Peterson Answers His Critics
POSTED: 7:54 a.m. PST February 6, 2003
UPDATED: 7:57 a.m. PST February 6, 2003
MODESTO, Calif. -- It didn't take Scott Peterson long to respond to criticism leveled at him during a news conference by his missing wife Laci's family on Wednesday.
In a phone call to KTVU's Ted Rowlands, Peterson addressed the reasons why he recently traded in Laci's Land Rover and tried to sell the couple's Modesto home.
Talking from an undisclosed location, Peterson said of the car: "Yes, I traded in the car. We were planning on buying a new one when the baby arrived and I needed a truck for work."
The truck Peterson had used for his fertilizer business was taken into custody by the Modesto Police early in the investigation.
On the house, Peterson said: "Yes, I tried to sell the house. Who the hell would want to live in a house that's unsafe where your wife was kidnapped from?"
Peterson reportedly was in Mexico on a business trip, but would not confirm to Rowlands where he was calling from.
The response Wednesday evening came after an emotional and angry Ron Grantski, the step-father of Laci Peterson, once again called on Scott to cooperate with police and "end this circus."
Grantski met with reporters Wednesday to issue a family statement about the latest development in the case -- Scott Peterson's trading in of Laci's Land Rover for a new truck and his apparent attempt to sell the couple's Modesto home.
"First of all, the car," Grantski said. "People are going to wonder how we found out about the car. We have driven by his house and we've seen the new truck and Laci's car not there. That's how we found out about it."
The family was able to track the Land Rover down at a local dealership with the thoughts of buying it. Late Tuesday, Doug Roberts of Roberts Auto Sales returned the car to the Rocha family free of charge.
"The car was in Scott's name, but thanks to Mr. Roberts, it's in the family name now," he said. "We are going to keep it until Laci comes home."
There have also been rumors circulating around Modesto that Scott Peterson was to meet with a realtor to sell the couple's home.
"About the house, the house is in both Laci's and Scott's name," Grantski said. "I find it hard to believe that he thought he could sell it without Laci's signature. I've found it hard to understand a lot of things Scott has done why should this be any different."
"He said since the first night he wanted the focus to be on Laci and not on him, but with the things he's been doing, the focus is all on him. If you want to change the focus Scott, cooperate with the Modesto Police. End this circus."
Grantski also corrected another misconception that came out of last week's barrage of media interviews by Scott. Laci's due date, he said, had been confirmed by medical officials to be Feb. 10 -- not Feb. 16 as Scott has said.
Scott's trade-in of Laci's Land Rover struck a raw nerve among the woman's family and friends.
On Tuesday, Heather Sutton said Laci loved her Land Rover and can't understand why Peterson would have gotten rid of it.
"It was hard to hear that," she said. "Just because I know that, just by looking at the car, it's totally Laci. And hearing that she loved that car, that was difficult for me...Maybe he has his reasons, I just don't know."
Lucene Gee said she was told by Sharon Rocha, Laci's mother, about the car.
"My first thought was how cold," Gee said. "That's a piece of Laci. Sharon, Laci's mom, turned to us and told us 'You know he sold Laci's car.' It was absolute shock. I didn't know what to say."
Laci Peterson, who was more than seven months pregnant at the time of her disappearance, has not been seen since she vanished on Christmas Eve. At the time, Scott Peterson has told police he was on a day fishing trip to the Berkeley Marina in the Bay Area.
When he arrived home, Scott called police to report Laci missing. A massive search effort that continued for several weeks throughout Northern California failed to turn up any sign of her
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