the reason for the murder was he didn t wanna be married anymore and he didn t want to have a child. he wanted a different life. and amber was just a symptom of that. he didn t want what he had. and he wanted to be rid of what he had? he did. one way or another. uh-huh. laci and conner were were responsibilities, and he didn t want that. he doesn t care about anyone but himself, he can be very smooth, but there s something underneath the surface that is truly evil. reporter: so, said the prosecutors, scott strangled or suffocated laci on christmas eve early in the morning or possibly the night before. and then after that, after he had done that? dragged her from the bedroom, out to the carport, pickup truck backed into the carport. take her out the side door, wrapped up most likely. load her into the bed of the truck, drive over to the
reporter: nearly two years after laci disappeared, after nine days of deliberation, the jury in the scott peterson trial finally announced they had a verdict. so it s pretty exciting and terrifying. reporter: as the crowds gathered out front, the reporters got into position, and everyone flooded back into the courtroom. what is it like for your level of anxiety? i felt like i was going to explode. a verdict is being read right now in a california courtroom in the double murder case against scott peterson. there is no camera in the courtroom, but an audio, live audio feed is being provided. we, the jury in the above entitled cause find the defendant, scott lee peterson, guilty of the crime of murder of laci denise peterson. reporter: finally the words sharon and all those who loved laci had been waiting for: guilty of laci s murder. and guilty of the crime of murder of baby conner peterson.
and his baby left no doubt in my mind. reporter: her daughter was dead. her grandson would never be born. detective jon buehler had known that for a while and now he was nearly ready to arrest scott. just not quite. we were going to wait to serve the warrant until after the dna results were released, to confirm the bodies were laci and conner. reporter: by that april scott peterson was living in san diego near his parents. so, tick, tick, tick. detectives waited for lab results. police kept an eye on scott. they had the surveillance going on him for quite some time before that. reporter: then april 18, 2003, 7:00 am. the lab results were still pending when scott peterson decided to play cat and mouse with whomever was after him. he s a pretty good driver, at least he was. he knew we were behind him.
is that correct, mr. peterson? you re pleading not guilty to the two charges of murder plus the special, denying the special allegations? that s correct, your honor. i am innocent. reporter: as the case against scott peterson slowly made its way from arrest to trial, what really happened to laci peterson became a kind of televised courtroom theater. the defense is asking that the jury be sequestered for up to five months. the jury is gonna hear a lot of theories and they simply must latch on to the one which is most reasonable. scott looks forward to finding out who did this to his wife and to his child, conner. reporter: and women s advocate. thank you for coming today. i m attorney gloria allred. to my right is amber frey. reporter: gloria allred, who erected a protective wall around the story s wild card, amber frey. amber was not gonna be doing any interviews during the course of the case even though so many people wanted to interview her.