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American Morning

Interview with Laci Peterson's Family

Aired February 13, 2003 - 07:17   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.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: It has been more than seven weeks now since Laci Peterson disappeared without a trace. She was eight months pregnant at the time.
Laci's family has just released more pictures of her, including this one of Laci with someone else's baby -- here it comes, there we go.

Laci was due to deliver her first child this week. The family is now speaking out about the search and about whether Laci's husband, Scott Peterson, has been cooperating fully with police.

Jeff Toobin interviewed the family yesterday. He joins us now to tell us a little more about what they had to say.

First of all, how are they holding up?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: They seemed to be doing pretty well. I mean, they obviously believe that the way of keeping the search alive is to go public and keep the story in front of the public eye. Unfortunately, it seems like the investigation is not making much progress, and it's now been more than 50 days since she's disappeared.

ZAHN: Why don't we watch what they had to say yesterday?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOOBIN: When Laci first disappeared, you were all pretty supportive of Scott, her husband, and said he shouldn't be under suspicion, but yet, your attitude has somewhat changed. What was it that changed your attitude?

BRENT ROCHA, LACI PETERSON'S BROTHER: Initially, we supported him unconditionally. He's my sister's husband, and there's no reason to think otherwise. There was no past history of something that would cause us to think that Scott may be responsible.

But as time goes on, there were certain activities that he partook in, and it just didn't quite make sense. He wasn't acting like a husband that was missing his wife. He attempted -- or made inquiries about selling the home. He sold my sister's car. Just things that don't seem to make sense to a reasonable person.

TOOBIN: Sharon, wasn't the affair, the news of the affair with Amber Frey that really sort of tipped your attitude towards Scott? SHARON ROCHA, LACI PETERSON'S MOTHER: No, not necessarily. I mean, that definitely was very shocking to us. We had no idea. We really didn't suspect anything like that would be going on. It's been -- as Brent just said, it's his behavior. After finding out about the affair, he's pretty much cut himself off from us. We don't hear from him.

TOOBIN: Brent, you've said in the past that you think Scott should cooperate more with the police. Is there something specific that he has not answered that you'd like to see him answer? What question hasn't he answered?

B. ROCHA: I don't think it's a particular question. He just has not made himself completely available to their questions in general. He's always out of town. I think in the last 10 days or so, he's probably been home one night. I mean, just if someone is missing, it doesn't seem like it would be -- it's the right time to travel.

TOOBIN: Sharon, would you like to see Scott take a polygraph? Do you think that's something that would -- that might advance the investigation?

S. ROCHA: He may have already done it, I don't know. To my knowledge, I don't know about that.

TOOBIN: Are you...

S. ROCHA: Obviously, there are some questions that the police have not been able to -- or some questions he has not been able to answer, at least as far as they're concerned, or they would have been able to clear him by now.

TOOBIN: Do you think your son-in-law killed Laci?

S. ROCHA: We don't have any idea. The police are doing their investigation, and they've had over 4,000 tips, and they have to follow up on each and every one of them.

TOOBIN: Amy and Brent, what do you think about that question?

B. ROCHA: I think it would be premature to even try and answer something like that. We definitely have questions and concerns that may raise suspicion in our mind, but to go that far would definitely be inappropriate.

TOOBIN: Amy, how about you?

AMY ROCHA, LACI PETERSON'S SISTER: We don't know what happened to Laci, but we're trying to find out, so we don't know who kidnapped or what. We don't know anything. That's why we're here.

TOOBIN: Sharon, if I can go back to you. What is your plan looking forward?

S. ROCHA: We will continue searching for Laci until we find her and bring her home. We will not stop looking for Laci. If it takes a year or five years, we will continue looking for Laci.

TOOBIN: Sharon, Amy and Brent, thank you so much for talking to us.

S. ROCHA: Thank you.

A. ROCHA: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: I guess the one thing that is so obvious is that Scott Peterson has been convicted at every single water cooler in America. Is there any evidence right now that would suggest he had anything to do with her disappearance?

TOOBIN: Well, it is entirely circumstantial at this point. And in terms of physical evidence that the police have released or has become public, there's nothing. Of course, there is no body. And let us say that there is no proof that Laci Peterson has been murdered, and there is no physical evidence of any kind.

He has acknowledged that there might be blood in his van.

ZAHN: Which he said happened when he was fishing or working with the gear he normally works with in his day-to-day job.

TOOBIN: Right, and he works in construction, so it's not inconceivable. And blood in his own van is not inherently all that -- it doesn't prove much of anything. So, you know, he has been convicted in the court of public opinion, but as far as I can tell, there's not even enough evidence to arrest him, much less convict him.

ZAHN: How bad does the selling of the car look and the affair?

TOOBIN: It looks bad. Well, the affair certainly is terrible, because that really suggests some sort of motive, which hadn't existed as far as anyone knew previously.

But the selling of the car, he says he needs the money. The police have had access to it. There really is no physical evidence at this point.

ZAHN: Fascinating. Sure wish they'd get a break in the case.

TOOBIN: Yes...

ZAHN: Jeff Toobin...

TOOBIN: ... 50 days, it's a long time.

ZAHN: Wow! Thanks.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.







Aired February 13, 2003 - 07:17   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: It has been more than seven weeks now since Laci Peterson disappeared without a trace. She was eight months pregnant at the time.
Laci's family has just released more pictures of her, including this one of Laci with someone else's baby -- here it comes, there we go.

Laci was due to deliver her first child this week. The family is now speaking out about the search and about whether Laci's husband, Scott Peterson, has been cooperating fully with police.

Jeff Toobin interviewed the family yesterday. He joins us now to tell us a little more about what they had to say.

First of all, how are they holding up?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: They seemed to be doing pretty well. I mean, they obviously believe that the way of keeping the search alive is to go public and keep the story in front of the public eye. Unfortunately, it seems like the investigation is not making much progress, and it's now been more than 50 days since she's disappeared.

ZAHN: Why don't we watch what they had to say yesterday?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOOBIN: When Laci first disappeared, you were all pretty supportive of Scott, her husband, and said he shouldn't be under suspicion, but yet, your attitude has somewhat changed. What was it that changed your attitude?

BRENT ROCHA, LACI PETERSON'S BROTHER: Initially, we supported him unconditionally. He's my sister's husband, and there's no reason to think otherwise. There was no past history of something that would cause us to think that Scott may be responsible.

But as time goes on, there were certain activities that he partook in, and it just didn't quite make sense. He wasn't acting like a husband that was missing his wife. He attempted -- or made inquiries about selling the home. He sold my sister's car. Just things that don't seem to make sense to a reasonable person.

TOOBIN: Sharon, wasn't the affair, the news of the affair with Amber Frey that really sort of tipped your attitude towards Scott? SHARON ROCHA, LACI PETERSON'S MOTHER: No, not necessarily. I mean, that definitely was very shocking to us. We had no idea. We really didn't suspect anything like that would be going on. It's been -- as Brent just said, it's his behavior. After finding out about the affair, he's pretty much cut himself off from us. We don't hear from him.

TOOBIN: Brent, you've said in the past that you think Scott should cooperate more with the police. Is there something specific that he has not answered that you'd like to see him answer? What question hasn't he answered?

B. ROCHA: I don't think it's a particular question. He just has not made himself completely available to their questions in general. He's always out of town. I think in the last 10 days or so, he's probably been home one night. I mean, just if someone is missing, it doesn't seem like it would be -- it's the right time to travel.

TOOBIN: Sharon, would you like to see Scott take a polygraph? Do you think that's something that would -- that might advance the investigation?

S. ROCHA: He may have already done it, I don't know. To my knowledge, I don't know about that.

TOOBIN: Are you...

S. ROCHA: Obviously, there are some questions that the police have not been able to -- or some questions he has not been able to answer, at least as far as they're concerned, or they would have been able to clear him by now.

TOOBIN: Do you think your son-in-law killed Laci?

S. ROCHA: We don't have any idea. The police are doing their investigation, and they've had over 4,000 tips, and they have to follow up on each and every one of them.

TOOBIN: Amy and Brent, what do you think about that question?

B. ROCHA: I think it would be premature to even try and answer something like that. We definitely have questions and concerns that may raise suspicion in our mind, but to go that far would definitely be inappropriate.

TOOBIN: Amy, how about you?

AMY ROCHA, LACI PETERSON'S SISTER: We don't know what happened to Laci, but we're trying to find out, so we don't know who kidnapped or what. We don't know anything. That's why we're here.

TOOBIN: Sharon, if I can go back to you. What is your plan looking forward?

S. ROCHA: We will continue searching for Laci until we find her and bring her home. We will not stop looking for Laci. If it takes a year or five years, we will continue looking for Laci.

TOOBIN: Sharon, Amy and Brent, thank you so much for talking to us.

S. ROCHA: Thank you.

A. ROCHA: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: I guess the one thing that is so obvious is that Scott Peterson has been convicted at every single water cooler in America. Is there any evidence right now that would suggest he had anything to do with her disappearance?

TOOBIN: Well, it is entirely circumstantial at this point. And in terms of physical evidence that the police have released or has become public, there's nothing. Of course, there is no body. And let us say that there is no proof that Laci Peterson has been murdered, and there is no physical evidence of any kind.

He has acknowledged that there might be blood in his van.

ZAHN: Which he said happened when he was fishing or working with the gear he normally works with in his day-to-day job.

TOOBIN: Right, and he works in construction, so it's not inconceivable. And blood in his own van is not inherently all that -- it doesn't prove much of anything. So, you know, he has been convicted in the court of public opinion, but as far as I can tell, there's not even enough evidence to arrest him, much less convict him.

ZAHN: How bad does the selling of the car look and the affair?

TOOBIN: It looks bad. Well, the affair certainly is terrible, because that really suggests some sort of motive, which hadn't existed as far as anyone knew previously.

But the selling of the car, he says he needs the money. The police have had access to it. There really is no physical evidence at this point.

ZAHN: Fascinating. Sure wish they'd get a break in the case.

TOOBIN: Yes...

ZAHN: Jeff Toobin...

TOOBIN: ... 50 days, it's a long time.

ZAHN: Wow! Thanks.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.