You might assume that Scott Peterson doesn't have a chance of getting out of jail. Scott, who was once a fertilizer salesman, was initially sentenced to life in prison for the death of his wife, Laci, and their unborn son, Conner.
At the time, Scott was having an affair — and he told his partner that his wife was already deceased. That alone makes it seem like Scott had a plan for his wife's disappearance. But something strange happened. In 2020, his death sentence was overturned, shocking everyone who followed the crime.
Scott is set to have a new penalty phase trial, and the California Supreme Court also decided that the courts should determine whether his guilty verdict should be overturned, leading to the possibility of a whole new murder trial. If that happens, his sister-in-law, Janey Peterson, believes that new evidence will prove that Scott is actually innocent.
On December 24, 2002, Scott Peterson told police officers that he last saw wife Laci at their home in Modesto, California, around 9:30 a.m., when he left for a fishing excursion. At the time, he refused to take a polygraph test, and he also seemed not too concerned about his wife's whereabouts.
The decision to reverse his death penalty was reportedly due to an alleged problem with the jury selection at the time. Regardless, it's opened up an opportunity for Scott to try to fight in court once more. And this time, his sister-in-law thinks he'll gain his freedom.
Janey Peterson is 53 and currently married to Scott's brother Joe Peterson. While it makes sense that she'd want to side with her brother-in-law, it's interesting to hear her perspective on the case, having a closer relationship to it.
"There's evidence that was completely ignored that shows Laci was alive after he left for the day," she told Today.
One of Janey Peterson's beliefs is that Laci was killed by men who were trying to rob her neighbor's house. She thinks they may have framed Scott by leaving Laci's body close to where he was planning to fish.
"If you have an opportunity to get away with murder," she said, "you're gonna do it."
She also chose to talk about Amber Frey, his mistress who claimed that Scott told her Laci was already deceased. "There's nothing I can say to justify or explain that statement," Janey said, "but also, there was no evidence that he had anything to do with what happened to Laci." It may seem a little far-fetched, but Janey has reportedly devoted a lot of time to proving her brother-in-law wasn't connected to the death.
Some of Janey's proof lies in statements made about the Petersons' dog. A neighbor reportedly spotted their golden retriever out in their gated yard at 10:15 a.m. But the mailman, who reportedly arrived at 10:30 a.m., said he didn't see the dog outside. She believes that Laci took the dog out for a walk after Scott left the house.
Of course, it may be difficult for a mailperson, who often has a monotonous route, to pick up on small details that might not seem important at the time. Janey also doesn't think that Scott's affair had anything to do with the murder. But that's also a tough argument to make.
It's also easy to compare this case to Chris Watts, who was also a family annihilator. After Chris started having an affair, he wanted to leave his wife and children behind. So in his case, the other woman was a huge motivator for the crime. Having someone on the side when your wife disappears is automatically suspicious.
Scott's convictions were ordered to be reexamined on October 14, 2020. On October 23, it was announced that Assistant District Attorney Dave Harris is hoping once again to seek the death penalty for Scott in another trial. Not many get a second chance in court, so it makes sense as to why Scott's family is trying hard to secure his freedom.
While it's important to learn the truth about what happened to Laci Peterson and her unborn son, it's also important to honor her memory throughout these trials. No matter what, the constant attention must be tough for her family to find closure. Not only did they learn that their daughter was missing, but they had to live with the fact that Scott was unfaithful to her while she was pregnant. According to Janey, that's something that will also haunt Scott.
"He has to die knowing that everyone stopped looking for Laci because he was having an affair," Janey said, per ABC. "We make no excuse for Scott's behavior in that sense. But unfortunately, a lot of that is being used to convict him of murder."
If Scott does prove himself innocent, it'll be a trial that nobody ever would have suspected. But sometimes, just looking over the clues once more will give someone a brand-new viewpoint. The sad new is, Laci will never get to be able to continue on with her life. But hopefully, the actual person or persons who caused her death — whether it was Scott or someone else — will get the punishment they deserve.
