Posted by Two things:
- The documentary by a main producer/author on the subject is disturbing, at least in the beginning. The statements by the police are upsetting. He didn’t behave the way I expected. But probably much was cut out and they’re not TV actors. Just one example, specific wording such as “I lost her” do not incriminate in my mind; but “This will be my first Christmas without her,” before the fact, does. And they spent something like $4.2 million (and are/were seeking state reimbursement). And the crime right across the street! The police chief was involved and they responded.
- This woman Marlene Newell is an amazingly-detailed blogger and researcher. “SII” stands for Scott is Innocent.
It is this page in particular that I stumbled upon. The writer lost me with her personal definition of libel and her failure to take this book in along with all the other fluff on the subject. And I don’t feel right about inflicting generations on a new-born, plus, mother-child separations are nothing new.
Now I’m no better than the rest because I don’t know, but what fascinated me is how I could picture him growing up. There are many, many quotes like this:
Another of Jackie’s relatives, who asked that I not identify her, told me, “Scott did everything to please his mother so he wouldn’t be thrown away…”
He appeared to grow up with a two-faced ability to please his parents and others. INSERT joke about fertilizer salesman here. He had an ability to be very charming and win people over. His relationships with his mother and father do not appear to be great.
Also, I am intrigued by the two words, sociopath and psychopath. Sociopath (i.e., death row) is pretty clear.
You know, fertilizer, or steroids, kind of unnatural cultivation… The other thing that has been said before and eloquently is the need to have confidence and be good at something. Seducing women and spouses with lies–and murder, let’s not belittle murder–is not something you want to be good at your whole life.
Scott Peterson/Documentary by Kleenn6160
His father, the youngest of twelve children, struck me as kind of cold. The mother did her best.
Amber Frey, depending on how you look at it, was either in the right or the wrong place at the wrong time.
It really is none of my business. I mean, I don’t know.
Okay, they are not TV personalities. There were vagrants in the park and a safe was carried out of the home across the street in a burglary. The detectives are odious (thanks mostly to my local experiences). But it was tough–no crime scene reconstruction and, until the end, no body–yet they got the job done.
It reminds me a little bit of the Amanda Knox case. Peterson is someone who had no violent or criminal past and there was no direct evidence linking him to the murder.
But, like Pamela Smart, there was just too much going on and nowhere to hide. They both overestimated themselves and underestimated society’s ability to crush them.
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It is more fun and more gratifying than reading current true crime stories. The new ones which appear almost every day are too hard to figure out. For instance there’s the woman (Tami Hunt-something) with the tattoo arms, under eighteen concubine, and who is pregnant in prison. She killed each child she was responsible for for life or longer. The longstanding case against her selfie-brother is over for now, or at least until he gets out. He set the massive fire and was captured on video stealing liquor.
Then there’s the guy in Deer Lodge, Montana and it is just endless…
It is nice to have Hollywood movies, not to mention book after book, documentaries, websites, and amateur authors who don’t know a damn thing. You can read/watch up on it in a couple of days.
Make no mistake, it is a compelling as hell story.
Scott Peterson is in the news again because the mandatory appeal is happening. Eighteen years is the average time for him and the other 641 prisoners on death row in California. And that is of course from the time of sentencing. Twenty or more years and millions of dollars seems reasonable.
Anyway, back to our story.
Even if it is in the northern valley and is agricultural and all, Modesto, pop. 200,000 is not hicksville. The murder, case, and trial, especially given the commensurate spotlight, was handled meticulously. Yes there are flaws, as well as an equally-meticulous defense. The controversies barely alive today don’t explain away the conviction. He was convicted by a (unanimous) jury of his peers. So in reviewing the story today you can start there.
Sorry, I do this. Conclusion/epilogue first. It has little to do, for most people, with the Peterson’s story. For me there is one massive learning.
Again, I cheated. Scott Peterson is going to be exterminated. I already know that. I read the last chapter of the novel first.
Jailhouse story notwithstanding he has never confessed. He has never shown remorse. The actual murder has not been corroborated by evidence. There is still doubt about some things.
I began to understand why he was convicted when I looked at the defense. There are loose ends. Peterson, the defense, and skeptics (who are in the minority) still cling to them. There are explanations–true, in court explanations or reasons, but they don’t really explain it.
- There was a van and burglary across the street. Geregos’ former assistant railed about it. People are still beefing about it. The culprits were arrested and accessible and the case is a matter of public record. Probably the police department looked into it–Peterson links–too.
- Someone performed an excruciating psychoanalysis of Scott Peterson without meeting or knowing him. Another analyzed the household and its expenses, including Peterson’s $60K-plus salary, and concluded there were no financial constraints. I can only write, living in California, two cars, mortgage, pool and cleaning persons, etc. is expensive.
The learning is, you can have an excuse but it can still be true. There were reasons and rationale behind all the stuff in Peterson’s car too. (I once bought a car in Ranch Santa Fe, CA and found an icepick-like tool.)
(For me it explains something hugely important. You can have asthma and COPD but it is still a lie.)
Scott Peterson and his entire case was/were/is too full of excuses.
Maybe he thought Amber Frey would still see him. Who knows what a murderer is capable of. Thankfully we will never know.
http://www.scottpetersonappeal.org/did-not-flee.html
http://www.pwc-sii.com/Research/books/ablow.htm
http://www.amazon.com/Presumed-Guilty-Petersons-Murder-Peterson/dp/0743286960
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/law/12/11/court.archive.peterson10/index.html?iref=allsearch