“If we could clear out Scott, that would be fine with me,” Grogan explained. “But we’re weeks into this, and we’re not able to do that.”
“How about the forensics from the boat and the car?” Lee asked. “I will bet you that there’s nothing there.”
The detectives explained that some items had been sent out for testing but the results were still pending.
“You guys have gotta believe me, he’s the least likely person to harm anybody,” Lee repeated.
“He hasn’t been real truthful with us, though,” Owen told him.
“You mean about this?” Lee asked. “Oh, he’s probably not going to volunteer something … ”
“But in a case like this, it would be better that he tells us up front,” Owen told Lee. “There are other things he hasn’t been truthful about, so you kinda have to think … ”
“Can you tell me what those are?” Lee asked. “If I was under investigation, and my wife disappeared, I don’t think I’d be talking about an affair I had with some other woman. I doubt either of you fellows would either. If you knew that you were innocent, and all you had to do was wait things out and be, you know, be exonerated, I doubt you’d be volunteering anything either.”
“I understand that you had concerns right from the beginning,” Grogan said. “But, I mean, if Scott wanted to be out from under the microscope on this thing, there’s a lot of other things that he could have done. I mean, we’re in an adversarial position right now, where I can’t talk to him without his attorney… . He’s refused to take the polygraph test. Everybody else in this investigation that we’ve asked has taken one.
“The key thing that bothers me, and I want you to think about, is him telling this girl that his wife was lost and he’s crying and upset in that conversation with this girl,” Grogan advised. “She had the impression that he was saying his wife had died. That is several days before, that’s December 9, before Laci disappears. And that concerns [me].”
Lee grew defensive. “I don’t know, maybe he was drinking or some-thing. I don’t understand that either. But my son did not hurt anybody.”
“The other thing you need to know is that we felt an obligation to also notify Laci’s family about this,” Grogan said.
For the rest of the conversation, Lee Peterson struggled to come up with an explanation for the photos. He seemed unwillmg to believe that his son was actually involved in an affair—never mind in Laci’s disappearance.
“I want the truth, and I know the truth. Scott’s not involved,” Lee insisted.
“Well, if you know the truth, you just found out that you didn’t know all the truth,” Owen pointed out.
Later that evening, Detective Buehler received phone calls from Laci’s father, Dennis Rocha, and her brother, Brent. Both men expressed concerns about the safety of their family, and asked whether Scott was going to be arrested, and what actions they should be taking.
Buehler advised them both that there was no arrest pending. “The mere fact that Scott was involved in a relationship outside of his marriage was not enough to arrest him for the suspected violent crime,” the detective noted. The investigation would continue, “slowly and cautiously,” he said.
As Buehler was ending the conversation with Brent, a call came in from Amber Frey. She had just received a letter from Scott in which he returned a picture of her—the first one she’d ever given him. In the accompanying note, Scott told Amber that he didn’t de-serve to have the picture. The letter was handwritten on Double Tree Hotel stationery from Bakersfield, but was postmarked from Modesto. She was unsure what it all meant.
Buehler received one other important call before ending his shift—this one from Kim Peterson, who’d been running the volunteer search center. After hearing the news about Scott’s affair, the family had decided to close down the center.
“Peterson advised it would be difficult for them to have this volunteer center continue to run with Scott being there in view of the circumstances and knowledge that had come up,” Buehler entered in his report. “The family members were all of the belief that Scott had killed Laci and now they only hoped to recover her body and locate it.”
Kim also told Buehler that the volunteer fund account contained some $20,000. Sharon Rocha was concerned that Scott might try to access the money for his own use. Indeed, the police later learned that—despite his parents’ contributions to his upkeep, Scott did inquire about using the center’s funds to pay for his personal expenses.
On January 16, the long-awaited National Enquirer story hit the newsstands. Though the article did not identify Scott’s girlfriend by name, it was accompanied by photos of the two of them together. It also contained information about other potentially incriminating evidence that police had gathered in the course on of their investigation.
Detective Craig Grogan’s first order of business that morning was to call Sharon Rocha at her home on Marklee Way. As he had anticipated, she was distraught. Grogan asked Sharon if he could come over that morning with a recording device for her phone, to capture any calls from Scott. Sharon agreed, and they arranged to meet at 10:30 A.M.
As he pulled up in front of Sharon Rocha’s house, Grogan got a call alerting him that Lee Peterson hadn’t spoken with his son since police had shown him the photos the previous day. This was puzzling: What father wouldn’t call his son immediately under such circumstances? Was Lee afraid that Scott would just lie to him as he had everyone else? Like Jackie, Lee showed a consistent attitude throughout the investigation: Their son could do no wrong, but they would never confront him about the truth.
The police concluded that the Petersons, on some level, must have suspected Scott was complicit in his wife’s disappearance.
Grogan related the information to Buehler, then stepped out of the vehicle into the cool January air. Sharon Rocha answered the door, looking exhausted. Brent and Amy Rocha were in the living room, along with Ron Grantski, Sharon’s friend Sandy Pickard, and another unidentified woman.
While Buehler remained in the living room, Grogan followed Sharon and Ron to a back bedroom. Laci’s parents outlined the reservations they’d been having about Scott. Sharon said she was particularly troubled by Scott’s “nonchalant attitude” about her daughter’s disappearance. She was also bothered by the fact that it had taken more than a week before Scott actually sat down and answered her questions about the events of December 24. Even then he was “hesitant,” and she learned little from their discussion.
Ron also admitted having concerns about his son-in-law. His normally bright eyes were bloodshot and drawn; beneath his bristly white beard he wore a frown. He told Grogan that he was suspicious of Scott early on, but didn’t want to believe he was involved. He felt the family should stand behind him until they had evidence to the contrary. Yet he admitted that Scott had been distant with him since Laci disappeared, and wouldn’t make eye contact.
Grogan noted the couple’s observations, but his main priority was installing the recording equipment on the home phones before Scott’s next call. As he was setting up the wiring in the bedroom, the phone rang. It was Scott, calling to speak with Sharon. One of Sharon’s friends had answered the cordless phone in the living room and brought it to the rear bedroom for Sharon.
Grogan quickly activated the recorder and handed Sharon the headset to the standard phone.
“Hi Mom. Scott.”
“Hi, Scott,” Sharon replied, keeping her eyes fixed on the detective.
“Why are there signs at the center that we’re supposed to close today?”
“I don’t know, is it closed?” Sharon asked, holding back her emotions.
“You don’t know why?” Scott asked.
“No. I haven’t talked … nobody’s called me. I haven’t heard anything.”
“Huh,” Scott sighed. “How are you doing?”
“Not very good today. Not having a good day.”
“Well,” Scott began.
“No, it’s been a re
al rough day today,” Sharon continued. “Scott, we’ve seen some photos of you with another girl. Is there somebody you’ve been seeing?”
“No,” Scott replied. “Yeah, the police have a very …”
Before he could finish, Sharon interrupted. “Well, we’ve seen the photos and it’s you with this other girl.”
“Uh, huh,” Scott said noncommittally.
“So what’s that all about?”
“Well, I’ll sit down with you and talk to you about it.”
“Well, are you seeing somebody else or not?” Sharon asked. “Is that why you’re not coming forward or …”
“No.” Scott insisted.
“You’re not seeing anybody?” Sharon probed.
“No.” Scott lied again. “Is that why Brent called me this morning?” “In the photos you’re by a Christmas tree, Scott, and …” “Yeah.” Scott offered no explanation.
“You guys are kissing and you’re trying to tell me that you’re not seeing somebody else?”
“We’ll, we’ll sit down, okay Mom?”
Scott tried to tell his mother-in-law that the alleged affair was just a theory originating with police. Even as Sharon described the photos, Scott continued to deny the obvious.
“When are we gonna sit down and talk?” Sharon demanded.
“Well, I’ll see ya definitely today,” Scott told her.
“Are you coming over here?”
“Yeah,” Scott agreed.
“No,” Sharon shot back. “And don’t come over here because that’s not a good idea to come over here.”
When I first learned about this conversation, I wondered why Sharon did not corner Scott at the house and, figuratively, pummel him for information. On reflection, however, it’s clear how useless that would have been. Scott was a consummate liar; nothing Sharon might have done would change that.
When Grogan emerged from the rear bedroom, he saw that Buehler was in the living room showing photographs of Scott and Amber to the group gathered there.
As Laci’s family grappled with the devastating news, Scott was in his car, dialing Stacey Boyers’s mother, Terry Western, who helped run the volunteer center.
“Why is the center closed today, Terry?” Scott asked when she answered the call.
Terry said that Kim Peterson had told her about the article in the National Enquirer claiming that Scott had a girlfriend. She said they were all “devastated.”
“I know the police have this theory, and they have asked me a bunch of …” Scott asked.
“I hope to God it isn’t true,” Terry replied.
Scott let out a sigh, then thanked Terry for being straight with him. “I wish that people would tell me about the fucking National Enquirer thing,” he fumed. It was ironic; Scott was thanking Terry for her honesty, even as he lied to everyone else.
In a later conversation with another friend from the volunteer center, Scott again denied the affair. When the woman told him that she believed him, Scott didn’t correct her. Concerned only about his image, he allowed her to end the conversation by writing off the allegation as a “National Enquirer article.”
A little while later, Scott checked his voice mail. Jackie Peterson had phoned to suggest that Scott highlight Laci’s pregnancy on the missing persons posters and on the Laci Peterson website. Scott deleted the message before it was over, a gesture that wasn’t lost on the officers. He then listened to a second message from an NBC re-porter calling with questions about “reports of a girlfriend.”
“Yeah, right, bitch!” Scott said before deleting that message, too.
The third message on Scott’s voice mail was from Brent Rocha. He’d finally gotten his hands on the Enquirer article, and advised Scott they needed to talk about “why these things were coming out in the press.”
Scott deleted this one, too.
As Scott erased his brother-in-law’s message, Brent was calling again. This time Scott answered.
“Do you have a minute?” Brent asked.
“What’s up with the article?” Scott inquired.
Brent described the Enquirer article, confirming that it included pictures of Scott with a woman. He mentioned the article’s contention that Scott had taken out a hefty life insurance policy on Laci, and insinuated that this was a motive for murder. “Is it true?” Brent asked in a controlled voice.
“No,” Scott replied.
“No life insurance policy?” Brent questioned.
“I mean, we have one of those whole life policies, you know that is a retirement fund as well,” Scott stated. “But the FBI has …”
The call was lost.
Brent tried back several more times, reaching Scott’s voice mail each time. A few minutes later, Scott phoned him back. He told Brent that he had been trying to find the article but had been unsuccessful.
“Well apparently there are pictures of you and the girl together. So we know that’s true, right?”
“Yeah, there was an encounter,” Scott admitted.
“Knowing that, what can you tell me about my sister to make me understand that you are telling the truth and that I can still support you?” Brent queried.
“You know how happy we were together and that never changed or wavered,” Scott replied. He insisted he had nothing to do with Laci’s disappearance.
Brent asked if Scott thought that “that girl” had anything to do with Laci going missing?
“She didn’t,” he defended her. “She couldn’t have. She didn’t know about Laci.”
Scott’s certainty on this score raises an interesting question. In truth, he barely knew Amber—yet after only four dates and a number of phone calls, he was sure that she had nothing to do with Laci’s disappearance. How could he be certain that his mistress had nothing to do with his wife’s fate—unless he knew the real story?
Brent asked if Scott was happy about the baby coming.
“Absolutely,” Scott assured him.
“They are out to nail you right now,” Brent commented.
“Of course they are.”
Despite public suspicions to the contrary, police detectives aren’t usually interested in arresting the wrong man. Yet today police conspiracies are a common defense. O. J. Simpson’s claim that the LAPD wanted to frame him was ludicrous, but it succeeded at trial. Maybe Scott thought the tactic would work for him, too.
Brent told Scott that the family had been standing behind him, but now they were unsure what to believe. He said the article also mentioned spots of blood found on Scott’s kitchen floor and in his truck, as well as cement in his shop that he used for “anchors or something.”
Scott acknowledged that he’d made a boat anchor with the cement, and that he put some of the material on the driveway. He said police asked him a lot of questions about the cement.
“The police already questioned you?” Brent asked.
“Yes,” Scott replied, though he added that he’d never heard about the blood spots. He told Brent he could look at the warrant that police served on his house, which itemized everything that was taken. Police took a sample of one suspected spot from an exterior door that tested negative for the presence of blood.
“Okay,” Brent said.
“If that helps you to know how unfactual this article is in lots of respects,” Scott added.
“Hey, it’s coming from the Enquirer, so who knows what this is saying,” Brent said.
Scott pointed to a prior Enquirer article that featured an interview with an eyewitness who claimed he saw Scott putting a body in the back of his truck. Brent admitted that he’d read that, too.
Scott said it was embarrassing and wrong that the paper talked about an encounter with “this girl.”
“So, that part is true, huh?” Brent asked.
“Yeah, yeah,” Scott admitted.
“So, you don’t think she had anything to do with it?” Brent asked a second time.
“You know Laci and I are happy together,” Scott said.
�
��You know every time I saw you together … I told you, Scott, the day after she left, she loved you so much, she totally adored you. … Is there anything else like this person, this woman, that might throw us off or catch us off guard?”
“You know, this was the only thing like that,” Scott said.
“What do you think happened to her?” Brent asked.
Scott told his brother in law he believed that someone who knew Laci’s routine “pulled over and grabbed her,” or “it could have happened down in the park.”
If Brent Rocha had been relatively even-tempered with Scott, Sharon Rocha was far more confrontational.
“Scott, this is Sharon, are you there?” Sharon said, adjusting the police department’s headset. “Scott, pick up the phone if you’re there. I need to talk to you … ”
“Yeah,” Scott replied.
“Where are you?” Sharon inquired.
Scott started to answer, but Sharon interrupted him. “Well, since you’ve managed to lose all of my confidence in you, what I want to know is, where is my daughter at, Scott?”
“I wish I knew, Mom. I wish I knew where she is.”
“You do know,” Sharon snapped. “You do know where she is and I want you to tell me. Where is Laci and her baby? Where did you put them?”
“Where is my wife and our child? I don’t know,” Scott replied.
“You killed my daughter, didn’t you?”
“No, I didn’t, Mom,” Scott said.
“Yes, you did, Scott. And I want to know, just let me bring my daughter home, okay? That’s all I want. I don’t want anything else from you. I want you to tell me where my daughter is. I want to bury my daughter. Now would you tell me where she is, Scott?”
Scott spoke over his mother-in-law. “Don’t know where she is. I want my wife …”
“Stop lying,” Sharon insisted. “I’m tired of your lies. You have looked me in the eye … for weeks and been lying to me. You have looked me in the eye for years and been lying to me. Now where is she?”
“I wish I knew,” Scott said.
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