The Holiday Party
On December 14th Scott and Amber attended a holiday party together.
From what I’ve gathered, it was a party thrown by Shawn and her fiance. Not a party of Scott’s like a lot of media makes it sound like.
Before the party, Amber asked how she should introduce him and Scott said she is “the only one I call Sweetheart” and agreed that boyfriend was “totally appropriate.”
Pictures from this party would go on to play an important role and seemed very telling
Scott Peterson and Amber Frey (https://www.the-sun.com/news/6982912/inside-scott-peterson-relationship-with-ex-amber-frey/#:~:text=Frey%20was%20a%20Fresno%20massage,blind%20date%20in%20November%202002. )
The Other Christmas Party
While Scott was in Fresno at Amber’s friend’s Christmas party, Laci was in Modesto at her friend’s Christmas party.
He was supposed to attend with her, but canceled at the last minute telling her that his bosses were flying into town unexpectedly for a big meeting and he needed to work.
Laci was very understanding and the only thing party goers remember her complaining about was that Scott had been having to travel out of town a lot lately and that it was hard to put her shoes on without his help 🙁
Laci Peterson (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Laci_Peterson )
Scott told Amber that he would be traveling in Europe for the holidays
December 23-24, 2002.
Monday, December 23
- In the evening, Laci and Scott went to Laci’s sister’s salon where Scott got a haircut
- She was wearing tan pants and a black blouse with small flowers
- They picked up pizza on the way home
- Once home, ate pizza and watched Monday night football
- At 8:30, she spoke to her mom on the phone and confirmed dinner plans for the next day
- They then continued watching football before watching “The Rookie” and going to bed around 10:30
Let’s Dive In
- There’s a lot to break down throughout the day and we’re going to go section by section because each piece turns out to be important in the grand scheme of things
- You also might be wondering why I’m bringing things up from the 23rd and the morning of the 24th that seem inconspicuous but that’s because some people have speculated that she died between the evening of the 23 and the morning of the 24
- Also, before we dive in I do want to clarify that in case you aren’t aware and I haven’t made it clear yet – Laci was murdered and Scott is widely believed to be guilty so while we go through the events I may bring things up that have been debated or that I find hinky (and I’m sure Jen will have comments as well ;))and it’ll all get tied up in the end… well at least as much as it can.
Tuesday, December 24 – According to Scott
7-8:40am: Laci woke up around 7. She got dressed and put her pajamas in the hamper. These were found there when the house was searched on December 26.
She had some cereal before Scott got up that receipts show she had purchased the day before.
Scott got up around 8/8:30 and he had cereal while she had some toast.
8:40-8:45: Laci logged onto the computer in the spare bedroom while Scott showered. The MSN home page, a weather site from Yahoo!, and two Yahoo! Shopping sites are accessed. One shopping site was for a red GAP scarf and the other a sunflower umbrella stand. Laci logged off at 8:45. Investigators did not do an analysis of Laci’s regular computer use to confirm that this would have been her. It seems likely that it was but of course as many have speculated, it could have been Scott being smart and trying to look like her.
December 24 cont.
8:45-9:45ish: Scott got dressed and Laci told him about her plans for the day. She was going to walk the dog, go to the store, and make Gingerbread.
She did her hair and in a recorded call with Sharon Rocha, he told her that Laci had looked “so cute because she was sitting on her bench in front of the mirror styling her hair the way Amy had shown her.”
The bathroom was found with the curling iron on the bathroom counter and the bench in front of it. The housekeeper, Margarita Nava, confirmed that when she left on the 23, nothing was out on the counter nor was the bench in the bathroom.
Bathroom with the towel (https://www.scottpetersonappeal.org/scotts-timeline.html )
December 24 cont.
Scott then loaded 3 patio umbrellas into the bed of his truck as he was going to store them in his warehouse. Their neighbor walked by while he was doing this. She said Scott was smiling and said good morning to her. He then went back in the house and filled the mop bucket so Laci could mop.
This is interesting because Margarita said that she mopped on the 23 so why would Laci be mopping on the 24?
9:48am: Scott recalled that he and Laci had Martha Stewart on after watching the Today Show and remembered something about her and meringue cookies. Sure enough, at 9:48 am, Martha Stewart did mention cookies and meringue. Is this proof that Laci was still alive at that point?
Some argue it is because why would he have had Martha Stewart on without her?
December 24 cont.
9:49-10:30: Scott left and went to his warehouse (a 9 minute drive) while Laci was mopping. He wasn’t sure the exact time he left but at 10:08 he checked the voicemail on his cell phone.
10:30-10:56: Scott checked his email and send one email to his boss (who had left a voicemail). Forensics confirmed he continuously logged onto his computer for 26 minutes – checking email, sending an email, and looking up instructions for how to assemble a wood working tool he had just received via UPS
10:57-11:17: There are about 20 minutes after he logged off where Scott says he was doing things in the warehouse – cleaning up, assembling his new mortiser, opened up the rolling door and unloaded tools from the truck. At this point, he cut his knuckle and opened up the side door to get a napkin.
Forensic testing did end up finding one drop of his own blood on the door.
December 24 cont.
Originally, Scott had planned to go golfing but he decided it was too cold so he changed his mind and decided to go fishing instead to try out his new boat.
He backed up his truck, hooked up the boat, and pulled it out of the warehouse. He then closed the rollup door and exited the warehouse from the office door.
December 24 cont.
11:18-12:54: Scott left the warehouse and headed to the Berkeley Marina. It took him a little over 1.5 hours to get there.
He purchased a boat launch ticket at 12:54.
12:55-2:11: He launched his boat and motored north for about 2 miles. He was near a small island that had a bunch of trash on it. He saw a sign that said “no landing” and some broken piers.
He had forgotten his new lures in his truck so used some freshwater jigs from his tackle box. He trolled (1) for a little bit and then headed back because he was getting wet.
Based on his description, the island he referred to is assumed to be Brooks Island. It was also confirmed that the water around it is quite shallow.
December 24 cont.
The new lures he had forgotten were found in his truck and the fishing pole was found with a freshwater jig on it.
After arriving back to the marina, Scott said he talked to a couple of guys about fishing and that a couple of maintenance guys got a good laugh from him trying to back his trailer down the ramp to land the boat.
Mike Ilvestri, a maintenance worker confirmed this story.
Scott estimated that he was at the bay for about 90 minutes. From the time he bought the ticket for his boat to the time his cell phone records show him leaving was 78 minutes.
2:12-3:25: After leaving the marina, Scott called Laci on her cell phone and left her a message. You may have heard this voicemail before…
December 24 cont.
He then called a friend and his parents on his way home. He says he got stuck in some traffic.
3:25-4:12: He pulled over for gas along the way. Bank records confirm this purchase happened at 3:25. He tried calling Laci again and phone records confirm he made this call at 3:52 but he didn’t leave a message this time.
4:15-4:25ish: He arrived back at the warehouse around 4:15. He unhooked the boat and spent no more than 5 minutes at the warehouse where he noticed a fax. It was timestamped 11:28 so it would have come in after he left for the marina. He then headed home.
December 24 cont.
4:30-5:15ish: Scott arrived home and entered through the side gate where he found their dog, McKenzie with his leash on. He removed the leash and put it on the patio table. It was confirmed that their neighbor, Karen, had found McKenzie in the street with his leash on so she put him in the yard.
Scott says he went inside and dumped out the mop bucket near the front walkway and placed the bucket and mops there. He also got the mail.
Laci’s car was in the driveway but she wasn’t home. He assumed Sharon had picked her up and that she was at her mom’s house preparing dinner.
He said his clothes were a little wet so he undressed and put them in the laundry. He also said this was normal for him to do because he often worked with chemicals.
He then took the leftover pizza out, grabbed a slice, and went to take a shower.
December 24 cont.
After showering and getting dressed he went back out to the kitchen and checked the voicemails.
He heard the message he had left and then heard another left by Ron Grantski. In it, Ron asked if Scott and Laci could bring whipped cream when they came. Hearing this, Scott then called Sharon and Ron because he had assumed Laci was with them. This call occurred at 5:17pm.
Scott learns that Laci is in fact not at her parent’s house told them that her car was in the driveway but that she wasn’t there. Sharon asked about McKenzie and that’s when it struck him about McKenzie’s leash still being on.
By 5:20 the search for Laci had begun.
The Search Begins
Over the next 30 minutes, Scott had 2 more phone calls with Sharon and Ron. Scott started knocking on doors, calling neighbors and friends, and went to the park with McKenzie.
Sharon told Scott that she would call the hospitals so that he could go look for her at the park.
At 5:47pm Ron called 911 to report Laci missing.
So What Now?
Because that was a lot of detail and writing Breya assumes we’re at least at an hour now, we are going to stop there for today. Next week we’ll dive into the search for Laci and how Scott starts to get more and more suspicious.
Sources – Accessed December 2023:
Scott’s Timeline: https://www.scottpetersonappeal.org/scotts-timeline.html
Mops Used In Laci Murder Clean-Up? https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mops-used-in-laci-murder-clean-up/
The Story of Scott and Amber https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-story-of-scott-and-amber/
LOVE TRIANGLE Inside Scott Peterson’s relationship with ex-girlfriend Amber Frey after she was ‘relieved’ killer won’t get new trial https://www.the-sun.com/news/6982912/inside-scott-peterson-relationship-with-ex-amber-frey/
Court Transcripts: https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/supremecourt/default/2022-08/S132449.pdf
Sex, Lies, and Audiotapes: https://www.scottpetersonappeal.org/sex-lies-and-audiotapes.html
Scott Peterson: Debunking The Lie About Amber Frey https://crimepiperblog.wordpress.com/2021/05/19/scott-peterson-debunking-the-lie-about-amber-frey/
Laci Peterson’s Very Last Christmas Party https://true-crime.quora.com/Laci-Petersons-Very-Last-Christmas-Party
Laci’s Final Day https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lacis-final-day/
How to Go Trolling https://fishingbooker.com/blog/trolling-fishing-technique/