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On December 24th, 2002, Scott and Laci Peterson began their day as usual. After eating breakfast together, Scott left their home to go fishing while Laci decided to take their dog on a walk.

Later that same day, a neighbor had found the couples' dog outside the Peterson home still wearing a leash.

When police began to investigate, Scott told police his whereabouts the time of Laci's disappearance. He said that he drove to his nearby warehouse to send some emails and get his boat to take to Berkeley Marina. The timestamped emails and marina receipt backed up his story. After fishing, Scott returned the boat to the warehouse and went home to shower.

Scott also told investigators that he thought that Laci had went to her mother's house. When Scott called his mother-in-law looking for his wife, Laci's stepfather had then decided it was time to contact the authorities as Laci had never gone to their home.

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Wakeman, Jessica. “Laci Peterson Murder: What You Need to Know.” Rolling Stone, Rolling Stone, 25 June 2018, www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/laci-peterson-murder-everything-you-need-to-know-199774/.

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Laci's disappearance was dominating TV news stations in early 2003.

The media was very quick to jump onto this story.

National TV/news stations followed Scott anytime he was out in the open.

Police and lawyers from both sides of the case began to use the media to leak information in order to sway public opinion.

The information leaked was both rumors, like Laci was murdered by a Satanic cult, and facts such as how Scott was hiding a mistress.

Laci Peterson's disappearance had been spread on worldwide news.

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Scott Peterson was immediately an early suspect, given the fact that "many acts of violence are committed by people known to the victim."

Police allowed Scott to have many chances to be forthcoming with evidence and cooperate in order to provide proof of his innocence. He failed many of these "tests."

A prime example was when Scott refused to take a polygraph test on the first night of Laci's disappearance.

In the days following the disappearance of his wife, Scott seemed uninterested in the progress of the investigation.

Police thought it was extremely concerning that Scott showed little to no concern of his wife, who at the time was eight months pregnant.

It was also noted that Scott's behavior was quite strange as he could not recall the type of bait he used when fishing that morning.

Scott's concern was not for Laci, but for things like his car door hitting another car door, the pictures taken of his boat,  and getting a receipt for the pink slipper and sunglasses the tracking-dog used for Laci's scent.

On the day after Christmas, police got a search warrant for the Peterson home.

Scott was not cooperating with the police at all. It seemed as he was just trying to protect himself.

"It was more strange behaviors from a man who supposedly had nothing to hide."

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December 31st, 2002: the town of Modesto held a vigil for Laci, and her unborn baby, Connor. Scott refused to speak at the vigil, but he did attend.

Photographs captured two specific photos that would eventually haunt him during the trial.

In the photographs, Scott seemed carefree and was even laughing in most of the pictures. This type of behavior did not sit well with many as this is not how a typical person would be acting if their wife and unborn child were missing.

The public turned on Scott.

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During the vigil held on December 31st, Scott had called his secret girlfriend.

Single mom and therapist, Amber Frey, had began her relationship with Scott soon after they met in November of 2002.

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On December 30th, 2002, when Amber saw newspaper articles about Laci's disappearance, she immediately called the police and agreed to work with them.

She agreed to get as much information out of Scott as she could, and to record their conversations.

By the end of the investigation, Amber had recorded 29 hours of phone calls between herself and Scott.

On January 24th, Amber (visibly shaking) revealed herself at a press conference and explained her relationship with Scott.

From that point forward, the Rocha family (Laci's immediate family) turned on Scott, as well as the small group of volunteers who had been searching for Laci.

In January of 2002, divers used sonar equipment to search Berkeley Marina where Scott had gone fishing. This is where police suspected Scott dumped the body.

Divers could not find anything in the marina.

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This specific interview really turned the public response relating to the Peterson case.

He lied to Sawyer, saying he had already told police of his affair with Amber.

He also claimed that his wife already knew of the affair and was "OK" with it.

The public hatred of Scott was at an all time high.

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In April of 2002, locals found two mutilated, decomposed corpses on shore.

One seemed to be the torso of a woman and another which was an infant.

DNA tests confirmed that the bodies belonged to Laci and Connor.

The baby had plastic tape/twine wrapped around his neck.

Speculated that debris could have possibly caught on his body but many believe it was wrapped around his neck by human hands.

Possibility that the tape was to keep a plastic bag over the head of the child.

Concluded that is was not the cause of death and that the tape was placed by human hands.

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Police arrested Scott on April 18th.

He was carrying over $10,000 in cash, camping gear, his brother's ID, and four cellphones.

It was speculated that Scott was going to try and run, and escaping through the Mexican border.

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On April 21st, 2003, Scott was arraigned and charged with two counts of murder.

Months of jury selection occurred before a trial finally happened.

Scott was convicted on November 12, 2004 of first-degree murder of Laci Peterson and second-degree murder of Connor Peterson.

About a year later, the jury recommended that Scott be sentenced to death in March of 2005.

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Although Scott filed two appeals to try and lessen his sentence, none have been approved.

He resides in San Quentin State Prison and is currently still on death row.

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This graph represents the rate of murders in the U.S from 1960 to 2014 and the offenses per 100,000 populations.

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This graph represents the violent crime rates in the U.S from 1960 to 2014 and shows the offenses per 100,000 populations.

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Robertson, Lori. “Dueling Claims on Crime Trend.” FactCheck.org, 13 July 2016, www.factcheck.org/2016/07/dueling-claims-on-crime-trend/.

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Evidence Analysis, www.pwc-sii.com/Research/conner/twine.htm.

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jqk656cp1_LKjppyCXdIEvGocM8BYoBeHz2UZK3spRs/edit

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jddtvoIPbOHNCEe6MR38D6_gnU3d46ZFVet0FbvzLAE/edit