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Convicted Murderer Scott Peterson Reveals What He Believes Happened to Wife Laci
Convicted murderer Scott Peterson has maintained his innocence in the murder of his wife and unborn son for more than 20 years. During his first interview from prison, the California native reveals what he believes really happened to Laci Peterson.
What Does Scott Peterson Believe Happened to Laci?
“You know, there was a burglary across the street from our home. There were a lot of people in that burglary,” Scott said during the Peacock documentary Face to Face With Scott Peterson in August 2024. “And I believe that Laci went over there to see what was going on. And that’s when she was taken.”
Scott continued, “At the volunteer center, people were coming in and some wanted to go search while some came in with tips. I passed it on to the police because I wanted them to follow up and I thought they were following up on it. I found out later that they weren’t following up on anything.”
Laci was reported missing on December 24, 2002, after Scott returned home from a fishing trip and his wife was not home. Their dog was found by a neighbor wandering the streets with her leash still attached. The original theory was that Laci was out walking the dog on Christmas Eve morning in a local park when she disappeared.
Despite Laci and her son Conner’s bodies later being found in the San Francisco Bay, not far from where Scott claimed to have been fishing on the day of their disappearance, Scott believes “police just told everyone where [I was].”
“They just gave everyone a way to implicate you [by telling them where to dump Laci’s body],” he recalled someone saying to him. “People wanted the answer they believed to continue to be the answer. We are all slow to admit we are wrong.”
Were the Burglars Investigated in Laci’s Disappearance?
Amid the search for Laci in the days following her Christmas Eve 2002 disappearance, the house across the street was burglarized. The Medina family was reportedly out of town for the holiday and discovered their home had been broken into upon their return on December 26, 2002.
“As the burglary detectives started working on this, the concern was the possibility that it could be related to Laci’s disappearance,” Detective Jon Buehler said during the August 2024 Netflix documentary American Crime: Laci Peterson.
Detective Al Brocchini added, “So it’s being investigated. We have detectives go out. Maybe these burglars have something to do [with it], maybe they saw something. You know, maybe they saw Laci. We don’t know but we want to find these burglars.”
While Scott’s family – including sister-in-law Janey Peterson who went on to become a lawyer following Scott’s conviction – have maintained their belief that the burglary was connected to Laci’s murder.
“The problem with the burglary theory is that, even from the beginning, it seemed to be a moving target. There was nothing very concrete about it. The medinas were burglarized, clearly. When is the question,” Detective Brocchini continued. “Originally it’s the 24th, that’s because a neighbor believes they saw a suspicious van outside the Medina house on the 24th.”
However, the theories proved to be weak as the supposed eyewitness’ story was constantly changing.
Local criminals Donald Glen Pearce and Steven Wayne Todd were arrested for the Medina burglary but quickly cooperated with authorities after learning they were being linked to Laci’s disappearance.
“They knew they were going to jail for the burglary,” Detective Buehler added. “There’s a code among inmates that you don’t hurt children and you don’t hurt vulnerable women. So not only did they take a polygraph, but they were almost begging for a polygraph just so they could have the results to show the other inmates.”
After clearing the polygraph test, investigators revealed “there was not one piece of evidence, not one piece of property, jewelry or anything else that was ever found to be related to Laci.”
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