Missing Woman's Husband Speaks to GMA, Part II
L O S A N G E L E S, Jan. 29, 2003 -- Scott Peterson, the husband of the missing pregnant Modesto, Calif., woman, calls his marriage "glorious" even though he was cheating on his pregnant wife.
In part two of his interview with ABCNEWS' Diane Sawyer, Peterson said he still remembers when he fell in love with his missing wife, Laci Peterson. Even now, after he admitted that he told his pregnant wife about his extramarital affair just weeks before she disappeared, Peterson claims they had a good marriage.
"God, the first word that comes to mind is, you know, glorious," Peterson said on ABCNEWS' Good Morning America. "I mean we took care of each other, very well. She was amazing. She is amazing," he said.
Responding to Reports
The 31-year-old husband says reports that he took out a $250,000 life insurance policy on Laci Peterson over the summer are misleading.
"We do have life insurance policies on both of us, in the same amount, $250,000 on each of us," Peterson said. "They're an investment vehicle. I think they're termed a whole life insurance or something, that we started when we bought a home two years ago," he said.
In response to a rumor about blood being found in one of the Petersons' vehicles by investigators, Scott said such a discovery would be normal.
"I mean these are vehicles that both of us are in, on a continuous basis," Scott Peterson, who works as a fertilizer salesman, said. "I know for a fact there'd be plenty of blood in there from me. You know, I work on farms and you can take a look at my hands now and they have cuts all over them," he said.
During his interview with Sawyer, Peterson said that he told police on Christmas Eve about his affair with Amber Frey, the day Laci went missing.But after the interview, police told ABCNEWS that wasn't true. They said they learned of the affair on Dec. 30 when Frey, a single mom from Fresno, contacted them.
The Day She Disappeared
Scott Peterson said the last time he saw his 27-year-old wife was on the morning of Dec. 24, when he headed out on a solo fishing trip while Laci, who was eight months pregnant at the time, continued working in the kitchen.
"I believe it was about 9:30, that morning, the reason being that we started to watch Martha Stewart Living, while Laci was working in the kitchen and I left some time during that," Peterson said.
He said he had the day free and planned on meeting up with his wife and family that night.
"Well, we had plans that evening, with mom, with Laci's mom, over at her house, cooking there as well," Peterson said. "My day was open to you know, either play golf or go fishing and I chose fishing that day," he said.
In response to a neighbor's report that they saw Peterson load something large into his vehicle on Christmas Eve, Peterson said he loaded large umbrellas to take to a warehouse that morning.
"Those are those, you know, those umbrellas on the stands that are, you know, 8 feet in diameter or something like that," Peterson said.
Another neighbor said they noticed Laci Peterson never opened her curtains the day she went missing, something they said she did every day. Scott Peterson said his wife only opened them in good weather.
"Yeah, they were down when I returned," Peterson said. "It's very common in the summer that she opens up the curtains, but again you know, we're talking about a day that I don't know what it was, probably 40 degrees that day or something, and during the winter, we don't open the curtains to keep the house warm," he said.
Peterson's parents and his sister say they were surprised to find out that Scott had been cheating on his pregnant wife, but they don't think he had anything to do with her disappearence.
"It really isn't relevant to my sister-in-law being missing," Susan Peterson, Scott's sister, said. "We're desperately asking people to help us," he said.
In the one-and-a-half-hour interview with ABCNEWS, Peterson was composed at moments, and soaked in tears at others.
The Petersons were looking forward to a new addition to the family. Laci is due to give birth to a boy they already named Connor on Feb. 16. Scott Peterson said he can't bring himself to enter the baby's furnished nursery.
Laci Peterson's family supported Peterson when Laci disappeared, but when Frey came forward with news of their affair, that support faded.
"There's other questions we have that if he wasn't truthful about that, it makes us wonder if he's been truthful about everything else," said Laci Peterson's mother, Sharon Rocha, on ABCNEWS' Good Morning America Monday.
Peterson, who has not spoken publicly about the case until now, has been under close scrutiny by Modesto Police since they found difficulty corroborating his alibi, and more recently when it was discovered that he had been having an affair in the months prior to her disappearance.
Peterson said Laci told him she was taking the family dog, McKenzie, for a walk at a nearby park before she disappeared. McKenzie was later found in the Petersons' backyard, trailing a muddy leash.
The Peterson family clings to their hopes of finding Laci alive. Police have received roughly 4,600 tips so far, but they still have no official suspects in the case.
The Modesto Police Department said it will call as many people in as necessary to follow every lead, but they still have more questions for Scott Peterson and want him to cooperate.