For Modesto, Peterson slaying cements dark notoriety

For Modesto, Peterson slaying cements dark notoriety
CASE TOUCHES NERVE IN TOWN FAMILIAR WITH TRAGIC TALES
By Julia Prodis Sulek

MODESTO - Twice a week, locals get a shadowy glimpse of Scott Peterson as he strolls around the fenced roof of the downtown jail. The time varies, just in case someone tries to take a shot at him.

Some people are withholding judgment about whether the 30-year-old fertilizer salesman is guilty of killing his pregnant wife and her fetus, at least until prosecutors reveal their case during a preliminary hearing beginning Wednesday. But many in this conservative Central Valley town of farmers and commuters made up their minds long ago.

``Hang Scott Peterson today and have a fair trial next week,'' said Rita Sorenson, 69, who has followed the case on TV while recuperating from a heart bypass operation and hip-replacement surgery at a local convalescent home. ``He's guilty as sin. Guilty, guilty, guilty.''

Modesto has had more than its share of grisly tales in recent years -- from the murders of three Yosemite tourists by Cary Stayner, a motel handyman who grew up in the Modesto area, to the slaying of Chandra Levy, 24, a Modesto native who was having an affair with 54-year-old local congressman Gary Condit in Washington, D.C.

But it's the Peterson case that has pushed Modesto over the edge, giving this humble community an international reputation as a place stricken by awful things.

About the only good to come from this macabre notoriety is that the newly refurbished State Theater downtown has less trouble booking musical acts. They've heard of Modesto, all right.

This is the place where Laci Peterson, the 27-year-old substitute teacher with the dimpled smile, disappeared on Christmas Eve. This is where her husband, who was having an affair with a massage therapist, begged townspeople to help with a widespread search for his wife. And this is where Peterson was charged with two counts of first-degree murder after the bodies of his wife and her fetus washed up separately on the eastern edge of San Francisco Bay.

``We have had so much sadness here,'' said Tracie Medlin, 43, who moved with her two children to Modesto from Soquel 11 years ago. ``People are just disgusted.''

As much as the Peterson killing is a riveting story making the covers of supermarket tabloids and dominating cable talk shows, for Modesto residents, it's personal. It's not just what Peterson may have done to his wife, it's what has happened to their town. And if he did it, what he has done to them.

Many people heeded Peterson's tearful pleas and fruitlessly searched, hung fliers and prayed at candlelight vigils for his wife's safe return. So when Peterson was arrested four months later -- with a beard, dyed hair and a reported $10,000 in cash -- they felt betrayed.

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SAN FRANCISCO — Almost from the moment Laci Peterson vanished, police and the public fingered her husband, Scott. When Laci's body and her unborn son's washed up in San Francisco Bay four months later, he was charged with a crime that had become a national fixation.

Scott Peterson, right, goes on trial this week for the murder of wife Laci, left.

Even California Attorney General Bill Lockyer fueled the widespread belief that Scott Peterson was guilty by calling the case a "slam dunk."

At a preliminary hearing beginning Wednesday in Modesto, the public gets its first look at how prosecutors will try to tie the former fertilizer salesman to a double murder.

His lawyers will try to persuade Judge Al Girolami to throw out key evidence investigators obtained from wiretaps, bloodhounds, hypnosis, DNA analysis and tracking by global positioning systems.

Its titillating details sucked America in: the attractive mother-to-be missing on Christmas Eve, the tight-knit community's anguished search, the stunning revelation that her husband had been having an affair, his lawyers' theory that a Satanic cult was involved and fresh allegations from a jail inmate in Fresno that Scott had tried to hire neo-Nazi gangsters to kill his wife.

"It's got a lot of human intrigue," says Laurie Levenson, a law professor at Loyola University in Los Angeles. "But the main reason it's gotten so much attention is that you had a whole community that spent their Christmas dinner looking for Laci Peterson, a whole community invested in this case.

Legal experts say the preliminary hearing could preview battles at Peterson's trial next year.

Look for his lead lawyer, Mark Geragos, to try to discredit the police investigation and maybe float other scenarios of how Laci died.

He may try to lock in the testimony of prosecution witnesses, hoping later to show inconsistencies with their trial testimony.

"Usually the defense uses these hearings as a chance to learn and to probe," says Erwin Chemerinsky, a University of Southern California law professor.

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Of the many bombshells in the Peterson case, none has burst with greater force than that of Scott Peterson's romance with Amber Frey.

Many observers say that Frey's testimony might be the key to locking away her former boyfriend -- or sending him to his death.

The Fresno massage therapist and single mother appeared joyful in photos showing her cozying up to Peterson by a Christmas tree. Friends say the happiness turned to horror when she realized her beau was not only married, but also a suspected killer.

Laci Peterson was small, dark-haired and outgoing. Amber Frey is tall, blond and quiet. She has said she didn't know Peterson was married when they met Nov. 20. People close to Frey say she quickly fell in love with Peterson.

Phone records show that Frey first contacted police at 1:43 a.m. Dec. 30. They also suggest that she maintained an active phone relationship with Peterson as investigators bugged his cell phones.

Frey, 28, also dialed family and friends of Laci Peterson -- 53 times. She hoped to assure them she had no idea Peterson was married, and that she prayed for the return of his wife and their son, sources said.

If Frey was chatty with Laci Peterson's loved ones, she's the opposite with media. Frey has spoken publicly only twice: in a January news conference arranged by police and in May to announce she had hired a lawyer.

Gloria Allred, a self-proclaimed feminist attorney, has been at the center of many gender-issue cases. Her clients include Pamela Anderson, Paula Jones and the family of murder victim Nicole Brown Simpson.

Allred has one focus: to protect Frey's reputation and -- by extension -- her credibility. That could be hugely important to prosecutors as well.

Reporters of all stripes have pursued Frey relentlessly, turning up nude and semi-nude photos she had posed for four years ago, when she hoped to become a model. A tabloid published some in February; a porn broker said he bought rights to the pictures and posted them on his Web site in September, charging $19.95 for peeks. Last week, she sued the broker for $6 million.

Also figuring in Frey's entourage is her father, Ron. Initially eager to comment, he has drifted to the background.

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The Fabulous Blue Notes play at the Fruit Yard for the Laci Peterson memorial. DEBBIE NODA/THE BEE

Shawn Rocha organized the event to thank volunteers for helping search for his cousin Laci Peterson. DEBBIE NODA/THE BEE

Above, the Homewreckers entertain at the blues concert held Saturday at the Fruit Yard. Hundreds of Harley-Davidson owners proudly turned out for the occasion. DEBBIE NODA/THE BEE

Shawn Rocha, the cousin of homicide victim Laci Peterson, had met actor and fellow motorcycle enthusiast Mickey Jones only once. They had shaken hands at a bikers' rally some time ago.

But somehow Rocha knew Jones was the right person to host a memorial event for his cousin and her son, Conner.

The event, called the Laci Peterson Memorial Day & Concert, was held Saturday at the Fruit Yard on Highway 132 to thank people who had worked and prayed for Peterson's safe return.

The bodies of Laci and Conner Peterson were recovered in April along the shore of San Francisco Bay. Her husband, Scott, is charged with their murders.

"When I got an e-mail from Shawn, he said, 'I am sure you are asked to do this all the time,'" Jones recalled Saturday.

"I do a lot of events that I get paid for, but sometimes you have to do what your heart tells you is the right thing to do."

Jones has appeared in numerous television and movie roles, including the science-fiction thriller "Total Recall" and the ABC comedy series "Home Improvement." He is in the recently released film "The Fighting Temptations."

Jones also serves as a spokesman for Indian Motorcycle Corp. He made the trip from Southern California with his wife, Phyllis, who arrived by car.

Also attending the free blues concerts were numerous motorcycle clubs from Northern California, some of which provided volunteers to help stage the event.

"Bikers come out stronger than anyone else for support when others are down," said Rocha, a Harley-Davidson owner who estimated that 600 to 700 bikers participated.

Rocha first planned a large memorial ride in memory of Laci and Conner, but insurance issues convinced him to scuttle the idea in favor of the concert.

Saturday morning, some of the bikers met up at Mitchell's Modesto Harley-Davidson shop on Carpenter Road and rode to Burwood Cemetery near Escalon to visit the gravesites of Laci and Conner.

"I can't imagine what this family is dealing with," he said. "As of today, I got to know Laci."

Jones later took to the Fruit Yard stage to introduce the bands, the Fabulous Blue Notes and the Homewreckers, and also to help Rocha announce the raffle winners.

Volunteers said fund-raising activity, such as the raffle and T-shirt sales, was for a new nonprofit foundation whose name and purpose is yet to be announced.

Kevin Scott of the Modesto Harley Owners Group said the club was more than willing to provide people to help with the concert.

"As soon as Shawn made the call, it was like bees to honey," he said. "A lot of people have asked how they can help the Petersons. This is the best tribute you can give them."

Other clubs represented at the event included American Legion Riders of Turlock, the Livermore HOG chapter and the Blue Knights, a group of retired peace officers.........

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Media hordes will again descend on Modesto's streets this week. AL GOLUB/THE BEE

The public's first real look at evidence against accused double-murderer Scott Peterson is expected Wednesday, when prosecutors begin laying out a legal case that has been under wraps for 10 months.

"Everything will be a revelation to us," said Ruth Jones, a criminal law professor at McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento and a former prosecutor. "This case is unique in that sense."

Peterson's preliminary hearing, which likely will last five days, could demonstrate the strength of the prosecution's case and outline the possible trial.

The hearing that begins Wednesday is to determine whether there is enough evidence to try Peterson in the deaths of his 27-year-old wife, Laci, and their son, Conner. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

It's unclear how much evidence the prosecution will unveil at the hearing, because it's relatively easy to have a defendant held for trial. For that reason, the defense rarely calls witnesses, protecting them from cross-examination.

But this case is different, legal observers said, pointing to widespread public scrutiny that has influenced legal tactics and might affect the trial.

"There are two battles going on here," San Francisco Deputy District Attorney James Hammer said. "The legal battle and the PR battle."

In the legal battle, attorneys are poised to spar over an array of evidence the defense wants kept out of court, including information from wiretaps, electronic tracking devices, DNA testing and scent-tracking dogs.

The judge also is to hear a defense argument that a potentially key piece of evidence -- a single hair found attached to a pair of needle-nose pliers in Peterson's boat -- likely was "altered" while in police possession.

The hair could be a critical piece of physical evidence linking Laci Peterson to the boat her husband said he took fishing on Christmas Eve, the day she was reported missing.

The defense's challenge of the evidence signals a wider tactic of trying to show that investigators acted improperly, echoing the O.J. Simpson murder trial, legal observers said. A jury acquitted the former football star in 1995 of killing his ex-wife and her friend.

"It's a very important strategy," said Professor George Bisharat, a criminal ...........

Ya see I lower the standards invite a lawyer ta lunch en It takes ova da menu already. ..;)

Hey we been talkin about cutting ourselves all morning en na I am gettin Phobic bout peeling damn eggplant. It's a brave Lassie I am. Ah be Laddie! Me peelum eggplant! Death to eggplant.....OUCH!

201 posted on 10/29/2003 8:09:09 AM PST by STOCKHRSE ( The preceding is this Freeper's opinion and is submitted rhetorically. .........)

204 posted on 10/29/2003 10:10:52 AM PST by STOCKHRSE ( The preceding is this Freeper's opinion and is submitted rhetorically. .........)

206 posted on 10/29/2003 10:20:24 AM PST by STOCKHRSE ( The preceding is this Freeper's opinion and is submitted rhetorically. .........)

207 posted on 10/29/2003 10:21:14 AM PST by STOCKHRSE ( The preceding is this Freeper's opinion and is submitted rhetorically. .........)

208 posted on 10/29/2003 10:24:52 AM PST by STOCKHRSE ( The preceding is this Freeper's opinion and is submitted rhetorically. .........)

PLEEZE!

and now I see Carroll's name coming up on the phone jan. 7

Ray, you gotta tell me, what's that from? I have to know!!

210 posted on 10/29/2003 12:37:49 PM PST by STOCKHRSE ( The preceding is this Freeper's opinion and is submitted rhetorically. .........)

I think I may have figured out what you meant. It's from the last paragraph of a tabloid article that Velveeta posted a couple weeks ago? Sandylapper noticed that, too. Is that it?

Here it is: Last paragraph.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1002836/posts?page=280#280

I need to see a picture of Scott's boat looking into it. I figured how he could easily handle Laci's body I think. I need to see the structure inside the boat.

212 posted on 10/29/2003 12:51:20 PM PST by STOCKHRSE ( The preceding is this Freeper's opinion and is submitted rhetorically. .........)

213 posted on 10/29/2003 1:06:26 PM PST by STOCKHRSE ( The preceding is this Freeper's opinion and is submitted rhetorically. .........)

DA,Devil, the paragraph below from the same article disturbs my gut. Why would Amber’s trump card with Scott be that she would take a polygraph? What is going on if this is true,

Is it possible Scott suspected Amber of something and wanted her on a polygraph? These tapes may well be double-edged swords

.
"During this call to Scott, which ended at 11:59 pm, she "played her trump card". She told Scott, "If you'll take the poly, I'll come with you and take one to prove that I knew nothing about what has happened", according to NE's source"

214 posted on 10/29/2003 1:49:03 PM PST by STOCKHRSE ( The preceding is this Freeper's opinion and is submitted rhetorically. .........)

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