Through a new Peacock documentary, Scott Peterson is maintaining his innocence in the death of his wife Laci.
Nowadays, there’s always a little something extra we get with what might be called the “trial of the century.” It’s not just the endless media presence, the internet conspiracies or the water cooler stance of innocent vs. guilty – it’s the documentary. When we think of some of these trials tied directly to murder, a few names probably pop up more often than others: Casey Anthony, Amanda Knox, etc. And these subjects usually have no problem sitting down to again tell their side of the story and get the latest word in, even years after the conviction. The latest is Scott Peterson, who you probably remember was found guilty of both first- and second-degree murder of his wife, Laci, who was eight months pregnant at the time of her death.
Twenty years after the conviction, Scott Peterson – and the death of Laci – is the subject of two documentaries: Netflix’s American Murder: Laci Peterson and Peacock’s Face to Face with Scott Peterson. Even though most won’t be convinced otherwise, pinning him as the killer from the get-go, Peterson maintains that he is innocent, participating in interviews for the first time since before the conviction. As he states in Face to Face, “You know, there was a burglary across the street from our home. There were a lot of people in that burglary. And I believe that Laci went over there to see what was going on. And that’s when she was taken…It was the evidence they decided to ignore and to go with the theory…I wasn’t the last one to see Laci that day. There’s so many credible witnesses who saw her walking.” It should be noted that these conversations with Peterson took place from prison, as he is currently serving a life sentence after having initially been sentenced to death.
While officially deemed two separate incidents, the burglary and disappearance of Laci Peterson are at the forefront of this documentary. As per Peacock’s official synopsis, “While many still believe the jury got it right, Scott’s family and experts close to the case have spent over 20 years committed to uncovering inconsistencies in the evidence as well as finding new information around alternative theories surrounding Laci’s murder. And in a shocking twist on a murder the world thought was solved, the Los Angeles Innocence Project takes over Scott’s case.”
Many viewers of the Scott Peterson doc – as with the case of Amanda Knox and Casey Anthony, just to cite a couple of other high-profile cases that immediately became media fodder – will never be moved on their stance of the verdict, even with new analyses and potential evidence at the forefront. Knox was found guilty of murdering her roommate before having that conviction overturned, while Anthony was found not guilty of the death of her two-year-old daughter.
Do you see anything working to the advantage of Scott Peterson through the dual documentaries? Will the public perception change? Give us your thoughts and memories of the trial in the comments section below.