In his first on-camera interview since his arrest 21 years ago, notorious wife killer Scott Peterson is speaking out from behind bars at California’s Mule Creek State Prison.
In the new three-part docuseries, “Face to Face with Scott Peterson,” Peterson, who is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole, denies any involvement in the disappearance and death of Laci and their unborn child, Conner.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, a California jury found Peterson guilty of murdering Laci and Conner in 2004. Peterson is now hoping that his latest appeal, supported by the Los Angeles Innocence Project, which claims that previously untested DNA evidence could implicate someone else in the murders, will help exonerate him.
Peterson is also appealing to the public, People magazine reports, urging them to consider his side of the story. He reportedly referred to work by police and prosecutors in his case as a “so-called investigation,” claiming they ignored significant leads and relied solely on circumstantial evidence to convict him.
“I regret not testifying [at my trial], but if I have a chance to show people what the truth is, and if they are willing to accept it, it would be the biggest thing that I can accomplish right now—because I didn’t kill my family,” he said.
Prosecutors during the trial portrayed Peterson as a cheating spouse who didn’t want to be a father and subsequently murdered his wife to escape his marriage without having to pay spousal and child support.
“That is so offensive and so disgusting,” Peterson said. “I certainly regret cheating on Laci, absolutely. It was about a childish lack of self-esteem, selfish me traveling somewhere, lonely that night because I wasn’t at home. Someone makes you feel good because they want have sex with you.”
Laci vanished on Christmas Eve 2002, a month before she was due to give birth. Prosecutors said Peterson strangled or suffocated her before wrapping her in a tarp, fastening her to anchors, and dropping her in the San Francisco Bay.
Peterson claimed he was fishing in Berkeley when his pregnant wife vanished.
The California Supreme Court overturned his death sentence in 2020 after jurors who disagreed with the death penalty (but were willing to impose it) were found to be unfairly dismissed from the case. There were also issues surrounding prejudicial misconduct after a domestic violence victim was put on the jury.
In 2021, Scott Peterson was re-sentenced to life in prison without parole for the slayings. Later that year, a judge denied his bid for a new trial.
“Face to Face with Scott Peterson“ premiers on Peacock on August 20
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[Featured image: FILE – Photographs of Laci Peterson are placed at a memorial outside the home of Scott and Laci Peterson, Sunday, April 20, 2003 in Modesto, Calif. A California judge has rejected a new murder trial for Scott Peterson. The decision Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022, comes nearly 20 years after Peterson was charged with dumping the bodies of his pregnant wife, Laci, and the unborn child they planned to name Conner into San Francisco Bay on Christmas Eve 2002. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)]
