The Case of Scott Peterson

Scott Peterson was an educated man from California Polytechnic State University where he graduated with a B.A. in Agricultural Business. He was married to his wife Laci Peterson who was also pregnant with their unborn son. In December of 2002 Laci Peterson went missing in the Modesto, California area where she shared a home with Scott. Once the investigation of Scott’s missing wife started authorities began to suspect Scott as a suspect in her disappearance. In April of 2003 a fetus and a female torso that was missing hands, feet, and a head were found on the shoreline of San Francisco Bay. The San Francisco Bay area was where Scott was boating the day of Laci’s disappearance. The body was later identified as Laci Peterson and the fetus as Laci and Scott’s unborn son. Scott was also arrested in the month of April shortly after the discovery of Laci and their son’s body and was later sentenced to the death penalty. Over the course of this paper I will cover the whole event of the disappearance of Laci Peterson, relating it to a sociological theory, the impact the event had on our society and how the media had influence over this national event.
The Event
Scott met Laci when they were both attending California Polytechnic State University in 1994. They dated for a while then decided to move in together and get married in 1997. They moved to Modesto, CA to be closer to Laci’s family where Scott spent his days selling fertilizer and Laci as a substitute teacher. Laci found out she was pregnant in 2002 with Scott’s baby but Scott was not so thrilled. Scott felt overwhelmed and that a baby would cramp his style. In the midst of what was going on at home Scott was looking for an outlet that didn’t remind him of home and started ha...

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...announcement that she was indeed dating Scott but had no knowledge that he was married and that she was not a suspect in the investigation. Laci’s Parents had turned on him once this came to the light. Police were going to treat Laci’s disappearance as a homicide but on April 13 of 2003 a couple spotted what looked like a male fetus. On the next day a pregnant woman washed up in the same area of the male fetus in the Berkeley Bay. Forensic scientists confirmed that the fetus and the woman was Laci’ and her and Scott’s son with matching DNA. On April 18, 2003 Scott was arrested at gun point. Police felt as though Scott was trying to flee to Mexico because he had dyed his hair and grown a goatee and had $15,000 in cash, survival gear and his brother’s ID. It took the jury seven days to reach a verdict of the death penalty. Scott Peterson is now sitting on death row.