Additionally, in his immediate search of Scott's truck, he spotted items that were removed only hours later, including the umbrellas, tarps, jacket, and lures. By acting fast, he managed to survey Scott's workplace before anyone could clean up the concrete particles or erase the computer hard drives. Had Detective Brocchini followed standard procedure and treated Laci's disappearance as a standard missing persons case, that valuable evidence might have been lost.
That Brocchini got Scott on tape at midnight, only seven hours after the initial call, was another important coup. By the next day, Lee Peterson was warning his son to refuse a polygraph. Had Brocchini delayed, it's likely that there would never have been a taped interview with Scott to show to a jury.
Scott returned to his home after 4:00 A.M. on Christmas Day, only to find the exterior completely encircled in yellow crime scene tape. As he entered the empty house, the phone rang. It was Laci's brother, Brent, asking him to come to his mother-in-law's house. Scott declined.
Why wouldn't he want to be with family at a time like this?
On Christmas morning, residents of the dusty Northern California city woke up to a front-page headline: "Woman Vanishes on Walk, Police Start Widespread Search." On television, local stations were reporting that the search for the missing Modesto woman was intensifying. As over two dozen police officers combed the La Loma neighborhood, Detective Brocchini was knocking on doors.
His first stop was 520 Covena, where he met with Scott and Laci's neighbor Amy Krigbaum, her roommate, Tara Venable, and Venable's twelve-year-old son, Michael Thomas.
When asked if they had seen anything out of the ordinary, Krigbaum spoke up. She recalled being awakened around 10:30 on Christmas Eve morning by a neighbor's dog barking. She could not be sure exactly whose dog was making the noise.
The women hadn't seen Laci walking in some time, they told the police; they assumed it was due to her advanced pregnancy. "We sometimes feel sorry for Laci because she is alone so often," Krigbaum said. Scott traveled a lot, and occasionally spent a night or more away from home on business.
In a second interview with Detective Brocchini, Krigbaum would recall that when Laci Peterson was at home and awake, her typical routine was to raise her two front window shades in the morning and lower them in the evening when the sun went down. On Christmas Eve morning, Krigbaum observed, the shades were not raised. She simply assumed that Laci and Scott were away. When she put her Christmas turkey in the oven around 1:15 that afternoon, Scott's truck was not in the driveway and the shades on the house were still drawn.
Around 4:25 P.M., Krigbaum went to the Save Mart for marsh-mallows. She estimated she was gone about twenty minutes. When she returned home, Scott's pickup was backed into the Petersons' driveway-an unusual way for him to park.
At 5:30, Scott appeared at her door, asking if she had seen Laci. Scott said he'd been trying to call his wife all day on her cell, but never got an answer. He appeared nervous and volunteered that he had been out golfing all day. She watched Scott walk over to another neighbor's home, then saw him return home a few minutes later.
Brocchini next interviewed the Petersons' maid, Margarita Nava, at her home on Jarena Drive. As Scott said, she was hired only six weeks earlier; the twenty-third was her third visit to the residence. She arrived at 8:45 A.M. and finished her chores about two o'clock that afternoon.
Laci was in the house that day, and according to Nava she complained about feeling extremely tired. The housekeeper didn't believe that Laci would have walked the dog in her fatigued condition, but she didn't believe the Petersons were having any trouble in their marriage. Having watched the couple work together on the nursery, she thought they were both very excited at the prospect of a baby.
Brocchini asked about the very
That Brocchini got Scott on tape at midnight, only seven hours after the initial call, was another important coup. By the next day, Lee Peterson was warning his son to refuse a polygraph. Had Brocchini delayed, it's likely that there would never have been a taped interview with Scott to show to a jury.
Scott returned to his home after 4:00 A.M. on Christmas Day, only to find the exterior completely encircled in yellow crime scene tape. As he entered the empty house, the phone rang. It was Laci's brother, Brent, asking him to come to his mother-in-law's house. Scott declined.
Why wouldn't he want to be with family at a time like this?
On Christmas morning, residents of the dusty Northern California city woke up to a front-page headline: "Woman Vanishes on Walk, Police Start Widespread Search." On television, local stations were reporting that the search for the missing Modesto woman was intensifying. As over two dozen police officers combed the La Loma neighborhood, Detective Brocchini was knocking on doors.
His first stop was 520 Covena, where he met with Scott and Laci's neighbor Amy Krigbaum, her roommate, Tara Venable, and Venable's twelve-year-old son, Michael Thomas.
When asked if they had seen anything out of the ordinary, Krigbaum spoke up. She recalled being awakened around 10:30 on Christmas Eve morning by a neighbor's dog barking. She could not be sure exactly whose dog was making the noise.
The women hadn't seen Laci walking in some time, they told the police; they assumed it was due to her advanced pregnancy. "We sometimes feel sorry for Laci because she is alone so often," Krigbaum said. Scott traveled a lot, and occasionally spent a night or more away from home on business.
In a second interview with Detective Brocchini, Krigbaum would recall that when Laci Peterson was at home and awake, her typical routine was to raise her two front window shades in the morning and lower them in the evening when the sun went down. On Christmas Eve morning, Krigbaum observed, the shades were not raised. She simply assumed that Laci and Scott were away. When she put her Christmas turkey in the oven around 1:15 that afternoon, Scott's truck was not in the driveway and the shades on the house were still drawn.
Around 4:25 P.M., Krigbaum went to the Save Mart for marsh-mallows. She estimated she was gone about twenty minutes. When she returned home, Scott's pickup was backed into the Petersons' driveway-an unusual way for him to park.
At 5:30, Scott appeared at her door, asking if she had seen Laci. Scott said he'd been trying to call his wife all day on her cell, but never got an answer. He appeared nervous and volunteered that he had been out golfing all day. She watched Scott walk over to another neighbor's home, then saw him return home a few minutes later.
Brocchini next interviewed the Petersons' maid, Margarita Nava, at her home on Jarena Drive. As Scott said, she was hired only six weeks earlier; the twenty-third was her third visit to the residence. She arrived at 8:45 A.M. and finished her chores about two o'clock that afternoon.
Laci was in the house that day, and according to Nava she complained about feeling extremely tired. The housekeeper didn't believe that Laci would have walked the dog in her fatigued condition, but she didn't believe the Petersons were having any trouble in their marriage. Having watched the couple work together on the nursery, she thought they were both very excited at the prospect of a baby.
Brocchini asked about the very
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