Scott Peterson’s death penalty conviction overturned 18 YEARS after he slayed pregnant wife Laci Peterson on Xmas Eve
A COURT has overturned the death penalty for a killer who slayed his pregnant wife and their unborn baby on Christmas Eve 18 years ago.
Scott Peterson had his 2005 death sentence scrapped by the California Supreme Court on Monday, but prosecutors may try again for the same sentence in the high-profile case.
Investigators said that on Christmas Eve 2002, Peterson dumped her body from his fishing boat into San Francisco Bay, where she surfaced months later.
“Peterson contends his trial was flawed for multiple reasons, beginning with the unusual amount of pretrial publicity that surrounded the case,” the court said.
“We reject Peterson’s claim that he received an unfair trial as to guilt and thus affirm his convictions for murder.”
Investigators chased nearly 10,000 tips and considered parolees and convicted sex offenders as possible suspects.
Peterson was eventually arrested after Amber Frey, a massage therapist living in Fresno, told police that they had begun dating a month before his wife’s death, but that he had told her his wife was dead.
He also had contended on appeal that the trial court erred in deciding whether jurors and the defense were properly allowed to test whether Peterson’s new boat would likely have capsized if he dumped the weighted bodies over the side.