Scott Peterson denies killing his pregnant wife nearly two decades ago in new documentary
Convicted murderer Scott Peterson is escorted by two San Mateo County deputies as he is walked from the jail to an awaiting van March 17
By Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN
(CNN) — Nearly 20 years after Scott Peterson was convicted of murder in the deaths of his wife and their unborn son – and months after the Los Angeles Innocence Project took up his case – he is speaking out in a new documentary to again proclaim he didn’t do it.
In a clip from Peacock’s unreleased documentary “Face to Face with Scott Peterson” that aired on NBC’s “Today” show Thursday, Peterson is asked why anyone should want to hear his side of the story. He replies, “‘Cause I didn’t kill my family.”
After a nearly six-month trial in 2004 that captivated followers of the case from the start, Peterson was found guilty of first-degree murder for Laci’s death and second-degree murder for the death of the couple’s unborn son, Conner. He was sentenced to death, but that was later overturned and he was resentenced to life without parole.
In December 2002, Peterson reported his pregnant wife, Laci, missing from the couple’s Modesto, California, home. Less than four months later, the bodies of Laci and Conner were found washed up in San Francisco Bay.
Prosecutors alleged at the time that Peterson’s motive for the murders was to escape married life and upcoming fatherhood.
The case has been widely documented in movies, TV shows, books, podcasts and documentaries over the years; Wedneday, Netflix released a three-part docuseries titled “American Murder: Laci Peterson” also chronicling the case, with an in-depth interview with Laci’s mother, Sharon Rocha. Peacock’s documentary airs on August 20.
In 2023, Peterson’s attorneys filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in which they alleged “violations of state and federal constitutional rights and state statutory rights, including … a claim of actual innocence that is supported by newly discovered evidence.”
The Los Angeles Innocence Project, a nonprofit that works to exonerate people who are wrongly convicted, announced a year later it was investigating Peterson’s “claim of actual innocence” as Peterson works at his bid for a new trial.
CNN has reached out to the Innocence Project for comment.
In May, a California judge ruled DNA on duct tape that was adhered to Laci Peterson’s pants when her body was found could be retested.
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