A California fire official has claimed he examined a burned-out van with traces of blood near Scott Peterson’s home that could be used as new evidence in his case.
The Los Angeles Innocence Project has taken on the convicted killer’s case, with the intention of reviewing previously “withheld” evidence that could exonerate him, according to court records revealed Thursday.
Peterson, 51, is currently serving life without parole for the 2002 murders of his wife Laci and their unborn son Conner.
Bryan Spitulski, a former Modesto Fire Department investigator, said ABC news he investigated a burned-out van with a mattress with bloodstains on it near the Petersons’ home in Modesto.
“I don’t know if I connected the moment to Laci, I more connected the moment to it being human blood,” Spitulski said.
Bryan Spitulski, a former Modesto Fire Department investigator, told ABC News that he investigated a burned-out van with a mattress with bloodstains on it near the Petersons’ home.
The LA Innocence Project has taken on the case of Scott Petersen, who was convicted of murdering his wife Laci and their unborn son Conner in 2002
“It seemed like this was much more important than just a burned-out vehicle that someone just wanted to get rid of or cover up a simple crime.”
The former fire investigator said he strongly believes the van evidence should be re-evaluated if blood testing can still be done.
“I have no agenda or opinion on his guilt or innocence. This to me is a fire investigation in a vehicle with blood, possibly blood, on the mattress, and that’s important there,” Spitulski said.
“This has always been one of those things that kind of sticks in the back of your mind and kind of irritates you and makes you wonder why this hasn’t happened or why it hasn’t been talked about.”
The Los Angeles Innocence Project told DailyMail.com they are investigating Peterson’s claim of actual innocence.
NBC News As reported in new court filings, his attorneys are focusing on the burned-out van, the burglary of the house across the street and evidence found on the shore of the bay.
In paperwork filed with the Superior Court of California in San Mateo, his lawyers point to “blood splatters” in the home where Peterson is accused of killing his pregnant wife Laci, but insist they are not his.
The LA Innocence Project said they are revisiting previously ‘withheld’ evidence that could exonerate Peterson, who is currently serving a life sentence
Peterson initially received the death penalty, but it was overturned by the California Supreme Court in August 2020
Peterson’s lawyers argue that his murder conviction should be overturned entirely because juror Richelle Nice (pictured), called ‘Strawberry Shortcake’, was biased
Laci was 27 years old and eight months pregnant when she disappeared on Christmas Eve in 2002.
Peterson led the search for his wife, but was arrested months later when her body washed up on the San Francisco shoreline in 2003.
He has always claimed that she was murdered by a panicked burglar after he caught them ransacking the couple’s home.
However, a jury convicted him of the murder and decided that he was motivated by an affair he was having at the time with Amber Frey, a 20-year-old massage therapist.
He was initially given the death penalty, but that sentence was overturned by the California Supreme Court in August 2020 after it found that jurors had been improperly screened for bias.
Peterson’s attorneys previously pushed unsuccessfully for a new trial, claiming that Peterson’s conviction was tainted by the involvement of a juror obsessed with him.
Peterson was convicted after jurors were told he had a mistress, Amber Frey (pictured with Peterson), and that he feared becoming a father
Peterson’s mistress, Amber Frey, did not know he was married when the two started dating
Richelle Nice later admitted to sending the killer seventeen letters, including one sent from the psychiatric ward that was allegedly left out crucial details about her past as a survivor of domestic violence during the jury selection process.
Nice, nicknamed “strawberry shortcake” because of her dyed red hair, revealed in court that she wrote more than a dozen letters to Peterson after helping convict him while he was on death row.
But judge Anne-Christine Massullo ruled that Nice, who was juror number seven, did not act out of misconduct but out of emotion caused by the proceedings.
In December 2022, Peterson’s request for a new trial was denied. Now the LA Innocence Project is leading his case.
