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Zone 7 with Sheryl McCollum

The Scott Peterson Case Reexamined with Laura Ingle

Zone 7 with Sheryl McCollum

iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline

True Crime

4.4696 Ratings

🗓️ 21 February 2024

⏱️ 53 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In 2004, in one of the most high-profile trials of the past two decades, Scott Peterson was convicted of murdering his wife, Laci Peterson, 27, and their unborn son, Conner, with whom Laci was eight months pregnant. Laci disappeared from their home in Modesto, California, on Christmas Eve in 2002.

Laura Ingle is an investigative reporter who has covered the Peterson case from the beginning. She reports for Fox News and NewsNation. Ingle received an Edward R. Murrow award in 2005 for her 2004 Scott Peterson trial coverage and was awarded four Golden Mikes from the Southern California Association of Television and Radio News Directors. Listeners can learn more about Laura on X @lauraingle and IG @lauraingletv

Resources:  

In this episode of Zone 7, Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl McCollum, sits down with investigative reporter Laura Ingle to re-examine the Scott Peterson case 20 years later. They discuss details like Peterson's suspicious behavior, the discovery of Laci’s body, and new evidence from the LA Innocence Project questioning his guilt. Laura provides an on-the-ground perspective from visiting the crime scene recently. They also analyze Peterson's odd actions, new claims about a burned-out van containing possible blood evidence, and re-evaluate eyewitness testimony.

Show Notes:

  • [0:00] Welcome back to Zone 7 with Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl McCollum. 
  • [1:20] Background of The Scott Peterson case
  • [2:00] Sheryl introduces Laura Ingle to the listeners 
  • [4:00] Investigating the burnt-out orange van
  • [11:30] Peterson's lack of urgent response raises huge suspicion 
  • [17:00] Sheryl gives her opinion on the Peterson case
  • [21:40] The infamous picture of Laci is discussed 
  • [28:35] Question: What do you see today unfolding with the Innocence Project and with the families?
  • [30:30] Blood evidence found in a van should be retested 
  • [34:30] The amount of gasoline indicates intentional arson of the van to hide evidence
  • [37:50] “Every test, on every case, every time.”
  • [40:00] Police declined to collect key pieces of physical evidence from the crime scene
  • [43:45] “I have always been bothered by the lack of investigation of the burglary of our home and the possible connection to Laci’s disappearance and murder.” -S.M
  • [49:50] Laura describes Sharon Rocha's raw visible grief
  • [51:00] Question: Will you describe the Christmas Eve photo comparison of Laci Peterson for us?
  • [52:39] “I would have liked to personally have prosecuted Scott Peterson.” -N.G
  • Thanks for listening to another episode! If you love the show and want to help grow the show, please head over to iTunes and leave a rating and review! 

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Sheryl “Mac” McCollum is an Emmy Award winning CSI, a writer for CrimeOnLine, Forensic and Crime Scene Expert for Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, and a CSI for a metro Atlanta Police Department. She is the co-author of the textbook., Cold Case: Pathways to Justice. Sheryl is also the founder and director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, a collaboration between universities and colleges that brings researchers, practitioners, students and the criminal justice community together to advance techniques in solving cold cases and assist families and law enforcement with solvability factors for unsolved homicides, missing persons, and kidnapping cases.  

You can connect and learn more about Sheryl’s work by visiting the CCIRI website https://coldcasecrimes.org

Social Links:

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Back in the day when I was at the Crime Commission, I was assigned to Operation Weedon Seed.

0:14.0

We had a homicide where the only witness was a little boy eight years old.

0:19.0

The victim that was shot and killed dropped literally 20 feet from his back porch where he was standing.

0:26.6

He was the only eyewitness that could identify the shooter.

0:31.6

In his testimony in court, he said the shooter was up on the hill. And then he said he was about a mile from me.

0:41.3

The prosecutor, being brilliant, on redirect, asked him, how far is a mile? And he said, about from me to the back door.

0:52.3

The back door of the courtroom, probably not even 50 feet.

0:57.0

When you're talking about eyewitnesses and you're describing a scene

1:01.0

and you're describing a perpetrator, what's a mile to him versus what is an actual mile.

1:07.0

Oftentimes, we need more information from eyewitnesses to clarify what they did or didn't see.

1:15.6

Scott Peterson was found guilty of killing his wife Lacey and unborn son Connor.

1:21.6

Peterson has had two failed appeals and a habeas corpus that failed.

1:26.6

Decades later, the Innocent Project of L.A. has taken

1:30.2

up his case. And we're all sitting here. What is the new evidence? Is there any true new evidence?

1:37.7

There's a burned out van. There's allegedly blood in the van. Who does the blood belong to?

1:43.0

They're bringing up these eyewitnesses again.

1:45.7

What did they see?

1:46.8

Who did they see?

1:47.7

When did they see this?

1:49.4

But we have somebody with us that's going to be able to help us like no other.

1:53.9

We have an investigative reporter that has literally been on this case from day one, y'all.

2:01.0

Laura Engel is one of those folks, boots on the ground.

...

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