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The latest on DNA, and Laci....

ID focus only on Modesto woman
Discovery of pregnant female, infant leaves 1 option: Laci Peterson.

Bee News Services
(Published Thursday, April 17, 2003, 4:45 AM)

RICHMOND -- The identification of two bodies found in San Francisco Bay is focused solely on whether it was Laci Peterson and the baby she was carrying, a state crime lab supervisor said Wednesday.

The lab is comparing DNA from Peterson and her parents with tissue and bone taken from the decomposed bodies of a woman and infant boy found earlier this week less than two miles apart on the rocky shoreline of this city.

"We don't have another person in mind," said John Tonkyn, supervisor of the state Attorney General's Missing Persons Unit at the state DNA lab in Richmond.

Barring complications, it might take two weeks to tell whether the woman's body that washed up Monday at Point Isabel Regional Shoreline belonged to the missing Modesto woman, authorities said, and whether the "full-term fetus" discovered the day before near the Richmond Marina was her child.

"We do not consider this to be a long time," Tonkyn said. "We consider it an appropriate amount of time to get accurate results."

Peterson, 27, a substitute teacher, vanished on Christmas Eve from her Modesto home, 90 miles southeast of Richmond. Her husband, Scott, 30, said he last saw her as he left to go fishing that morning at the Berkeley Marina, not far from where the bodies were found.

Stanislaus County District Attorney James Brazelton said Wednesday he thinks the woman's body found this week is Peterson's,
"I feel pretty strongly it is [her]," the county's top prosecutor said. "It's too much of a coincidence to have a female and a baby found close to each other a day apart and no others were reported missing. If I were a betting man, I'd put money on it."

The DNA lab received from the coroner muscle tissue and a leg bone taken from the woman's body, and muscle tissue and a thigh bone from what Tonkyn described as a "full-term fetus."

Longer bones, such as the tibia and femur, are most likely to contain usable genetic samples, Tonkyn said.

The lab was analyzing cheek swabs taken from Laci Peterson's parents and hair from her hairbrush. Those results will be compared with DNA from the bodies that were found.

When asked why they weren't using dental records, Tonkyn said the lab wasn't provided with teeth from the Contra Costa County Coroner's office.

"Sometimes not a full skeleton has been found," Tonkyn said.

Published reports have said the woman's body was headless. The full-term baby still had an umbilical cord attached.

If officials find the bodies are related and rule the case a homicide, whoever killed the woman could be charged with double homicide for killing the child, making it a possible death penalty case. Modesto police changed the status of the Laci Peterson case from a missing-person to a homicide case in March.

California's fetal homicide law outlaws killing a fetus beyond eight weeks gestation during a criminal act.

Other forensic scientists said Wednesday that they doubted any meaningful evidence would be left if the body is indeed that of Peterson and has been in the water since Dec. 24.

While a body recently placed in water may have wounds or other signs of trauma indicating how the victim died, a body that is severely decomposed will reveal no soft-tissue trauma. Wounds that affect bones will produce evidence -- a gunshot wound to the skull, for example, or intentional dismemberment.

Despite the popular television shows, those kinds of telltale signs are rare.

Even a body in water a relatively short time may yield no concrete cause of death.

"If we pull a body out of the water, and we've ruled out obvious trauma, like a gunshot wound, it would probably go as an undetermined death," said Dr. Stephany Fiore, a Sacramento medical examiner who was working in New York City in September 2001 and helped perform autopsies and identifications on victims of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks. "You can't do much on a decomposed body."

If the woman's body is not identified as Laci Peterson, the lab will begin comparing the samples with likely matches in a database of 100 DNA samples of other missing people or their relatives. The state has more than 25,000 active missing-person cases.

Laci Peterson's family members remained sequestered Wednesday in Modesto.

"There's no news; we're just waiting," said Ron Grantski, Laci Peterson's stepfather. "Until they confirm there really isn't anything."

Scott Peterson, a fertilizer salesman, has not been seen in Modesto in recent days. He hasn't surfaced publicly since the bodies were discovered Sunday and Monday.

While Laci Peterson's family issued a brief statement Tuesday, not a word has come from his camp. Scott Peterson has not been named as a suspect in his wife's disappearance, but police have seized his boat, truck and nearly 100 items from his house.

His father, Lee, told reporters Tuesday at his house north of San Diego that he didn't know where his son was.

"What if Scott were here?" he asked. "Is that a big deal?"

The lawn in front of the house the couple shared was freshly cut Wednesday, but neighbors said someone had stopped by and cut it the night before. Scott Peterson hasn't been seen in the neighborhood for more than a week.

The property manager of the building where Scott Peterson rented an office, a man who identified himself only as Mark, said Scott Peterson moved out earlier this year and is trying to find someone to take over the lease for another six to eight months.

The Associated Press, The Sacramento Bee, The Modesto Bee and Contra Costa Times contributed to this report.

I was adding this link here, because many of ya are worldwide on the web: a heads up alert from Cali...

National all-points bulletin for parolee in officer slaying

The Associated Press
(Published Thursday, April 17, 2003, 4:55 AM)

Pittsburg (AP) - - Pittsburg police have issued a national all-points bulletin for a parolee who lived in the house where a detective working on a week-old murder was shot to death.

A Pittsburg police spokeswoman says Earl Foster Junior is wanted for questioning in the death of homicide inspector Ray Giacomelli. The 46-year-old detective is the first Pittsburg officer killed on duty in nearly 70 years.

Giacomelli was to meet another inspector Tuesday at a home where they were investigating a case. When the second officer arrived, he found Giacomelli dead from gunshot wounds.

Police searched the home of Foster's sister and his father's car with guns drawn and accompanied by police dogs - but came up empty-handed.

Officials say Foster hasn't been named a suspect in Giacomelli's death - but his outstanding parole violation means investigators are eager to question him.

Police agencies nationwide have been asked to look out for Foster's car, a gold Mercedes 300 E with gold rims and tinted windows.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope they have some hard evidence to nail the bastard.

Very unusual for a DA to say that they Think.

I hope that Scott hasn't made a run for Canada, Mexico or France or some other haven for murderers.

ummm, don't read this if you haven't eaten...:o)

Experts: How Dead Woman Could Deliver Baby

EXCERPTED:

Experts: How Dead Woman Could Deliver Baby

Apr. 16 (AP) — Investigators searching for a link between the bodies of a woman and an infant boy that washed ashore separately on the Richmond waterfront may find clues in an unusual medical phenomenon called "coffin birth."

Coffin birth is a term used by coroners for a spontaneous birth by a dead pregnant woman. It occurs when the gas that builds up naturally in the abdomen and pelvic area of a decomposing body produces enough pressure to push the unborn baby through the birth canal and out the corpse.

Boyd Stephens, chief medical examiner for San Francisco, said the term does not get much usage anymore since it was coined when bodies were much less likely to be embalmed. "If a body is properly embalmed, it's not likely to happen," he said.

Stephens said that when a pregnant woman dies and her body is not embalmed, it could take weeks or even months for a post-mortem birth to take place.

"If someone is pregnant and decomposing in a temperature of 110 degrees, it will happen much more quickly than if they're decomposing in a temperature of 40 degrees," he said.

Another explanation for how a fetus could become separated from its dead mother is if her body was torn open in death or decomposed to the point where there was nothing to hold the baby inside, according to Stephens.

Published reports have suggested the adult body found in Richmond came ashore with no head or legs, but a Contra Costa County sheriff's deputy declined to comment on the reports.

From ABC/KGO7

EXCERPTED:

Police Search For Suspect In Cop Killing

Police are searching for Earl Foster Jr. in connection with the killing of a Pittsburg police officer. (ABC7)

Ray Giacomelli, 46, was a 23-year veteran of the Pittsburg Police Department. (Contra Costa Times)

Apr. 16
(BCN) — Pittsburg police are looking for Earl Foster Jr. in connection with the killing of a 23-year veteran of the Pittsburg Police Department.

Foster is a resident of the home where Ray Giacomelli, 46, was found dead by a fellow police officer scheduled to meet him there to follow up on a case.

The police sergeant said Foster is the only man being sought for questioning in the case.

Ray Giacomelli, 46, was a 23-year veteran of the Pittsburg Police Department. (Contra Costa Times)

Giacomelli, a 23-year veteran of the Pittsburg Police Department and a homicide inspector for the past 10 years, received numerous awards throughout his career including the Silver Medal of Valor, Chief Baker said.

Giacomelli, who lived in Brentwood, leaves behind a wife and two daughters.

Law enforcement from around Contra Costa County, including the sheriff's office, the district attorney's office and the Pittsburg Police Department have launched a massive effort to identify and find whoever is responsible.

"We will spare no resource," said Lt. Dan Terry of the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office.

Scotty boy is locked in a bathroom somewhere, standing in front of a mirror, practising his Oscar-winning performance for when they break the news to him that the bodies are those of Laci and his child.

The CNN anchor really got this wrong this morning. She played a segment of Kim Peterson's statement and made a great deal of the fact that she used Laci's maiden name, showing a growing rift between the two families. Kim referred to Laci and Connor and the anchor thought she said Laci Ann Connor, not knowing that the baby's name had already been chosen and that Laci's maiden name was Rocha.

Brazelton, within a few hours of making his statements, issued a news release stating that the district attorney's office will no longer comment on the Peterson investigation.

Sounds as if someone with a grain of sense told this idiot to shut his mouth until he has something to say.

"In particular, we're trying to find out what happened after the bodies were in the water," Lee said. "We're looking at what type of damage was inflicted."

Huh!

I would think they would be trying to find out what happened before they were put in the water.

This is turning into a Stephen King story.

Thanks for all the new articles runningbear..and for your daily pings. I think we're nearing the end of the 1st phase.. :(

Thanks RB ,

I too am convienced it is Lacie and Conner

I do not think they will establish a cause of death without a head..I doubt it came off itself so we can guess that is was done on purpose and we can guess that the cause would be evident on it

Sorry if this is a repost:

EXCERPT

http://www.kron4.com/Global/story.asp?S=1236699&nav=5D7lFHvB

Bay Currents Could Hide Body for Months

Posted: April 16, 2003 at 9:06 p.m.
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- The San Francisco police marine unit recovers bodies and body parts in the bay as part of the job. It is a grisly undertaking that also involves dive units from both police and fire departments.

Last summer they recovered the remains of a missing pregnant woman right off the San Francisco Embarcadero, but that was pure luck.

Searchers scoured the waters near Berkeley and Richmond for weeks in the early days of Laci Peterson's disappearance. Nothing turned up. So how could a body wash ashore now?

It has to do with a complex pattern of strong currents in the bay.

"We've had calls from passersby," says sergeant Danny Lopez. "They had seen a body floating last Sunday. Between our boat going on the scene within 20 minutes and commencing the search, we searched for two hours and we were unable to locate the person." .

Then there are other contributing factors.

"If the person is face up, gases can escape," says sgt. Lopez. "If the person is face down, you're trapping gasses and the person will stay afloat. Depending on what happens to the current, a person can turn over and sink."

Because of those factors. It's hard to say how long a body has been in the water and that could affect the investigation of the bodies of a woman and a baby that washed up on Point Richmond this week.

Knowing when the bodies may have been dumped won't necessarily tell investigators where, despite the science that can track bay currents.

Police investigators say right off the Berkeley Marina, the tides just rip through. If a body were dumped in the area there's no telling where it could end up. Especially if the body was weighted down on purpose.

(snip)

Thanks for keeping me on your ping list.