The Most Shocking Details From Scott Peterson's Murder Case As Experts Declare New Evidence Could Set Convicted Family Killer Free

Scott Peterson has been behind bars for the murder of his wife Laci and their unborn son for over 20 years.

The search for Laci gripped the nation – and drama hit a fever pitch when her husband was named a prime suspect in her disappearance.

RadarOnline.com can reveal the most shocking moments from Scott's case, as well as fresh evidence that has been presented as he attempts to have his conviction overturned in conjunction with the L.A. Innocence Project.

More than two decades after Scott Peterson was convicted of murdering his wife, Laci, and their unborn son, Conner, the notorious case continues to make headlines as he attempts to prove his innocence from behind bars.

The murder case stems from Laci's disappearance from their Modesto, Calif., home on December 24, 2002. Conner's body was found on the shores of San Francisco Bay on April 13, 2003, while Laci's remains were discovered the next day. No specific cause of death was determined because their bodies were badly decomposed at the time.

Five days later, on April 15, 2003, Scott was arrested in San Diego with pending capital murder/double homicide charges.

On June 1, 2004, Scott's murder trial began in Redwood City, Calif. The prosecution alleged his motive in murdering his wife and unborn child was to claim a $250,000 life insurance policy on Laci.

He was found guilty of the first-degree murder of Laci and the second-degree murder of their infant son in November of the same year. The jury then recommended that he be sentenced to death, leading Judge Alfred Delucchi to uphold the suggestion and formally convict Scott to the death penalty.

Scott scored an unexpected legal victory when the California Supreme Court overturned his death sentence and ordered a new penalty phase trial on August 24, 2020. The court, however, clarified that the decision would not affect his guilty verdict.

The court said in its ruling: "Peterson contends his trial was flawed for multiple reasons, beginning with the unusual amount of pretrial publicity that surrounded the case. We reject Peterson's claim that he received an unfair trial as to guilt and thus affirm his convictions for murder."

According to the court, the trial judge "made a series of clear and significant errors in jury selection that, under long-standing United States Supreme Court precedent, undermined Peterson’s right to an impartial jury at the penalty phase."

In response to the reversal, Scott's attorney, Cliff Gardner, said they were "certainly pleased" that the state's highest court "recognized the importance of a fairly selected jury."

Gardner added: "In particular, we agree not only with the court's apparent concern about juror candor during the jury selection process, but with its recognition about how central the misconduct was to the ability of the jury to reach a fair decision in this case."

In October 2020, the justices ordered the San Mateo County Superior Court to reexamine Scott's murder convictions, as a juror did not disclose her prior involvement in other legal proceedings.

The following year, Stanislaus County District Attorney Birgit Fladager said she would not retry the penalty phase trial and decided to uphold the court's decision to overturn Scott's death sentence.

On December 8, 2021, Judge Anne-Christine Massullo ordered Scott to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole for the first-degree murder of Laci and a concurrent sentence of 15 years to life for the second-degree murder of Conner.

Following the sentencing hearing, Laci's sister, Amy Rocha, said: "Nineteen years, and there's not a day that goes by that I don't think about my sister."

Laci's brother, Brent Rocha, said: ""There are no words able to express the pain associated with not being able to experience life together."

Matriarch Sharon Rocha added, "You betrayed her, your son and everyone else. You ended two beautiful souls."

After savoring two surprise legal victories, Scott was denied a new trial after a San Mateo County Superior Court judge issued a 55-page decision in December 2022.

Judge Anne-Christine ruled: "The court concludes that Juror No. 7's (Richelle Nice) responses were not motivated by pre-existing or improper bias against Petitioner (Peterson), but instead were a combination of good faith misunderstanding of the questions and sloppiness in answering."

The decision upheld Scott's life sentence without the possibility of parole.

On January 19, 2024, the Los Angeles Innocence Project confirmed it had begun representing Scott and investigating his "claim of actual innocence."

Attorneys with the L.A. Innocence Project said: "New evidence now supports Mr. Peterson's longstanding claim of innocence and raises many questions into who abducted and killed Laci and Conner Peterson."

According to its official website, among the nonprofit organization's missions are to "exonerate the wrongly convicted" and "free the wrongfully incarcerated."

Two months later, the Stanislaus County District Attorney's Office released a statement confirming a routine status hearing was held in San Mateo County to schedule hearings on defense motions. The Motion to Seal was scheduled on April 6, 2024, while the Motion for Post-Conviction DNA Testing and the Motion for Post-Conviction Discovery were heard on May 29, 2024, and July 15, 2024, respectively.

During the hearing on May 29, 2024, a judge ruled the piece of duct tape found on Laci's pants was the only piece of evidence that could be tested for DNA as part of the case, denying the other requests for testing by Scott's lawyers.

In the 2024 Peacock documentary series Face to Face with Scott Peterson, Scott spoke out and maintained his innocence during an interview call.

He insisted: "I regret not testifying (at my trial), but if I have a chance to show people what the truth is, and if they are willing to accept it, it would be the biggest thing that I can accomplish right now — because I didn't kill my family."

In March, OK! learned the convicted murderer was assaulted behind bars after things got tense during a pickleball match between him and a fellow inmate in the prison yard.

According to insiders, the physical altercation broke out after Scott hit the ball directly at the other inmate, prompting the latter to beat him up. Insiders clarified the injuries he sustained were not severe enough to require hospitalization.

Following the brawl, former inmate Gene Borello issued further warnings of what could happen to inmates while behind bars, saying even the cops "are scared."

He reportedly said: "These high-profile people, no matter what they did, they still get protected. You can't target them because they'll come after you. They are really strict with that."

Gene, who was previously jailed for racketeering, added: "You're locked up with guys that have six consecutive life sentences. They don't care, they don't have anything. They're miserable, waking up with nothing to live for. So you bump into him, and he feels like you disrespected him, he's putting something in your neck."

After investigating the murder case for more than a year, the L.A. Innocence Project filed a petition to overturn Scott's conviction, arguing he is innocent.

In the nearly 400-page document, filed to the California Court of Appeals in April., L.A. Innocence Project director Paula Mitchell stated: "In my opinion, once the police locked onto Mr. Peterson as the prime suspect, they had no interest in finding evidence showing that someone other than Scott may have abducted Laci Peterson because that evidence did not fit with their working theory of the case."

She added: "In addition to ignoring the eyewitness reports, the police turned a blind eye to other exculpatory evidence that would have exonerated Mr. Peterson."

Mitchell noted she believes police press releases "indicating to the public that police did not believe Mr. Peterson's alibi, almost from day one" created a domino effect and "ultimately created a tidal wave of media attention focused on Mr. Peterson as the prime suspect in the case."

The filing included a 126-page declaration from Scott, in which he continues to assert that he was wrongfully convicted in the case.

The petition also revealed the nonprofit has new scientific evidence to prove Scott did not murder his wife and unborn son as their deaths reportedly occurred between December 28, 2002, and January 5, 2003. It allegedly proved Laci's death happened when Scott had already been pulled into the investigation after his wife went missing.

For what it's worth, prosecutors originally listed Laci and Conner's deaths as December 24, 2002, the same day the expecting mom went missing.

In response to the theory, legal commentator Nancy Grace questioned the organization's stance during her appearance in an episode of TMZ's "2 Angry Men" podcast

Grace said: "Laci's doctor was wrong, and they're right 20 years later? You tell that to a jury and see what happens."