Free Republic

'MISSING WHITE WOMAN SYNDROME': Don Lemon, Joy Reid criticize Gabby Petito story over race Joy Reid argued that the Petito case an example of "missing white woman syndrome." During Monday night's broadcasting of popular CNN and MSNBC shows, hosts Joy Reid and Don Lemon argued that the case of Gabby Petito, and the subsequent national attention the case has garnered, is evidence of widespread racism in the United States. During The Reidout with Joy Reid, she argued that the Petito case is an example of "missing white woman syndrome," a term reportedly coined by the late PBS host Gwen Ifill....

The family of Kristin Smart, the California college student who vanished 23 years ago after attending a party near her school, was reportedly told by federal agents to be prepared for news and to secure a family spokesperson. Denise Smart, the woman's mother, told the Stockton Record that she was contacted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was told to "be ready." "This is really going to be something you don't expect. We want to give you the support you need," she said she was told. The report said the FBI was not clear on what the development was,...

The family of Kristin Smart said there’s no imminent news expected in the case of the missing California college student, who vanished in 1996.

Contrary to recent reports, federal agents told The Chronicle on Wednesday that they did not tell the family of missing Cal Poly freshman Kristin Smart that a big break in the 23-year cold case was imminent. A spokesman for the family confirmed Wednesday that the person who advised Smart’s mother, Denise, was not an active FBI agent.

Her disappearance sparked a massive manhunt, with searchers using helicopters, horses and an army of volunteers, and even ground-penetrating radar. She was never found and was presumed dead. The cold case took a new twist Tuesday when the FBI and the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Department announced they were excavating at three sites on a hillside near the dormitories. The search is centered on the giant “P” in a hillside sign that stands for Cal Poly. Officials said they picked the locations based on the activities of human decomposition dogs. ... Sheriff’s investigators along with a specialized FBI team...

Say what you will about Donald Trump, but the rise of the reality TV presidency has marked the death knell for some of the nation's most notorious media hacks and grifters. Today, U.S. attorneys indicted not only Trump-era villain and creepy porn lawyer Michael Avenatti, but also celebrity attorney Mark Geragos as a co-conspirator. The nation's two most famous legal frauds now face charges related to an extortion scheme. Avenatti's been a walking dumpster fire and foil to the Trump presidency, but Geragos has scammed the system for years, representing not just the dregs of Hollywood — Chris Brown for...

The day his wife's body was officially identified, Peterson was arrested near Torrey Pines golf courseConvicted killer Scott Peterson is appealing his 2004 death sentence claiming he had nothing to do with the murders of his wife Laci and their unborn son Connor. The San Diego native was convicted of the murders in 2004 and sentenced to death. He's currently being held in San Quentin State Prison. Peterson's attorney Cliff Gardner filed an appeal with the California Supreme Court late Thursday claiming Peterson was unable to get a fair trial due to the overwhelming publicity the trial received along with...

It has been five years since a Northern California jury convicted Scott Peterson for killing his wife Laci and their unborn son Conner. It has been five years since a Northern California jury convicted Scott Peterson for killing his wife Laci and their unborn son Conner. Since then, Peterson's family members have stood by his side, proclaiming his innocence. Now, it appears they want the public to help them pay to prove it. On the family's website, scottpetersonappeal.org, family members wrote a message saying there was good news to report. Peterson's appeals process was moving forward. But the website also...

Garth Stapley, one of The Modesto Bee's lead reporters on the Scott and Laci Peterson case, shares the story behind the story in a column Sunday. He describes staking out jurors in a parking garage and debunking a defense theory that Laci was captured by Satanists.

FRESNO - Scott Peterson, sentenced to death for murdering his wife, Laci, and her fetus in 2002, isn't entitled to the proceeds of her $250,000 life insurance policy, a state appeals court ruled today. The Fifth District Court of Appeal in Fresno upheld a Stanislaus County judge's ruling that Laci Peterson's mother, Sharon Rocha, the administrator of her estate, should get the insurance money. The Petersons, who lived in Modesto, took out insurance policies on each other in 2001. Laci Peterson disappeared on Christmas Eve 2002, when she was eight months pregnant. Her remains were found on the Richmond shoreline...

Cheyenne, WY (LifeNews.com) -- Last month, Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal vetoed a measure approved by the state legislature that would protect pregnant women and their unborn children from acts of violence. The bill would allow prosecutors to charge criminals with two crimes when they kill a pregnant woman like Laci Peterson and her unborn child. In a form letter Freudenthal's office disseminated at the end of last week to constituents who contacted him supporting the bill, the governor's policy analyst Robert Black misleads voters about the reasons why the governor vetoed the bill. Black cites the Supreme Court's 1973 abortion...

A woman faces charges after a US baggage search found a human skull with teeth, hair and skin in her luggage at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Florida officials have said. Haitian Myrlene Severe, 30, a permanent US resident, arrived on Thursday afternoon from Cap Haitien, Haiti, aboard a Lynx International Airlines Flight, said US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Miami.

MODESTO, Calif. - The parents of condemned murderer Scott Peterson hired two noted attorneys to begin his appeals. "Since he is innocent, we don't want him sitting there any longer than he has to," Lee Peterson, the former fertilizer salesman's father, said Tuesday. Peterson was convicted Nov. 12, 2004, in the murders of his pregnant wife, Laci, and the fetus she carried. Death sentences are automatically appealed in California, but it can sometimes take several years for inmates to receive a state-appointed attorney. Peterson's trial lawyer Mark Geragos could have handled the appeals but said he felt the case warrants...

The unspeakable grief of losing a child and grandchild to family murder crashes down in every chapter of "For Laci," a book by Laci Peterson's mother scheduled to hit bookshelves Saturday. "You wake up from most nightmares and they're over," Sharon Rocha wrote in the book's opening line. "Mine was different." Most of the eight books published about Modesto's blockbuster double-murder case have focused on Scott Peterson, who arrived on death row in March. In contrast, Rocha's book — subtitled "A Mother's Story of Love, Loss and Justice" — provides by far the best look at the soul of the...

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - A judge has ruled that the $250,000 life insurance policy that Scott Peterson had taken out on his wife will go instead to her mother. Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Roger Beauchesne said Friday that because Scott Peterson was convicted of killing his pregnant wife, Laci, and the fetus she carried, he is not entitled to collect the benefits of her life insurance policy. Under state law, criminals cannot profit from their crimes. The judge said the money should go to the executor of her estate, which is Laci Peterson's mother, Sharon Rocha. Scott Peterson was...

LAFAYETTE, Calif. - The wife of prominent defense attorney and TV legal analyst Daniel Horowitz was found slain in the couple's San Francisco area home, police said. Horowitz called 911 Saturday evening to report that the body of his wife, 52-year-old Pamela Vitale, was in the entryway of their home in an upscale neighborhood, police said. The woman's identity has not been confirmed by authorities, but "based on what we know, it's believed to be the wife of Daniel Horowitz," said Contra Costa Sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee. Authorities would not release details of how the victim died, but said it...

Sharon Rocha and her exhusband are pressing forward with a wrongful death lawsuit against Scott Peterson, and on Monday a Stanislaus County Superior Court judge said the case will go to trial next spring. Their daughter's husband is on death row, Scott and Laci Peterson's Covena Avenue home in Modesto has been sold, and money from an insurance policy on Laci Peterson will go to Sharon Rocha. But the grieving parents don't want to leave any stone unturned. "We just want to make sure there's a very substantial judgment in there — that Mr. Peterson never sees any green from...

The mother of murder victim Laci Peterson is writing a book about her experiences. Sharon Rocha is expected to provide a revealing look at the celebrated Laci Peterson murder case in her book, “For Laci.” The book has been listed on the website of Crown Publishing, a division of Random House. Peterson’s stepfather, Ron Grantski, told the Modesto Bee that he would be helping Rocha write the book. “A lot of truths haven't been told, and I kind of think they should be,” Grantski said. "Everyone has written little bits and pieces. This story is going to be a good...

How is it that Amber Frey and Laci Peterson missed Scott Peterson's 'dangerous'? My guest on Monday's show, Sandra Brown, author of "How to Spot a Dangerous Man", gave very important information that everyone should know, especially women, but men will also find it very helpful as a tool to equip their daughters and sisters, mothers. She described the 8 kinds of non-violent dangerous men there are, and why so many women go through several unhealthy relationships before they get what's going on. Being able to recognize a 'dangerous man' without becoming paranoid is the goal, as well as understanding...

LOS ANGELES — Laci Peterson's parents now want to exact an even pricier revenge on their killer son-in-law — to the tune of $25 million. Sharon Rocha and her husband, Ron Grantski, amended their $5 million wrongful-death suit against Scott Peterson this week, arguing that a larger judgment against him "would send a message . . . that such vicious and outrageous savagery inflicted by one human being shall be met with the severest of civil penalties."