After Laci’s biological parents split up, Ron Grantski embraced the role of father to Laci and Brent. Grantski had a son from a previous relationship, Darryl, who lived in Oregon with his mother. When Brent was nine, he went to live with his father in Escalon. Laci remained in Modesto, attending Sonoma Elementary, La Loma Junior High, and Downey High School, before graduating in 1993. She was extremely popular in school, joining numerous clubs and participating in sports like softball and basketball. She was also a cheerleader for a youth program, Pop Warner Football. In high school, she held part-time jobs at a local market, a restaurant, and a doctor’s office. In college, she worked at a flower shop and then a winery, and she was named Outstanding Freshman of the Year at Cal Poly.
Sharon Rocha described Laci as “headstrong,” noting that her birth sign was Taurus, the bull. This description would be echoed by friends and neighbors after her disappearance: One girlfriend suggested Laci “wore the pants” in the family, interrupting Scott when he was speaking and directing him to take out the trash in front of company. According to another friend, Laci even followed Scott to the bathroom, where he sometimes retreated from her chatter, and just kept talking to him through the door. Ron Grantski, who described Laci as “outgoing,” “happy,” and “cheerful,” conceded that her nickname was “J. J.,” for “Jabber Jaws.”
Speaking later with Today’s Katie Couric, Grantski recalled a family trip to the caverns near Sonora. “She was talking all the way up there,” Ron smiled. “And I said, ‘Laci, do you think you could be quiet for thirty seconds?’ ”
“’Sure,’ she said. ‘How long is thirty seconds? Is it thirty seconds yet?’”
According to Grantski, Laci was very social and found it easy to converse with people she’d just met. He and Laci’s mother agreed that she was extremely trusting, but not reckless or foolish. Grantski’s only complaint was about Scott, who he felt did too much around the house. Ron was concerned that Sharon might expect the same from him.
By December 2002, Laci had made it clear she intended to be a stay-at-home mom. She wanted a bigger house, a new car, and more children, and no one doubted she would get it all. She was quite vivacious, but according to her sister, also bossy and eager to climb the social ladder.
Laci was a big fan of Martha Stewart, and in many ways she worked to emulate her. She baked special birthday cakes for her friends, and surprised them with elegantly wrapped gifts. She was passionate about good food, and hosted dinner parties with fancy fare and expensive wines. All were welcome at the Petersons’ soirees, as long as they followed Laci’s rules. Guests were required to dress for dinner, and tardiness was not tolerated. Everybody knew to be on time, or else.
“Laci wanted to be sure, each and every time we were all together, that we would have fun,” one friend said. “Laci not only taught us proper etiquette, but how to laugh. And not just giggle, but to laugh loud and often.”
After she and Scott married, they briefly lived apart—with Laci working in Prunedale and Scott going to school in Morro Bay some 130 miles away. What seemed like an innocent separation would set the stage for Scott’s later infidelities: His first extramarital affair, with Janet Use, would be followed by a second, serious, but reportedly nonsexual relationship with another Cal Poly student, Katy Hansen. Both women dated Scott during the time he lived in San Luis Obispo.
Janet Use came forward during the investigation, but Katy Hansen’s relationship was reported to police by a friend of hers. When contacted, Katy said that she and Scott studied together, and soon started dating casually. On several occasions, they doubledated with their roommates. Katy recalled Scott as very bright, con-genial, and courtly, and told the police that he never appeared stressed, even under the intense pressures of college exams. Scott started his senior project two days before the due date, yet bragged that he had aced it with an A. (His college transcripts confirmed the claim.) Scott’s overall GPA was 3.387 when he graduated in the spring of 1998.
Katy and Scott dated for about two and a half months. Scott enjoyed dancing; he liked going to martini bars, smoking cigars, and playing golf. The two also went on romantic hikes along trails that crisscrossed the scenic coastal desert town. Scott often brought along his dog, McKenzie—the golden retriever his wife, Laci, had given him on their first Christmas together. His pattern with women was solidifying.
One evening, Scott confided to Katy that he aspired to become the mayor of Fillmore, a small city northwest of Los Angeles, but first he intended to travel. He also dreamed of working at the Newhall Land and Farming Company, a large, privately held corpo-ration in eastern Ventura County. Katy never met any of Scott’s family or friends, outside of his three roommates. Until she learned of Scott’s brothers and sisters on the news after Laci disappeared, she assumed he was an only child.
Katy told police that she’d once asked Scott if he’d ever been engaged or married. He told her no. The following day he called to apologize, admitting that he’d lied. He had been married in the past, but was now alone; his ex lived in Salinas. Katy had no reason to doubt him. After all, Scott lived in a house with his room-mates, and he didn’t wear a wedding band. She had been to his home for dinner, and never once saw any women’s clothing or other feminine items in Scott’s room. Katy told police that their relationship was never intimate, but she believed it was growing more serious.
As graduation day neared, Katy thought the romance would continue. There was no talk of breaking up once Scott graduated. But all that changed on graduation day. Katy was seated next to Scott during the college’s closing ceremonies when suddenly a dark-haired woman walked up to him, placed a lei of flowers around his neck, and planted a kiss on him that telegraphed, “this woman and Scott were seriously involved.”
Katy was bewildered as Scott calmly introduced the woman as Laci. When Laci walked away, Scott reacted as he had when Janet Use caught him with his wife. He did not utter another word to Katy that afternoon. She didn’t ask any questions; she merely counted her blessings that their relationship had gone no further, for it was obvious that Scott was still married after all.
A few weeks later, Katy received one dozen pink roses. Scott attached an odd message, saying that he had “no job, no home.” Katy never contacted Scott after receiving the peculiar delivery.
The picture of Scott that emerges from these episodes is fascinating. This was a man who was used to being appreciated simply for himself. He was never going to make it as a pro golfer, a rocket scientist, or a captain of industry, but he viewed himself as an exceptional citizen, and expected others to do the same. He accepted things as they came, at least on the surface, but later the world would see the double life he led. One Scott was a gentle, responsible, tolerant husband full of love for his spirited wife. The other was someone having reckless affairs and displaying emotional mood swings, even crying jags, with his various mistresses. He was able to lie with abandon, and no one was the wiser. At tremendously upsetting moments, he was capable of turning completely cold, dismissing the upheaval with a half-hearted “I’m sorry.” He seemed to have no empathy with those who suffered from his behavior.
Roses, courtly behavior, wining and dining; at least Scott was consistent, in these and many other ways that would become clear over time. He obviously cared a great deal about his public image. Even on the meager income of a college student, he would lavish flowers, gifts, and expensive meals on his girlfriends. All the women, including Amber Frey, described Scott as a man who went out of his way to be special for them. They all witnessed his charm and apparent sincerity when he wanted something, but also his extraordinary callousness when things didn’t go his way. Like others, Janet and Katy were wooed to the brink by Scott, then unceremoniously dropped when his game was over.
Scott was truly a player. He would display whatever emotion seemed “appropriate” at a given moment, but could drop the façade in an instant and move on with no trouble. This would be quite apparent during press interviews in late J
anuary, interviews that would become important weapons for the prosecution at trial.
He was also a phenomenal and apparently pathological liar. Most people pay a price for lying, if not externally, then internally. Not Scott Peterson. He lied again and again, often about trivial matters or when it was completely unnecessary. Outside of the occasional anguished performance for a girlfriend, he showed no guilt or remorse when caught in deceptions, large or small.
He also perceived himself as a special case. Whether dropping out of school because he didn’t feel sufficiently appreciated by a golf coach, or leading a blatantly promiscuous double life, Scott found countless ways to flagrantly violate social norms and demonstrate that the rules simply did not apply to him.
Despite his overtly gregarious nature, Scott was actually quite a loner. Whether shallow or secretive, he remained a relative unknown to friends and associates. Few people professed to know him well. He seemed to adapt to most situations, making those around him feel comfortable, but in hindsight, he never truly let them in.
He did have some insecurities. Although Scott moved through several colleges, taking extra time to graduate, he made it known that he thought himself very bright. During the murder investigation, when he heard that an old college professor had been quoted as saying Scott “was kind of smart,” he retorted angrily, “Kind of smart? I’m real smart.”
This was another characteristic that would work against Scott as the murder investigation got under way—inflated sense of self-worth and intelligence. There’s no doubt that Scott Peterson is intelligent, but to my mind, his brash lies and flagrant conduct indicated that he truly believed he was a match for the detectives who were investigating him. I’m certain that he expected to survive their scrutiny unscathed.
About two months before Scott’s graduation, around Easter 1998, Laci moved back in with Scott. Yet I suspect that Laci knew in her heart what was going on with Scott, especially after the episode with Janet Use. Yet apparently she was willing to accept it. Being from a divorced home, perhaps Laci was desperate to avoid failure in her own marriage.
In August, Laci took a position as a banquet coordinator at Gardens of Avila Restaurant at the Sycamore Springs Resort, where she and Scott had been married the previous year. Records indicate that she resigned after only two months. In an exit interview, Laci told the general manager that she was dissatisfied with the woman who was supposed to be training her. She complained that she was “constantly belittling to me and was anything but respectful.” She also voiced dissatisfaction with two other employees, saying that she had received calls “with stupid questions—questions that a little common sense should have answered.” She explained that she was “offended” by her $9 hourly rate, even though she knew the salary when she accepted the position. When asked if she would stay on to train an incoming banquet coordinator, she said no. She was “reactivating her substitute teaching status” on the first of the month.
Meanwhile, Scott’s parents had made him a partner in Lee’s corrugated box business. Lee had proudly assumed his son would run the enterprise for years to come, but two years later Scott bought out his father’s share, then quickly and callously sold the company. Once again he did what he wanted to do, regardless of the pain inflicted on those who loved him.
Scott used the profits from the sale to renovate a vacant building in San Luis Obispo near the Cal Poly campus. There he opened a restaurant he called the Shack, serving beer, wine, and sandwiches. Scott’s father characterized the Shack as a “sports bar.” It seemed to be a success and was voted one of the best happy-hour restaurants in the area.
Laci and Scott ran the business for about two years. Over time, however, they grew increasingly frustrated. It was difficult to find good help. The employees constantly interrupted their days off. Two years after the Shack opened its doors, Scott and Laci opted to sell. Their relatives didn’t know how much they received for it; indeed, no one could say for sure whether the new owner ever fully paid Scott. Still, he seemed relieved to be out of the business.
The young couple didn’t stay in San Luis Obispo much longer. After her grandmother died in 1999, Laci wanted to move closer to her parents. The couple lived with Sharon and Ron for about two weeks before moving to temporary quarters on Mesquite Road. In October 2000, with a $30,000 gift from Scott’s parents, they purchased the house on Covena Avenue.
The pair often complained that there was little to do in Modesto. Still, they had many friends, and they kept their social calendar full entertaining friends and family. Scott soon began making improvements to their home, adding a swimming pool and brickwork in the backyard in early 2002. He also built a brick barbecue and retiled a bathroom, which he would later claim explained his considerable use of concrete late that year.
By summertime, Scott had joined the West Coast division of Tradecorp, for whom he sold fertilizers, plant nutrients, and other agricultural products. Traveling to serve his customers kept Scott away from home at least one day each week. After Laci’s disappearance, he told investigators that his business had lost roughly one hundred thousand dollars over the past year. Documents retrieved from his office confirmed that the new division was far from profitable.
Around this time, Laci Peterson began talking more seriously about having a baby. She had been trying to get pregnant for two years with no luck and was beginning to wonder if it was possible. As a child, she had an eight-pound tumor removed from her lower abdomen. During the surgery doctors had to remove one of her Fallopian tubes as well. At the time, doctors told her she should have no trouble becoming pregnant. Now she was losing hope.
She and Scott discussed fertility tests, but before they could pursue the idea, Laci got the news she’d been waiting for: She was pregnant at last. She was overjoyed, and Scott seemed to share her feelings. Laci’s mother recalled watching Scott hurry over to feel Laci’s stomach when she said the baby was kicking. He seemed as ex-cited as she was.
“I assume if he didn’t want to have a child, he wouldn’t have allowed it to happen,” Sharon told investigators.
Not everyone had the same impression. Laci’s sister-in-law, Rose-marie Rocha, told police about a conversation in the summer of 2001 regarding children and pregnancy. “I was kind of hoping for in-fertility,” Scott told her. Although he seemed “uncomfortable” and “hesitant” around children, Rocha was heartened by the fact that Scott attended some of Laci’s medical appointments after the preg-nancy was announced.
Around the time Laci discovered her pregnancy, Scott commented to Sharon that he had just turned thirty, and here he was be-coming a father the same year. He thought he was having “a midlife crisis.” Sharon took it as a joke. Maybe it wasn’t.
Police subpoenaed Laci’s medical records as part of the investigation. Laci’s first visit to the HERA obstetrics group in Modesto was for an annual exam in June 2001. Medical records show that she had stopped using oral contraceptives in December 2000. “At this time, she is planning to get pregnant at the end of this year,” the office report noted. At the time of her initial appointment, the report noted Laci’s height and weight as 5’ 1” and 125 pounds.
According to records I obtained in my investigation, Laci’s preg-nancy was normal. There were several notations about her excessive weight gain, and she was advised to watch her diet and increase her level of exercise. On November 6 and again on November 8, Laci called the doctor’s office. “She said she was experiencing shortness of breath after a twenty minute walk and was concerned. She was advised to eat first and take the walks later in the day,” the record stated.
Laci was described as a social drinker, yet she apparently stopped drinking once she became pregnant. She had no known enemies, did not use illicit drugs, and had no history of mental illness. A police check showed that Laci had never been the victim of a violent crime. However, friends revealed that her high school sweetheart had “pushed her” once during an argument—and when the police examined the relationship further,
it was apparently more violent than Laci ever admitted. Early in the investigation, Brent Rocha would tell police about this troubled relationship and ask them to investigate. In a twist of irony, that boyfriend, William “Kent” Gain, later attempted to murder another girlfriend. By the time Laci disappeared he was incarcerated in a Washington State Prison, serving a fifteen-year prison term for the crime. Gain would later send heartfelt missives to a Laci Peterson tribute website, professing grief and love for his former girlfriend. Even today, he reportedly keeps pictures of Laci posted in his cell.
Laci Peterson, then, had already endured one encounter with domestic violence. Yet, as the Department of Justice’s missing person report pointed out, even though “persons close to her believed under normal circumstances she would have physically resisted an assault … her advanced stage of pregnancy and resultant limitations would have likely hampered any attempt to defend herself.”
In November, Laci began attending a maternity yoga class, which met Mondays at noon. People in the neighborhood told investigators that they saw her walking her dog during that period, but as the pregnancy advanced, Laci complained of exhaustion. Relatives told police that she even used a wheelchair while visiting Disneyland with Scott’s parents and half sister, Anne Bird, although Bird would later say this chair was just a gag to please Laci.
In our interview, Anne told me that Laci looked radiant during that trip. She was excited about having the baby and talked a lot about how much she loved her mother, Sharon. Anne first met Laci in March 1998, about seven months after the wedding. She liked her immediately. Laci filled up the room, loved being the center of attention, and rarely let anyone else get a word in edgewise. Like Laci’s other girlfriends, Anne agreed that Laci did boss Scott around. And, like those women, Anne wished she had a husband like Scott, who did everything his wife told him with a smile.
A Deadly Game Page 8