A Deadly Game (41 page)
Search teams used cadaver dogs to identify which areas of the bay to scan with sonar devices, but investigators worried that the grid searches would prove fruitless if the current were moving the body along the bottom of the bay. Police contacted Dr. Ralph Cheng from the U.S. Geological Survey for help in determining whether and where currents would carry weighted objects, such as a body, in San Francisco Bay. Dr. Cheng, a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, met with Detective Phil Owen in mid-February. Owen gave Dr. Cheng the necessary details: Laci weighed 153 pounds at the time of her disappearance, and had possibly been weighted by four anchors totaling thirty-two pounds. She may also have been wrapped in chicken wire and some type of plastic wrap. Dr. Cheng concluded that Laci's body could be somewhere in the waters off the southern or eastern areas of Angel Island.
Laci's family also organized searches that month. Although more than 350 people turned out to assist the family in their search of the San Joaquin Valley that first Saturday, the numbers diminished in the two subsequent searches.
Still desperate to locate her daughter, Sharon Rocha phoned Scott several days before Laci's expected due date of February 10 and left the following message:
"Scott, this is Sharon. I'm calling you to ask you to please either call Ron and I or call Brent or call the police department anonymously, disguise your voice, whatever you have to do, but please call and let us know where Laci is," Sharon said in the voice mail. "We need her home immediately, Scott. Please, I know you loved her once, please don't leave her out there. The baby's due date is Monday, we want to have her home, Scott. You loved her once. I think you still do. So please don't leave her out there all alone. Call us and let us know where she is, please."
Scott phoned her back.
"I lied to you about having an affair," Scott told Sharon. "That's right. But I don't know anything."
"I think you do. I think you're still lying. We need to have her home, Scott. Like I said, you loved her once."
"I loved her. I love my son. I love her. I want them home."
"I'm having a hard time believing any of that 'cause you're not showing it."
"She is my joy and my happiness."
"Then why did you kill her?" Sharon asked.
"I did not hurt her."
"Maybe you didn't hurt her, but you did kill her."
"I did not," Scott insisted.
"Well, you know what? You're the one that's gonna live with this. You're the one who's gonna burn in hell for doing this and lying to everybody. So, if you have any compassion, any soul at all, for any redemption at all, Scott, you've got to tell us where she is. Don't leave her out there all by herself."
On February 10, Laci's family and friends held a sunset candlelight vigil at East La Loma Park to mark her due date with remembrance and prayer. Three days later, Scott's family held a press conference in San Diego to announce that they were contacting hospitals and clinics around the country in the hope that Laci might arrive to give birth. Once again, Scott was conspicuously absent from both events.
On February 18, police served a second search warrant covering Scott's home and vehicle, along with a storage locker he had rented in the Fresno area since vacating the warehouse on Emerald Avenue. In the warrant applications police cited a number of reasons for the additional searches, and described at length Scott's "suspicious" behavior:
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Scott's response to being shown a faxed copy of a photo of him and Amber in early January, "Is that supposed to be me?"
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Scott's claim that he had purchased one ninety-pound bag of cement from Home Depot to make one anchor and had thrown the rest away in a garbage pail at his home. A subsequent examination of that trash pail failed to produce any evidence of loose cement. (He told Brent Rocha that the balance of the concrete was used in his driveway but told Brocchini it was used in the backyard.)
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Scott's five trips to the Berkeley Marina in rented or borrowed vehicles, including one right after police left a message indicating they knew Laci's body was in the bay.
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The whistle police believe he emitted upon learning in a voice mail from Sharon Rocha that the police had recovered an anchor-and not a body-during a search of the bay.
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Scott's claim that he had used the gun police recovered from the glove box in his pickup on a hunting trip he took with his dad in November 2002. Police learned that the gun was registered to Lee Peterson, but Lee was not aware that Scott was in possession of the weapon, nor did he see Scott carrying it during their hunting trip.
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Lee told police he had spoken to his son on Christmas Eve during the time period that Scott was driving from the Berkeley Marina to his residence, yet Scott did not mention that he owned a boat or that he had been fishing.
The affidavit also listed a number of the suspicious items police had collected during prior searches: the master bedroom duvet cover, with its apparent blood spots; the blood spots in Scott's truck; the blue tarp, umbrellas, and chicken wire from Scott's truck; Laci's jewelry; the vacuum cleaner and bag; the boat cover; and a pair of white tennis shoes from Laci's closet. Tests determined that the blood in the truck and on the duvet cover was human. Later in the month, forensic analysis would confirm that it was Scott's.
The twenty-page document also chronicled the contradictory statements Scott made in the early stages of the investigation-in particular, his claim to Detective Grogan on December 25 that he returned home at around 4:45 P.M. the day before, dumped the wash water from the blue bucket, took a shower, and washed his clothes before he noticed McKenzie in the backyard with his leash on. Yet in an earlier interview with Brocchini he had said that he noticed the dog immediately, and that McKenzie and their cat had run ahead of him into the house. He then quickly dumped the bucket before they tipped it over or drank from it.
The document also cited what appeared to be circular cement rings that corresponded in circumference to a plastic form containing water and cement residue found at the warehouse. It contained the conclusions from the bloodhound searches-that Laci had been transported by vehicle from her home, and then from Scott's warehouse along the route he had taken toward the Berkeley Marina. Details of Scott's statements to Amber Frey, and his attempts to conceal that relationship, were also noted.
On February 18, the detectives met Scott Peterson on his driveway. Scott wanted to know how long the searches were going to take. "At least one day," Grogan told him. Scott led the police through the back gate and into the home via the French doors. Pointing to two packed duffel bags on the floor, he explained that he needed several articles of clothing contained inside, and asked if he could take the bags with him. The police would have to search them first, he was told. Inside one, officers found a bottle of wine and a prescription bottle of Viagra, purchased from an Internet site called First Online Pharmacy. The label on the bottle indicated that the prescription was originally filled in July 2002, and had since been refilled several times.
Later, during a phone call, Grogan asked Scott about the Viagra.
"The prescription you had. Do you wanna tell me what that's all about?"
"Ah, what prescription?" Scott asked.
"The Viagra?"
"No. Personal deal," Scott replied.
Grogan apologized that the discovery of Viagra was leaked to the press.
"That doesn't bother me, don't worry about it," Scott replied. "Pretty small shit compared to where my family is, so I don't care."
Detectives also searched Scott's wallet. They found assorted credit cards and five-hundred-dollar bills. In one of the duffel bags, they discovered a white envelope containing $1,081 in cash. Another clear plastic sandwich bag was stuffed with $1,000 in cash.
"I looked at Scott's left and right hands," Grogan noted. "I saw he was not wearing a wedding band, but he had one ring in his property [in a duffel bag] that looked like a man's wedding band."
During the search, Grogan took the opportunity to quiz Scott about a variety of matters. Was Scott still operating out of the warehouse on Emerald Avenue? Scott said he still had two crates of product, a forklift, and a fax machine there, but the rest of his things were in his new warehouse facility in Fresno.
"Where's McKenzie?"
Scott told him the dog was in San Diego with his brother Joe and Joe's wife, Janey, who had been serving as Scott's public relations counselor in recent weeks.
"Do you have a storage locker?" Grogan asked. He said he did and described its location to the detective. It was only then that Grogan revealed that the search warrant covered the locker, too.
"If the storage locker is in the warrant, then why did you ask me?" Scott asked.
"To see if you would tell me the truth," Grogan replied calmly.
Grogan then inquired about the 1-866-LACI-INFO line Scott had set up. He wanted access to the tips coming in on that line. Scott told him he had received very few calls, and forwarded only one to a lieutenant regarding a sighting in Fresno.
Grogan said that police had already received more than seven thousand tips. He was surprised that Scott had received only one. Scott told him there were others, but he had deemed them unimportant and had discarded them.
"Have you or your mother received the faxes coming in to the tip line?" Grogan asked.
"I'm not comfortable answering your questions," Scott replied.
Scott then told Grogan that the Laci info line was primarily for the press, but it was also designed to help him find out what was going on, since he wasn't being kept apprised of leads the police were following. Scott admitted that his mother had received one tip, but he declined to answer when Grogan asked if his mother had a fax
machine.
"Is Kirk McAllister still your attorney?" Grogan asked.
"I don't want to answer that question," Scott replied.
Grogan asked Scott if he would come to headquarters for an interview.
"Why?" Scott asked, claiming that police had not been treating him "fairly." He argued that police were wasting valuable time investigating him rather than following up on serious leads in
the case.
Detective Brocchini would later place a pretext phone call to the family's private tip line. Using details from one of the actual police tips received on January 5, he identified himself as Henry Lopez, and claimed he was a truck driver who had seen Scott's truck on Highway 580 at around 3:30 P.M. on Christmas Eve. He observed a bundle in the back of the boat wrapped in a blue blanket and thought it might have been a Christmas present.
Acting as Lopez, Brocchini stated that he would speak to police and left the Department's "cold line" as his contact number. The detective also asked an agent from the DOJ to place another call to the tip line, leaving the first name "Denise" and a phone number to see if the tip was forwarded.
Jackie Peterson did follow up on the agent's call. In a voice mail message, she requested that the woman call back to identify herself and provide more information. Brocchini's tip, however, received no return call. Later, Jackie would agree to fax Grogan any leads she received on the 1-866-LACI-INFO line, but she didn't get around to this for another ten days.
When Grogan finally received Jackie's "tips" on February 28, the information was not in any order. Of the thirty pages, ten were duplicates of a single page. The tips began on February 17 and ended on February 20. One tip that apparently came in on February 18 between 2:38 and 3:26 P.M. was missing. The pretext message from Al Brocchini was not among them, nor was the tip from the agent at the Department of Justice.
Stacey Boyers, the manager of the Laci Peterson Fund, later received two invoices from Jackie Peterson for the "1-866-LACI-INFO" tip line. Sharon Rocha denied payment, stating that the expenditure had not been approved. In addition, she said, there appeared to be no legitimate purpose for the line.
As they executed their search, investigators observed that the Petersons' Christmas tree had been taken down, but several wrapped gifts for grandparents and a child still lay on the floor. A mattress and box spring from a guest bedroom were propped against the window in the dining room area. The set had been replaced by a futon couch from Scott's warehouse. Although the Petersons' neighbor Karen Servas had said that Laci always opened those dining room curtains, Scott would later tell people that she left them closed in the winter to keep out any draft. Of course, most people like a bit of sunshine coming in on a chilly day, and it seemed that Scott was no different. He was using the mattress to block the view from the street while still allowing light to enter the room.
In a dresser in the master bedroom, police found what looked like dirty garments mixed in with Laci's clean clothes-as though they had been "removed from a hamper or worn and placed into dresser drawers." In one corner of the room, detective Rick House spotted a large brown paper grocery bag. Inside was a blue-green basket-weave handbag containing a beige shirt and a paperback romance novel. House recognized the purse and its contents from his search of Laci's Land Rover on December 26. Also inside the grocery bag was a white striped shirt, a pair of men's blue pajamas, a pair of women's blue and white Jockey panties, and two pairs of white ankle socks. House had seen none of these garments in the vehicle that day.
