'Interview with a Monster: The Scott Peterson Case' — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00[Music]
2. 0:02run to the side my daughter's been
3. 0:05missing but this morning she's eight
4. 0:07months pregnant
5. 0:10the FBI is now joining the search for a
6. 0:12missing California woman who is eight
7. 0:14months pregnant her husband reported her
8. 0:16missing after he returned from a fishing
9. 0:18trip a trip he took by himself
10. 0:20please bring our daughter home you know
11. 0:23you're good but nothing bad has happened
12. 0:28are you in any way connected to places
13. 0:30disappearing I had nothing to do with
14. 0:32Lacey's disappearance this is a Fox
15. 0:34report news alert two bodies found in
16. 0:37Richmond California Lacey and her unborn
17. 0:39child did not deserve to die Scott
18. 0:42Peterson was arrested for the murder of
19. 0:44his wife the jury there was nobody in
20. 0:53that courtroom that had a dry eye Scott
21. 0:56didn't ride for Scott Peterson his story
22. 0:59is what matters
23. 1:06[Music]
24. 1:14people were so fascinated and drawn into
25. 1:17this case because Scott and Laci
26. 1:19Peterson seem like the perfect couple a
27. 1:21storybook romance a charming young man
28. 1:24who was very attentive and very focused
29. 1:27on this very sweet beautiful young girl
30. 1:30many people have described Scott and
31. 1:32Laci as the all-american perfect couple
32. 1:34Scott Peterson was a fertilizer salesman
33. 1:36at the time that this all happened he
34. 1:39radiated charm he was this handsome man
35. 1:42who was educated who had you know a good
36. 1:45career ahead of him who really seemed
37. 1:46like he had it all together Laci for her
38. 1:49part was a schoolteacher and by all
39. 1:51accounts everybody who knew Laci
40. 1:53described her as this bubbly caring
41. 1:56social fun-loving person and she was
42. 1:59expecting and you know you could almost
43. 2:01feel the community and the neighborhood
44. 2:03they lived in they were rooting for them
45. 2:05so there was December 24th 2002
46. 2:08Christmas Eve a young couple in love
47. 2:10with everything to look forward to the
48. 2:12future celebrating with their families a
49. 2:14new baby boy on the way when all of a
50. 2:17sudden Laci Peterson vanishes Laci
51. 2:21Peterson is eight months pregnant and
52. 2:23she is still missing tonight Modesto
53. 2:25police say 27 year old Laci Peterson was
54. 2:28last seen walking her dog in a
55. 2:29neighborhood park on Christmas Eve
56. 2:31police admit they are no closer to
57. 2:33finding Laci Peterson than they were on
58. 2:35Christmas Eve the day she vanished
59. 2:40the day before Christmas Eve the last
60. 2:42time anybody has heard or seen Laci
61. 2:44everything seems normal at 8:30 p.m. she
62. 2:48has a conversation with her mother on
63. 2:49the phone they talk about what happens
64. 2:50the next day but the next day there's
65. 2:53there's this huge gap of time that
66. 2:55nobody really knows for sure what
67. 2:57happened except for Scott Peterson he
68. 3:00says that Laci is preparing you know for
69. 3:02Christmas Eve she's watching Martha
70. 3:04Stewart and she is getting ready to go
71. 3:06about her day Scott Peterson decides to
72. 3:09leave his very pregnant wife and go
73. 3:11fishing instead he takes his new boat
74. 3:13that he had purchased and he comes here
75. 3:15to launch the boat her husband reported
76. 3:18her missing after he returned from a
77. 3:20fishing trip a trip he took by himself
78. 3:22her husband says he went fishing at a
79. 3:24marina the day she disappeared so
80. 3:27investigators are searching that marina
81. 3:29the mystery here in Modesto fueled in
82. 3:31large part by Scott Peterson's alibi
83. 3:34which remains flimsy at best he comes
84. 3:36home later in the day
85. 3:38realizes that she's not there figures
86. 3:40she's somewhere else running errands
87. 3:42doing something for Christmas Eve and
88. 3:44takes the time to put his clothes in the
89. 3:46wash take a shower have a snack and then
90. 3:50realizes maybe I should call somebody so
91. 3:52here's what's unusual Scott decides to
92. 3:54call Lacey's mother doesn't say have you
93. 3:57spoken to Lacey today do you know where
94. 3:59she is
95. 4:00he says Lacey is missing
96. 4:05we're missing right away struck a chord
97. 4:09with everybody when you hear Sharron
98. 4:11Rocha described that moment and what
99. 4:13that was like you know the the ground
100. 4:15going out from underneath you your heart
101. 4:17sinking to the floor what do you mean
102. 4:18missing that's a that's a very important
103. 4:21word the clock is ticking in this case
104. 4:34Laci Peterson is eight months pregnant
105. 4:36she needs medical care her family is
106. 4:38desperate to find her you get the call
107. 4:40from Modesto police when they describe
108. 4:42the situation you're just like okay it's
109. 4:44a missing woman eight and a half months
110. 4:46pregnant and so we kind of launched it
111. 4:48from there and went out to the
112. 4:49neighborhood and that's how it all
113. 4:50started having worked as a former
114. 4:52prosecutor in Los Angeles District
115. 4:54Attorney's Office in San Francisco this
116. 4:56was the type of case and my area of
117. 4:58expertise so I was initially just very
118. 5:01fascinated by it I was a radio reporter
119. 5:03working in Los Angeles at the time my
120. 5:06first reaction when I saw that story was
121. 5:08let's go it's Christmas this woman is
122. 5:10missing we need to help I'm a forensic
123. 5:12psychiatrist and the story of Scott
124. 5:15Peterson caught my attention because
125. 5:18people were saying how could it be that
126. 5:21somebody who seemed like the boy next
127. 5:23door your neighbor would do such a thing
128. 5:27the fact I think that
129. 5:30Laci Peterson sprung up so quickly was
130. 5:35she was young she was attractive she was
131. 5:40pregnant that made it of interest but it
132. 5:44became a more interest when very early
133. 5:48on with a day or two the police went to
134. 5:52his home to look for any evidence the
135. 5:56FBI come down last night and assisted in
136. 5:58their processing the home and the
137. 6:00vehicles so they use a chemical process
138. 6:03to try to detect investigators confirm
139. 6:07they have a receipt from the marina
140. 6:09where Scott said he went fishing on
141. 6:10December 24th even so they've hauled in
142. 6:13his computer and his car and have not
143. 6:15ruled him out as a suspect you want to
144. 6:20look in an investigation when you bring
145. 6:22somebody a potential suspect in for
146. 6:23questioning how do they behave what is
147. 6:26their emotion do they show concern
148. 6:28what's really remarkable is that when
149. 6:29Scott is brought in for questioning he
150. 6:31is totally calm doesn't seem concerned
151. 6:34at all not alarmed which to me tells as
152. 6:38a former prosecutor something is very
153. 6:41off in his demeanor when you know you
154. 6:44begin to cover a story like this you
155. 6:46want to hear from the spouse you want to
156. 6:48hear from the husband the closest person
157. 6:50to Lacey is Scott but we weren't getting
158. 6:52that connection with Scott so right away
159. 6:54I felt when something's not right about
160. 6:56this when you think about what it would
161. 6:58be like for you with a person that you
162. 7:00love the most what would you be doing
163. 7:03you know most of us would say I would be
164. 7:05out pounding on the doors I would be out
165. 7:07screaming from the rooftop where is she
166. 7:09I would be out calling her name he
167. 7:10wasn't at the forefront he wasn't the
168. 7:12one kind of leading the search for his
169. 7:15missing wife you see it from the other
170. 7:17family members that desperate grief that
171. 7:20desperate fear where is she is she cold
172. 7:23is she okay - somebody have her how do
173. 7:25we get her we've been through so much
174. 7:28these last days that I'd like to make a
175. 7:30plea to the person or persons
176. 7:32who have my daughter please bring our
177. 7:34daughter home
178. 7:35I miss your beautiful smile and your
179. 7:37fun-loving personality every time we
180. 7:40were together I could feel that
181. 7:41unconditional love between the both of
182. 7:43us and then you cut to what he looked
183. 7:46like
184. 7:46what he sounded like today how are you
185. 7:49remembering your wife and your son
186. 7:51that's you know very personally I mean
187. 7:53continually look for obviously the times
188. 7:56when it's difficult to go on obviously
189. 7:58thanks very much
190. 8:00none of it felt right none of it felt
191. 8:03like this was a man who's being truthful
192. 8:05really he has multiple signs and
193. 8:09symptoms of someone who has sociopathy
194. 8:11or antisocial personality disorder
195. 8:14I'm not diagnosing him with that because
196. 8:16I didn't interview him but the key to
197. 8:18that is a lack of empathy of course
198. 8:20people can handle stress and or grief or
199. 8:23concern in many different ways but it's
200. 8:26the rest of the story that adds up that
201. 8:29shows that Scott Peterson did something
202. 8:31terribly wrong Scott has hired a lawyer
203. 8:34he's been keeping a very low profile all
204. 8:36of this has landed him squarely under a
205. 8:38cloud of suspicion mr. Peterson and
206. 8:41anybody else connected with this
207. 8:42investigation will be considered and is
208. 8:44considered a suspect at the time the
209. 8:50public was already becoming suspicious
210. 8:52of Scott Peterson as more and more
211. 8:54information came out about Scott and I'm
212. 8:57learning more from law enforcement on
213. 8:59what's happening I realized they were
214. 9:00zeroing in on Scott we just knew his
215. 9:03actions were suspicious and something
216. 9:05was going on and clearly his fishing
217. 9:08story was not adding up one of the
218. 9:10things you do as a reporter as you go up
219. 9:12and down you talk to everybody that you
220. 9:13possibly can I went over to the
221. 9:15neighbor's house that lives directly
222. 9:16across the street the neighbor
223. 9:18remembered Scott coming over to her
224. 9:20house looking for LaCie and she said
225. 9:23well where were you it's Christmas Eve
226. 9:24and he said I was playing golf the fact
227. 9:27that that story differed from what we
228. 9:29then heard was his alibi and where he
229. 9:31says he was was very upsetting Scott was
230. 9:33being followed by the press everywhere
231. 9:36all of his emotion his behavior
232. 9:39his actions were documented I approached
233. 9:42him one day and I said you know Scott
234. 9:44you know you really should talk you
235. 9:46really need to get out there and tell
236. 9:48people how much you miss your wife and
237. 9:50how much you need her to come home and
238. 9:52he says you know what
239. 9:53he says if I decide to talk you'll be
240. 9:55one of the three reporters I talked to
241. 9:57[Music]