MURDERED: Laci Peterson Part 1

[00:00] Hi, Crime Junkies. It's Britt, and I have big news. One of my favorite seasonal shows, CounterClock, is back with a brand new season, and it is wild. Host Delia D'Ambra is digging into the 2008 Lane Bryant murders. I mean, this isn't just a recap. It is a reinvestigation. She's talking to law enforcement, people from the community, even sources who have never spoken publicly until now. And you know I love a show that asks all the questions. Listen to CounterClock Season 8 now wherever you get your podcasts. [00:49] Hi everyone, welcome back to the second episode of Crime Junkie. I am your host, Ashley Flowers, as always, joined by Britt. Hi! [01:00] And if you would leave us a rating and review on iTunes, the only way more people can find the show and hear about the show is if you guys do ratings and reviews. And it's the only way that we can keep bringing you new content and crazy stories like the story I'm about to tell you today. Before we jump into that, though, we'd love to tell you a little bit about our favorite nonprofit organization, Crime Stoppers.

[01:30] This episode of Crime Junkie is brought to you by Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana. Excuse me, can I ask you a question real quick? Yeah, go for it. Do you know what Crime Stoppers is? Is it that dog, the scruff? Nope, can't sing the song, can't afford the song. But do you know what they do? Isn't it the dog just kind of goes around and helps solve the murders for the state government? I don't know. No, no, not quite. Okay. [01:58] While everyone loves the idea of a bad crime-fighting dog, that's not what Crime Stoppers is. Crime Stoppers is a nonprofit that allows a place for people to give anonymous tips about crimes if they are in fear for their life or, for whatever reason, don't want the police to know who they are when they give the tip but they have valuable information. You can do this through phone numbers, online tips. They even have an app called P3 that you can download and submit your tip along with photos and videos. [02:27] Crime Stoppers is a nonprofit and receives no government funding. So look into yours, see how you can get involved, see how you can help. And if you want more information on Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana, go to crimetips.org. [02:40] Alright everyone, this week I have a really infamous case for you. We are going to be talking about the murder of Lacey Peterson. Britt, I don't even know where to start with this case. It's so big. Honestly, I was kind of surprised you chose this one because it's obviously really well known and in my opinion kind of cut and dry.

[03:02] I mean, Scott did it. Scott did it. Scott did it. Scott did it. [03:06] That's the thing. Okay, so I feel like if anyone has the same attitude that you do, they definitely need to listen close to this episode because I thought I knew this case inside and out until I really started digging into the facts. [03:21] I know absolutely nothing. Like nothing I know to be true is true. And there are so many twists and turns that never, I don't know if it's because we're so far away here in Indiana, but like it never made it to us through the media or if the media was intentionally covering up all of these things. But yeah, [03:37] It's not cut and dry. He maybe didn't do it. Well, I'm excited for you to maybe change my mind. [03:45] All right, so we're going to start the day before Lacey goes missing. She and Scott have a really normal day. First, they go to her sister's salon, and Scott gets a haircut, and they actually invite her over for dinner that night, but she already has plans so she doesn't come over. And around 8.30, Lacey calls her mom to confirm plans for Christmas Eve dinner. Christmas Eve is the next day. And after she gets off the phone with her mother, they go to bed. [04:15] be in bed till about 1030 when they fall asleep. [04:19] Now the next day, this is the critical December 24th, 2002, when... [04:25] Lacey is officially reported missing and [04:28] The only account we have from this day obviously comes from Scott because he was the only person who was with her. And...

[04:35] He says the day starts around 7 to 7.30 is when Lacey wakes up and eats breakfast. And he gets up between 8 and 8.30. And around 8.45, 9.45, Lacey's telling Scott all of her plans for the day. She wants to walk the dog. She needs to go to the store because it's her responsibility. She's bringing this like French toast Christmas casserole brunch or breakfast. [04:58] casserole to the brunch that she organized with her mother. And she has to go pick up all the ingredients. And actually, the recipe for this, this, [05:06] casserole was on her kitchen counter so [05:09] That kind of lends credence to his story. And around 9.45, he says that he and her were watching Martha Stewart that morning. And she was talking about making some kind of lemon meringue cookie or something like that. And shortly after this, sometime within the next 40 minutes... [05:26] Lacey is mopping the floor and Scott starts packing up his truck and decides to leave because he was going to go golfing, but it was really too cold that day. And he decides that he is going to take his new boat out and go fishing instead. So he's got a nine minute drive to this warehouse that he keeps where he... [05:46] holds his boat and it's kind of like a little office. It's got this computer and so while he's driving there the police have records. He checks his voicemail at 10 0 8 and the voicemail was from his boss. So when he gets to his warehouse he actually gets on the computer and there's records to show that he was actively using his computer from 10 30 in the morning to 10 56 in the morning and he sends the

[06:10] An email to his boss, replying to the email, and then he looks up instructions on how to assemble this woodworking tool that he had just gotten in the mail a couple of days ago. And at this point, we have about 20 minutes that's unaccounted for of his time. [06:25] But, and, you know, later the prosecution, what everyone says is, you know, in this 20 minutes, he's wrapping up her body, he's attaching weights, he's doing whatever it is he's doing. It's depending on how you look at it, it's either sinister or not. [06:38] but [06:39] What they do find is when they come back to the warehouse, that tool that he had just received in the mail was fully assembled. So it's really possible that in these 20 minutes he was actually assembling the tool that he had looked up instructions to assemble. Makes sense. [06:52] He then leaves and goes to the marina, [06:56] And he gets an actual ticket at 1254, showing that he arrived at the boat dock and was going to launch his boat. And so he gets his boat... [07:05] backed up and into the water, and he, from 1255 to 211, is out fishing. And there are actually people who saw him back up his boat, load up his boat, and launch. And the thing here is, [07:21] is you would think, again, everyone's theory is that he dumped Lacey in the Berkeley Marina or somewhere in the Bay. You would think someone would have seen her body. I mean, they saw him launch. It's a 14-foot little fishing boat. It's not some yacht that he can hide her body below. So he launches off. People see him. They don't say anything, but, you know, who knows? So many questions surrounding that. He ends up leaving between 2.15 and 3.25.

[07:51] boat docked up. And this is where we kind of hear a famous call of him calling Lacey to let her know that he was on his way home. And I call it like the Hey Beautiful call. [08:04] Hey Beautiful, I just left a message at home. 2-15, I'm living in Berkeley. I won't be able to get to Villa Farms to get that basket for Popper. [08:12] I was hoping you would get this message and go on out there. I'll see you in a bit. We love you. Bye. So he's coming back at this point. [08:20] stops for gas. He actually tries to call Lacey again, and he arrives back at his warehouse at 4.13, and he packs everything up and gets home between 4.30 and 4.45, which matches perfectly if he's going to load up his stuff and then make the nine-minute drive back home. And he's, [08:38] At this point, he notices a couple of weird things. So Lacey's car is in the driveway, but Lacey isn't home. And he says at this point, he makes the assumption that Lacey's mom came over and picked her up. And they went Christmas shopping or she went over to help prepare the Christmas Eve dinner or whatever it was. But he's not immediately concerned. The door is unlocked and their dog, Mackenzie, is in the backyard with her leash still on. [09:08] he said that, I mean, anyone with a dog doesn't just leave their dog in the yard with the leash on if they're not like... [09:14] being tied up or something like that. So he takes the leash off and then, um, Lacey had been mopping earlier. If you'll remember when he left, he said that there was like dirty mop water still. So he dumps that out and then he decides to go shower and wash his clothes.

[09:30] And this is huge for everyone who is against Scott. They're saying, like, why on earth would the first thing you do is your wife isn't home and you come home and you shower and you wash your clothes? And he says, well… [09:42] Again, I wasn't super concerned and I [09:46] stunk, I was fishing, I reek. So he wanted to jump in the shower and then he's like, it was super normal. Like if I go into my workshop, I'm often around a lot of chemicals. I have a pregnant wife at home. So a lot of the times, the first thing I'll do is put my clothes in the wash and just start the wash. You know what I mean? It's not like you're washing them by hand. You just press a couple buttons. It's not a huge deal. I gotta say, I agree with him on this. [10:06] Yeah, yeah, not so bad. Not so guilty. [10:10] The next thing he does when he gets out of the shower is he presses play. He sees they have some messages. God, I remember this is 2002. And, like, there's actually – Oh, these mail-rovers, like, machines. Yeah. Actually still answering machines. [10:23] So Scott plays the messages and he hears his own message, which makes him think that she wasn't there to even get that one initially. And then he also hears a message from Lacey's stepdad. And Lacey's stepdad had called to say, hey, you know, when you guys come over later today, can you please bring some whipped cream? We don't have any for the pies. And this is the first time that he starts getting concerned because... [10:46] You know, his assumption is, okay, if you weren't there when I called you, I thought you were with your mother. But now they're calling us asking for something. So he immediately calls her family and starts ringing alarm bells and asking, you know, is she with you? Which immediately, obviously she's not, and everyone starts getting concerned. And he calls them at 517. At 518, the family is on like a full-on search. So Scott takes McKenzie, and he's walking around the neighborhood seeing if he can see any sign of her.

[11:16] happened and she fell over. You know, she's eight months pregnant at this time. So anything can happen. [11:21] And the family's driving around, the family's making calls. And by 547... [11:26] her stepdad calls 911. And this is, again, something that people often point to, like, well, why on earth would you— [11:34] Yeah, Scott calls her dad. Like, no, call 911. But again, I mean, to play devil's advocate, like, if I came home and my husband wasn't home... [11:43] the first thing I'm not gonna do is call 911. I am. I'm gonna like [11:46] call the people who he might be with and not try and overreact right away. But her dad calls 911 and by 6.50, so that's about an hour later... [11:56] Modesto police arrive. And the first detective on the scene is Al Brocchini. And he looks around at the house. Scott lets him in without a warrant and says, yes, absolutely. Look around. Everything looks undisturbed. [12:11] and [12:12] There's nothing really there to go off of, but Al Brocchini says right from the get-go, Scott's demeanor is wrong. He's... [12:21] concerned with them like when they're in the driveway and opening the doors he doesn't want them to like scratch his truck he's making them use coasters under all their drinks and [12:30] And he's like, this isn't, he's not a grieving husband. He's not a concerned husband. [12:35] And so immediately, you know, whether it's his... [12:38] Instincts or not, the first thing a lot of police do is talk to the people close. So they bring Scott in for an interview that night. And so from 12 a.m. to 1 a.m., there is a videotaped interview...

[12:51] of Scott. [12:53] giving his [12:54] you know, testimony of the day and basically telling him like, listen, I, you know, this is what I did. This is where I was. And, you know, he's asking all the important questions like, was there problems in your marriage? And Scott, [13:05] Scott says no, they have a pretty normal marriage, they have a baby on the way, he loved Lacey. [13:10] and [13:11] didn't have anything to do with her disappearance. [13:13] Now, something to mention and [13:16] I don't know when this takes place exactly. So there's a caveat here. So I've seen reports, and I think this was something that at the time in 2002, 2003, 2004, when this was going on, that I heard a lot. [13:29] beat into the ground over and over was [13:32] On December 24th, so this is the same day she goes missing, at some point, I can't find a timestamp for any of this, it's reported that Scott ordered the Playboy channel. [13:44] What a creep. Well, yeah. But when I was looking back again, this to me was something like... [13:51] one of like the highlights. Like, yeah, he, to me, he like killed his wife. He had an affair. He ordered the Playboy channel. Like I could have like said this over and over. And, but when I went back and looked, like all I could find was from like 2004 and it was like People Magazine. There was some like NBC, CBS, but it was like a one and done reporting. [14:09] So I don't know. [14:11] Because what I'm finding in Scott's case is everyone was super anxious and like as soon as something suspicious would come out, everyone would report on it as fact. And then there were some things that as they found out weren't true, they would – like the media wouldn't even back out. They would just pretend like it never happened. So instead of like writing a retraction or saying like, hey, I know we reported this, but here's actually what happened, they just –

[14:34] dropped it. So, it was reported back in 2004 that somewhere on the 24th, and again, I don't know where because he gets home showers, apparently looks for her [14:44] and then like is in police custody. So I don't know when it was, but apparently he orders the Playboy channel. And then a couple of days later... [14:53] he... [14:54] orders like, I think it was like five days later, he orders like more explicit pornography channels. [15:03] show any court documents. I haven't gone through all the court documents, like 30,000 pages. But all I have are these new, so take it with a grain of salt. But if it's real, [15:12] It's real shady. Like, real shady. Definitely. Definitely suspicious. [15:18] So at this point, it takes us into Christmas Day. Like, worst Christmas Day of all time. But Christmas Day. [15:26] he takes, or the police ask him to take a polygraph. And [15:31] at this point, like, his family, he's willing to, but his family says, you know, let's wait. Like, wait till you have a lawyer. Like, [15:39] And even I, if I could say anything, if my husband was missing, I wouldn't take a polygraph. They can't be used in court for a reason. It's not an exact science. [15:52] But this obviously is something that police use to decide if people are being honest. Even, like, will they take it or won't they take it gives a kind of indication. It's an indicator, right. Right. So... [16:03] His whole family urges him not to take the polygraph. So originally he says yes, then he backs out and says no. And again, warning flags for the police, like, just go flying.

[16:12] So on the 26th, the media starts to get a hold of this case, and for them, [16:16] It's perfect. And I think this is what added to the perfect storm of this case is there is no real breaking news coming out on or before or after Christmas. So... [16:28] The news cycle is dead. And in 2002 is when the 24-hour news cycle actually had just begun. And they're constantly trying to fill... [16:40] their stream and so they start flocking to his house and he has basically a media hub just parked on his front lawn. And [16:51] At this point, people start coming forward and telling the family like, hey, you know, I know what's going on. Like I'm in the neighborhood. I see all the police. I've seen the news media. I've seen the reports. And I think I've seen Lacey walking that day. And so all of this went to the police. The family would say, hey, you know, to Detective Al Brocchini, to whoever, like go talk to these people. They said they've seen Lacey. Maybe this will help us find her. And what they're finding is they're assuming that the police are vetting all of this. [17:21] later is I don't think they did a great job of that. Even early on they really had their sights set on Scott. So [17:29] We find out later that there were [17:31] almost 21, 24 sightings of Lacey on the 24th. [17:37] walking her dog. What? Yeah, but none of this really gets into...

[17:43] any formal report or any [17:46] It doesn't play into the prosecution's theory at all of what happened. Yeah, I mean, not like I was at the trial or anything, but I had definitely never heard that. [17:55] Right. [17:57] On the 26th, the police asked Scott, they, you know, they did like an initial like look around on the 24th. But on the 26th, they asked him to do a formal search of the place where they would actually try and collect evidence, do fingerprinting, all of that. [18:13] Again, what we hear in the media is that Scott denied them and that they went in with a search warrant. Scott's version and his family's version of this is Scott had an attorney at this time and he said, yeah, I'm fine with it. Let me clear it with my attorney. And Scott didn't hear back from his attorney in time. And the police just got restless and said, well, you know, we were basically just asking to see what you would say. We have a warrant anyways. And they served the warrant at 5 p.m. on the 26th and did – [18:43] a full sweep of the house. [18:46] For decades, some cold cases have been reduced to files in a cabinet, but not anymore. I'm Ashley Flowers, and me and my team on the deck have been traveling across the country to report on these forgotten cases. And in some instances, it's resulted in these cases being solved after decades. So [19:05] Join me every Wednesday as we revive these stories one card at a time. Listen to The Deck now, wherever you get your podcasts.

[19:15] Now, if we fast forward to the 27th, at this point, again, we're all about Scott and everyone's saying that Scott isn't reacting how they want him to react. He really wants nothing to do with the media, which... [19:32] Again, people say it's suspicious. A lot of people in the stories that I read had been like, if it was my wife, I would want... [19:39] all the media attention I could get. I would do all the interviews, do anything to help find her... [19:45] I always try and be really... [19:49] I don't know. I don't like to... Those are really bold statements. No one knows how they're going to react in a situation like this. [19:56] Exactly. Like, I try and not say, like, if I was this person. I am not a 27-year-old male who just lost his wife and child or that they're just missing. I have no clue how I would react. And even my reaction probably has nothing to do with someone else's reaction. So, but... [20:13] I will say, I mean, I try not to do it, but I've been guilty of it before, of like looking at somebody being like, I mean, dude, like you're looking fish. So, right. I think everyone has the, especially in a public case like that. Right. You know, you just automatically project your expectations of the situation. And this, of course, is I think what the media picks up on the most. [20:43] the time was Nancy Grace. And yeah, she's got some great one-liners about this case, but she says that essentially she wanted to crucify Scott because he, quote,

[20:57] rubbed me the wrong way. [20:59] So he has all of the media essentially [21:03] just saying that he is guilty and judging his every single move [21:07] because they don't feel like he's acting appropriately. But at this point, Lacey's family is still really supportive of Scott. They have his back. At every press conference, they're standing by his side, and they're really trying to get police to find Lacey because they think she could still be out there at this point. [21:26] Now, I have to give you a little backstory of what's going on at the time. [21:31] You know, while we have this big case going on, little crimes don't stop. [21:35] so [21:37] And around the same time, the people who lived across the street from the Petersons actually had reported a robbery. They were away for Christmas. And when they came back, their place had been broken into and then they report this. So the neighbor actually reports seeing people in the front yard of the house that was broken into. And she drives by. They give her the stank eye. And she doesn't actually report it at the time. But it's once she knows there's a robbery. [22:07] saw. [22:08] And the police actually, within a couple of days, actually apprehend the guys who are responsible for this robbery. But when they go to arrest them, the first thing that these guys say isn't, [22:21] anything about the robbery, without being prompted or asked, the first thing they say is, you know, I had nothing to do with that pregnant girl.

[22:29] Whoa! Yeah, a little suspicious. [22:35] The way that they said that the robbery went down, these guys who are talking to police and they say they had a safe in their house. We took the safe out and put it on the front lawn. [22:46] And after the police talk to them for a couple of days, they actually make an announcement on December 30th. And again, these are like going on simultaneously, these two cases, but no one's really connecting them. And the police, whether intentional or unintentional, are really keeping them totally separate cases. But they make an announcement simultaneously. [23:07] at a press conference, that these guys had been apprehended, the case has been solved for this robbery, and that the robbery took place on the 26th. [23:18] Wait a minute. On the 26th? [23:21] Yes. [23:23] when there was media crawling all up and down the street. Right. So this is what is, like, really sketchy about this. [23:32] They're saying that the way the robbers say what they did is they took the safe out of the house, they put the safe on the front lawn while they scoured the rest of the house. [23:41] And the police are saying, yeah, you did this on the 26th. [23:45] But there's people from the media that are like, [23:47] Yeah, that's not possible because [23:50] There were, you know, tens of 20, 30 people outside of the Peterson home, which is, again, directly across the street. And he's like, if there were people robbing a home, even if they looked inconspicuous, if they put a safe on the front yard, at least one person is going to recognize this. So the people who were there that day, even again, even the media that wants to crucify him, if they were the ones on site, they're.

[24:14] They're saying there's no way that this went down on the 26th, and they really believe it went down on the 24th. [24:22] Interesting. Right. The same day that they decide to like, oh, we're putting case closed on this, that very day they had gotten a call from Amber Fry. And Amber Fry, again, anyone who knows a smidgen about this case knows that really she is the case. This turned everything upside down. Right. So they get a call from her that... [24:48] She [24:50] knew Scott. She had been having an affair with Scott. She didn't know he was married. And the police actually... [24:56] convince her [24:57] that they're going to [24:59] have her like be their spy and so they go to Radio Shack again 2002 they go to Radio Shack and buy a recorder and from the 30th on Amber is recording all of her calls with Scott and [25:16] Now, again, at this time, there's a media frenzy surrounding the case. I remember hearing reports, and I don't know if you do, of the house smelling like bleach. There was that mop and bucket, which they... [25:29] Again, never said directly, but they would talk about it smelling like bleach and then show pictures of the mop and bucket. There was no smell of bleach in the house. [25:37] There was zero evidence. The search that they did on the 26th, they didn't find a speck of blood. They didn't find a smell of bleach. Other than the floor being mopped, which Scott said Lacey did, there wasn't like evidence of...

[25:51] crazy cleanup, [25:53] The only evidence they found was when they searched his work shed. They found a single piece of Lacey's hair and a pair of pliers that were rusted shut. [26:06] and [26:06] This isn't, to me at least, a huge deal [26:10] because, I mean, it's his wife. Like, I shed like a dog. [26:14] I was going to say, like, I will show up on many, many crime scenes if all it takes is a strand of my hair. Right, right. And so this is also something, though, that Al Brokini, the lead detective... [26:29] actually gets in some trouble for later in the trial is Dude flat out like altered his reports and kind of lied because he is [26:41] In his mind, Scott did it, and he was trying to hide this whole life from Lacey. So what he writes in his report is that Lacey had never been to the marina. She had never been to his workbench. She didn't even know he owned a boat or knew about this place. But there were actually reports of people... [26:58] who had seen Lacey... [27:00] at his workshop or at the marina like a day before. So, and then Al Brocchini basically has to admit like, yeah, I had heard that from witnesses. [27:11] but I basically neglected to put it in the file. [27:15] I know. I know. [27:17] For decades, some cold cases have been reduced to files in a cabinet, but not anymore. I'm Ashley Flowers, and me and my team on the deck have been traveling across the country to report on these forgotten cases. And in some instances, it's resulted in these cases being solved after decades.

[27:36] Join me every Wednesday as we revive these stories one card at a time. Listen to The Deck now, wherever you get your podcasts. [27:46] To jump back to Amber, so when she had called police, again, something that I think I didn't realize and that the media sure didn't make a good job of pointing out is I thought they had this like – [28:02] long affair and they were super involved they had been dating like five weeks and [28:09] before Lacey disappeared. And they saw her, I mean, literally, I think you saw her like four times. [28:15] And she had been introduced to him from a co-worker. The co-worker thought he was single, and Scott's telling her he's looking for the one. She has no clue he's married. And he tells her that he's going to Europe for the holidays. Because right before he tells her this, on December 9th, he basically drops a bombshell on her and says, [28:37] You know, this is, I lied to you. I was married. [28:42] but [28:42] I lost my wife and this is going to be the first Christmas that I spend without her. [28:48] And he says, you know, I'm going to Europe, but when I get back from Europe, we can really, like, talk more about this, and I can explain to you, like, my reasoning for lying, and I'm just super vulnerable, bullsh**. [28:59] The whole "I lost my wife" line, and I know that's exactly what he said because I remember it, and... [29:05] It's just super eerie to me.

[29:07] I lost my wife. She didn't die. [29:10] She's not missing. Obviously she wasn't missing yet. [29:14] but I lost her. Oh, yeah. Yeah. [29:16] Well, and this girl is living under a GD rock because, no joke, she like didn't... So Lacey goes missing on the 24th. It's pretty much... [29:23] We were literally going to war with Iraq, but like all the news was talking about was Scott Peterson. No, I totally remember. She didn't see any of it. [29:32] But until the 30th, and that's, I mean, right when she found out, her friend showed her a newspaper article, and she, like, sees a fuzzy, grainy picture of Scott and is like, hmm, he looks familiar. And then is like, oh, he's also a fertilizer salesman who also lives in Modesto? And, like, finally, girl puts the pieces together. And so she calls the police, and that's when they make their whole deal – [29:56] um [29:57] And this is when like [30:00] things get, I feel like, so shady. So... [30:04] On the 31st, [30:06] Amber is now working with police. [30:08] Scott has told her, [30:10] that he [30:11] is off in Europe somewhere for the new year. He was spending New Year's Eve in Paris. [30:18] New Year's Eve in Paris. How cute. So... [30:22] On New Year's Eve, in the real world and not Scott's fantasy world... [30:26] His... [30:27] wife is still missing and her family holds a candlelight vigil for her. [30:33] and [30:34] Two really big things happen here that I think have played huge into the trial and the conviction and the media's conviction of him.

[30:43] One is there is a picture of him like holding a candle at this vigil and [30:50] Like, damn near laughing. [30:52] And this, of course, was the picture that was posted on every magazine, every newspaper, every website. And they basically said his wife has been missing for like a week. He isn't mourning at all. He's not talking at all. And he's just sitting here like acting like this is a joke. [31:07] Amen. [31:08] And his family says... [31:10] Like, that's not true at all. Of course, like... [31:13] They picked the one picture that's going to give them the best headlines. And his sister said that he was talking to his niece or something at the time and had had a sweet moment with his niece. And he was smiling. [31:25] at her or because of her or something like that. And of course they snap the picture then [31:29] And really, I mean, if you're selling magazines, that's the picture that's going to get you. [31:34] a ton of buys. [31:35] 100%. [31:37] So they've got that, and maybe that by itself would have been like, [31:41] Yeah, fishy, but not so much. But on top of that, [31:45] What we get later is right before he goes [31:49] to get on stage with her family as they make a plea for Lacey to come home or for someone who has her to let her go. [31:57] We get this call to Amber. [32:00] that is just like it makes my heart drop into my butt. - Yes. - Okay, there you go. I'm walking. - Okay, I'm like, stay still or something. - I know, I'm like, I'm gonna make it work. [32:12] How was your New Year's? What's that? How was your New Year's? It's good. I just want to start now so I came out of my alley.

[32:21] Quiet, Allie. Isn't that nice? [32:23] Yeah, it is. I can hear you. Very good. It's pretty awesome. Fireworks there. The Anvil Tower. The people are playing American rock songs. That's really funny. Well, that's good. I'm glad you guys decided to go out. Oh, definitely. I can never remember your friend's name. I know Jeff, but you always say it all. Okay. [32:47] You are not doing a great job at convincing me that this guy did not do it. I know. I mean... That call is ridiculous. To be fair, again, I'm not trying to convince you that he's not a slime ball because this dude is... [32:57] Gross. [32:58] But... [32:59] Just keep listening. So that's New Year's Eve. Again, no one knows this at the time except for Amber and the police. [33:07] and obviously Scott, but at this time, Lacey's family is still fully standing by Scott. No one knows at this point that he has even had an affair, has a girlfriend. And, [33:19] He's just kind of still the husband that's not acting like everyone thinks he should act. [33:24] But the police have nothing. All they have are these phone calls to Amber. But the more phone calls they get, [33:31] the less they, like, [33:34] even try and look at anything else. I mean, the more they're focused on Scott. And while this is all going on, Scott is basically just being tried through the media. And here's another example. There's a girl named Kristen D. Smart who went missing years before. And she's, [33:51] the media like goes on a rampage and gets like a bee in their bonnet and decide like, "Oh my god, you know, Scott went to college the same place that she went missing. What if he did this? What if he is this serial killer?"

[34:03] who is just like attacking women. And so for a while, that's all that was in the news is everyone linking Scott to this other girl's disappearance. [34:12] and [34:13] It ends up being that there's zero connection whatsoever. Scott had nothing to do with it. The police say he has nothing to do with it. [34:21] But again, it's one of those things where [34:24] The media was... [34:25] you know, gung-ho to report it, and it was all they wanted to talk about, as soon as he's not, you know, convicted or not even associated with it officially. They forget it ever happened. [34:35] Yeah, they just pretend like they never said anything and they can't even be bothered to report like, by the way, he's been cleared because that doesn't fit into the narrative that they're creating. [34:46] For decades, some cold cases have been reduced to files in a cabinet, but not anymore. I'm Ashley Flowers, and me and my team on the deck have been traveling across the country to report on these forgotten cases. And in some instances, it's resulted in these cases being solved after decades. [35:05] Join me every Wednesday as we revive these stories one card at a time. Listen to the deck now. [35:13] wherever you get your podcasts. [35:16] On January 6th, we get another really interesting call to Amber. So Scott actually confesses to Amber. [35:27] that he is Scott Peterson... [35:29] And his wife is missing. And I can't figure out why he would do this. And I think we've got a clip of the call we can play.

[35:41] Bye. [35:42] I'm so sorry that this has happened and I'm so sorry I'm going to hurt you in this way. [35:53] I don't want to do this on the phone. [35:58] I want to tell you this. I want to be the only person to tell you this. But I'm sure that's why Saki called you. What? I'm sure it's why Saki called you. Why would Saki... What are you talking about? It's the worst thing. I'll just tell you. You haven't been watching the news, obviously. No. [36:28] during the last couple weeks. [36:31] I've lied to you that I've been traveling. Okay. [36:39] The girl I got married to, her name is Lacey. Uh-huh. She disappeared just before Christmas. Uh-huh. For the past two weeks, I've been in Modesto with her family in mind, searching for her. [36:58] Okay. She just disappeared, and no one knows where she's been. Scott. And I can't tell you more because I need you to be protected from the media and I honor. Okay. Okay, they are amazing. Scott, are you listening? I am.

[37:28] me that you had lost your wife. What was that about? She's alive. What? She's alive. Where? She's alive? Where? In Modesto. Now, I know, I, this is the hardest, I, I want to tell you first, I, here's the, you need to protect yourself from the media. [37:58] Okay, if you haven't watched the news at all, or you haven't, the media has been telling everyone that I had something to do with her disappearance. [38:12] So the past two weeks I've been hunted by the media. [38:17] And I just don't want you to be involved in this to protect yourself. So Britt, I can't figure out. [38:24] As far as Scott knows, Amber is dumb as a box of rocks and has no idea what's going on. And he openly confesses to her that... [38:33] this is the truth, I'm really married, I'm Scott Peterson, I'm in the news, [38:37] Why would he do that? [38:40] I mean, if she didn't already know, I can't figure out what the point of confessing to her is. If he wasn't, if he's not going to call her and confess, like, and I did all of it, like, why just confess this little piece of, [38:48] If he was... I just can't... Do you have any thoughts? No, I think that's a really good question, because... [38:54] Like you said, she has no... [38:57] She hasn't really questioned him on it yet. She hasn't approached him about it. She's just been going along with like, I am dating Scott Peterson, who has nothing to do with this other Scott Peterson, whose wife is missing. And for him to call her just kind of out of the blue and confess like that does seem odd.

[39:15] Right. So he confesses to her. Again, she already knows what's up, though, but she's like, you know, wins the award for... [39:23] you know, best amateur actress. And as we go on, so... [39:28] The case then breaks on January 14th because the police's jig is up. The National Enquirer gets their hands on the famous picture we've seen of Scott and Amber... [39:42] like canoodling together at a Christmas party. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. And they actually call police and give them a heads up and say, hey, like, [39:52] We have this picture. Like, A, we'd love to get you to confirm that it's true. Police are never going to do that. But, like, just letting you know, we're going to post it. So I don't know if they were being nice and saying, like, you know, if this is going to f*** up your investigation. Heads up. Yeah, this might be the only, like, noble thing National Enquirer has ever done. [40:10] right so they the police decide like okay we can't let Lacey's family find out this way [40:20] we have to tell them. So... [40:22] They pull her mom and her stepdad in and her brother and give them a heads up of what's been going on that they've known since the 30th. They've been recording all the calls. Scott does have a girlfriend. Everything's true. These pictures are going to come out. And basically what the National Enquirer is reporting is true. [40:42] When they tell the family, it's reported

[40:45] that the first thing that her mother says is, why did he have to kill her? [40:50] So immediately this changes it for the family as well. [40:55] go from being totally Team Scott... [40:58] to 100% thinking that he did it. [41:02] And on the 24th, the police hold a press conference. And I feel like this is one of the most infamous press [41:08] if not the most infamous press conference in this case, where Amber comes out, [41:13] and talks about [41:14] their affair. [41:15] Definitely. I remember this [41:18] so clearly. I met Scott Peterson November 20th [41:22] 2002. [41:23] I was introduced to him. I was told he was not married. We did have a romantic relationship. [41:31] After Amber comes out and does this press conference, again, it's like, [41:36] This super weird reaction from Scott. He actually calls Amber. And again, in the press conference, she at no point says like, [41:44] I've been a spy. [41:46] So Scott calls her, [41:48] and tells her that he's proud of her for coming forward. [41:52] Which is, again, super freaking weird! So bizarre. Like, some of his actions just [41:58] come out of left field for me. Yeah, so I'm again, I can't figure out where he's coming from because [42:06] If he was being slimy, no part of him is angry at her. [42:11] No part of him feels betrayed. He's just like proud of her for doing the right thing. And like, you know, people can say whatever they want that he was acting. He had no idea that their conversations were being recorded and,

[42:23] So he, [42:24] At least I don't believe he'd be putting on a show. So again, it's just one of those things that it's still all super slimy, but nothing he does makes sense to me. [42:34] After this goes down, Scott feels like he has to give an interview. He hasn't spoken out at any point. [42:40] And he thinks that people aren't looking for Lacey anymore. And over and over and over again, he just says like, that is my goal. I don't, [42:47] want people to focus on me, and I tried staying out of the limelight, but that's making it worse. So if people want to talk to me, I'll talk to them, but you've got to stop looking at me. Or if you want to look at me, keep doing that, but you have to look for Lacey while you're doing it, because I feel like all people are doing right now is looking at me, [43:02] And that's not helping. - Right. [43:04] He sits down with a couple of local reporters and even Diane Sawyer. [43:10] like the big guns, and does an interview. [43:13] And nothing good comes from this interview. [43:17] He... [43:18] kind of lies even more. He says that he never lied about telling cops about the affair with Amber. He says he was upfront with them. [43:28] But this... [43:29] I can't tell if Scott believes himself or if he's lying again because [43:34] When him and his family talk about this later, they say, [43:38] you know, the police never asked him if he had a girlfriend. He never lied about having a girlfriend. They asked if their marriage was good and Scott still loved Lacey and their marriage was good. [43:49] He also tells Diane Sawyer that Lacey knew about the affair and it wasn't a secret from her. So,

[43:57] He said that she wasn't okay with it, [44:00] But she wasn't going to break up their marriage over it either. And again, no one knows how true this is because we can't ask Lacey. And you would think that if she knew about it, he would be ending it or she would have had him end it or something. But there really was no break in the affair. It went right on until she went missing. So, of course, the media and Diane Sawyer, everyone is, you know, super suspicious of this. Then he does the thing that absolutely... [44:30] like puts him in his grave. [44:32] He [44:33] is talking to Diane Sawyer, talking about how he loves Lacey. [44:37] And he says... [44:39] She was, I mean is, amazing. [44:42] The past tense, it's so incriminating. [44:46] At that point... [44:47] Everyone in America stopped listening. I can't tell you what he said after that. I don't think anyone can tell you what he said after that. [44:54] I'm pretty sure they like everyone cut off the interview and just started giving commentary on the fact that he's already talking about his wife in the past tense when she's been gone for one month. [45:06] Amen. [45:07] February comes and goes, Lacey... [45:10] her due date passes, she's still missing, absolutely nothing happens in March, [45:15] The case is going so stale. Police have no leads. But again, even in this time where [45:23] they aren't moving the case forward, they still aren't tracking down other leads. To me, this would have been a good time if

[45:30] the Scott angle wasn't panning out, or you at least weren't getting anything new, and it wasn't enough to convict him, it wasn't enough to take him to trial, [45:37] At least spend your time [45:39] looking at the other angles. Okay, who saw Lacey? When did they see her? How often did they see her? How many sites do we have? Like, is this robbery case really a robbery case? But no. Right, because at some point in time, they had a tip line open, right? But it just kind of goes... [45:53] still. [45:54] That is, until something happens that changes the entire trajectory of the investigation. [46:01] But, [46:02] You're going to have to wait until next week to find out what happens on the second part of our Scott Peterson special. [46:08] If you guys want to connect with us on social media, Britt, do you want to tell everyone how to do that? Sure thing. You can follow us on Twitter at CrimeJuckyPod [46:38] And if you want more information on the cases we cover or to subscribe to our quarterly newsletter, you can do that at CrimeJunkiePodcast.com.

[47:08] Justin Daniel. Crime Junkie is an Audio Chuck production. So what do you think, Chuck? Do you approve? [47:18] As a reminder, everyone, tomorrow is both of our birthdays. So please go on iTunes and leave us a rating and review. All we want for birthmas is reviews. [47:30] Yes, yes, yes, yes. That was amazing. [47:37] - Hmm. [47:38] Okay, crime junkies, you know I absolutely love a twist and a turn, especially when it comes to people who turn out to be someone they're not. That's why I have been obsessed with the podcast Chameleon. Every Thursday, host Josh Dean deep dives into a scam so bizarre, it will leave you wondering, how did they get away with that? [47:57] It is truly one of my favorite podcasts right now and I've been listening for years. [48:00] I think you'll love it too. [48:02] Listen to Chameleon wherever you get your podcasts.