Could one of America’s most notorious murderers be innocent? A new documentary is exploring that possibility.
“Scott Peterson: The New Evidence,” premiering Thursday on A&E, revisits one of the most infamous murder cases in recent American history through the lens of the Los Angeles Innocence Project, which is working to overturn Peterson’s conviction after taking on his case in 2023.
“Do I think that we'll be able to answer the question of whether Scott Peterson is guilty or innocent? I think we're going to get a lot closer than anyone ever has,” host Chris Pixley, an attorney and legal analyst, says in the documentary’s trailer.
Peterson was convicted in 2004 of killing 27-year-old Laci Peterson and their unborn son Connor, after she disappeared from the couple’s Modesto, California, home on Christmas Eve 2002.
Prosecutors said Peterson took the body of his wife, who was eight months pregnant, from their home and dumped it from his fishing boat in the San Francisco Bay. Her remains and those of her unborn son were washed ashore in April 2003.
The Los Angeles Innocence Project argues that new scientific analysis and previously overlooked evidence could challenge Peterson’s murder conviction.
The special examines alternative theories surrounding the case, including new analysis of where Laci’s remains may have entered the water, evidence tied to Peterson’s fishing boat, a possible nearby burglary and witness accounts from people who claimed they saw Laci after prosecutors said she was already dead.
Authorities believed that Scott killed Laci on the morning of December 24, 2002, but several witnesses said they saw Laci walking their dog after Scott left for his boat outing that day, according to US Weekly.
“What the Modesto police did here is they actively chose not to investigate the statements of the eyewitnesses. They simply didn’t follow up with the vast majority of them,” Pixley told Us. “We’re talking about dozens of witnesses, whom they actively chose to dismiss.”
One man featured in the special recalls allegedly seeing Laci after the timeline of the prosecutors’ case, saying, “I knew that's the same woman that I see walking the dog.”
Meanwhile, Laci Peterson’s family continues to reject claims that new evidence changes the case. Her mother, Sharon Rocha, told People in a statement published Wednesday: “There is no new evidence.”
Peterson initially received the death penalty, but nearly 17 years on death row, he was resentenced to life in prison without parole in December 2021.
In April, a San Mateo County Superior Court judge denied Peterson’s latest petition to overturn his conviction.
“Judge [Elizabeth] Hill recognized the most recent attempt to undo the jury’s verdict for what it was — nothing more than recycled, repackaged and rebranded arguments,” Stanislaus County District Attorney Jeff Laugero said in a May statement. “Laci, Conner and their family deserve the finality that justice promised them."
The Scott and Laci Peterson case has been the subject of numerous documentaries and true crime specials over the years, including A&E’s “The Murder of Laci Peterson” (2017), Investigation Discovery’s “Scott Peterson: An American Murder Mystery “ (2017), ABC’s “Truth and Lies: The Murder of Laci Peterson” (2017), NBC’s “Dateline “investigation, HLN’s “How It Really Happened” and Netflix’s “American Murder: Laci Peterson (2024).”
“Scott Peterson: The New Evidence” premieres July 16 on A&E, with the second part airing July 17. Both episodes will be available to stream the day after their television premieres.
