LOS ANGELES, March 16 -- A California judge Wednesday sentenced Scott Peterson to die by injection for killing his eight-months-pregnant wife, Laci, and their unborn son in a murder case that kept a nation spellbound for months.
Calling the Christmas Eve 2002 murders "cruel, uncaring, heartless and callous," San Mateo Superior Court Judge Alfred A. Delucchi upheld a jury's recommendation for the death penalty. "The young victim, Conner, wasn't even allowed to take a breath on this earth," Delucchi said of the unborn child.
Lee Peterson, left, and Jackie Peterson comfort each other after their son was condemned to California's death row.
(Pool Photo Monica Davey)
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_____Peterson Murder Trial_____
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Jury Calls for Peterson's Execution (The Washington Post, Dec 14, 2004)
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Jury Weighs Peterson Sentence (The Washington Post, Dec 10, 2004)
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Peterson Convicted Of Double Murder (The Washington Post, Nov 13, 2004)
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Jury Begins Deliberating in the Scott Peterson Murder Trial (The Washington Post, Nov 4, 2004)
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Mistress Says Peterson Lied About Marriage (The Washington Post, Aug 11, 2004)
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Peterson to Stand Trial in Death of Pregnant Wife (The Washington Post, Nov 19, 2003)
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Peterson Pleads Not Guilty (The Washington Post, Apr 22, 2003)
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The victim's relatives testified during the sentencing hearing that Peterson had everything but that his arrogance drove him to murder his family to escape the life he no longer wanted.
"You killed Laci and Conner because you knew you were living beyond your means," Laci's brother Brent Rocha said, according to Court TV, which reported testimony from the non-televised hearing. "Sooner or later you are going to have to face what you've done. Did you really hate Laci and Conner that much, or did you just dislike yourself?"
Scott Peterson's father, Lee, stood up during Rocha's statement and screamed "What a liar!" before rushing out of the courtroom.
Staring at Peterson, who sat impassively handcuffed and wearing a dark suit, Sharon Rocha sobbed as she recounted losing her daughter and grandson. "How dare you murder her. She was my daughter, and I wanted her," a trembling Rocha said. "I trusted you, and you betrayed me. . . . You betrayed everybody. You deserve to burn in hell for all eternity."
Peterson declined to speak at the hearing. His attorney, Mark Geragos, asked Delucchi to allow Peterson's parents to speak, but the judge refused.
Prosecutors said Peterson, desperate to escape from a suburban existence that threatened his playboy ways, killed his wife at their Modesto home and dumped her body, weighted with homemade concrete anchors, off the side of his fishing boat into San Francisco Bay. A jury convicted Peterson, 32, last November of the first-degree murder of Laci, 27, and the second-degree murder of their unborn son. The jury recommended death a month later.
Delucchi, who also denied a defense request for a new trial, could have sentenced Peterson to life in prison without parole. He ordered Peterson to pay $10,000 in restitution to the Rocha family for funeral costs.
Peterson will be transferred to California's death row at the San Quentin prison, which overlooks the bay where the decomposed bodies washed up four months after his wife disappeared. There are 640 inmates on the California's death row. Since 1978, when capital punishment was reinstated, the state has executed 12 prisoners.
