SAN MATEO, CA — A retired Los Angeles police detective says Scott Peterson should get another trial, arguing that investigators did not fully follow leads in the disappearance and killing of his wife, Laci Peterson, in 2002.
The comments come as Peterson’s lawyers, working with the Los Angeles Innocence Project, highlight what they describe as new evidence in an A&E docuseries and in recent court filings. Peterson, now 53, is serving life without the possibility of parole after being convicted of killing his pregnant wife.
Why the defense says the case should be reopened
Ninette Toosbuy, a former LAPD detective featured in the documentary, said basic missing-person steps were not fully carried out early in the case. She pointed to reported sightings from people who said they saw Laci walking her dog on the morning of Dec. 24, 2002, after Scott Peterson said he had already left for a fishing trip.
The docuseries says 15 people claimed they saw Laci that morning. Toosbuy said those accounts should have been checked more thoroughly and taken back to the scene if needed. Defense attorney Chris Pixley also said the varying witness statements were not fully used at trial.
Questions over the burglary and the burned van
Peterson’s lawyers also say police did not fully investigate a burglary reported across the street from the Peterson home on the morning Laci disappeared. They argue that a burned van found about a mile away, with a mattress that appeared to have bloodstains, could be connected…