Let me address the weird thing first. I don’t know if this is some sort of cosmic thing, but we are getting not one but two documentary series within the span of six days about the Laci Peterson murder. There’s American Murder: Laci Peterson, a three-part docuseries by Netflix, and then there’s Face to Face with Scott Peterson, also a three-part series coming from Peacock. Laci Peterson was an eight-month pregnant twenty-six-year-old American woman who was murdered by her husband Scott on December 24th, 2002, as per the official reports. Scott never confessed to the crime, but he was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. We are, of course, going to talk about the Netflix documentary in this article, mainly about two things: whether or not Scott Peterson was guilty, and how the series fared as a documentary.
What Happens In The Docuseries?
They say it’s always the husband or boyfriend when a woman goes missing! Especially when the woman is eight months pregnant, it’s only natural to point the finger at her husband. When his wife went missing on the morning of Christmas Eve, 2002, Scott Peterson was fishing, far away. At least that’s what he claimed. He appeared to be calm and cooperative at first, allowing the police to run their investigation and doing everything to find his missing wife. Modesto police detective Al Brochchini remembers how quickly he and Scott came to be on a first-name basis, and his primary agenda became clearing out Scott’s name.
Scott and Laci were a young married couple, living the American dream. They had a dream romance where he pretty much swept her off her feet, as described by Laci’s mother, Sharon. Scott had a very normal, big family, all of whom loved Laci so much. And then, five years into their marriage, Laci was pregnant. She was over the moon. Everyone knew she was going to be a great mother. The only little issue was Laci once mentioning to her mother that Scott didn’t want a kid. But then he did come on board. Everything was fine, until that Christmas eve, when Scott returned home and there was no sign of Laci. Their dog McKenzie was alone in the house, with the leash attached to her neck. Laci was supposed to walk her in the morning.
Things would have ended if Scott had just taken a polygraph, to which he even agreed at first. But he backed out after consulting with his father, and just about a week later, a woman contacted the police, claiming to be Scott Peterson’s girlfriend. As it turned out, Amber Frey was indeed in a relationship with Scott, and he’d conveniently lied to her about his marriage. Amber agreed to go on tape and record her phone calls with Scott, who had obviously manipulated her. The most notable thing was Scott admitting to being married once but claiming he lost his wife on December 9, which is a fortnight before Laci’s disappearance. On the same day he also bought a boat, about which he didn’t tell anyone. The tables turned on Scott now. He looked very much like a man who would do such a terrible thing. There was the affair, then not wanting to have a baby, and then the boat. It all served as strong evidence against him, albeit circumstantial.
Did Scott murder Laci?
Things started looking even worse for Scott when Laci’s body was found around the same area where he claimed to have been boating. Not to mention, a dead fetus was also discovered. Scott continued to avoid the media, and his nonchalant demeanor bothered everyone. He did come clean about the affair, and his entire defense effectively turned into “I might be a cheater, but I’m not a murderer.” We even hear his lawyer, the famous Mark Geragos, screaming that on live television. Scott finally spoke up, but all he did was deny the accusations and also mention that he did let Laci know about the affair, but presenter Diane Sawyer was in utter disbelief when the man claimed that his pregnant wife was pretty casual about his affair, all with a straight face.
It all came down to the trial, where Scott’s defense tried their best to prove him not guilty, but the jurors were not convinced. They ultimately decided that he was guilty after all and called for a death sentence. The sentence was overturned, but Scott remained guilty in the eyes of the law and was denied parole for life. Did he kill his wife? My answer would be he’s guilty according to the law, and the evidence found might be circumstantial but too hard to ignore. I’m not sure what’s in store for us in the Peacock documentary, but this one pretty much says that he did it.
Final Thoughts
Here’s the thing I have an issue with when it comes to the Netflix-produced content in the true crime genre. The way they usually reveal what has happened in the beginning and slowly reach the conclusion, detailing the investigation, is often tiresome. It’s a narrative style that works fine for cinema, but when it comes to documentaries, we can just Google and find out the details. Sure, that’s a bit of work many of us would rather not do, preferring to binge-watch three-four episodes on Netflix, but this is a spot of bother for me. I mean, it took us three episodes to find out that the jury found Scott Peterson guilty. The documentary could have laid down all the facts and then examined them, which would have been a bold move, narrative-wise.
However, if this does bother you, then American Murder: Laci Peterson is just the usual Netflix fare. You’re bound to love it if you’re a true crime aficionado. The story unfolds exactly like how you’ve seen in other Netflix documentaries. There’s Netflix’s production value, and the technical side of the things here is pretty much perfect. The documentary also does the smart thing by not explicitly saying Scott is guilty but subtly implying it. I see no reason why this documentary won’t become an instant hit and the newest feather to this golden egg genre for Netflix. Not to mention, I’m curious to see Peacock’s reply next week.
