Laci Denise (Rocha) Peterson

Laci Denise (Rocha) Peterson was born on May 4th, 1975 in Escalon, California. She was the child of high-school sweethearts Sharon Anderson and Dennis Robert Rocha. She had one brother, Brent, who was born in 1971. Their parents divorced when Brent and Laci were young and Laci, Brent, and Sharon then moved to Modesto, California from their dairy Farms in Escalon, California. After attending high school in Modesto, where Laci was a cheerleader, she went on to attend Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. During her time at Cal Poly, Laci met her future husband, Scott Peterson. born October 24, 1972, in 1994. He was introduced to her through a mutual friend. Two years later, in 1997, they were married and they opened what was by all accounts a successful restaurant in San Luis Obispo. In 2000, Scott and Laci put the restaurant up for sale and moved back to Modesto, where Laci worked as a part-time substitute teacher. In 2002, Scott and Laci became pregnant with a son, who they decided to name Conner. When she was about eight months pregnant - Conner was due to be born in February, 2003 - Laci disappeared on Christmas Eve morning. Scott said that she had been intending to walk their dog when she disappeared. He also said that he was fishing on San Francisco Bay at the time. When he returned home, their dog was in their backyard (put there by a neighbor) and Laci was nowhere to be found. Scott then called the police and reported that she was missing. The first detectives on the scene were suspicious of Scott's demeanor and immediately suspected that he had something to do with her disappearance. It was later discovered that Scott was carrying on an affair and had previously had at least two other affairs. In April of 2003, Conner's decomposed body was found in San Francisco Bay and a day later, Laci's decomposed body was found in the Bay, one mile from Conner. DNA tests confirmed their identities and Scott's own statement that he had been fishing in the Bay looked suspicious. In April of 2003, Scott was arrested in La Jolla, California - near San Diego - at a golf course. His usually dark hair was dyed blonde and his car contained $15,000 in cash, as well as being "stuffed" with personal items. Scott's trial began on June 1, 2004 and was followed closely by national media. On November 12th, 2004, he was convicted by a jury of his peers on two counts of murder and the jury sentenced him to death. Later, a judge ruled that Scott was no longer entitled to Laci's $250,000 insurance policy and the proceeds were awarded to her mother. In 2007, the ruling was upheld on appeal. In 2020, the Supreme Court of California upheld Scott's conviction but overturned his death sentence because a juror, who was opposed to the death sentence, had unlawfully been dismissed from the case. He is now sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, which he is serving at Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, California. The LA Innocence Project has taken up Scott's case in March of 2024. There has been no further movement in his case as of August, 2024. Laci's mother, Sharon, wrote a book about Laci and Conner's deaths from her point of view in 2006. The book is called "For Laci: A Mother's Story of Love, Loss, and Justice". It was listed number 1 on the New York Times Best Seller list in January of 2006. The proceeds from the book are used for the Laci and Conner Search and Rescue Fund, a project that Sharon founded. Four months after Laci's and Conner's deaths, they were buried while Scott was sitting in jail, awaiting trial. See a moving obituary and tribute to Laci and Conner at Laci Denise (Rocha) Peterson: Obituary. They were buried in Burwood Cemetery in Escalon, San Joaquin County, California. You can also read about a new Netflix series and the background for the series at Who was Laci Peterson?.