Scott Peterson Denies Killing Pregnant Wife of Nearly 2 Decades in New Documentary

CNN
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Nearly twenty years after Scott Peterson was convicted of first-degree murder in the deaths of his wife and unborn son—and months after the Los Angeles Innocence Project took up his case—he is now speaking out in a new documentary to once again declare that he did not commit the crime.

In a clip from Peacock’s unreleased documentary: “Face to Face with Scott Peterson” which aired on NBC Today’s Program On Thursday, Peterson was asked why anyone would want to hear his side of the story, and he replied, “Because I didn’t kill my family.”

After a nearly six-month trial in 2004 that captured the attention of those following the case from the beginning, Peterson was convicted of first-degree murder for Laci’s death and second-degree murder for the death of the couple’s unborn son, Conner. He was sentenced to death, but the verdict was later overturned and he was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

In December 2002, Peterson reported his pregnant wife, Laci, missing from the couple’s home in Modesto, California. Less than four months later, the bodies of Laci and Conner were found washed up in San Francisco Bay.

Prosecutors at the time alleged that Peterson’s motive for committing the murders was to escape married life and future fatherhood.

The issue has been extensively documented in movies, TV shows, books, podcasts, and documentaries over the years; on Wednesday, Netflix released a three-part documentary series called “American Murder: Laci Peterson” The documentary also documents the case, with an in-depth interview with Laci’s mother, Sharon Rocha. Peacock’s documentary is scheduled to air on August 20.

In 2023, Peterson’s attorneys filed a motion for an injunction alleging “violations of state and federal constitutional rights and statutory rights, including … the claim of actual innocence supported by newly discovered evidence.”

The Los Angeles Innocence Project, a nonprofit that works to exonerate people who have been wrongfully convicted, announced a year later that Investigating Peterson’s “claim of actual innocence”While Peterson works on his bid to get a new trial.

CNN has reached out to the Innocence Project for comment.

In May, a California judge ruled that DNA found on the duct tape that was stuck to Laci Peterson’s pants when her body was found could be retested.