Scott Peterson's sister-in-law believes he is innocent of murdering his pregnant wife, Laci Peterson, and their unborn son, Conner.
In 2020, the Supreme Court reversed his death sentence for the 2002 killings due to alleged problems with jury selection, while upholding his 2004 conviction. Scott, 48, who had been on death row since 2005 and maintains his innocence, is now serving a life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole but hopes to receive a new trial. A hearing will take place on Wednesday, Aug. 25.
Janey Peterson, 53, who is married to Scott's older brother Joe, told NBC's Today show, "There's evidence that was completely ignored that shows Laci was alive after he left for the day."
Janey's comment has not been corroborated by law enforcement. She made similar remarks in May in an interview with CBS 13 in Modesto, Calif., the town where Scott lived with Laci. The outlet reported that over the years, Janey has become an amateur sleuth who's created a "war room" full of clues she says point to her brother-in-law's innocence.
During Scott's murder trial, the defense raised the theory that on the morning that Laci went missing, she'd had a confrontation with men robbing her neighbors' house. The men denied any involvement in the case and were cleared by a police investigation, Today said. But Janey believes they killed Laci and framed Scott by disposing of her body in an area where he happened to be fishing.
"If you have an opportunity to get away with murder," Janey said, "you're gonna do it."
Massage therapist Amber Frey, who had an affair with Scott before Laci's death, was a star witness in Scott's murder trial. She testified that she was unaware that Peterson was married at the time, saying he told her that his wife had died.
"There's nothing I can say to justify or explain that statement," Janey told Today, "but also, there was no evidence that he had anything to do with what happened to Laci."