A&E is set to air a two-part documentary on Scott Peterson on July 16 and July 17, and it says the series will present material it has newly unearthed. The program, titled Scott Peterson: The New Evidence, centers on claims that the material could undercut the conviction that sent Peterson to prison in California.
The documentary says it includes previously unseen footage, alleged handwritten notes from Laci and expert opinions. Chris Pixley, an Atlanta-based defense lawyer and legal analyst for ABC News, said the film was made to “stress-test” that evidence.
Mark Geragos on Scott Peterson
Mark Geragos, who was Peterson’s lawyer during the 2004 trial, said he loses sleep “when I believe [a client] is innocent,” adding that with Scott, it is “probably more than any other case.” He also said, “You have an instinct or a gut feeling that is honed by doing 10,000 reps, so to speak, and you know when someone is good for a crime or when they’re not.”
Geragos’ comments come as Peterson, now 53, has repeatedly failed to overturn the conviction through the appeals courts. The case took another turn in 2024, when the Los Angeles Innocence Project took over his case and argued in court filings that new evidence supports Peterson’s long-standing claim of innocence and raises questions about who abducted and killed Laci and Conner Peterson.
Berkeley Marina drive
Pixley and retired Los Angeles Detective Ninette Toosbuy retraced Peterson’s Christmas Eve drive to the Berkeley Marina. They said it would have been nearly impossible for Peterson to dispose of the body without witnesses in broad daylight or without leaving significant DNA evidence.
The series also shows previously unseen defense footage of a weighted dummy causing Peterson’s tiny fishing boat to capsize while being thrown overboard. According to the documentary, the jury never saw that footage.
Trial evidence in California
Two strands of Laci’s hair were found wrapped around a pair of pliers under a seat on Peterson’s boat after her death, but no blood or tissue was recovered from the pliers. Trial testimony said the pliers were rusty from apparent lack of use.
The documentary also highlights handwritten notes allegedly written by Laci that suggest she knew about Peterson’s purchase of the fishing boat. New experts in the series challenge the tidal and wind analysis presented at trial, saying Laci’s body could not have washed up where investigators found it if Peterson dumped it from the boat.
The airing gives the defense a public venue to press a theory that has not changed the legal result so far. Whether the footage, notes and expert opinions are enough to change that outcome is the question left on the table.
