Disclaimer: The article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.
In December 2002, a woman named Laci Peterson disappeared from her residence in Modesto, California. Reports indicate that she was eight months pregnant at the time of her disappearance. For months, investigators tried finding Laci and suspected her husband, Scott Peterson. In April 2003, authorities discovered Laci’s decomposed body on the shoreline of Point Isabel. After they found the body, investigators traveled to San Diego to apprehend Peterson.
The case is explored thoroughly in Netflix’s documentary series American Murder: Laci Peterson, which reveals that police discovered Laci Peterson’s body on April 14, 2003. At the time, investigators learned that Scott Peterson was in San Diego, which is less than an hour from the Mexico border. That’s one of the reasons why they wanted to monitor his movements.
The documentary also noted Peterson was living with his sister, Susan, in San Diego and wanted to play golf with some of his family members. However, police started following his vehicle as he drove recklessly. Citing one investigator, the documentary stated, “He [Scott Peterson] is driving worse than any drug dealer I’ve ever followed. He is driving so bad that even a helicopter lost him.”
However, the police continued to follow him because of his cell phone. During the chase, Scott Peterson thought he was being followed by “the media” and had no idea that police cars were chasing him.
What does American Murder: Laci Peterson reveal about Scott Peterson’s arrest?
As mentioned earlier, investigators chased Scott Peterson in San Diego. The documentary revealed that Peterson canceled his program of playing golf with his family members because he didn’t want his pictures in the media. Meanwhile, one of the police officers noted that Peterson was driving so dangerously that they decided to arrest him.
According to the documentary, police arrested Scott Peterson right after he pulled up to the Torrey Pines Golf Course. At the time, Peterson had changed his appearance. He had orange hair and an orange goatee. As one of the police officers walked up to him, Peterson said, “Tell me, it wasn’t my wife and baby.” After his arrest, police investigated Peterson’s car and found almost $15,000 in cash. Moreover, they found multiple cell phones, several knives, viagra, a shovel, a rope, a cooking grill, and credit cards. During the search, authorities also found Peterson’s brother’s ID card on the center console.
The accused’s sister-in-law, Janey Peterson, believed that the perception of Scott Peterson trying to run away was not “accurate.” Additionally, she said that Peterson visited San Diego “multiple times” while Laci Peterson was missing. She added, “The notion that Scott was trying to evade police is just… it just isn’t accurate.”
Scott Peterson initially received a death sentence in Laci Peterson’s murder case. However, in August 2021, the court overturned the decision and resentenced him to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, per CBS News.
American Murder: Laci Peterson will be streaming exclusively on Netflix on August 14.
