no affair," Klaas said. "Then Amber came forward and said there was an affair. He had admitted there was an affair (when confronted by Laci's brother Brent Rocha)...Then he claimed he told Laci and she was okay with it...And now he says on the day Laci disappeared he called Amber and told her...But the first time anyone knew of it was when Amber went to the police."

"Obviously, this guy is stacking lie upon lie upon lie. He's indicting himself. It's like watching a train wreck."

Klaas reaction was like that of many to a series of interviews Peterson has held over the last 72 hours.

While there have been a few emotional moments in those interviews, most of the time Peterson has spoken in a low monotonal voice. His words have been carefully chosen. The message was clear -- Peterson wanted the world to know he had nothing to do with the disappearance of his wife, Laci Peterson, who vanished on Christmas Eve.

"I had nothing to do with Laci's disappearance," he told Rowlands.

For a complete report on the interview, click on the link at the left.

Wednesday's round of media interviews followed a Monday blockbuster in which Peterson talked for the first time at length about the case on 'Good Morning America.'

During that interview, Peterson said he told his wife and Modesto Police that he was having an affair. But he said it didn't rupture his marriage to Laci.

But Laci's friends told KTVU Tuesday night that they found that hard to believe.

"I can't say how she would have reacted," said Stacey Western. "I do know she wouldn't have been at peace with it. It would have been an issue. As close of friends as we have, she would have told one of us."

Peterson, 30, breaking a long silence and reversing weeks of denying an affair, told Good Morning America that the relationship with Fresno-area massage therapist Amber Frey "inappropriate."

But, he added that the affair "wasn't anything that would break us apart."

He said Laci Peterson, 27 and seven months pregnant at the time she disappered, was unhappy. "But it was not something we weren't dealing with."

Peterson said there was not a lot of anger, no physical altercations and that his wife made peace with the affair.

"No one knows our relationship but us," he told ABC's Diane Sawyer.

Laci Peterson's family issued a statement through the Carole Sund-Carrington Memorial Reward Foundation, saying, "We are not going to make any comments on his appearance. We would just like him to continue to speak with the police."

Peterson told Sawyer he didn't kill his wife and added there is no proof she is dead. The possibility runs through his mind, he said, but, "It's not one we're ready to accept."

The couple were expecting a baby boy they had named Conner, on Feb. 10.

Peterson also told Sawyer he still saw Frey, of Madera Ranchos, Calif., after he told his wife about her.

Frey made a dramatic tearful appearance Friday in Modesto on the one-month anniversary of Laci Peterson's disappearance, admitting a "romantic relationship" with Scott Peterson and apologizing "for the pain this has caused" Laci Peterson's family.

A shaken emotional Frey, a single mother with a 23-month-old child, said Peterson told her he was unmarried when they met Nov. 20. She said she called Modesto Police Dec. 30 when she discovered he was Laci Peterson's husband.

Peterson told Sawyer he didn't love Frey, but, "I'd have to say that I respect her" for making the public appearance.

He told he notified police of his relationship with Frey immediately last Christmas Eve, and that Frey was the only person with whom he had an extramarital relationship.

"It was inappropriate and I owe a tremendous apology to everyone," Peterson said. "It should have been brought forth by me, immediately..."

Modesto Police spokesman Doug Ridenour said Tuesday that police investigators have seen the interview, but declined to comment on any details of the interview, including Peterson's claim of telling police about the affair immediately.

http://www.ktvu.com/news/1936524/detail.html
196 posted on 01/30/2003 12:05:59 PM PST by Velveeta (Please sign the Missing Adult Alert petition! http://www.PetitionOnline.com/adalert/)
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To: Rheo
Maybe these are rumors but if so they are repeated constantly on the local and national news. Many less credible things are said here on FR. We're all trying to bring the things we learn on the news out here for discussion. The news has gotten some things wrong there is no doubt.

The family of Laci isn't talking much as they don't want to do anything to affect the prosecution. That's why they're saying "we just want Scott to fully cooperate with the police", when we know they mean "tell us where you dumped her body so we can bury it".
197 posted on 01/30/2003 12:08:10 PM PST by uncitizen
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To: Velveeta
Could they be setting up for an insanity defense?
198 posted on 01/30/2003 12:13:32 PM PST by uncitizen
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To: alexandria
agree with you in that she isn't in the water but on land, such as a farm. That is something he's very familiar with plus his knowledge of fertilizers and chemicals. I've never been to California and have no clue of winter weather there, but, I do know that farmers never really stop working. How soon, for example, would a farmer begin plowing his fields to get ready for warm weather? That is where I think he buried her and perhaps with enough chemicals the dogs would not detect her scent?
I know your feeling on manure pits and it's reasonable, but how could he have avoided being overcome with fumes himself?
199 posted on 01/30/2003 12:14:45 PM PST by Wednesday's Child
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To: uncitizen; All
Thanks, wasn't sure if I missed definite clarification on the stuff that the media has been printing and saying.

I'm assuming we do know as fact tho that Scott was seen leaving at 9:30am..by the person who saw the curtains shut or the person who saw him load the umbrellas into his truck? (is it the same person or two different, do we know?)

200 posted on 01/30/2003 12:25:40 PM PST by Rheo
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