Peterson Laci - NF Inside the Mind of Scott Peterson

I am indebted to Oprah Winfrey for first inviting me to share my views on Scott Peterson with the public. I have profound respect for her daily breathtaking commitment to disclose the truth about her own life and to heal others by helping them to do the same.

Anne Bird, Scott Petersons half sister, who appeared with me on The Oprah Winfrey Show, also has my sincere thanks. Her insightssome of which were conveyed in her book, Blood Brother: 33 Reasons My Brother Scott Peterson Is Guilty, others of which were conveyed to me personallywere invaluable as I researched Scotts story and came to understand the workings of his mind.

Catherine Crier, host of Catherine Crier Live on Court TV and author of the number-one New York Times bestseller A Deadly Game, not only provided the Foreword to this book, but selflessly shared her sources and her rare insights.

Cole Thompson, chief of story development for Catherine Crier Live, also provided valuable support.

Gloria Allred, Amber Freys attorney and a consummate professional, spoke eloquently and openly about her client and about Scott.

I also am indebted to many members of the Latham, Peterson, and Rocha families, who shared their thoughts and feelings about Scott with me. They include John Latham, James Patrick Latham, Jennifer Peterson, Lee Peterson (briefly), and Sharon Rocha. They also include several family members who wished not to be identified by name, but did wish to help me understand the family dynamics they felt had created a killer.

Scotts ex-girlfriend Lauren Putnat offered real insights into Scotts thought patterns and sexual behaviors.

Many others lent guidance, facts, and perspective to this project. They include Brad Garrett of the FBI, Attorney Anthony Traini, Attorney Irwin Zalkin, Dr. Rock Positano, and Sharon Hagan of the Modesto, California, police.

My researcher, Marilyn Firth, spent countless hours scouring the Web and speaking with sources directly to provide me with needed data to build my psychological profile of Scott Peterson

Larry E. Stauffer Sr. combed the San Diego area, interviewing dozens of people who had known Scott in the past.

Private investigators (who will remain nameless) in three states helped me to hone my vision of Scott.

My agent, Beth Vesel, and my editor at St. Martins Press, Charles Spicer, treated my work with the same extraordinary focus and energy as they always do. They treated it as their own.

John Murphy, Joe Rinaldi, and Michael Homier at St. Martins also brought themselves to the project completely.

And Heidi Krupp, of Krupp Communications, accepted the challenge of letting the public know that they could now journey Inside the Mind of Scott Peterson.

Simply put, I had the best team any author could possibly have. Even into the early-morning hours, I never felt I was working alone.

ST. MARTINS PAPERBACKS TITLES
by KEITH ABLOW

The Architect

Murder Suicide

Psychopath

Compulsion

Projection

Denial

Without Mercy (nonfiction)

B efore reading this book, you may have believed that the story of the murders of Laci Peterson and her unborn son, Conner, began on Christmas Eve, 2002. That was, after all, the evening Scott Peterson asserted that he had returned home to find Lacis Land Rover in the driveway of their Modesto, California, home, and the couples golden retriever, McKenzie, in the backyard, alone, with his leash on. At 5:17 P.M. he telephoned his mother-in-law, Sharon Rocha, and told her, Laci is missing.

If not that fateful Christmas Eve, you might believe the story began a month earlier, on November 20, 2002. That was the night Scott Peterson first met Amber Frey, the pretty, blond, single mother who worked as a massage therapist. The couple shared a drink at the Elephant Bar in Fresno, then dinner at an intimate Japanese restaurant, then a bottle of gin, then had sex in Petersons room at the Radisson Hotel. Within two weeks Peterson was picking up Frays daughter, Ayiana, at school and cooking dinner for what looked like an instant familyone he may have preferred to Laci and Conner.

Or you might open the curtain on the murder mystery earlier still. Paying homage to the theory that the pressures of impending fatherhood began to unravel Petersons psyche, you might begin the day Laci Peterson conceived Conner, about seven months before her husband killed her, weighted down her body, and dumped it in the San Francisco Bay.

There are those, in fact, who see the roots of Scott Petersons vicious act reaching back years to his discomfort with marriage itself, evidenced by repeated acts of infidelity, including a 1998 affair with Janet Ilse, who once walked in on Peterson and his wife in bed.

Others assert that Peterson was evil incarnate, that the story of the murders of Laci and Conner should begin with Petersons birth at San Diegos Sharp Hospital on October 24, 1972.