Replies

5/3 NE: SCOTT LACI'S BABY WASN'T MINE!

by David Wright and Don Gentile

synopsis

In a conversation secretly taped by his lover Amber Frey, Scott Peterson gave cops a shocking new motive for the killing of his wife Laci: He flew into a murderous rage because he believed she was pregnant with another man's baby!

Investigators early on became convinced that Scott wanted Laci out of the way so he could be with Amber. An exclusive NE investigation reveals the new motive that came to light as the blonde massage therapist-at the direction of police-tape recorded her Jan. 26, 2003 phone conversation with the fertilizer salesman from Modesto, Calif.

In a moment of high drama, Amber asked Scott point blank if his then missing wife was carrying his child-and he refused to say if he was the baby's father, according to a partial transcript of the talk obtained by the NE.

AMBER: Now, is this child yours?"
SCOTT: "Sweetie...I'm sorry.... Amber I cannot tell you."
AMBER;: "Is this child yours?"
SCOTT: "I can't tell you all these things now."

That bizarre exchange could be the key to Scott's murder trial. His strange and shocking refusal to say that Laci's baby was his looms large as the possible key to his motive for murder.

A source close to the investigation told the NE: "There were rumors coming out of the Modesto Police Department that Laci had an affair. It's this particular conversation Scott had with Amber that initiated the speculation."

"Detectives actually investigated whether Laci had a lover. She didn't. And when her body and that of her unborn son Conner were found, DNA testing proved Scott was the father.

"But police were persuaded Scott was hinting to Amber that he thought the baby wasn't his and added that to his motive for murder."

Defense attorney Craig Silverman-former chief deputy district attorney in Denver-told the NE that the conversation "will definitely hurt the defense. It raises the possibility that Scott somehow thought this might not be his baby.

"It can be used by the prosecution to hint at motive or as evidence of Scott disassociating himself from or otherwise rationalizing a horrible crime."

"If he did this terrible act, then he might have needed to convince himself it wasn't his baby and that Laci was cheating on him just like he cheated on her.

"Any way you look at it, a jury is not going to like this statement."

The taped conversation between Scott and Amber took place while eight-months-pregnant Laci had been missing for 13 days.

Scott called Amber's cell phone at 11 pm. The call cut off at 11:26, but resumed almost immediately, lasting another 98 minutes.

The cheating husband had no idea that Amber had known his real identity for a week, had told LE all about their affair and was taping him as they spoke. By her side was Sharon Hagen, a California Bureau of Investigation profiler who'd been schooling her in responses to Scott.

Scott then admitted to Amber that he lied to her about his being married.
The're calls continues for weeks as Amber tried to get him to admit his guilt and turning over all the tapes to LE.

Thanks for the article, Vel!

In that conversation, it sounds like he was just giving her the same answer he gave to almost all her questions about Laci: "Sweetie, I can't tell you now... I wish I could, but I can't."

Ah, but the jury may well give it a different interpretation! Let's suppose Scott had really cared about his wife. In that conversation, Amber seems to be questioning his wife's, um, fidelity. If I were a juror, I would be thinking, "Geez, I know he had a prepared answer to give Amber about all this, but if someone had hinted that my wife was nothing more than a whorish adulteress, I think I'd be driven to break out of my prepared answers and yell, 'I KNOW THE BABY WAS MINE...LACI WOULDN'T HAVE DONE THAT!'"