This Is What Scott Peterson's Life In Prison Is Really Like
Laci Peterson was eight months pregnant when she went missing from the home she shared with her husband Scott Peterson in Modesto, California on December 24, 2002. As reported by the A & E True Crime Blog, her body and the body of her unborn son, whom she'd planned to name Conner, washed up on the shores of the San Francisco Bay four months later. Peterson's husband, Scott Peterson, was convicted of killing his pregnant wife in 2004, and subsequently sentenced to death row.
In 2020, though, that conviction was overturned by the state supreme court because several jurors who expressed their objections to capital punishment were dismissed from the original case. In late 2021, however, a California judge re-sentenced Peterson to life in prison without the possibility of parole, while another judge sentenced him to 15 years to life for killing his unborn son, Connor. Those sentences are to be served simultaneously, according to NBC News.
Peterson maintains his innocence, and his defense claims Laci and Connor were killed when they interrupted a robbery. Even though he will not be executed at this point, Scott Peterson may spend the rest of his life in behind bars. Here's what Scott Peterson's life in prison is really like.
He gets love letters from women
A media frenzy surrounded the search for Laci Peterson (pictured above, in a card from her memorial), particularly after it became public knowledge that Scott Peterson had been cheating on his wife. That attention only intensified after the bodies were found. Possibly because of this infamy, Scott Peterson received numerous letters from female admirers while in prison, who sometimes even send him checks for his commissary account, helping Peterson purchase soda, toothpaste, and even deodorant, among other sundries, according to People Magazine. It's not uncommon for women to fall in love with convicted murderers, including notorious serial killer Ted Bundy, and even Charles Manson, per Washington Post.
In a 2012 interview with Fox News, reporters asked San Quentin State Prison spokesperson Samuel Robinson about those letters he received from admirers, and whether or not Peterson continues to receive them, to which Robinson responded, "Not as much as he initially received." Robinson did say, however, that Peterson was still confined to his cell for 19 hours per day, was allowed "six cubic feet of personal property" within the cell, didn't have access to email, had never had a job assignment while in prison, did not take any classes, had never been disciplined for "egregious behavior," and got along well with other inmates and prison staff.
Peterson has a photo of Laci on the wall
Chillingly, the only decoration in Scott Peterson's small San Quentin cell is a picture of him and Laci, smiling. He's otherwise allowed five hours per day in the prison yard where he exercises and plays basketball, and he even plays cards with fellow inmates, according to lieutenant Samuel Robinson of the California Department of Corrections. He also typed and mailed hard copies of entries to be posted on the blog set up by his family, and he is also frequently visited by friends and relatives, according to People Magazine
Now that Peterson has been re-sentenced, it's unclear whether he'll return to San Quentin or instead spend the rest of his life in a different correctional facility. According to Dana Simas, press secretary for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, housing decisions for prisoners "are made on a case-by-case basis based on their classification score and custody level, and taking into account that person's security, medical, psychiatric and program needs," per the A & E True Crime Blog.
Scott Peterson may appeal again
Despite his lengthy new prison sentence, Scott Peterson may appeal his case again. Per NBC News, Peterson's defense claims seven of the original jurors from the 2004 trial hid evidence related to their own domestic violence experiences that would have otherwise presented a conflict in the jury selection process, accusing one juror in particular, Rachel Nice, of "prejudicial misconduct" when she failed to disclose that she had sought a restraining order for her boyfriend over fears for her personal safety and the wellbeing of her unborn child. Nice denies that this experience had any effect on her ruling in the case.
Nevertheless, Judge Anne-Christine Massullo has scheduled an evidentiary hearing for these charges for February 2022 which could determine whether Peterson will get a new murder trial, according to the Modesto Bee. As for Laci Peterson's mother, Sharon Rocha, she remains confident Peterson is guilty of killing both her daughter and her unborn grandson. Telling Peterson, "I've seen no sorrow or no remorse from you at all. I know you're going to say you have no remorse because you're innocent, but you haven't shown any grief or sorrow for either of them. I still feel the grief every day after 19 years," and urging him to simply confess to the crime. "Laci and Conner will always be dead, and you will always be their murderer," she said, per NBC News.