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Nancy Grace
Laci Peterson`s Mother Speaks Out
Aired January 10, 2006 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Tonight: Laci Peterson`s mother. She lived through hell -- there`s just no other way to put it -- the disappearance of her daughter Christmas Eve, the waiting, the searching, the sleepless nights until the body of her girl, Laci, and her unborn grandson washed ashore on a rocky beach, San Francisco Bay. Tonight, Sharon Rocha on her daughter, Laci, the trial of her daughter`s killer, Laci`s husband, Scott Peterson.
Good evening everybody, I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us tonight. Tonight, an unprecedented hour with a very special guest dear to my heart, the mother of Laci Peterson, Sharon Rocha. Tonight, her story, an exclusive look at her beautiful girl, at Laci`s life and death at the hands of Scott Peterson, Peterson now on death row, San Quentin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHARON ROCHA, LACI PETERSON`S MOTHER: I loved my daughter so much. I miss her every minute of every day.
BRENT ROCHA, SCOTT PETERSON`S BROTHER: Scott has not been forthcoming with information regarding my sister`s disappearance, and I`m only left to question what else he may be hiding.
SHARON ROCHA: On April 13, 2003, Conner`s little body was discovered. On April 14, 2003, the body of his mother, my daughter, Laci, was discovered.
RON GRANTSKI, LACI PETERSON`S STEPFATHER: Our family is going to make it. We`re stronger because of this. And Scott got what he deserved.
MICHAEL BELMESSIERI, PETERSON JUROR NO. 4: Scott came in with a great, big smile on his face, laughing. Well, guess what, Scotty?
RICHELLE NICE, PETERSON JUROR NO. 7: San Quentin`s your new home!
BELMESSIERI: And it`s illegal to kill your wife and child in California.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Here in the studio with me tonight, a special guest, Sharon Rocha. And I can`t tell you how many days, how many nights we sat in that courtroom, separated by several pews, my eyes trained on her, waiting for the outcome of the trial of Scott Peterson. The story started a long time before that trial.
First of all, welcome.
SHARON ROCHA: Thank you.
GRACE: Friend. One thing I`ve always wanted to know -- and you were under a gag order and we could not speak at the trial -- Sharon, when did it first dawn on you, when did you note in your heart that Scott Peterson murdered Laci?
SHARON ROCHA: Well, I think a lot of it was subconsciously in the beginning, you know, the -- this odd behavior, things that he would talk about or things he would say or not say. But as far as consciously saying it out loud, I remember the first time I -- I should put it this way, first time I remember saying it out loud was on December 30. I was talking to two friends of mine, Lisa (ph) and Patty (ph). After I told them that I was having these suspicions, I actually felt guilty about it because I was concerned that, what if I`m completely wrong? When Laci comes home, is she going to be upset with me for having these suspicions about her husband?
GRACE: So she would definitely have been upset.
SHARON ROCHA: Yes, she would have. It was really a tough position to be in because I loved Scott. And I would always have to -- I kept going back and forth, before December 24, after December 24. The person I knew, before December 24 would never have harmed Laci at all. But the person I was looking at after December 24, I just -- I didn`t know that person.
GRACE: Sharon, when you look back on it, do you think you ever knew him?
SHARON ROCHA: When I look back on it, no. I mean, I thought I did. But after listening to so many of his lies during the trial, I was just shocked at what I had learned about him.
GRACE: Do you remember the first night I interviewed you? I was filling in for Larry, "LARRY KING LIVE," and you were there, and Scott Peterson`s family was there, I guess it was Jackie and Lee Peterson. And I asked all of you guys -- because just from my training and the murder cases I have tried, I immediately suspected Scott Peterson just because he was the last one to see her, he`s the one that reported her missing, and he`s the husband. Do you remember what you said?
SHARON ROCHA: No, I don`t.
GRACE: Ron steps in with, It`s a non-issue. He`s not even a suspect. Elizabeth (ph), can you roll that sound for me?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHARON ROCHA: Someone has taken all of this away from me and everyone else who loves her. There are no words that can possibly describe the ache in my heart or the emptiness in my life. I know that someone knows where Laci is, and I`m pleading with you, please, please, let her come home to us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Do you remember that moment?
SHARON ROCHA: Oh, I remember that. I absolutely remember that. Back to what you were talking about before -- every time that I said that I didn`t did not believe that Scott had anything to do with the disappearance of Laci, I meant that. I believed that. But then something would transpire throughout the day or the next day or day after that, whatever it might be, that would just make me have those doubts again.
GRACE: Well, I remember when I spoke to you, and you said what really hit you -- and this was at the very, very beginning -- when Scott Peterson called you to say they weren`t on their way over for Christmas Eve dinner. You talk about it page one, when he said the words, She`s missing. She`s missing. And right then, it seemed to me that the hair on the back of your neck went up.
SHARON ROCHA: It did. I remember when he said the word missing because I remember thinking, Why are you saying missing? I mean, that actually irritated me that he said that. Then I also remember thinking...
GRACE: Because it`s a police word.
SHARON ROCHA: Well, it`s also not something you call somebody and say...
GRACE: He`d be saying, Where is she? Where is she?
SHARON ROCHA: ... My wife`s missing. Yes. Do you know where she is? Have you seen her? Have you talked to her? I don`t know where she is. But you`re not going to say she`s missing.
GRACE: She`s missing.
SHARON ROCHA: Especially as I looked back and I realized, I was the first person -- I was the only person he called to find out where she was in the beginning. He`d been gone all day. She`s seven-and-a-half months pregnant. You would have thought...
GRACE: And the other thing...
SHARON ROCHA: ... he would have thought to call the hospital before he...
GRACE: ... when he got home -- when he got home, saw that Laci`s belongings were there, her vehicle in the front drive, the dog, everything -- but no Laci, he took a shower, he ate some pizza and he washed clothes!
SHARON ROCHA: Well, also, another thing, Nancy, about that is he said he got home at 4:45. On December 24, 4:45, it is dark enough that you`re going to have the lights on in your home. So immediately, you know, he should have realized, Oh, Laci`s not here. He also told me later that evening that Laci was planning on baking gingerbread. You don`t smell gingerbread. You know, the kitchen`s not disturbed. Everything looks normal.
GRACE: And then that night, in the park, remember, that night, you immediately went to the park and you started looking for her. And then you spotted Scott Peterson walking along in the park with the dog, McKenzie (ph), by the water, looking down at the water, but he was never calling out, Laci, Laci, Laci!
SHARON ROCHA: I never heard him open his mouth. And he may have had a flashlight. I didn`t see one. But where he was looking was into a dark creek. There were no lights over there. Just the paths were lit in the park, but closer to the creek, there was no lighting. There`s no way he could have seen into that creek. So why wasn`t he calling her name?
GRACE: So are you saying the dawning came over you slowly that he killed Laci?
SHARON ROCHA: You know, I say slowly. I think of a lot of these things...
GRACE: I think those pictures of Amber Frey would have done it in for me.
SHARON ROCHA: Oh, that was absolutely...
GRACE: When he was his Santa self.
SHARON ROCHA: That actually was the...
GRACE: With his hand on her behind.
SHARON ROCHA: And she was sitting...
GRACE: And Laci alone at a party, all on her own with her little feet, ankles swollen up.
SHARON ROCHA: Actually, like I said, I was having some doubts and suspicions prior to that, and that actually just confirmed -- confirmed what I was already thinking about. An the night before, on January 14, when he left my house, I knew. I went in and told Ron at that time, you know, something`s not right here
GRACE: What night was that?
SHARON ROCHA: January 14. When he came to our house for dinner, he and his sister-in-law, Janie, the first thing he did when he walked in the door was he stood and he looked at me and he said, You know, somebody asked me today how am I doing, and I said, Fine. And I really am doing fine. I mean, that was like somebody...
GRACE: This was two weeks after she went missing.
SHARON ROCHA: Three weeks to the day. Three weeks to the day. It was like...
GRACE: Yes, you`re right.
SHARON ROCHA: ... somebody kicked me...
GRACE: December 24...
SHARON ROCHA: ... in the chest.
GRACE: ... to January 14.
SHARON ROCHA: And I remember, I felt -- I don`t know if I physically backed up, but I felt like I did and I -- because I remember thinking, What do you mean, you`re fine?
GRACE: You`re fine.
SHARON ROCHA: We don`t know where Laci is. That was the first thing that evening.
GRACE: Well, this is something I wanted to ask you about. All right, so it`s Christmas Eve. But then, didn`t family and neighbors, his family and neighbors come over for dinner the next night?
GRACE: On Christmas night?
GRACE: Yes.
SHARON ROCHA: To our house?
GRACE: No, to his -- to Laci`s house, 523 Covina.
SHARON ROCHA: Yes.
GRACE: And...
SHARON ROCHA: I didn`t know about that.
GRACE: ... Scott cooking pasta in the kitchen. And when the neighbor walks in -- and I know this for a fact -- he goes, White or red? You`re out pulling your hair out, trying to find your girl, on the phone with police, and he`s, White or red?
SHARON ROCHA: Actually, they had a sitdown Christmas dinner.
GRACE: That he cooked!
SHARON ROCHA: I don`t know who cooked it. I don`t know.
GRACE: It was pasta. It was tortellini.
SHARON ROCHA: No. No. He cooked that for the neighbor...
GRACE: Yes.
SHARON ROCHA: ... but they had their own sitdown dinner because she was asked to join them, and told him that she is not a meat eater, so...
GRACE: He made the pasta.
SHARON ROCHA: So she left and went home, and he called her up and said, I made tortellini. I found tortellini for you, so if you`d like to come back over...
GRACE: From Christmas Eve to Easter weekend, the whole nation had become transfixed on what happened to Laci Peterson until this. Roll it, Elizabeth.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF ROY WASDEN, MODESTO POLICE DEPARTMENT: The recovery of Laci and Conner is truly -- while it`s a happy to have a conclusion, it`s truly sad to have that conclusion. The information that`s important to get out is that Laci and Conner have been found and identified.
DOUG RIDENOUR, MODESTO POLICE DEPARTMENT: Over the weekend, you know that there was a baby male that was found in the Richmond marina. And then yesterday, a female body was discovered in the East Bay. Until the identities of the bodies have been made and they are connected to the Laci Peterson case, the Bay Area law enforcement agencies will remain the jurisdiction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: I haven`t even told you, after all this time, while a million people are making money off the Laci Peterson story, now Sharon Rocha, her mother, has written a book. It`s called "For Laci," and the first thing it will tell you is that, at one juncture, the search for Laci was called off with the dogs because the volunteers were doing that with all their own money out of their own pockets. And Sharon is giving her money for a missing persons recovery team.
I can hardly say it. When I think that they couldn`t keep searching - - I did not know that until I read it in your book.
SHARON ROCHA: Yes. Actually, I`ve been asked to write a book...
GRACE: I remember...
SHARON ROCHA: ... many, many times, and...
GRACE: Many, many times. I said to you...
SHARON ROCHA: And I said, No, no, no, no, until I did recall the day that I was sitting in the courtroom with Craig Grogan, and I asked -- one of the dog handlers was testifying, and I asked if they were still looking for the rest of Laci, and he said, no because the police department was out of money to pay them and that they work on donations or out-of-pocket expense. And as time went on and, like you said, other people were writing books, there was so much misinformation out there -- and when I finally decided to do it, I thought I have a purpose to do it, and that is to start that Laci and Conner Search and Rescue Fund, which is -- the funds will be used -- they will to go to law enforcement and other non-profit search and rescue organizations...
GRACE: Right.
SHARON ROCHA: ... to help buy equipment that they might need or dogs, any kind of -- anything that they may need, training, anything that they may need for search and rescue.
GRACE: Speaking of calling off the search, you said, for the rest of Laci -- I will never forget that moment in court when were you on the stand -- I remember I was sitting in the very back of the courtroom and had to put all my books and notebooks and my computer on the back -- on the bottom of the seat so I can sit on top of it, so I could look up and see you, very back by the door. And I heard you clear as a bell describe when you realized Laci didn`t have any arms and Laci didn`t have a head.
When you think that part of her is still out in that bay -- do you think about that? Do you let yourself think about that?
SHARON ROCHA: I do think about that. Actually, we`ve been invited a couple of different times to go out on a boat, a little day cruiser, in the bay area, and I can`t do that.
GRACE: Even in her death, Laci shines like a star, illuminating for so many of us new knowledge about the deaths of pregnant women.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: We are at Thomas Downey (ph) High School, and I notice that the slogan is, Make a Difference. This is where Laci Rocha Peterson went to high school. Here she was not only a softball player -- we`ve all seen that photograph of her in her softball uniform. It`s interesting that it`s been asked so many times why people have focused on the Laci Peterson case and it`s been suggested it`s got so much to do with that big smile and her outgoing personality. Can`t you just imagine her as a cheerleader, right there in the gymnasium, the home of the Knights, in the Thomas Downey Auditorium? And I was just thinking about this slogan here at the school, Make a difference to Downey, make a difference, and of course, Laci Peterson in death has made such a difference in the way that we look at the possibility of domestic homicide.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHARON ROCHA: I love my daughter so much. I miss her every minute of every day. Someone has taken all of this away from me and everyone else who loves her. I miss seeing her. I miss our talks together. I miss listening to the excitement in her voice when she talks to me about her baby. I miss sharing our thoughts and our lives together. I miss her smile and her laughter and her sense of humor. The whole world collapsed around me!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: With me tonight for an unprecedented full hour is Sharon Rocha, Laci`s mother. For all these many months, she has remained quiet, first of all, because she did not want to jeopardize the trial of Scott Peterson, then because there was a gag order in place, and then because she simply did not want to speak of Laci. But now, in an effort to raise money for other missing people searches, she`s written "For Laci."
Sharon, when we just showed that shot of Downey High -- Elizabeth, if you could show that again while Sharon is talking? You were telling us a story about that spot. What was it?
GRACE: Almost at that exact spot, we were standing -- I was standing a month or so ago. Downey High School has planted a tree in Laci`s memory, Laci and Conner`s memory. It`s a blue spruce that`s -- and a beautiful dedication ceremony for her And the cheerleading coach came over to me after the ceremony and said that after cheerleading practice that afternoon, the girls were going to decorate the tree.
GRACE: When you go to a function like that, where people are remembering Laci, and you drive away, what are your feelings?
SHARON ROCHA: It`s very emotional for me.
GRACE: It`s one thing in front of other people. Then when you`re in that car, driving away...
SHARON ROCHA: That`s it. That`s when it all hits full force. Just, you know, the memories of going there when Laci was in high school and knowing that she`ll never be there again, not to attend class but to even set foot.
GRACE: Or have Conner go there.
SHARON ROCHA: No.
GRACE: Have you heard from Peterson after his conviction at all?
SHARON ROCHA: No.
GRACE: Not a word?
SHARON ROCHA: Not a word.
GRACE: Everyone, with me, Sharon Rocha, Laci`s mother.
Very quickly -- we`ll be all right back -- to tonight`s "Case Alert." A pregnant mother of two missing tonight, Reading, Pennsylvania. Miriam Acevedo, two months pregnant, disappeared Christmas Eve, her body (SIC) discovered New Year`s Day, her wallet and cell also missing. Please help us bring this beautiful mom home to her two children. If you have information, dial 610-777-9595.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: State of California versus Scott Peterson. We the jury in the above entitled cause find the defendant, Scott Lee Peterson, guilty of the crime of murder of Laci Denise Peterson.
We the jury in the above entitled cause find the defendant, Scott Lee Peterson, guilty of the crime of murder of baby Conner Peterson.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: For over year now, I`ve heard about 523 Covina. I`ve memorized every line of the police report. I`ve looked at pictures over and over, here we are at Laci`s home. It`s lovely. The front yard is full of beautiful oak trees and palm trees. The house is full of -- surrounded by shrubs.
Look -- would you look at this tree-lined neighborhood? It`s gorgeous. You never get that from the pictures.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: I remember that day that the wind was blowing, and you could hear chimes in the back yard, with the pool there. There was a lot of speculation about how Laci was killed. You could never talk about it in court. It would have been objectionable. It would have been speculation. But I`m asking you now, how do you think Laci was murdered?
SHARON ROCHA: Honestly, I don`t know. I do not know. I can only speculate that -- I was told that possibly she was drugged and then maybe suffocated after that. I just hope she didn`t know anything. That was one thing that -- I just couldn`t deal with that, with her knowing what had happened to her.
GRACE: But when you know, when you think about it, Sharon, Scott was such a coward that I could imagine him killing her in a way where she would never know, like you`re saying, where he would never have to see her during the act, such as asphyxiation. She had on her bra and her pants, so she was apparently getting ready for bed.
SHARON ROCHA: That`s, you know, one speculation. But that`s just not something I really even want to...
GRACE: You know what?
SHARON ROCHA: ... think about.
GRACE: As a crime victim, the worst torture I have is to think back on that moment of death. I agree with you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNNY CASH, MUSICIAN (singing): San Quentin, you`ve been living hell to me. You`ve blistered me since 1963. I`ve seen them come and go, and I`ve seen them die. And long ago, I`ve stopped asking why. San Quentin, I hate every inch of you.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Well, tonight, let`s see. Scott Peterson having a San Quentin dinner of pasta salad, baked beans, peas and baked fish. And, oh, how some of us relish the thought of some San Quentin baked fish for dinner for Scott Peterson.
Welcome back, everybody. I`m Nancy Grace. Here with me in the Headline News studios, Sharon Rocha, who has endured hell, has written a book about it, the profits of which will go to help find other missing people.
I`ve had this for a really long time. This was a -- I don`t know which camera to look at -- a celebration of the life of Laci Peterson. This was her memorial brochure. I went to this church. It was totally empty. The door was open. Naturally, I went in. And I remember this so well. When you look back at this, it seems to me like it feels maybe like it was just yesterday sometimes.
SHARON ROCHA: At times it does. And other times, it seems that it was a lifetime ago.
GRACE: Does it seem real to you, as you sat in that courtroom every day?
SHARON ROCHA: I think, while I was in the courtroom every day, I was there to learn about Laci, what had happened to Laci. After the trial was over -- and actually writing the book just brought a lot of things together for me, looking back, at the time I didn`t have time to think about it. I was concerned every day, you know, just finding out about what had happened to Laci. But putting it all together clarified a lot of what had happened to me.
GRACE: Like what?
SHARON ROCHA: Just it put it in perspective, a different perspective. So much of the time, I felt like I really wasn`t even there. I felt more that -- I`ve said this many times -- that it was like an out-of-body experience, that I was sitting back watching this happening instead of participating in it.
And many times it still seems that way. Several times I wake up during the night, or I`ll be driving down the street, or just doing anything, and not really thinking about Laci. And then, all of a sudden, it literally will take my breath away, when I realize that she`s gone.
GRACE: I was reading in your book that moment where you were leaving the house, and the phone rang, and you dashed back in. Will you tell the viewers?
SHARON ROCHA: Yes. I was leaving. I had just stepped out on to the porch and had just locked the door, and I heard the phone ring. And I thought, "Oh, gee, that might be Laci. I haven`t talked to her for a while." And I went back in. and I got all the way to the phone and picked it up before I realized, "Of course it`s not Laci. I`m never going to be speaking to Laci again on the phone."
But it`s strange how that happens. I also had written about the night -- it was December 25th -- when I walked into the house and I saw Laci.
GRACE: What happened?
SHARON ROCHA: She was sitting on the sofa. And as I opened the door and stepped into the entryway, she just turned around and said, "Hi, Mom." And she actually said it twice. And I walked straight down the hall -- it was the first night I remember sleeping in my bed -- and I went to bed and I didn`t get up.
GRACE: This was December 25, when?
SHARON ROCHA: 2003. I had met with Amber that morning. I had called the police station Friday night, the 24th, and spoke to Craig Grogan, and asked him if I could talk to Amber. I watched her interview, and I felt bad for her. I could tell that she was scared.
And so, finally, I`m sure Craig thought -- you know, he was concerned about what I might want to say to her, I`m sure, because it took several phone calls before we actually connected. But I thanked her for coming forward and speaking. And then I met with her the next morning.
And after some time, it was like I could feel myself going downhill. I could feel something happening to me. And I stepped around the corner. And Laci`s friend had brought her over. And I looked at Renee, and I told her, you know, it`s time to go.
I could feel myself going -- we did another interview that evening. Actually, it was the John Walsh show. It got to the point I didn`t want to even do it, because it kept getting delayed, because he`d had problems -- the fight he was on was delayed. But I could that feel something was happening to me. And by the time...
GRACE: What do you mean, something was happening?
SHARON ROCHA: I was -- I felt just totally and completely exhausted, to the point that, when we finished that interview, I remember walking to our car. And I didn`t think I could even take another step. I was so physically and emotionally exhausted. And when we got home, like I said, I stepped in first. And that`s when I saw Laci. And...
GRACE: December 25.
SHARON ROCHA: January.
GRACE: January 25.
SHARON ROCHA: A month later. And that was the first night I remember sleeping in my bed since she had been gone. And I had walked down the hall. I didn`t say a word to Ron. I just walked down the hall, closed the door, and got into bed. And it was the next morning that I didn`t get up.
GRACE: And she said it twice?
SHARON ROCHA: She said it twice.
GRACE: And you were totally awake and totally cognizant? Have you ever felt Laci`s presence again?
SHARON ROCHA: I have felt her. I can`t say that I have seen her like I did that night, but I have felt her many times.
GRACE: When?
SHARON ROCHA: There were so many times during the trial that I would be having just a very difficult, difficult time. So I would go to the cemetery and spend time there with her. And by the time I would leave there, I would feel just completely at ease.
GRACE: Were the detectives worried that you would blame Amber Frey, not for the murder but somehow as the impetus behind it?
SHARON ROCHA: They never said anything to me about that. But as far as -- like I said, on January 24th, when I called and spoke to Craig, I`m thinking he probably was a little concerned as to why I would even want to speak to her.
GRACE: I will never forget when this hit the airwaves.
Elizabeth, could you roll that sound, please?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRENT ROCHA, LACI PETERSON`S BROTHER: On January 16, 2003, by phone, Scott Peterson did admit to me that he was having an affair with a Fresno woman. I confronted him with this allegation after viewing pictures of him with this woman. I would like Scott to know that I trusted him and stood by him in the initial phases of my sister`s disappearance. However, Scott has not been forthcoming with information regarding my sister`s disappearance, and I`m only left to question what else he may be hiding.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: When you spoke to Amber for the first time, what did she tell you?
SHARON ROCHA: You know, to be honest with you, I don`t remember a lot of the conversation we had that evening, which was that same evening that we did that press conference that we just watched. I remember more of the conversation on Saturday morning.
And she just proceeded to tell me different dates, literally dates that she and Scott had had, and different days that they had been together, speaking so quickly to the point that I finally said, "Hold on, I want to get a calendar." I wanted to write this down. I wanted to compare dates as to where I knew or where Laci had thought that he had been on those dates.
GRACE: You know, it`s a good thing she was suspicious of him from the get-go, because she was trying to figure out where he was all during their whole relationship and trying to figure something wasn`t quite right with Scott Peterson.
SHARON ROCHA: Right.
GRACE: So she had all this detailed account.
SHARON ROCHA: Right.
GRACE: And so you continued talking to her and putting two and two together? And what did you learn?
SHARON ROCHA: Well, I learned -- I think probably the one thing that I, you know, learned immediately, of course much sooner than that, was December 14th, an evening that Laci went to a Christmas party by herself, he went and spent with her at a Christmas party.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, I`m not a judge. I`m not an attorney. I`m just a citizen like the rest of you who had a horrific responsibility. I think what the judge did today, clearly, clearly says that we did the right thing and our work was for the -- we did everything right.
RON GRANTSKI, LACI PETERSON`S STEPFATHER: Our family is going to make it. We`re stronger because of this. And Scott got what he deserved.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: The family is stronger, yes, but there is a link missing in that chain, Laci Rocha Peterson. And tonight, with me, her mom, Sharon, who is donating money from her book to help find other missing people, as well as to the Carole Sund Carrington Foundation.
I want to talk to you about the trial. I can`t believe our hour has flown by like this. You know, I remember meeting up with Jackie Peterson in the ladies` bathroom, OK? That was the great evening ground, OK, the lady`s bathroom. What went on between your family and Peterson`s family during the trial?
SHARON ROCHA: Not very much.
GRACE: They still think he`s innocent?
SHARON ROCHA: Apparently, apparently, they do. We really didn`t have much conversation. There were a few unfortunate incidents, but it wasn`t instigated by us. Any conversations I would just as soon not spoken to anybody.
GRACE: I know I had a run-in myself with Lee Peterson, as well as with Jackie. And I was wondering if that anger that they had was directed toward you and your family. How did you somehow end up being the bad person?
SHARON ROCHA: I don`t know. I don`t know. I think a lot of times, maybe -- I mean, and I was just as guilty of this -- but people don`t realize that it doesn`t matter what we may have said or done. We are not the reason Scott Peterson was tried for murder.
The prosecutors obviously have to have enough to charge him. And if they don`t have enough evidence, they`re not going to charge him. So it really has nothing to do with us.
GRACE: Regarding the trial, did Peterson ever look over at you for that entire trial, which went on for weeks and weeks and weeks?
SHARON ROCHA: Not that I was ever aware of. I never saw him look at me. Even when I was testifying on the stand, I had to get his attention to have him look at me.
GRACE: And how did you do that? Talk directly to him?
SHARON ROCHA: I did.
GRACE: I remember that.
SHARON ROCHA: I did. It really angered me, because I looked over at him, and I was testifying in the penalty phase about how Laci`s death has affected me and how much I miss her, knowing that he murdered her.
And I would look over at him, and he was talking and laughing with his attorney, Mark Geragos. And that infuriated me. And at one point, Dave Harris, the prosecutor, had paused to go pick up some pictures. And I just stared at Scott, and he would not look at me.
And when Dave started questioning me again, I could actually physically feel myself begin to rise out of the chair as I -- I just wanted to lunge over towards Scott. And that`s when I said that divorce was always an option, not murder. I thought I said it, but I later learned I kind of shouted it.
GRACE: You shouted it. Speaking of Lee Peterson, take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEE PETERSON, FATHER OF SCOTT PETERSON: If you knew my son, if you knew his background and what a wonderful boy he is and has been all through his life, he`s never had -- you know, I mean, the kid is -- he`s the perfect kid, all the way through.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: I`ll never forget that, "a perfect kid, all the way through." And throughout the defense, most of the -- many of the witnesses talked about what a great golfer he was.
SHARON ROCHA: Yes.
GRACE: Did you ever have an out-and-out confrontation with Scott Peterson`s family at the courthouse? As I recall, a scuffle almost ensued between Ron Grantski and Lee Peterson?
SHARON ROCHA: Well, I personally didn`t have anything -- well, I did have a conversation. I take that back. I talk about it in the book. But the time that you`re talking about is when we were going down the escalator, Ron, myself, and Alex Loaia (ph) with the D.A.`s office. And Lee was saying a few things in our direction.
GRACE: I remember that.
SHARON ROCHA: And Ron responded by saying that, yes, there was plenty of evidence. And Lee shouted out, "You idiot," and I remember looking up, thinking, "OK, I just want to get out of here as quickly as possible." And it just seemed to escalate.
GRACE: It did. It did seem to escalate.
I want to go out to Chris Filippi with KIRO Radio. He covered the Peterson trial along with me.
Chris, nice to see you, friend. What is your most vivid memory of this trail?
CHRIS FILIPPI, KIRO RADIO REPORTER: There`s so much. One thing that jumps out and I think was the turning point in this trial had to be the audiotapes of Amber Frey. A lot of people who were in that courtroom really thought that the prosecution was struggling with this case, but when they finally heard Scott Peterson in his own voice -- of course, he didn`t testify, but he didn`t have to -- when they heard him in his own voice, talking with Amber Frey -- and recall the memorial for Laci on New Year`s Eve, and Scott is talking about being in Paris -- it put into words, it put into voice something that you really could not have really understood if you just read the transcript. I think that was the turning point, and that`s what people will look back to ultimately on this trail as being the difference.
GRACE: Chris Filippi, how`s your wife and baby?
FILIPPI: She`s doing well, thank you. Just turned a year old.
GRACE: Can you believe it, Chris? I remember when we were there shoulder-to-shoulder everyday.
And to Daniel Horowitz, making a return to our airwaves tonight. Hello, friend. I believe you have something you wanted to say to Sharon Rocha?
DANIEL HOROWITZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, Sharon. I should have said this long ago, but I`m very sorry for the loss of Laci. But also I`m sorry for anything that I said on the air that hurt you. I`m sure that some things did. And I hope you`ll accept my apology.
SHARON ROCHA: I certainly do, Daniel. Thank you very much. And I am so sorry about your wife. I truly am.
HOROWITZ: Thank you, Sharon.
GRACE: He has been waiting all this time for me to hook you two up to just say that.
Anne Bremner, defense attorney, we were in court together everyday.
ANNE BREMNER, TRIAL ATTORNEY: Yes?
GRACE: What`s your most vivid memory of this trial?
BREMNER: I think when Scott Peterson didn`t react to the verdict. I agree the Amber Frey testimony was pivotal, but there was a saying that scientists, if they discover the center of the universe, there will people that will be surprised they`re not in it. That was Scott Peterson. Scott Peterson convicted himself. His demeanor, the way he didn`t react when he was convicted of murder in the first degree.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Peterson`s own story is that he was out here sometime after lunch. So, between lunch time and 5:00, Peterson was doing his fishing. I am looking over at a boat that`s about 80, 90 feet away from us right now. And we can see that there are people on it.
You can`t tell what anyone is doing on their boat at that distance. My point is, whatever Peterson was fishing for or doing on his boat, even if there had been people out in the bay that day, he would have gone largely unnoticed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: To psychotherapist Dr. Leslie Austin, Leslie, is Peterson a sociopath?
LESLIE AUSTIN, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: Well, from everything I`ve seen, he certainly shows all the classic signs. He has no ability to feel anybody else`s feelings. His whole world is about himself. And he believes his own P.R. stories that he makes up.
GRACE: You know, Leslie, you and I have tried to analyze this guy for so long, but, in the end, Sharon, it never made any sense. Nothing ever made any sense.
SHARON ROCHA: No. It still doesn`t make any sense. I`ve been asked if Scott told me what happened to Laci, would I want to know from him, hear from him. I wouldn`t be able to believe anything he said. I wouldn`t know if he was telling me the truth or not. So it doesn`t matter what he has to say.
GRACE: Do you know how many people pray for you and love you at a distance?
SHARON ROCHA: Yes, we do. We`ve received thousands and thousands of cards and letters from people that have just been absolutely wonderful, absolutely wonderful.
GRACE: I guess a Christmas, I guess, a year or two now ago, that we talked on the phone. And I said what a beacon you would be for other crime victims. And you certainly are.
"For Laci," Sharon Rocha`s book. Friend, thank you.
Ron, thank you.
GRANTSKI: You bet. Thank you.
SHARON ROCHA: Thank you, Nancy.
GRACE: I want to thank all of our guests tonight. But as always, our biggest thank you is to you, being with us, inviting us and the story of Laci Peterson and Sharon Rocha and this book into your home. Tonight, a big thank you to our musical composer, Jody Freedman (ph). He wrote all of our theme music. And you can see him online.
I`ll see you right here, tomorrow night, 8:00 Eastern. Good night, friend.
END
