>> no, i do not. >> we couldn't find anything wrong with the guy. >> he was that charming. >> and surprising details from the other woman who helped to uncover the truth. did scott peterson kill his wife? >> i do not believe he did. >> who else could have done it? >> i am glad you asked that question. once upon a time in a small california city lived a sweet pregnant woman with a radiant smile and outside family hardly anyone knew her name. >> my daughter's been missing since this morning. she is eight months pregnant. >> she would never know how famous the name of hers would become. >> would never know that a curious, sympathetic puzzled nation had cast an eye her way. laci peterson. she was 27 years old. and on the night before christmas she was gone. >> laci, if you are out there and can hear and see us, we love you. we are searching. we are looking. >> it hit something, something in the air. that name. that smile. that mystery. impossible to put down. >> whoever has her, please, please, please let her go and bring her back to us. >> we love her so much and want her back. please. >> and then there was him, the husband. the inscrutable scott peterson. >> i really don't care what people think of me as long as it keeps laci's picture and tip line in the media. >> before our eyes he would morph from a faithful husband who loved his wife to an object of suspicion and outrage. such a circus the whole thing seemed to be. for all of the noise, all of the breathless coverage, the hours of tv and the acres of tabloids, there was and is a story never completely told. a story the prosecutors told dateline first. >> what do you think of scott peterson? >> he is a very unusual person. he is clearly -- i think he is very smart. i think he thinks he is very smart. >> the story that the detectives saw firsthand. >> when someone is in a position like him and they didn't do it, usually they will say take blood. take a polygraph. scott would not do that. he would only go to a point. he was steve mcqueen cool. >> the story of what happened to her, too the other woman whose name was thrust into a cultural moment. amber frye. >> what does a saga like that do to a person's life? >> i would say from day one it completely changed my life. >> and the story told by a frustrated ex journalist, convinced the cops, prosecutors, the public got it all wrong. >> did scott peterson kill his wife? >> i do not believe he did. >> a video we found buried in the court archives. >> you are telling me that you have no idea of where laci is. >> no, i do not. >> scott peterson talking to a detective hours after sounding the alarm, laci was missing. before we get there we will begin here with laci peterson's mother. sharon, surrounded, fortified really by laci's best friends. stacey, lori and renee tomlinson. >> they seem to make you feel cheerful. >> they do. they help a lot. i am glad you are here. >> it is tough still. >> it is tough. >> perhaps, harder than ever to talk about it she said. to talk about her long dead daughter whose case so captivated the country. >> there are people growing up that don't remember or never knew about laci peterson. tell me about laci. >> i moved in the third grade and i knew nobody. she was one of the first people i met. there was no not meeting her. >> you get the idea. big personality. >> it just makes you want to whistle. >> she made everybody laugh and welcome, just with a smile. shy could smile and you would know that is the girl you will be spending the rest of the night talking to or listening to. maybe not talking so much. she was hard to get a word in edge wise. >> talkative, smart, tenacious. the person that went for what she wanted the way that she did for scott peterson. >> how did laci meet scott? >> at a cafe where scott worked. >> or saw him there and just like that gave a waiter her phone number to pass on to scott. >> she wasn't bashful. >> and laci's mother, liked scott. liked him a lot. >> very charming. polite. perfect gentleman. >> bring you roses. >> he would have a dozen roses for laci and a dozen for me. of course i was impressed. >> the courtship was like that, old fashioned in a good way. >> he asked our permission to marry laci. we gave him our permission. >> there was a big wedding in the certainly of 97. scott was a fertilizer salesman in modesto and laci a substitute teacher. his job took him on the road a lot. but they were happy. >> did the three of you get to know the two of them together much? >> i thought he was a great guy. she was always happy. >> it was a joke of gosh, does he have a brother. >> though laci struggled to get pregnant after nearly five years of marriage, that came too. >> the day after my baby shower that she threw for me. she took a pregnancy test and she called everybody very early. very early the next morning. >> the petersons learned they were having a boy and readied the nursery and decided to name him conor. laci was eight months pregnant by christmas. the last christmas before conor was due. >> you were supposed to have a christmas eve dinner? >> yes. she was having christmas day. i was having christmas eve. that is when he called. close to 6:15 he called and asked if laci was with me. i said she is not here. he said well, she is missing. >> that was the beginning. christmas eve, 2002. laci peterson with her bright smile was nowhere to be found. coming up, the missing mom becomes national news. >> there is a $500,000 reward. >> we thought somebody kidnapped her. >> i was absolutely panicked. >> the dog draggings it leash, the neighbors robbed, her husband asking for help. >> did he seem frantic or worried? >> little bit. >> when dateline continues. than the leading allergy spray at hour one. [ deep inhale ] claritin-d. get more airflow. so with your home & auto bundle, you'll save money and get round-the-clock protection. -sounds great. -sure does. shouldn't something, you know, wacky be happening right now? we thought people could use a break. we've all been through a lot this year. -that makes sense. -yeah. so... ♪♪ now's not a good time 3/5ths of nsync. are you sure? you have us booked all day. -read the room, guys. -yeah. right? we know how much you count on us... -...and that's whyys. we're here 24/7... ...and on the road maintaining a fast and reliable network. we're always working to ensure the internet meets your needs... ...by making access easier for all... ...with comcast lift zones and our internet essentials program. we're invested in making our apps easy... ...to give you personalized assistance around the clock. and we're committed to keeping our team and customers safe by working from home... ...and using precautions in store. what was it about this woman, see what we're up to at xfinity.com/commitment this man, this case that so quickly gripped the nation. was it her smile? it was because it happened christmas eve. subject for a p.h.d. thesis now. at the beginning it was like 1,000 other such cases, a stomach flipping phone call. she is missing. something may have happened here it is so powerful that it takes over everything. >> it does. it does. she remembers saying check with the neighbors and call laci's friends. >> we all got a call. i said no. she is like she is missing. >> did he seem frantic or worried? >> little bit. >> worried enough to ask for their help. her long time boyfriend called the cops. golfing, on a cold christmas eve? he came home to find the dog in the yard wearing a leash. >> because of the leash on the dog. >> yes. we walked together in the park before. i was running around. i was looking at trash cans. i was screaming her name. they spent the early hours looking for missing posters. >> we had flyers and tape and everything. >> put make up on. that was the last thing. >> yeah. >> didn't have christmas. >> yeah. that is where i am going to be. >> pretty soon the whole town seemed to be looking for laci peterson. >> anyone out there help bring her home. >> the police were searching too. how long did the search go on? >> all night and then all the next day. >> the first detective on the case watched as searchers scoured the area. they were everywhere here, right. >> yeah. they did a grid search meaning they would have been in eye contact and walked the whole area. >> his partner at the time had a feeling from the start. laci peterson missing was not going to end well. >> she didn't leave an at risk lifestyle. she wasn't out two-timing him or anything like that. she was a girl that was ecstatic from everything that i learned about her, being a mother. >> she wasn't someone that would just walk away but in the anxiety, hope. an idea formed that somehow it might turn out all right. >> we were going to find her. i thought somebody kidnapped her. that is what i thought. >> here is lori, renee and stacey. in january 2003. >> there is a $500,000 reward you know for her and the baby's safe return. just take that. take the money. give us laci back. >> in the first day an exhausted sharon, ex-husband laci's father dennis beside her went on tv and pleaded with a kidnapper. >> i would like to send a message out there that whoever has her please, please, please let her go. bring her back. >> early on there were clues the cops uncovered that made kidnapping seemed plausible. remember the couple's dog with the leash attached. a neighbor said she saw the peterson's dog wandering the streets earlier that day. maybe laci was kidnapped walking the dog. just about the time laci disappeared there was a burglary across the street. did she witness a crime? did burglars take her? the police wanted to know. >> a reward for information for the identity of the person responsible for the burglary. >> didn't take long. soon enough one of them showed up in a tv interview. >> police agreed. no connection to laci. they would have kept digging. >> we are looking at the parolees. people with history of abductions, kidnappings. we had some. we were clearing those guys. we were interviewing them and verifying the alibis. >> they were not saying that homicide detectives had other suspicions. >> scott is the closest to laci. >> that is behind the scenes. in front of the camera the official police statements were circumspe circumspect. >> we have to understand what the other possibilities are. the possibilities are that she could be, you know, a victim of foul play. >> those closest to laci were having trouble grappling with the whole idea of foul play. even sharon told us impossible. >> they have no doubt he has nothing to do with her disappearance. >> it is a powerful thing, true belief. when it comes crashing down, my, my, my. coming up, scott peterson down at the station, a rare look at his interrogation. >> was he okay with that? was there any hesitation? >> he agreed. >> didn't ask for an attorney? >> no. didn't ask for an attorney. >> well, like that's a morning decision. >> is there something fishy about his story? >> he didn't know what he was fishing for or what bait he was using. >> when dateline continues. to my great-granddaughter sarah, whom i disowned after she recommended i go with the general - i leave my estate. what?! turns out, sarah's right about the general. i told you guys! oh, can it sarah! for a great low rate, and nearly 60 years of quality coverage, go with the general. my audible library is just like scroll scroll scroll scroll scroll scroll, it's a lot. i downloaded audible and really, really enjoyed it. and then it kind of just became a lifestyle after that. audible allows me to find a space for myself. you just get way more than you pay for, one of those rare things in life. oh, the audible plus catalog is awesome. it's like having a streaming service, but just for audio content. there's audible originals... there's podcasts... i've used some of the meditations, it helps me relax. mythology, anthropology, a lot of the -ologies. audible recommended the right audiobooks at the right time. they pretty much have whatever you like. it's really enriched my life in so many ways. i can put on an audiobook, or a podcast, and be transported somewhere that is impossible to go, that is why i love audible. to start your free 30-day trial, just text listen 11 to 500500. i had no idea how much i wamy case was worth. c to start your free 30-day trial, call the barnes firm to find out what your case could be worth. we will help get you the best result possible. ♪ call one eight hundred, eight million ♪ after my car accident, ♪ call owondnder whahatmy c cas. eight million ♪ so i called the barnes firm. it did not take long for the i'm rich barnes. youour cidedentase e woh than insurance offered? call the barnes firm now to find out. yoyou ght t beurprpris laci peterson story to go wide. that face was smiling out of magazines and television screens nationwide. friends and family desperate to get the story out talked to anyone, everyone. one person seemed to stay in the background, scott. grieving in private his parents told us back in 2003. >> he is devastated. >> he would not be a good spokesman. >> there was one camera scott couldn't shy away from. you can watch scott, hear his words. does he seem like a worried, frantic husband? you will see. >> tell me about the morning. >> okay. i don't know what time we got up. probably laci got up and went and i assume she had breakfast. >> didn't ask for an attorney. i wasn't planning on arresting him. i don't have to do that. i know whatever he told me i am taking him home. don't have to talk to me if you don't want to. >> and then she was going to the store to buy christmas morning breakfast. and that was going to be an involved prep. so that was her afternoon, prepping the breakfast and she was going to make cookies for tonight. >> he was struck by how passive scott was, even as he revealed he didn't go golfing. >> when did you realize you were going to go fishing? >> well like that's a morning decision. >> morning decision go play golf at the club or go fishing. >> okay. >> seemed too cold to go play golf at the club. >> he said he drove to his warehouse office a few miles away. >> you drove over to the shop. what did you do there? >> i assembled my mortiser, the woodworking tool. >> yeah. >> i just got that and so i assembled it. checked my e-mail. sent one e-mail. hooked the boat up and went. >> scott said he drove to the marina 90 miles away, parked his car and put it in the water. >> did you go very far? >> well, a couple of miles. i went north. found like a little island kind of deal there. island. had a bunch of trash on it. a big sign that said no landing. it looked like broken piers around it. i assumed it would be a decent shallow area. >> did you troll? >> little bit. lot of the reason i went was just to get that boat in the water. >> details that sounded plausible enough, except to the detective. >> me and the officers. they were fisherman too. his pole is one you would use in a stream. his lures are jigs you would use in the delta. he didn't know what he was fishing for or what bait he was using and no gear that was meant to be fishing in the bay. >> he wondered why scott bought a fishing license days before if he didn't know he was going to fish that day. >> there is a receipt dated december 20th when he bought his license. >> he said it was a last minute decision. that day. >> that didn't jibe. >> that doesn't jibe. >> the detective was skeptical of scott's fishing story. why would you go 90 miles if all you are doing is that you want to try out the new boat and you live in modesto. i can tell you 20 places within 25 miles of here you can put the boat in the water and try to find it out. >> scott said he had proof, a parking receipt from the arena. here is my receipt to prove it was there. i fished that marina a lot of times. i got four or five on my dash board right now. i don't know what made him decide i will put it in my pocket in case i need it later. but he was ready and prepared. >> scott said that the fish were not biting that afternoon and headed back to modesto and got home around 4:30 where he found the dog with the leash attached, unlocked backdoor and no laci. >> took the box out. >> yeah. >> put them on the counter. he was calm. calm, matter of fact. helpful. >> were you calling for laci? >> of course. >> but she went home. >> assumed she was at her moms. >> then you called over to her moms. had they heard from her? >> no. >> he answers the questions but does not do more than that, right? is that fair to say? >> he has got an answer. he does not elaborate or get emotional. >> the investigators thought at the time was not necessarily a good thing. >> he told me that is concerning. i get home. the car is there. the dog is running around the leash. the door is unlocked. her purse is here. and that is really concerning me. but let me take all of my clothes off and wash them and eat pizza and take a shower before i even try to figure out what is going on here. that is concerning. that was concerning to me. >> and then the detective asked the question that soon everyone would be asking. >> so what you are telling me, scott, you have no idea of where laci is. >> people in that situation, you know, they are going to have a lot of questions for you. are you guys doing this. why don't you do this. we got it from sharon and ron and laci's friends. everybody had an interest in trying to get us to go faster. >> everybody that is but scott. now why, they wondered, would that be. why, they wondered, would that be. coming up. >> hey beautiful, i just left you a message at home. >> i listened to that he was leaving this recording for us to hear. >> scott, under scrutiny. >> i was afraid to say it out loud, had he been involved in her disappearance. >> when dateline continues. and forgot where she was. you can always spot a first time gain flings user. a week after laci peterson after my dvt blood clot... i was uncertain... was another around the corner? or could things take a different turn? i wanted to help protect myself. my doctor recommended eliquis. eliquis is proven to treat and help prevent another dvt or pe blood clot. almost 98 percent of patients on eliquis didn't experience another. ...and eliquis has significantly less major bleeding than the standard treatment. eliquis is fda-approved and has both. don't stop eliquis unless your doctor tells you to. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. if you had a spinal injection while on eliquis call your doctor right away if you have tingling, numbness, or muscle weakness. while taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily... and it may take longer than usual for bleeding to stop. seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. what's around the corner could be worth waiting for. ask your doctor about eliquis. disappeared they had a vigil. candles and prayers and tears. though much of modesto was here, not a single person understood, not yet and not for a while why the gathering would become a defining moment. it looked like he might have shed a tear or two, he seemed to be avoiding laci's family and friends. what about the vigil. >> he was on the phone. >> sharon would not know for a long time the truth about scott's phone call that night. it was that night sharon first allowed her mind to go to that very dark place. >> it was new year's eve when i started to go back and forth. i thought could he be involved with her disappearance. >> sharon looked at him and he just seemed so detached somehow. >> never once did he say my god, where is laci. i hope she is okay. >> you were feeling that panic. even as you talk about it. >> yes. >> he didn't have that. >> he didn't have it. i made out a list of did he or didn't he. >> she didn't want to believe it and didn't want to go there so she didn't. but the detectives were trained to go there and they turned over everything scott said did and didn't do and wondered why. a fake feeling from the beginning, like the voicemail he left laci. >> hey beautiful, i just left you a message at home. >> i thought no. this does not sound right. married five years. pregnant. talking to her like he is on their third date. the tone to it that he was leaving the recording for us to hear so that he would appear to us as a devoted husband and not somebody involved in foul play. >> it could be he was just a romantic guy. >> under the circumstances the day laci disappeared why was he obsessively fastidius when they searched the pickup truck. >> he was worried about the wrong things. i open the door and it bangs into the land rover. i will hold this or move my truck. i wrote it in my police report. >> these were not hard facts of evidence, just a rising death of suspicion like when did scott get a boat. >> he said he had taken his boat out. he did have a boat. >> scott said laci knew about the boat. how could it be that sharon had no idea and recently bought a used 14-foot game fisher. i treated him like a husband. the husband of the missing person. i had suspicions. i asked him to take me to the boat. >> late the first night the detective and scott went to scott's warehouse where he kept his boat. >> you came here that night. >> that night. >> what did he tell you when you came here? >> he said there is no electricity. >> no lights which was a lie. to the detectives it all smelled bad, so they did the things that detectives do. they got a wiretap and they watched him constantly. sometimes they noticed he watched them too. i look at my side view mirror. >> it was just odd as this was when searchers in the bay found something. >> sonar detected an object underwater that could be a body. >> sharon froze, terrified. she still hoped laci you was alive. listen to this recording. you can hear sharon's relief when she called to tell it wasn't laci. >> scott this is mom. it was a boat anchor. we knew it wasn't laci. i just want you to know. >> that is scott whistling in the background. he seems relieved too. it was more felt lucky that wasn't her, suggesting to us that we were looking in the right spot. >> he seemed such a boy scout. no history of being abusive. they stewed in their suspicion, aware they had nothing on him. >> i don't think he had a traffic ticket. he was really the guy you wanted to marry your sister. we were waiting to see that he wasn't a perfect guy. >> in one remarkable moment, they get that and more because of her. coming up, he was single and looking for the one. >> enter amber. >> did you think about wait a minute, i could make a life with this man? >> i did. ♪♪ no matter how you define it. frontline®. here. there. everywhere. the bennetts really know how to put their wifi to work. nwhether it's work work...t. works for me. school work... it worked! or a work out... oh i'm working... they've got xfinity, which delivers wifi faster than a gig for all their devices. it's more than enough to keep everyone working. can your internet do that? this is work! this is hard! now xfinity delivers wifi speed faster than a gig. that means you'll have gig speed over wifi to power a house full of devices. >> october 2002. learn more about gig speed today. months before laci peterson disappeared. 100 miles away in fresno, california. a woman named amber frye got a phone call about a woman about a guy. >> i was doing really well getting my career started in massage therapy, single mother. i was told about a great guy my friend wanted me to meet. >> set you up on a date. >> a blind date at first. i said okay. i wonder who she sees as a good fit for me. >> she said he had a good sense of humor, good looking. single and looking for the one. soul mate. >> serious about this. >> yeah. his name, scott peterson. late november when they met in person and it was electric. >> we really had a great first date. really good. >> sometimes you meet somebody easy to talk to. >> right. >> it was like that? >> yeah. >> he was immediately attracted to you and you to him? >> we chuckled about being pleasantly surprised. i would say that there was a mutual attraction. >> what did he tell you about himself? >> on the first date he told me about his family and the plans that he had upcoming, like thanksgiving and fishing trips and going to maine with his family in a cabin. he was planning go to europe with some friends. >> he wooed her fast with strawberries and champagne. >> early, bright and exciting. >> absolutely. >> eager to bond with amber's little girl. >> he was really sweet with her. she was excited. we planned a picnic and a little hike. she held both hands and was comfortable. >> must have been sweet. >> it was. >> he bought them gifts, made dinner, considerate, caring. >> driving to the gym to do my weekly five-minute workout. see how you are doing. i am go to give you a call tomorrow. bye. >> he was always complementing like you leave the best messages. scott was married and they were readying a nursery for her first born. yet something wasn't sitting right with her she thought. why would he call her. was there so often the sound of running water in the background as if he was masking the sound of their conversation. >> it was odd. why are you talking to me in the shower. he blew it off. >> i could hear he was worried or something was going on. >> scott was contrite and said that he had a confoegz maession make. >> i asked if he ever had been married. >> that is the expression he used. i lost my wife? >> yes. he was crying. >> it was a tender moment and she felt compassion for him. >> i thought that maybe she died of cancer or in an accident. his words were more recent. >> did you ask? >> i didn't ask. scott gave him a new cell phone number where she could reach him. >> if you still want to talk to me like i could make a life with this man. >> i did. >> december 14th as they got ready for a christmas party with amber's friends. the beast of doubt was worming its way into her mind. >> i was starting to feel that women's intuition. something wasn't right. >> really? >> yes. >> while he was in europe she said write to a post office in modesto. why the odd questions. her friend called back. >> he said he found an article and that he would print it and bring it to me. i said okay. >> that was december 29th. scott left for europe two days earlier, so he said. >> i was in disbelief of what i am reading. it sounds like him. fertilizer salesman, modesto. >> so were these words, pregnant and missing i need this confirmed. >> i reach a dispatcher. i said i have been dating this person. i want to know if it is the same person. okay. okay. it is or what. i gave the birth date. i gave his full name. she is as okay. i said okay, yes. yes. >> amber scott peterson and the scott peterson with the missing wife were one in the same. >> i just remember crying. >> amber frye was in the middle of something terrible. coming up -- >> we want to start recording calls. >> hushed conversations, hidden recordings. amber goes undercover. >> when i plug in the recorder and i am showing the red button and the black. >> he called. >> i'm flying to normandy right now. >> i was shaking uncontrollably. i was so nervous and scared. >> when dateline continues. trelegy for copd. ♪ birds flyin' high, you know how i feel. ♪ ♪ breeze drifting on by you know how i feel. ♪ ♪ it's a new dawn... ♪ if you've been taking copd sitting down, it's time to make a stand. start a new day with trelegy. no once-daily copd medicine has the power to treat copd in as many ways as trelegy. with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy helps people breathe easier and improves lung function. it also helps prevent future flare-ups. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. take a stand and start a new day with trelegy. ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy. and save at trelegy.com. rinsing the dishes before they go in the dishwasher? 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on it with jardiance. we are committed to making jardiance available and affordable. with our savings card, eligible patients pay as little as $10. >> in all fairness to the modesto police department, scrambling to manage that flood of tips about laci peterson, the phone call was a ripple. >> did they call you back right away? >> no. >> the next day she called again and looking over the dispatchers shoulder at the right moment was the detective. >> i happened to be standing behind one of them and i could see the name amber frye. scott peterson is my boyfriend. >> i am seeing all of this. i said are you talking to her. i said let me talk to her. >> before long the two detectives were in fresno listening in person to amber's story of scott's courtship. >> it is like a script writer was writing this. very talented with the romance he was. >> i basically told him our whole relationship that we had been having and what our conversation was currently at the moment. >> that he was over in europe somewhere. >> right. i think they were in disbelief shaking their head. no. he is definitely in modesto. >> scott was lying the whole time. he even called amber to say goodbye when he left for europe so she would leave the caller id. if amber did not know where scott really was, she knew a lot. >> she had a mental recall punctuated with wine corks that she saved from their romance. >> the detectives asked could she help in their investigation. >> i said whatever was needed i would cooperate with them because it was not about me at that point. there was a missing pregnant woman. >> true. >> i had been having a relationship with her husband unknowingly he was married. >> we wanted to start recording calls. >> amber agreed and went out to buy a portable recorder. what do you know? >> soon as i plug in the recorder and showing her to press the red and the black, the phone rings. >> he called. are you there? i could barely hear you. >> they were just like i can't believe he is calling right now. >> outside of normandy right now. >> i was shaking uncontrollably. my fingers were just a sweaty mess. i was fumbling. i was so nervous and scared. >> for the next eight days scott peterson pretended he was traveling in europe. the cops, they kept looking bringing dogs to berkeley, divers to the bay and laci's friends held the vigil and prayed and all the while amber secretly recorded her conversations with scott, inwardly trembling. >> i was shaking and trying to catch my breath and calm down. there were too many nerves there. and i would pace back and forth. >> one of those calls, of course she didn't know it at the time, was going to be notorious. >> new year's eve. >> that was the big one. >> yeah. >> coming up -- >> first of all, i met scott peterson november 20th, 2002. >> revealing the truth to the world, amber frye's firestorm. >> we believed it was best to get her up there. >> i was introduced to him. i was told he was unmarried. scott told me he was not married. we did have a romantic relationship. >> i had a panic attack. i couldn't breathe. i literally could not catch my breath. >> when dateline continues. continuing now with our story. laci peterson is missing. >> i was absolutely panicked. >> i thought somebody kidnapped her. >> her husband is playing it cool. >> he was steve mcqueen cool. >> but the woman he's been secretly seeing has turned the tables. >> i was shaking uncontrollably. >> soon, a discovery and an arrest. and then prosecutors speak out in a rare television interview. >> there's something underneath the surface that is truly evil. >> amber frey had been working with detectives, covertly recording her conversations with scott peterson. in this one, scott told amber he was calling from a continent away, having a ball in paris. of course, it was a big lie. >> amber, if you can hear me -- >> i know, i can hear you! >> amber? >> i wish you could hear me. >> i'm near the eiffel tower. it's unreal. the crowd, it's huge. >> reporter: in fact, the crowd was huge. it just wasn't in paris. it was in modesto. and they weren't celebrating. scott called amber from the vigil for laci, the one where he made himself scarce while sharon and laci's friends pleaded for help. and scott called amber, inventing fine details of his trip, like jogging on the cobblestones of europe. >> i think i should just run on the street because these cobblestones are slippery. >> he worked out the time difference for his phone calls. >> if you go to bed at 9:00, that's 6:00 my time. >> and he kept on wooing her, unaware of who was listening. >> did i ever tell you how wonderful you are? that's pretty easy to do. how thoughtful you are, and amazing. i always call you and i tell you you're special, and that's just not a big -- >> all very interesting, but -- what were you hoping for from those recorded conversations that you didn't get? >> well, of course, ideally, i was hoping that he would say, "no, i murdered my wife, i dumped her in the bay and let's run off to europe," but that wasn't going to happen. >> so detectives went right at him. they asked scott to come down to the police department again, and without telling him where they got it, they showed him a fax of a photo of himself with amber frey at the christmas party. >> and of course, he lies when he's confronted. >> prosecutor. >> he sees the picture of him and amber and says "that's not me." >> was it clearly him? >> it was. >> if scott suspected the detectives had somehow found out about amber, he didn't let on, and he kept calling her and she kept recording. but he started testing her with questions. >> did you see the news on paris? >> no, i didn't, actually. >> there's a bomb that exploded. >> and i was like, uh, what bombing? there was another time he had asked if i had seen the article on the monarch butterflies that are in pismo, and i said, no. i gathered right away he was asking because these were, in fact, something that was in the paper, possibly. >> right. >> if i was looking at the news. >> to find out, in other words, if she knew about laci. and then, on january 6th, 13 days after laci disappeared, scott told amber himself. >> you haven't been watching the news, obviously. >> no. >> i have not been traveling during the last couple weeks. my -- i've -- i've lied to you, that i've been traveling. >> okay. >> the girl i'm married to, her name is laci. >> mm-hmm. >> she disappeared just before christmas. >> mm-hmm. >> the past two weeks, i've been in modesto with her family and mine, searching for her. >> okay. >> she just disappeared, and no one knows. >> scott had no idea, of course, that amber happened to be in the police station when he offered that big admission, or that amber's responding question was a huge deal to both her and the cops. >> you came to me early in december and told me that you had lost your wife. what was that about? >> she -- i mean, she's alive. >> what? >> she's alive. >> she's alive? where? >> in modesto. >> and you came and told me this elaborate lie about her missing and this tragedy and that this would be the first holidays without her? >> sweetie, i never said -- amber -- >> yes? >> i never -- god, i don't want to fight with you. um, you know that i -- i never said tragedy or missing -- >> oh, yes, you said you lost your wife. >> no, that, that -- yes. >> obviously, without me saying much, but we were -- >> i said that i lost my wife. >> yes, you did. >> i did. and yes -- >> how do you lose her then, before she was lost? explain that. >> there are different kinds of loss, amber. >> different kinds of loss? now, what did that mean? well, investigators built their case against scott. laci's family was in a world of pain. it was january of 2003, and sharon rocha was still gripping on to a slipping remnant of hope that her laci was still alive, was barely hanging on. the days soon after that new year's eve vigil, when scott walked into the house. >> and i asked him, "how are you doing?" and he said, "you know, i'm doing okay." and i just remember, it was almost like i was just pulling back from him, thinking, you're doing okay? what do you mean you're doing okay? >> sharon definitely wasn't doing okay. the cops, moving forward incrementally, needed more. >> police looking for laci peterson in modesto, california, want to verify her husband's alibi. >> modesto pd put out a bulletin. had anyone seen this truck, this boat, on christmas eve? they expanded their ground search to the foothills, the reservoirs, even mine shafts. and by mid-january, police decided they needed to tell sharon about scott's affair. >> i said, hey, we've got some information we've got to let you know about on this, and the best thing we can do is just give it to you. >> they showed her the photo at amber's christmas party, the one scott said wasn't him. >> i literally thought i was going to throw up. i stood up real fast, because i wanted to get out of there. i wanted to get away from them. i didn't want to hear what they were saying. >> what mother would? >> i just remember my stomach just turning, and i just, saying, just crying. he didn't have to kill her. >> that changed everything you had ever thought about him. >> it did. >> detective buehler had told sharon about amber because rumors were in the air, the media was sniffing about and getting close. >> i get to the office. the reporter was right there. >> oh, boy. >> yeah. >> january 24th. local news showed up at amber's workplace. national tabloids were not far behind. >> did you talk to them? >> no. i refused to talk to anybody. >> reporter: trapped in her office, she called detective buehler. that's when the modesto pd decided that, if amber's story was going to break anyway, they'd break it on their terms. >> we believed at the time it was probably best to get her up there, almost like exploding your own bomb. >> he sent two colleagues to fetch her with a statement all prepared. >> we were speeding back, in a sense, getting there. and you know, having this statement written out, you know, trying to read it a few times so it's not too foreign. >> as they drove to modesto, headquarters gathered the media. big news a coming. >> we are waiting for modesto police to come out any moment and speak on developments in the laci peterson investigation. >> and this is the moment when amber frey burst like a deer in headlights onto the public stage. >> okay, first of all, i met scott peterson november 20th, 2002. i was introduced to him. i was told he was unmarried. scott told me he was not married. we did have a romantic relationship. >> i had a panic attack. i couldn't breathe. i literally could not catch my breath. >> when i discovered he was involved in the disappearance -- or the laci peterson disappearance case, i immediately contacted the modesto police department. >> she spoke for just over a minute. >> i am very sorry for laci's family and the pain that this has caused them, and i pray for her safe return as well. >> and now everyone knew. and scott knew everyone knew. so, did he stop contacting amber frey? no! listen to this. >> i meant to say how brave you are. i'm really glad that you -- you did that. >> it wasn't a matter of choice. >> what's that? >> it really wasn't a matter of choice. they were staked out at my work all day. >> i know, but still, it's incredibly brave. it just shows what amazing character you have. >> scott called to congratulate her, to thank her. very strange. the police were thanking amber, too. now they had new clues, like the day scott told amber he lost his wife. it was the very same day he had bought the boat. coincidence? no, thought the police. had to be evidence of premeditation. the very existence of amber frey changed everything and revealed that many little beasts of doubt had been churning about in the minds of even scott's die-hard supporters. >> after amber came forward, that's when they started to open up about the things that they had been kind of hiding and holding back. >> people remembered things, like how scott once told someone he was hoping for infertility, that he seemed uncomfortable holding babies, that he didn't want to touch laci's pregnant stomach, that he complained he was having a mid-life crisis at age 30. now when people thought about his story that laci walked her dog, they remembered she had been too tired to do that, and they remembered, too, the peculiar way he acted the night laci disappeared. >> we were standing in the driveway. i asked if he had called his parents. he said no. i was trying to have a conversation with him and he continued to just turn away from me. he would never look me in the eye. i had to keep following him around to have visual contact with him. >> because scott peterson had something to hide. coming up -- >> i had a romantic relationship that was inappropriate. >> scott peterson goes public. but in private, strange behavior. when "dateline" continues. our new scented oils give you our best smelling scents. now crafted with more natural ingredients and infused with essential oils that are 100% natural. give us one plug and connect to nature. so you want to make the best burger ever? 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[ ding ] you got paid! that means adding people to the payroll. hi mom. that means... best burger ever. intuit quickbooks helps small businesses be more successful with payments, payroll, banking and live bookkeeping. since christmas eve, our one and only focus is to find laci and to bring her home to us. i love my daughter so much. i miss her every minute of every day. >> on the same day that amber frey told the world about her relationship with scott peterson -- >> scott told me he was not married. >> -- laci's mother stood before the cameras, too. it was exactly a month since laci disappeared. >> i miss sharing her thoughts and our lives together. i miss her smile and her laughter and her sense of humor, and i miss everything about her. >> sharon, who kept trying to keep hope alive, found it slipping away. >> someone has taken all of this away from me and everyone else who loves her. >> any thoughts that scott had nothing to do with it gone, too, even though sharon would not mention him by name. >> i know that someone knows where laci is, and i'm pleading with you, please, please let her come home to us. >> unbeknownst to them, scott was thinking about going public, too, and he discussed it with, who else? amber. >> i am going to speak to the press this coming week. >> okay. >> during this coming week. >> do you have a date? >> well, i'm debating on when it should be. >> okay. >> because tuesday is the state of the union address. >> okay. >> so, that will take up, you know, a lot of time -- >> i'm sure it will. >> and i want maximum coverage. >> he got it, all right. a sudden whirl of interviews. a few days after his affair with amber was revealed, scott talked about it on nbc's bay area station. >> obviously, yes, i had a romantic relationship that was inappropriate and unfair to a lot of people. >> and now many of the people who knew scott, had loved scott, no longer believed a word he said. for the police, who had never believed him, amber frey was just one part of an intricate and entirely circumstantial case against scott. it relied on the smallest of details. strands of evidence that tried to weave into a rope with which to hang scott. another strand? scott's sudden desire to sell his and laci's home just weeks after she went missing. >> he said, "i think we should get the house up on the market," and my mom said, "this isn't the time to be discussing this, scott." >> but he did sell laci's car, another strand. and then there was the cement dust at scott's warehouse. >> a lot of people use concrete anchors for small aluminum boats. >> sure. >> and it looked like five of these little coffee can anchors had been made there on that trailer. >> but only this one anchor was found. >> it's clear, there was more than one. now, where are those? nobody knows. >> were the other four used to weigh down laci's body? and though scott said going fishing was a last-minute decision, there were sea charts and maps of the berkeley marina on his computer from early december. and scott told police he spent time at his warehouse office on the day laci disappeared. they couldn't help but notice how secluded the place was. >> this is very isolated back here, and especially on a christmas eve -- >> if you wanted to get away with something, this is the place you could do it. >> yep. >> like move a body into a boat, thought the detective. >> have a window here in the front. note that the screen is ajar. >> so, police gathered the strands, spun the rope, and everything that happened happened with a lot of people watching. >> where does scott peterson stand in all of this? >> he's not been eliminated from the investigation, nor has he been identified as a suspect. >> not identified as a suspect, not officially. yet, clearly, the only person of interest for the cops and the media. >> what have you got in the bags there? >> evidence. >> evidence? >> and sharon kept grappling with the depressing truth that she just didn't want to believe. >> i felt that i should have felt her leave this earth. i brought her into this world. i should have felt when she left so that i would have known whether she was gone or not. so at that time, i still had hope that she was coming home. >> it's a strange and powerful thing, though, isn't it? >> it is. >> you give birth to a person. you bring them up and you feed them and you care for them, and -- >> and we were very, very, very close. >> yes. >> and scott? he soon faded from public view, didn't stay much in modesto, and amber finally told him to stop calling her. >> i think right now for me, scott, and really, everything that has happened in the last 50-plus days for myself and the family and you and everything that's going in right now, i think it'd be best if you and i didn't talk anymore until there's resolution in this -- >> yes, i agree with that. >> good. >> you're right. >> good. >> and everyone just waited until the sea finally revealed what everybody had been waiting for. coming up -- >> i felt something that day. i just knew. >> a devastating discovery and a ride into danger. >> this was completely off the charts. nobody's ever reacted this way. >> when "dateline" continues. so what's going on? 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[dog] thanks for the apoquel. that's what friends are for. ask your veterinarian for apoquel. next to you, apoquel is a dog's best friend. alice loves the scent of gain so much, she wished there was a way to make it last longer. say hello to your fairy godmother alice. and long-lasting gain scent beads. part of the irresistible scent collection from gain! hello. i'm dara brown. the u.s. will resume the use of the johnson & johnson covid vaccine. the announcement follows a ten-day pause in order to collect data on a rare and severe blood clot reported by six people who received the vaccine. and alexei navalny ended his 24-day hunger strike after the government granted him access to medical care from independent doctors. the decision comes days after thousands of russians took to the streets calling for navalny's release. now back to "dateline." april 13th, 2003. it was a cool day in northern california. sharon rocha was hiding from the world. >> it was one of those days. i just buried myself on the couch with a blanket over my head. >> she had so locked herself away that day that friends had to come to her house to tell her there was news. >> they're knocking on my back door, on the slider in the backyard. >> it had been nearly four months since laci disappeared, yet, somehow, sharon felt more bad news was coming. earlier that morning, when the tides were low, the body of a baby had been found on the shoreline north of berkeley. the next day, another body, a torso, badly decomposed, was found nearby. >> contra costa county coroner has arrived at the scene and has now recovered the remains of the victim. we're at this time letting people know that we believe the gender of the victim is female. >> but even without positive identification, everyone knew, even sharon, who, despite everything, kept trying to hold onto a shred of hope that she'd wake from a nightmare. from scott, there was not a peep. >> the fact that he didn't pick up the phone and call anybody to find out if that was his wife and his baby left no doubt in my mind. >> her daughter was dead. her grandson would never be born. detective john 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. >> 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. >> then, april 18th, 2003, 7:00 a.m. 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, or at least he was. he knew we were behind him. >> scott started driving erratically, very fast. >> we were trying to keep this rolling surveillance on him. we had a helicopter for part of the time. >> he stopped and started. >> he'd cross over three lanes of traffic and take an exit ramp. and of course, we couldn't do that, we'd end up missing him. >> driving evasively at times, giving one cop the finger. how long did he lead you on this chase? >> oh, gosh, this was -- seemed like it might have been a couple hours or so, maybe longer. >> scott, with police trailing, traveled 160 miles that morning until law enforcement decided it was just too dangerous. >> we have to arrest him. they put the lights on him and he pulled off into the entrance to torrey pines golf course. and they made contact with him as we pulled up, came out of the car, put the handcuffs on him, no hysterics, no profanity. typical scott in all his controlled demeanor. >> what they found in the car with scott was fascinating. camping gear, four cell phones, his sister's credit card, his brother's driver's license, and cash. >> almost $15,000 in cash. >> in cash. >> he also looked different, way different, by intent, clearly. when you arrested him, did he express anything that would suggest he understood that that was it, he was going away? >> i went to search his car. he said, "john, can you tell me if those bodies were my wife and son?" and i just told him, scott, you already know the answer to that. >> as they drove north of modesto with their prisoner in the back seat, buehler got confirmation that the dna was in. the bodies were conner and laci. they told scott. >> now, he's wearing sunglasses at the time. i look and he doesn't make hardly any reaction whatsoever. >> and just a few minutes later, they stopped by a roadside burger place to get something to eat. given the news he'd just received, buehler assumes scott wouldn't have much of an appetite. he was wrong. >> and he goes, i'll have a double-double with cheese, a small fry, and a vanilla shake. like we were coming back from fishing. >> cold? that's what buehler thought. >> i've run into people that had grief before, many, many times, and this was completely off the charts. nobody's ever reacted this way, in my presence, when it came to something like that. >> when they got back to modesto, scott was booked into jail. it seemed like the end of the road for scott peterson. but the circus wasn't leaving. it was just moving up the road a bit. coming up -- >> prosecutors speak out in an in-depth television interview. >> he wanted a different life. >> years later, they share their story, when "dateline" continues. is that correct, mr. peterson, you're pleading not guilty to the two charges of murder, plus denying the special allegations? >> absolutely. >> that's correct, your honor. i am innocent. >> 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 cast included legal celebrities like defense attorney mark geragos, who signed on to defend scott peterson. >> scott looks forward to finding out who did this to his wife and to his child, conner. >> and women's advocate -- >> thank you for coming today. i'm attorney gloria allred. to my right is amber frey. >> -- gloria allred, who erected a protective wall around the story's wildcard, amber frey. >> amber was not going to be doing any interviews during the course of the case, even though so many people wanted to interview her. >> sure, yeah. wasn't she offered immense amounts of money to do covers and things like that? >> there were many offers to amber, if she would only provide an interview. but she needed to protect her testimony for the actual case. >> but altogether missing in the legal cacophony were the prosecutors. this, all these years later, was their first in-depth interview about the peterson case. during the trial, they often had to bite their tongues. >> your radio would go off in the morning, the radio alarm, and the little news blurb that you would hear on the pop radio station, whatever, would reference the case. they could say whatever they wanted, right? and it wasn't always necessarily true. >> good morning, your honor. >> good morning. >> in court, geragos wanted a change of venue, though just 90 miles or so from modesto, did anyone not know about the peterson case? >> how is scott feeling about the move? >> he just wants the trial to take place so that people will be able to see what really took place. >> scott's mom assured reporters her son was innocent, but she couldn't have been very happy when everyone came to the courthouse and saw a local billboard a local radio station bought right across the street. man or monster? what'd you think when you saw that? >> well, that's when we were about to start jury selection. >> first day of jury selection. >> so, i think we were worried we were going to have another change of venue. >> but here it stayed. june 1st, 2004, a year and a half after laci peterson vanished, her husband, scott, went on trial for her murder. and right off the bat, the prosecution told the jury about scott and amber. he winced as they showed these photos of the two of them from the night of the party, the same photos that helped him get caught. and then they showed the jury this picture of laci, same night, different party. she went alone. >> the reason for the murder was he didn't want to be married anymore. 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. >> mm-hmm. >> laci and conner 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. >> 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 warehouse, move her to the boat, cover the boat. >> then, after sending an email and putting together a woodworking tool, law enforcement believed, he headed to the bay. but evidence of murder? that was all circumstantial. they had no incriminating dna, minimal forensics, just all those little strands. and in fact, it didn't always go well for the prosecution. as geragos worked to keep them off balance. >> we would try and present witnesses in a chronological order, in a way that made sense to our theory of the case, and they were very good at disrupting that and saying, we're not ready for that witness or -- >> just trying to throw a monkey wrench into your smooth telling of the story. >> yeah. >> if it happened once, maybe it was just coincidence. if it happened every single week, at some point in time, it's a plan. >> it got worse for the prosecution. geragos, who believed the modesto pd had it out for his client, tried to make it look like alboro keenie had hidden evidence. he asked him on the stand, did you omit evidence about scott visiting the warehouse december 23rd? >> the answer was, "i did." then, okay, we're done for the day. and it's like, you know, can i answer or -- >> and that was a very good point for him to make because it would create the impression that, in fact, laci did know about the boat, as scott said she did, and it lent credibility to the rest of the story as a result. >> well, maybe, maybe not. but he could have got the whole story. >> of course, the whole story wasn't what the defense attorney wanted, that the information was in another cop's report, that nothing had been hidden. but what did the jury think? what was your sense of how well that prosecution was going? >> i was a bit concerned. i felt that their burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt had not yet been met. >> but the big change, the sea change, was the day she walked in. >> walking in the courtroom, you could hear body shifting towards the door. a lot of pressure. >> as scott watched, amber frey told the jury everything from strawberries and champagne on their first date to his tearful confession of losing his wife weeks before she went missing. >> how did you lose her then, before she was lost? explain that. >> there are different kinds of loss, amber. >> and all those phone calls were played for the jury. >> the jury could hear his words -- of course, not his words under oath, but his words on the phone call -- to amber and how he lied and lied and lied, and even lied about lying. >> mark geragos did what he could. he went after amber repeatedly, questioned her about how much she had to drink on her dates with scott and about how often she and scott had sex and how soon. did the defense rattle you? >> no. he tried. >> amber didn't buckle, and the prosecution hit its stride. an expert told the jury, the baby died between december 23rd and december 25th. another expert told the jury that laci's decomposition was consistent with three to six months in the water. and a search dog handler testified her dog picked up laci's scent at the berkeley marina. and, said the prosecutors, it was obvious scott peterson knew laci and conner were gone for good. he had even turned conner's nursery into a storage room. >> put office furniture and pillows and a locking device from a car in there. scott wasn't expecting conner to ever come home. >> coming up -- a cheater, a liar, but a killer? i mean, really, who else could have done it. >> i'm glad you asked that question. >> when "dateline" continues. cs ♪ breeze drifting on by you know how i feel ♪ [man: coughing] ♪ it's a new dawn, it's a new day... ♪ no matter how you got copd it's time to make a stand. ♪ ...and i'm feelin' good ♪ start a new day with trelegy. no once-daily copd medicine has the power to treat copd in as many ways as trelegy. with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy helps people breathe easier and improves lung function. it also helps prevent future flare-ups. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. it's time to start a new day. ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy. and save at trelegy.com. alright, guys, no insurance talk on beach day. -i'm down. -yes, please. [ chuckles ] don't get me wrong, i love my rv, but insuring it is such a hassle. same with my boat. the insurance bills are through the roof. -[ sighs ] -be cool. i wish i could group my insurance stuff. -[ coughs ] bundle. -the house, the car, the rv. like a cluster. an insurance cluster. -woosah. -[ chuckles ] -i doubt that exists. -it's a bundle! it's a bundle, and it saves you money! hi. i'm flo from progressive, and i couldn't help but overhear... super fun beach day, everybody. feeling sluggish or weighed down? and i couldn't help but overhear... it could be a sign that your digestive system isn't working at it's best taking metamucil everyday can help. metamucil psyllium fiber, gels to trap and remove the waste that weighs you down. it also helps lower cholesterol and slows sugar absorption to promote healthy blood sugar levels. so you can feel lighter and more energetic metamucil. support your daily digestive health. and try metamucil fiber thins. a great tasting and easy way to start your day. four months into the trial, the defense got its chance to disprove the prosecution theory. we wanted to talk to attorney mark geragos about the trial. he didn't respond to our request. we wanted to talk to scott peterson, but he wasn't interested. turned us down, said his family, because he didn't like my coverage of the case back in 2003. scott's frantic story, simple, yet utterly baffling was this. his family still insists he's an innocent man, and we wanted to hear that from them. they turned us down, too, and suggested we talk to a retired journalist named richard cole, who shares their point of view and said the prosecution theory of the case makes no sense. >> because it was so ridiculous. scott peterson kills his 160-pound wife, puts her body in the back of his truck. he then drives it to his office to pick up the boat. and then, what does he do with the dead body of his wife in a parking lot? he goes back into the office, spends an hour on the internet sending christmas email to his boss, and then he said, oh, well, i guess i'd better get rid of the body now. >> cole believes that media coverage, biased against the defendant, somehow seeped inside the courtroom. >> this gigantic tsunami of media coverage, much of it false, much of it totally distorted, concentrating on things that had nothing to do with the evidence. and that, basically, i think, consumed that little fact trial inside the courthouse. >> the most damaging witness against scott, he said, didn't see anything really related to a murder. but nonetheless, forever tainted scott in the eyes of the public and the jury. >> once you started looking at that case through an amber lens, everything he did was wrong. >> because he's a lying cheat. >> yes, he was. >> the affair with amber, said cole, made everything scott did look sinister, but it didn't prove he killed laci. scott peterson was behaving pretty oddly. >> his behavior does look odd. he backed himself into a horrible position. >> sure. >> he's thinking, if anyone ever finds out about this woman, not only will it look bad for me, but that will become what this story is about, and he was exactly right. so, he very foolishly and not very well tried to keep her at bay with lies, thinking, laci will be home next week. >> and that would explain why scott hid from tv cameras, not guilt about laci, guilt about amber. in cole's mind, scott acted like a man who had expected his wife to come home. so, that, said cole, is why scott didn't want a ding on the car door when the cops were searching his truck. so, laci's car, though. >> he did sell the car because you know, he was not rich. the peterson family isn't rich. >> and scott hemmed and hawed about what he was fishing for, said cole, because the whole point of the trip was not to catch something as it was to test the boat before giving it to laci's stepdad, ron, as a christmas present. >> the boat was basically kind of a gift, and that's why it was kept a secret granskis, because it was a christmas thing. >> all innocent, said cole, but why did scott tell amber before laci vanished, i lost my wife. >> amber confronts him about having a wife and he says, "i lost her and this would be my first christmas without her." >> scott had had that line used on him by a woman who was married. and he asked her if she was married and she said, i lost my husband. and scott decided that he liked that and that was a really good line. >> in other words, scott was a cad, not a killer, so said cole, anyway. but then how to explain the strange similarities between scott's fishing story and the circumstances of the murder? but you know, he went fishing in the bay. >> yep. >> they found the bodies in the bay. >> yes. >> i mean, really. who else could have done it? >> i'm glad you asked that question. let's remember the scene. she disappears. within a few days, scott's, "i went fishing in berkeley" story is all over the media. >> so, the real bad guys, maybe local sex offenders, or the two men arrested for the burglary across the street, took their victim to the bay and framed scott that way. that's cole's theory, anyway. it made more sense, he said, than the case against scott. so, what really happened on that cold december morning? 12 people would decide. >> members of the jury, you have heard all the evidence and the arguments of the attorneys. and now it is my duty to instruct you on the law that after five months of trial, the jury went off to deliberate. one day, two, a week they stayed out. and nobody knew, what were they thinking? >> a life in the jury's hands. >> i just burst into tears. everything just comes gushing out. >> when "dateline" continues. ons ♪♪ nearly two years after laci disappeared, after nine days of deliberation, the jury in the scott peterson trial finally announced they had a verdict. >> it's pretty exciting and terrifying. >> 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. >> the 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. >> 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. [ cheers and applause ] >> outside the courthouse, crowds cheered. inside? >> i remember i just burst into tears. everything just comes gushing out. it's just two years of anxiety, of waiting. >> a month later, the jury decided scott's fate. >> we, the jury, in the above-entitled cause, affix the penalty at death. >> for 15 years, scott peterson san on san quentin's death row, a condemned man. >> calling the matter of the people versus scott lee peterson. >> then, in june of 2020, via video conference, the california state supreme court heard his appeal, which focused in part on how the trial jury was chosen. >> and what happened here was a systematic exclusion of those jurors that were opposed to the death penalty but could consider death. >> the state countered. >> there is no credible claim in this appeal that any 1 of the 12 jurors that heard that evidence was anything other than fair and impartial. >> in a written ruling issued nearly three months later, the court sided with peterson on the jury question and overturned his death sentence. but the court also affirmed his murder conviction. yet the california supreme court revealed another ruling. the same justices who overturned peterson's sentence now say they wanted his conviction re-examined, ordering a lower court to determine whether he should get a new trial. at issue, whether a juror committed prejudicial misconduct. prosecutors said they expect the process to take years before this case is fully resolved. in the meantime, scott peterson remains in prison. no one has survived untouched. amber frey's life certainly never returned to what it was. but if anything, she told us, the whole strange experience made her stronger, her beliefs stronger. >> i'm a christian. i'm a true believer in jesus christ. and i believe truly in my heart that god prepared my life for this. >> and she's determined to teach her own daughter something she wished she'd understood better when she met scott. >> we all have heard the expression women's intuition, that gut feeling. i think more women need to listen to that, because it's so easy for, i will say, a man to say "you're crazy," like, you're being paranoid. >> sharon rocha wishes she had had some sort of gut feeling in late december 2002, when she and laci were looking forward to the new baby, their lives full of hope back then. back in those innocent days, before the rest of us heard the name laci peterson or saw that smile. >> it does make you question yourself. >> mm-hmm. >> you no longer trust your instinct or what you think you know about people or who you know or how you know them. >> laci's mother, her friends, their lives never really returned to normal. how could they? but they've adapted, like humans do. stacie, laurie and rene now have their own children, and those children who never met laci know her, in a way. >> she's part of our life. i mean, she is a part of our life still, so that means our children need to know about that part of our lives. >> she's special and she had a baby. >> so, the cemetery isn't a place of sadness for them, usually. >> i love it, because my boys get to hear about her and they always bring cars out for conner, or i think they brought a baseball out this time. >> it's a place where they can celebrate a life, someone they loved. >> she's in heaven and she's in our hearts. >> their laci. >> beautiful. >> oh, how pretty. i'm craig melvin. >> i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline." i was in my room, it was all dark, and everything was just spinning away from me into like blackness. it was terrifying. >> it was a whirlwind romance with mr. right that morphed into a mind-bending mystery. >> my loved one called. >> she was like, i feel like i'm being watched. >> my phone would be followed. he said, you could be under surveillance. >> followed?

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