What Scott Peterson’s recent victory could mean for his years-long quest for freedom

Fox News contributor and former Washington, DC homicide detective Ted Williams does not believe convicted murderer Scott Peterson’s recent victory to re-examine the discovery in his case will lead to his release from prison.

On Monday, a California judge granted Peterson — who was sentenced to life in prison in 2004 for the 2002 murders of Laci Peterson, his 27-year-old pregnant wife and their unborn son — the right to a post-conviction discovery period. is required by state law for defendants convicted of serious crimes and given prison sentences of fifteen years or more.

“They got the right guy,” Williams said simply when asked for his thoughts on the decision. “Scott Peterson killed his wife Lacy and his son Conner.”

Williams further added his belief, after covering the Peterson trial 20 years ago, that Peterson “wanted to free himself from both so he could continue a relationship with Amber Frey.”

According to reports, the LA Innocence Project has taken on Scott Peterson’s case.

Fry was the woman who secretly saw Peterson behind Laci’s back while they were married. After her disappearance, he tried to continue their relationship.

“He did all kinds of things that would lead someone to believe that none other than Scott Peterson killed Laci Peterson.”

–Ted Williams

Laci was seven and a half months pregnant when she disappeared from her and Peterson’s Modesto home on Christmas Eve in 1994. Four months later, in April 2003, a pedestrian found the decomposed body of her unborn son in San Francisco Bay.

Authorities search for the bodies of Laci Peterson and the body of her unborn son in San Francisco Bay in January 2003. (Justin Sullivan)

Authorities later found Laci’s decomposed body in the bay, coincidentally a few miles from where Peterson said he went fishing alone on December 24, 2002.

Peterson said he came home to an empty house and reported Laci missing the next day.

Amber Frey leaves the courthouse with her attorney, Gloria Allred, after a day of testifying during the double murder trial of Scott Peterson on Tuesday, August 10, 2004, at the San Mateo County Superior Courthouse in Redwood City. (San Mateo County Times photo/Ron Lewis)

After Laci’s disappearance and prior to his arrest, Peterson bleached his hair and was caught with his brother’s passport in San Diego, where police believed he may have been trying to flee to Mexico.

“It’s just so mean.”

–Scott Peterson

The Los Angeles Innocent Project, which seeks to defend wrongly accused and wrongly imprisoned people, took up the Peterson case in January. The LA Innocence Project appears to be basing its case on evidence it wants to test for DNA, police reports, audio recordings, video recordings and other material that Peterson’s lawyers believe will exonerate him.

Scott Peterson is arraigned in Stanislaus County Superior Court to face charges in the deaths of his wife Laci Peterson and unborn son Conner on April 21, 2003 in Modesto, California. (REUTERS/POOL/Ted Benson)

“Mr. Peterson has been waiting for 20 years for police reports and audio and video recordings that should have been provided,” Paula Mitchell, executive director of The Innocence Project, said at a hearing in March, according to the Los Angeles Times. “We are eager to begin our investigation.”

Peterson’s attorneys have linked a burglary involving two suspects that occurred sometime between December 24, 2002 (the day Laci disappeared) and December 26, 2002 at a home near the Peterson home to the disappearance of Laci. However, investigators say one of the burglars admitted the burglary occurred on December 26.

About 3,000 people gathered at a church to remember Laci Peterson on what would have been her 28th birthday, nearly three weeks after her body washed ashore along with the remains of her unborn son. (Justin Sullivan)

“There was a burglary across the street from our house,” Peterson told filmmakers for a Peacock series called “Face-to-Face with Scott Peterson,” via video call from Mule Creek State Prison. “And I think Laci went there to see what was going on, and then she was taken.”

The burglary was not mentioned during Peterson’s 2004 trial.

Scott Peterson, of Modesto, California, was found guilty of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder of his wife, Laci Peterson, 27, and the couple’s unborn son, Connor. (David Paul Morris)

The LA Innocence Project also points to a van that was set on fire in Modesto on December 25, 2002, a day before the burglary allegedly occurred.

Still, Williams doesn’t believe this information “will allow Peterson to get out of jail,” he said.

“You find that the things that Peterson himself did certainly lead you to believe that no two burglars would have killed Lacy and her son in Modesto…the Bay,” Williams said. ‘It defies logic. I don’t think they’ll ever prove this happened.”

Scott Peterson and Laci Peterson in a photo that will appear in the upcoming docuseries “American Murder: Laci Peterson.” (Courtesy of Netflix)

Peterson, now 51, was initially sentenced to death nearly 17 years ago and was ordered Wednesday to serve the rest of his life in prison after the Supreme Court overturned his death sentence in August 2020 amid allegations of juror misconduct. Laci’s relatives were allowed to make statements on her behalf.

Prosecutors have said Peterson killed Laci and dumped her body from his fishing boat in San Francisco Bay on Christmas Eve. Her body and the fetus of her unborn son washed ashore in April 2003. In his 2004 trial, prosecutors also pointed to Scott Peterson’s affair with massage therapist Amber Frey, who testified that she did not know he was married.

Fox News’ Christina Coulter contributed to this report.