Scott Peterson Denied New Trial In Christmas Eve Murder Of His Pregnant Wife

On Dec. 20, 2022, a San Mateo County Superior Court Judge denied Scott Peterson’s bid for a new trial. Scott has been in prison since 2004 for the 2002 murder of his pregnant wife, Laci.

The defense team had argued that juror misconduct may have denied Scott a fair trial. They claimed one of the jurors, Juror 7, had been untruthful and presented a conflict because she did not disclose that she was the victim of domestic violence when answering screening questions, according to NBC News.

In a court document, Superior Court Judge Anne-Christine Massullo wrote that Juror 7’s responses "were the result of a combination of good faith misunderstanding of the questions and sloppiness in answering,” according to PEOPLE.

On Dec. 24, 2002, Laci Peterson, 27, vanished from the Modesto, California home she shared with Scott. She was eight months pregnant with their son at the time of her disappearance.

Scott had said he arrived home from fishing at Berkeley Marina and Laci was nowhere to be found. A search for Laci ensued, and while she was missing, a woman named Amber Frey came forward and revealed she was involved in an extra-marital affair with Scott, to which he later admitted. Frey also said Scott had told her his wife was dead before her body was found.

Four months later, Laci’s body was found washed ashore in the San Francisco Bay. Her body had been dismembered and stuffed into a weighted bag before being dumped into the San Francisco Bay.

On April 28, 2003, days after the remains of Laci and her unborn baby were found, Scott was arrested and charged with capital murder. In 2004, he was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of his wife and the second-degree murder of their unborn son. In 2005, Scott was sentenced to the death penalty but the California Supreme Court overturned his death sentence in August 2020, citing "significant errors" in jury selection.

He will remain in jail to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole.

For more on this case, stream Scott Peterson: An American Murder Mystery on discovery+.