Murder of Laci Peterson
Encyclopedia
Laci Denise Peterson
was an American woman who was the subject of a highly discussed murder case after she went missing while seven and a half months pregnant with her first child. Peterson was reportedly last seen alive on December 24, 2002. Her husband, Scott Peterson
, was later convicted of murder in the first degree for Laci, and in the second degree for their prenatal son. Scott Peterson is currently on death row
at San Quentin State Prison
.
. Her parents, Dennis Robert Rocha and Sharon Ruth Anderson, met in high school and married shortly after graduation. Their first child, Brent Rocha, was born in 1971. Laci was the couple's second child, born in 1975. Her parents separated after Laci's first birthday. Dennis later remarried and had another daughter, Amy. Laci grew up visiting her father's dairy farm in Escalon, California
, and she was a cheerleader in junior high
and high school
. After graduating from Thomas Downey High School
, Laci attended California Polytechnic State University
. At Cal Poly, she majored
in ornamental horticulture
. She hoped someday to open a specialty plant shop. While at Cal Poly, Laci met Scott Peterson
at a small restaurant in Morro Bay called Pacific Café.
In December 1996, Scott and Laci became engaged, and they married on August 9, 1997, a few months before Laci's graduation. For the first two years or so of their marriage, they delayed trying to have children, but Laci began to express an interest in starting a family. In December 2000, they decided to try for a pregnancy
. Becoming pregnant took longer than expected, and on the verge of scheduling fertility tests
, Laci and Scott Peterson conceived naturally in May 2002. The baby was due on February 10, 2003, and the couple planned to name their son Conner Latham Peterson.
SE sport utility vehicle
was in the driveway, and her Louis Vuitton
purse
, containing her keys and cell phone, was hanging in the bedroom closet.
When Scott Peterson returned home from fishing that evening, Laci was not there. He washed his clothes, ate some cold pizza, took time to clean up the kitchen, and took a shower. At that point (roughly 5:15 pm), he called Sharon Rocha to ask if Laci was with her. When Sharon told Scott that Laci was not there, Scott said, "Laci's missing." Sharon later said that she knew in her heart something horrible had happened to her daughter. Scott stated that when he left that morning, Laci was watching an episode of Martha Stewart
, and planned to walk the couple's dog, McKenzie, in nearby East La Loma Park. However, Scott later changed his story by telling Sharon he last saw Laci curling her hair the way her sister showed her the night before.
Laci's parents called the police at 6 pm. A search of the park and surrounding areas immediately ensued. It was highly out of character for Laci to leave without a word. Police, family members, friends, and neighbors searched widely on foot, in all-terrain vehicles, patrol cars, and sport utility vehicles, helicopters equipped with search lights also heat sensors, water rescue units, search dogs, and horseback teams. Law enforcement agencies from several counties became involved. Police suspected foul play, doubting that Laci would vanish on Christmas Eve without contacting anyone. At a press conference, detective Al Brocchini said, "That is completely out of character for her."
A $25,000 reward was offered, later increased to $250,000, and finally to $500,000 for any information leading to her safe return. Posters, blue on yellow ribbons, fliers circulated, and the LaciPeterson.com website was launched. Friends, family, and volunteers set up a command center at a nearby Red Lion Hotel
to record developments and circulate information. Over 1,000 volunteers signed up to distribute information and to help search for Laci. Critics alleged that this was another example of missing white woman syndrome
, and that similar cases (primarily that of Evelyn Hernandez
) were being ignored by the media and the community. However it should be noted that it was the immediate family and friends of Laci and the Rochas that organized the initial search and vigil for Laci: In the first two days up to 900 people were involved in looking for Laci, before community officials or police directly participated in the actual search and prior to significant media coverage.
On April 13, 2003, a couple walking their dog discovered the decomposing but well-preserved body of a late-term male fetus on the San Francisco Bay
shore in Richmond's
Point Isabel Regional Shoreline
park, north of Berkeley. One day later, the body of a recently-pregnant woman, wearing cream-colored maternity pants and a maternity bra, washed to shore one mile away from where the baby's body was found. The woman's cause of death was impossible to determine due to decomposition; the body was decapitated, the forearms were missing, the right foot was gone, and the left leg from the knee down was missing. Later reports from the medical examiner
revealed that there were injuries, two cracked ribs, that happened at or about the time of death.
DNA
tests verified that they were the bodies of Laci Peterson and her son, Conner. Mother and fetus had not been separated by coffin birth
, as had been speculated. Rather, Laci's upper torso had been emptied of internal organs and allowed for the fetus to pass through a perforation in the top of the decomposing uterus
.
when reporters asked if the police considered him a suspect
. Laci's brother, Brent Rocha, defended Scott, claiming that Scott was too distraught to make public statements about Laci, and adding that did not mean he was involved in her disappearance. "No way," Rocha said. "Absolutely not." Laci's family maintained Scott's innocence, and volunteers said that he joined their efforts at the command center every day.
It was later revealed that Scott Peterson had had numerous extramarital affair
s, one of which Laci knew about, but the most recent with a massage
therapist named Amber Frey, a single mother from nearby Fresno
. The affair began after Scott met a woman, Shawn Sibley, at a trade convention where he represented his company, TradeCorp, and told her he was single and "looking." He joked that he should put "Horny Bastard" on his name tag to help him meet women. Though Sibley was attached, she thought Peterson would be a good match for Frey, a friend of hers. She set them up on a blind date in mid-November 2002. Frey informed police of her relationship with Peterson shortly after seeing news of Laci's disappearance on TV , and agreed to record their phone calls. She informed them that, a few weeks before Laci's disappearance, on December 9, Peterson had told her that he was a widow
er and that these would be his first holidays without his wife.
Scott Peterson was arrested on April 18, 2003 in La Jolla, California
in the parking lot of a golf course, where he claimed to be meeting his father and brother for a game of golf. At the time of his arrest, Peterson was carrying $15,000 in cash, had four cell phones, camping equipment, a gun, a map to Frey's workplace that had been printed the day before, Viagra, and his brother's driver's license. His hair and goatee had been bleached blonde. The police took this as an indication that Peterson had planned to flee, possibly to Mexico.
During Scott Peterson's trial, audio recordings of Peterson and Amber Frey's telephone conversations were played, and the transcripts were publicized. The recordings revealed that in the days after Laci went missing, Peterson continued to call Amber on a regular, almost insistent basis. In one of the calls recorded, Peterson claimed to be celebrating New Year's Eve in Paris, at the Eiffel Tower
, with friends named Francois and Pasqual. He said the crowd was "huge." He called Amber "Sweetie" and sounded happy, even excited. In reality, he was attending Laci's New Year's Eve
candlelight vigil
during the course of that telephone call to Amber.
The death of Laci and her fetal
son led to the United States Congress passing the Unborn Victims of Violence Act
, which is widely known as Laci and Conner's Law. On April 1, 2004, Sharon Rocha and her common-law husband Ron Grantski were in attendance at the White House
when President
George W. Bush
signed the bill into law.
Late in 2005, a Stanislaus County, California
judge ruled that Peterson was not entitled to collect on his late wife's $250,000 life insurance policy, having been convicted of her murder. Under California state law, criminals may not profit from insurance policies. On December 19, 2005, the money was given to Laci's mother, Sharon, as the executor of Laci's estate. The California Court of Appeal (Fifth District) later affirmed the trial court's decision on October 31, 2007.
In 2006, Sharon Rocha wrote For Laci: A Mother's Story of Love, Loss, and Justice
, a biography and memoir about the life and death of her daughter. All proceeds are used to fund the Laci and Conner Search and Rescue Fund, which Sharon Rocha had founded.
Many observers of the unfolding case have drawn parallels between the murder of Evelyn Hernandez
and that of Laci Peterson, as both were murdered late into their pregnancy, their mutilated torsos lacked heads, and parts of their limbs were both found in the San Francisco Bay. Scott Peterson's attorney, Mark Geragos, suggested at one point that the two pregnant women could have been murdered by a ritualistic Satanic cult, pointing out the way both women's bodies were decomposed and the location where both bodies were found.
On September 20, 2006, former Congressman William E. Dannemeyer
sent a letter to Attorney General
Bill Lockyer
pointing out that both Laci and Evelyn disappeared on satanic holy days, and that they both ended up in the San Francisco Bay with their hands, feet, and heads missing.
was an American woman who was the subject of a highly discussed murder case after she went missing while seven and a half months pregnant with her first child. Peterson was reportedly last seen alive on December 24, 2002. Her husband, Scott Peterson
Scott Peterson
Scott Lee Peterson , an American, was convicted of murdering his wife, Laci Peterson, and their unborn child in Modesto, California, in 2002. Peterson's arrest and subsequent trial dominated the American news media until 2005, when he was sentenced to death by lethal injection...
, was later convicted of murder in the first degree for Laci, and in the second degree for their prenatal son. Scott Peterson is currently on death row
Death row
Death row signifies the place, often a section of a prison, that houses individuals awaiting execution. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting execution , even in places where no special facility or separate unit for condemned inmates exists.After individuals are found...
at San Quentin State Prison
San Quentin State Prison
San Quentin State Prison is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men in unincorporated San Quentin, Marin County, California, United States. Opened in July 1852, it is the oldest prison in the state. California's only death row for male inmates, the largest...
.
Early life and marriage
Laci Denise Rocha was born in Modesto, CaliforniaModesto, California
Modesto is a city in, and is the county seat of, Stanislaus County, California. With a population of approximately 201,165 at the 2010 census, Modesto ranks as the 18th largest city in the state of California....
. Her parents, Dennis Robert Rocha and Sharon Ruth Anderson, met in high school and married shortly after graduation. Their first child, Brent Rocha, was born in 1971. Laci was the couple's second child, born in 1975. Her parents separated after Laci's first birthday. Dennis later remarried and had another daughter, Amy. Laci grew up visiting her father's dairy farm in Escalon, California
Escalon, California
Escalon is a city in San Joaquin County, California, United States. The population was 7,132 at the 2010 census, up from 5,963 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
, and she was a cheerleader in junior high
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
and high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
. After graduating from Thomas Downey High School
Thomas Downey High School
Thomas Downey High School is a High School in Modesto, California. It is one of the seven high schools in Modesto. George Lucas, Tony Graziani, Laci Peterson and Olympian and American Discus Record Holder Suzy Powell, are some of its notable graduates....
, Laci attended California Polytechnic State University
California Polytechnic State University
California Polytechnic State University, or Cal Poly, is a public university located in San Luis Obispo, California, United States. The university is one of two polytechnic campuses in the 23-member California State University system....
. At Cal Poly, she majored
Academic major
In the United States and Canada, an academic major or major concentration is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits....
in ornamental horticulture
Horticulture
Horticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation including the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic...
. She hoped someday to open a specialty plant shop. While at Cal Poly, Laci met Scott Peterson
Scott Peterson
Scott Lee Peterson , an American, was convicted of murdering his wife, Laci Peterson, and their unborn child in Modesto, California, in 2002. Peterson's arrest and subsequent trial dominated the American news media until 2005, when he was sentenced to death by lethal injection...
at a small restaurant in Morro Bay called Pacific Café.
In December 1996, Scott and Laci became engaged, and they married on August 9, 1997, a few months before Laci's graduation. For the first two years or so of their marriage, they delayed trying to have children, but Laci began to express an interest in starting a family. In December 2000, they decided to try for a pregnancy
Pregnancy
Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...
. Becoming pregnant took longer than expected, and on the verge of scheduling fertility tests
Assisted reproductive technology
Assisted reproductive technology is a general term referring to methods used to achieve pregnancy by artificial or partially artificial means. It is reproductive technology used primarily in infertility treatments. Some forms of ART are also used in fertile couples for genetic reasons...
, Laci and Scott Peterson conceived naturally in May 2002. The baby was due on February 10, 2003, and the couple planned to name their son Conner Latham Peterson.
Disappearance and discovery of the bodies
Apart from her husband, the last two people known to have spoken to Laci before she disappeared were her half-sister, Amy Rocha, and her mother, Sharon Rocha. Amy cut Scott's hair and showed Laci how to style her hair on the evening of December 23, 2002 at Salon Salon. Later that evening, Sharon talked to Laci on the telephone around 8:30 pm. Shortly after 10:00 am the following morning, a neighbor found the family dog, a golden retriever named McKenzie, running loose in the neighborhood, wearing a collar and a muddy leash. The neighbor then returned McKenzie to the yard. Laci's 1996 Land Rover DiscoveryLand Rover Discovery
The Discovery was introduced into the United Kingdom in 1989. The company code-named the vehicle "Project Jay". The new model was based on the chassis and drivetrain of the more upmarket Range Rover, but with a lower price aimed at a larger market segment and intended to compete with Japanese...
SE sport utility vehicle
Sport utility vehicle
A sport utility vehicle is a generic marketing term for a vehicle similar to a station wagon, but built on a light-truck chassis. It is usually equipped with four-wheel drive for on- or off-road ability, and with some pretension or ability to be used as an off-road vehicle. Not all four-wheel...
was in the driveway, and her Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton Malletier – commonly referred to as Louis Vuitton , or shortened to LV – is a French fashion house founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton. The label is well known for its LV monogram, which is featured on most products, ranging from luxury trunks and leather goods to ready-to-wear, shoes,...
purse
Handbag
A handbag, or purse in American English, is a handled medium-to-large bag that is often fashionably designed, typically used by women, to hold personal items such as wallet/coins, keys, cosmetics, a hairbrush, pepper spray, cigarettes, mobile phone etc....
, containing her keys and cell phone, was hanging in the bedroom closet.
When Scott Peterson returned home from fishing that evening, Laci was not there. He washed his clothes, ate some cold pizza, took time to clean up the kitchen, and took a shower. At that point (roughly 5:15 pm), he called Sharon Rocha to ask if Laci was with her. When Sharon told Scott that Laci was not there, Scott said, "Laci's missing." Sharon later said that she knew in her heart something horrible had happened to her daughter. Scott stated that when he left that morning, Laci was watching an episode of Martha Stewart
Martha Stewart
Martha Stewart is an American business magnate, author, magazine publisher, and television personality. As founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she has gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing publishing, broadcasting, and merchandising...
, and planned to walk the couple's dog, McKenzie, in nearby East La Loma Park. However, Scott later changed his story by telling Sharon he last saw Laci curling her hair the way her sister showed her the night before.
Laci's parents called the police at 6 pm. A search of the park and surrounding areas immediately ensued. It was highly out of character for Laci to leave without a word. Police, family members, friends, and neighbors searched widely on foot, in all-terrain vehicles, patrol cars, and sport utility vehicles, helicopters equipped with search lights also heat sensors, water rescue units, search dogs, and horseback teams. Law enforcement agencies from several counties became involved. Police suspected foul play, doubting that Laci would vanish on Christmas Eve without contacting anyone. At a press conference, detective Al Brocchini said, "That is completely out of character for her."
A $25,000 reward was offered, later increased to $250,000, and finally to $500,000 for any information leading to her safe return. Posters, blue on yellow ribbons, fliers circulated, and the LaciPeterson.com website was launched. Friends, family, and volunteers set up a command center at a nearby Red Lion Hotel
Red Lion Hotels Corporation
Red Lion Hotels Corporation , formerly the WestCoast Hospitality until 2006, is a US corporation operating in the western United States and Canada through three subsidiaries: Red Lion Hotels, WestCoast Hotel Partners and TicketsWest.-History:...
to record developments and circulate information. Over 1,000 volunteers signed up to distribute information and to help search for Laci. Critics alleged that this was another example of missing white woman syndrome
Missing white woman syndrome
Missing white woman syndrome or missing pretty girl syndrome is a term used by some media and social critics to describe the seemingly disproportionate degree of coverage in television, radio, newspaper and magazine reporting of a misfortune, most often a missing person case, involving a young,...
, and that similar cases (primarily that of Evelyn Hernandez
Evelyn Hernandez
Evelyn Hernandez was a woman who disappeared along with her five-year-old son in San Francisco, California in May 2002. She was nine months pregnant with her second child at the time she went missing.-Disappearance and murder:...
) were being ignored by the media and the community. However it should be noted that it was the immediate family and friends of Laci and the Rochas that organized the initial search and vigil for Laci: In the first two days up to 900 people were involved in looking for Laci, before community officials or police directly participated in the actual search and prior to significant media coverage.
On April 13, 2003, a couple walking their dog discovered the decomposing but well-preserved body of a late-term male fetus on the San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
shore in Richmond's
Richmond, California
Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was incorporated on August 7, 1905. It is located in the East Bay, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is a residential inner suburb of San Francisco, as well as the site of heavy industry, which has been...
Point Isabel Regional Shoreline
Point Isabel Regional Shoreline
Point Isabel Regional Shoreline in Richmond, California, operated by East Bay Regional Park District, is an award-winning park offering activities for humans as well as dogs. It also features a concession offering food for humans and grooming for pets. It has easy access for pedestrians, public...
park, north of Berkeley. One day later, the body of a recently-pregnant woman, wearing cream-colored maternity pants and a maternity bra, washed to shore one mile away from where the baby's body was found. The woman's cause of death was impossible to determine due to decomposition; the body was decapitated, the forearms were missing, the right foot was gone, and the left leg from the knee down was missing. Later reports from the medical examiner
Medical examiner
A medical examiner is a medically qualified government officer whose duty is to investigate deaths and injuries that occur under unusual or suspicious circumstances, to perform post-mortem examinations, and in some jurisdictions to initiate inquests....
revealed that there were injuries, two cracked ribs, that happened at or about the time of death.
DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
tests verified that they were the bodies of Laci Peterson and her son, Conner. Mother and fetus had not been separated by coffin birth
Coffin birth
Coffin birth, known in academia by the more accurate term postmortem fetal extrusion, is the expulsion of a nonviable fetus through the vaginal opening of the decomposing body of a pregnant woman as a result of the increasing pressure of intraabdominal gases. This kind of postmortem delivery...
, as had been speculated. Rather, Laci's upper torso had been emptied of internal organs and allowed for the fetus to pass through a perforation in the top of the decomposing uterus
Uterus
The uterus or womb is a major female hormone-responsive reproductive sex organ of most mammals including humans. One end, the cervix, opens into the vagina, while the other is connected to one or both fallopian tubes, depending on the species...
.
Aftermath
From the start, Scott Peterson was reluctant to talk to the press; at one point, he stormed out of a family press conferenceNews conference
A news conference or press conference is a media event in which newsmakers invite journalists to hear them speak and, most often, ask questions. A joint press conference instead is held between two or more talking sides.-Practice:...
when reporters asked if the police considered him a suspect
Suspect
In the parlance of criminal justice, a suspect is a known person suspected of committing a crime.Police and reporters often incorrectly use the word suspect when referring to the...
. Laci's brother, Brent Rocha, defended Scott, claiming that Scott was too distraught to make public statements about Laci, and adding that did not mean he was involved in her disappearance. "No way," Rocha said. "Absolutely not." Laci's family maintained Scott's innocence, and volunteers said that he joined their efforts at the command center every day.
It was later revealed that Scott Peterson had had numerous extramarital affair
Affair
Affair may refer to professional, personal, or public business matters or to a particular business or private activity of a temporary duration, as in family affair, a private affair, or a romantic affair.-Political affair:...
s, one of which Laci knew about, but the most recent with a massage
Massage
Massage is the manipulation of superficial and deeper layers of muscle and connective tissue to enhance function, aid in the healing process, and promote relaxation and well-being. The word comes from the French massage "friction of kneading", or from Arabic massa meaning "to touch, feel or handle"...
therapist named Amber Frey, a single mother from nearby Fresno
Fresno
Fresno is the fifth largest city in California.Fresno may also refer to:-Places:Colombia* Fresno, TolimaSpain* Fresno, a ghost village in Nidáliga, Valle de Sedano, Burgos* Aldea del Fresno, Madrid* Fresno de la Vega, Ribera del Esla, León...
. The affair began after Scott met a woman, Shawn Sibley, at a trade convention where he represented his company, TradeCorp, and told her he was single and "looking." He joked that he should put "Horny Bastard" on his name tag to help him meet women. Though Sibley was attached, she thought Peterson would be a good match for Frey, a friend of hers. She set them up on a blind date in mid-November 2002. Frey informed police of her relationship with Peterson shortly after seeing news of Laci's disappearance on TV , and agreed to record their phone calls. She informed them that, a few weeks before Laci's disappearance, on December 9, Peterson had told her that he was a widow
Widow
A widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or occasionally viduity. The adjective form is widowed...
er and that these would be his first holidays without his wife.
Scott Peterson was arrested on April 18, 2003 in La Jolla, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in the parking lot of a golf course, where he claimed to be meeting his father and brother for a game of golf. At the time of his arrest, Peterson was carrying $15,000 in cash, had four cell phones, camping equipment, a gun, a map to Frey's workplace that had been printed the day before, Viagra, and his brother's driver's license. His hair and goatee had been bleached blonde. The police took this as an indication that Peterson had planned to flee, possibly to Mexico.
During Scott Peterson's trial, audio recordings of Peterson and Amber Frey's telephone conversations were played, and the transcripts were publicized. The recordings revealed that in the days after Laci went missing, Peterson continued to call Amber on a regular, almost insistent basis. In one of the calls recorded, Peterson claimed to be celebrating New Year's Eve in Paris, at the Eiffel Tower
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower is a puddle iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. Built in 1889, it has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world...
, with friends named Francois and Pasqual. He said the crowd was "huge." He called Amber "Sweetie" and sounded happy, even excited. In reality, he was attending Laci's New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
candlelight vigil
Vigil
A vigil is a period of purposeful sleeplessness, an occasion for devotional watching, or an observance...
during the course of that telephone call to Amber.
The death of Laci and her fetal
Fetus
A fetus is a developing mammal or other viviparous vertebrate after the embryonic stage and before birth.In humans, the fetal stage of prenatal development starts at the beginning of the 11th week in gestational age, which is the 9th week after fertilization.-Etymology and spelling variations:The...
son led to the United States Congress passing the Unborn Victims of Violence Act
Unborn Victims of Violence Act
The Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004 is a United States law which recognizes a "child in utero" as a legal victim, if he or she is injured or killed during the commission of any of over 60 listed federal crimes of violence...
, which is widely known as Laci and Conner's Law. On April 1, 2004, Sharon Rocha and her common-law husband Ron Grantski were in attendance at the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
when President
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
signed the bill into law.
Late in 2005, a Stanislaus County, California
Stanislaus County, California
Stanislaus County is a county located in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. As the price of housing has increased in the San Francisco Bay Area, many people who work in the southern reaches of the Bay Area have opted for the longer commute and moved to Stanislaus County for the...
judge ruled that Peterson was not entitled to collect on his late wife's $250,000 life insurance policy, having been convicted of her murder. Under California state law, criminals may not profit from insurance policies. On December 19, 2005, the money was given to Laci's mother, Sharon, as the executor of Laci's estate. The California Court of Appeal (Fifth District) later affirmed the trial court's decision on October 31, 2007.
In 2006, Sharon Rocha wrote For Laci: A Mother's Story of Love, Loss, and Justice
For Laci
For Laci is a book written by Sharon Rocha. On January 29, 2006 it was listed at #1 on the The New York Times Non-Fiction Best Seller list....
, a biography and memoir about the life and death of her daughter. All proceeds are used to fund the Laci and Conner Search and Rescue Fund, which Sharon Rocha had founded.
Many observers of the unfolding case have drawn parallels between the murder of Evelyn Hernandez
Evelyn Hernandez
Evelyn Hernandez was a woman who disappeared along with her five-year-old son in San Francisco, California in May 2002. She was nine months pregnant with her second child at the time she went missing.-Disappearance and murder:...
and that of Laci Peterson, as both were murdered late into their pregnancy, their mutilated torsos lacked heads, and parts of their limbs were both found in the San Francisco Bay. Scott Peterson's attorney, Mark Geragos, suggested at one point that the two pregnant women could have been murdered by a ritualistic Satanic cult, pointing out the way both women's bodies were decomposed and the location where both bodies were found.
On September 20, 2006, former Congressman William E. Dannemeyer
William E. Dannemeyer
William Edwin Dannemeyer is a conservative American politician, activist, and author, known for his anti-gay political position. He is currently honorary national chairman of Citizens for a Better America. He served as U.S...
sent a letter to Attorney General
California Attorney General
The California Attorney General is the State Attorney General of California. The officer's duty is to ensure that "the laws of the state are uniformly and adequately enforced" The Attorney General carries out the responsibilities of the office through the California Department of Justice.The...
Bill Lockyer
Bill Lockyer
William Westwood "Bill" Lockyer is an American politician. He is the current 32nd State Treasurer of California, elected in 2006 and re-elected in 2010. He has also served as California Attorney General and President Pro Tempore of the California State Senate...
pointing out that both Laci and Evelyn disappeared on satanic holy days, and that they both ended up in the San Francisco Bay with their hands, feet, and heads missing.
See also
- Jessie Davis, murdered near-term pregnant woman, the father of her unborn child was convicted.
- Lori HackingLori HackingLori Kay Soares Hacking was a Salt Lake City, Utah, woman who was killed by her husband, Mark Hacking, in 2004. She was reported missing by her husband, and the search earned national attention before her husband confessed to the crime.-Biography:Lori was the adopted daughter of Thelma and Herald...
, killed by her husband in 2004, search earned national attention before her husband confessed. - LaToyia FigueroaLaToyia FigueroaLaToyia Figueroa was an American woman of African-American and Hispanic descent who was murdered in 2005. Figueroa, who was five months pregnant at the time, was reported missing on July 18, 2005 after she failed to show up to work...
, disappeared in 2005 while five months pregnant, found strangled. - Domestic violenceDomestic violenceDomestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence , is broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation...
, a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship.