Scott Peterson has broken his silence for the first time since his murder conviction, offering his account of what happened during the final hours of his pregnant wife Laci Peterson’s life.
In a jailhouse interview from Mule Creek State Prison in California, featured in Peacock’s upcoming documentary series Face to Face with Scott Peterson, the convicted killer continues to insist on his innocence in the murders of his 27-year-old wife and their unborn son, Conner, detailing what he recalls from the day she disappeared.
Laci, who was eight months pregnant, vanished on Christmas Eve in 2002. Four months later, the bodies of both Laci and Conner were discovered washed ashore.
Peterson reported his wife missing, claiming he returned from a solo fishing trip to find their Modesto, California, home empty, with their dog loose in the backyard, leash still attached.
In this new interview—his first public comments in two decades—Peterson reflects on what he claims were their last moments together, recalling Laci’s “smile” and their morning routine.
“I remember Laci smiling while she did her hair on the morning of the 24th, and how we shared a single bowl for cereal because we were too lazy to grab a second one,” Peterson said.
For the first time, Peterson also addressed the affair he was having in the lead-up to Laci’s disappearance.
“It’s horrible,” he said. “I was a total a**hole to be having sex outside our marriage.”
Peterson had been involved with 27-year-old massage therapist Amber Frey, who came forward to police after realizing that the man she thought was her boyfriend was, in fact, the husband of a missing woman. Frey revealed that Peterson had initially claimed he was single, then told her he was a widower, before eventually admitting that his wife was alive but had gone missing.
Frey, who has also spoken out in a new Netflix documentary American Murder: Laci Peterson, appears in recordings of secretly taped phone calls with Peterson, some of which are being aired for the first time.
Peterson maintains that Laci had taken their dog for a walk when he left for his fishing trip, and that she never returned. He quickly became a suspect, and following the discovery of Laci and Conner’s bodies in April 2003, he was arrested near San Diego, allegedly found with survival gear, cash, and dyed blonde hair.
In 2004, Peterson was convicted and sentenced to death, though his sentence was later reduced to life in prison without parole. Despite his conviction, Peterson continues to assert his innocence, with his case now taken up by the Los Angeles Innocence Project.
In his interview with Peacock, Peterson expressed regret over not testifying during his trial.
“If I have a chance to show people the truth, and if they’re willing to accept it, that would be the biggest thing I could accomplish right now—because I didn’t kill my family,” he said.
