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CNN Live At Daybreak
Prosecutors Plan to Charge Scott Peterson With Capital Murder
Aired April 21, 2003 - 05:22 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Prosecutors plan to charge Scott Peterson with capital murder for the deaths of his wife and their unborn son. Peterson may be arraigned this afternoon.
CNN's Rusty Dornin has more on the 27-year-old woman with the ever present smile.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An all American couple. Family and friends once said Scott and Laci Peterson once seemed meant for each other. They met here at the Pacific Cafe in Moreau Bay in 1995, where Scott was waiting tables. Two years later, they were married.
Cafe owner Abba Imani says their wedding was out of a story book.
ABBA IMANI, FORMER EMPLOYER: It was a gorgeous day in Avala Beach (ph), outdoor wedding, perfect. Everything was just right. And a nice couple. They just, they were like perfect for each other.
DORNIN: That's what Blake and Christine Reed thought. Friends while the Petersons lived in St. Luis Obispo. When we spoke to the Reeds last month, they both said Laci loved to be the center of attention, and that didn't seem to bother Scott.
CHRISTINE REED, FRIEND: I never saw any expressions or his behavior never said he was embarrassed by that or angry by that. I mean he kind of just stand back and smiled and said that's my wife.
DORNIN: Then two years ago, Scott and Laci moved back to Modesto to be near her family and start one of their own. Three months ago, Laci's high school friend, Renee Garza, told CNN it was something just to be around them.
RENEE GARZA, LACI'S FRIEND: They're like teenagers in love.
DORNIN: People here in Modesto described Scott Peterson as a warm likeable guy. So did his family.
LEE PETERSON, SCOTT'S FATHER: He's just such a, such a wonderful young man. He's gentle. He's kind. He's the kind of guy that's going to pull over on the freeway if you have a flat tire.
DORNIN (on camera): Then came the bombshell. One month to the day after Laci disappeared from her home here, a woman came forward to say she, too, had a relationship with Scott. AMBER FREY, PETERSON'S FORMER GIRLFRIEND: Scott told me has was not married. We did have a romantic relationship.
DORNIN (voice-over): As suspicions loomed ever larger, Scott finally agreed to be interviewed.
SCOTT PETERSON, LACI'S HUSBAND: People accuse me of some involvement and I had nothing to do with her disappearance, but people still accuse me of it. My response is the same to all of them, thank you for being aware of her missing from our family and please do what you can to bring her home.
DORNIN: For Laci's family, a sacred trust had already been violated.
BRENT ROCHA, LACI'S BROTHER: Inconsistencies with the interviews, selling her car, inquiring about selling the home so quickly. If you, he could have waited five, six months. It might make more sense then. But when you do it so soon after your wife is -- has been reported missing, it just does not make sense to a reasonable person.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's looking for Laci. That is his whole purpose.
DORNIN: From the beginning, Scott's family was ready to step up to the mike.
LEE PETERSON: If you knew Scott, as far as him being implicated, it's just a non-issue.
DORNIN: Now the issue is a legal one. But his family hasn't wavered. His parents told "Time" magazine, "Our family is just devastated and we feel an equal amount of pain for the Rocha family, Sharon and Ron and the whole family. But our son is innocent. We know that. We've known it from day one."
A man seen by his friends before his wife disappeared as nothing but the loving husband.
BLAKE REED, FRIEND: They always seemed so happy and, you know, so in love and, yes, I mean I never saw them argue or I never saw him get upset.
DORNIN: A cool and collected demeanor that police and others believe may have been masking a much more cold and calculating spirit.
Rusty Dornin, CNN, Modesto, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And just what will Scott Peterson and his attorney face at the arraignment this afternoon? Coming up in the next hour, we'll ask our legal analyst Kendall Coffey about that.
And tune in tonight at 7:00 Eastern for a public statement from Laci Peterson's family, the Rochas. CNN will carry that live.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Murder>
Aired April 21, 2003 - 05:22 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Prosecutors plan to charge Scott Peterson with capital murder for the deaths of his wife and their unborn son. Peterson may be arraigned this afternoon.
CNN's Rusty Dornin has more on the 27-year-old woman with the ever present smile.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An all American couple. Family and friends once said Scott and Laci Peterson once seemed meant for each other. They met here at the Pacific Cafe in Moreau Bay in 1995, where Scott was waiting tables. Two years later, they were married.
Cafe owner Abba Imani says their wedding was out of a story book.
ABBA IMANI, FORMER EMPLOYER: It was a gorgeous day in Avala Beach (ph), outdoor wedding, perfect. Everything was just right. And a nice couple. They just, they were like perfect for each other.
DORNIN: That's what Blake and Christine Reed thought. Friends while the Petersons lived in St. Luis Obispo. When we spoke to the Reeds last month, they both said Laci loved to be the center of attention, and that didn't seem to bother Scott.
CHRISTINE REED, FRIEND: I never saw any expressions or his behavior never said he was embarrassed by that or angry by that. I mean he kind of just stand back and smiled and said that's my wife.
DORNIN: Then two years ago, Scott and Laci moved back to Modesto to be near her family and start one of their own. Three months ago, Laci's high school friend, Renee Garza, told CNN it was something just to be around them.
RENEE GARZA, LACI'S FRIEND: They're like teenagers in love.
DORNIN: People here in Modesto described Scott Peterson as a warm likeable guy. So did his family.
LEE PETERSON, SCOTT'S FATHER: He's just such a, such a wonderful young man. He's gentle. He's kind. He's the kind of guy that's going to pull over on the freeway if you have a flat tire.
DORNIN (on camera): Then came the bombshell. One month to the day after Laci disappeared from her home here, a woman came forward to say she, too, had a relationship with Scott. AMBER FREY, PETERSON'S FORMER GIRLFRIEND: Scott told me has was not married. We did have a romantic relationship.
DORNIN (voice-over): As suspicions loomed ever larger, Scott finally agreed to be interviewed.
SCOTT PETERSON, LACI'S HUSBAND: People accuse me of some involvement and I had nothing to do with her disappearance, but people still accuse me of it. My response is the same to all of them, thank you for being aware of her missing from our family and please do what you can to bring her home.
DORNIN: For Laci's family, a sacred trust had already been violated.
BRENT ROCHA, LACI'S BROTHER: Inconsistencies with the interviews, selling her car, inquiring about selling the home so quickly. If you, he could have waited five, six months. It might make more sense then. But when you do it so soon after your wife is -- has been reported missing, it just does not make sense to a reasonable person.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's looking for Laci. That is his whole purpose.
DORNIN: From the beginning, Scott's family was ready to step up to the mike.
LEE PETERSON: If you knew Scott, as far as him being implicated, it's just a non-issue.
DORNIN: Now the issue is a legal one. But his family hasn't wavered. His parents told "Time" magazine, "Our family is just devastated and we feel an equal amount of pain for the Rocha family, Sharon and Ron and the whole family. But our son is innocent. We know that. We've known it from day one."
A man seen by his friends before his wife disappeared as nothing but the loving husband.
BLAKE REED, FRIEND: They always seemed so happy and, you know, so in love and, yes, I mean I never saw them argue or I never saw him get upset.
DORNIN: A cool and collected demeanor that police and others believe may have been masking a much more cold and calculating spirit.
Rusty Dornin, CNN, Modesto, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And just what will Scott Peterson and his attorney face at the arraignment this afternoon? Coming up in the next hour, we'll ask our legal analyst Kendall Coffey about that.
And tune in tonight at 7:00 Eastern for a public statement from Laci Peterson's family, the Rochas. CNN will carry that live.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Murder>