Published January 14, 2015
Prosecutors contend Scott Peterson (search) stuffed his pregnant wife's body in the toolbox of his pickup truck before setting out to dump her body in San Francisco Bay, revealing for the first time how they believe he may have hauled the body nearly 100 miles without anyone noticing.
Prosecutors used a re-enactment of sorts to make their point, showing jurors pictures of a pregnant woman in the toolbox. Her measurements were nearly identical to those of Laci Peterson (search) at the time she vanished.
One picture showed the woman -- at the time 38 weeks pregnant, 5-feet-2-inches tall and 157 pounds -- lying in the fetal position inside the toolbox. Another showed her on the floor of his boat, where she could barely be seen above the rim.
Prosecutors used the photographs of the woman, who works at the Stanislaus County District Attorney's Office, to counter defense claims that someone would have seen Laci Peterson's body in the truck, or in the 14-foot boat as Peterson motored onto the bay.
Scott Peterson, facing two murder counts, is alleged to have killed his pregnant wife on or around Dec. 24, 2002. Prosecutors say he then dumped her body in the bay.
Defense lawyers say someone else abducted Laci Peterson near the couple's Modesto home as she walked her dog and dumped her body to frame Scott Peterson. Peterson has said he was fishing when his wife disappeared.
On cross-examination, defense lawyer Mark Geragos (search) attacked the prosecution's photos as a ridiculous charade, insisting that a live person couldn't be used to mimic a dead body with any reliability.
Earlier in the day, jurors cringed as prosecutors displayed photographs of bone and tissue from the badly decomposed bodies of Peterson's wife and fetus.
Prosecutors guided two sheriff's deputies through graphic testimony about the poor condition of the remains -- testimony that drove Laci Peterson's mother and stepfather from the courtroom.
A string of marina workers also testified the skies were cloudy over San Francisco Bay the day of Scott Peterson's solo fishing trip and activity was light.
Peterson told police he returned home that afternoon and immediately washed his clothes because they were wet from rain. Police have testified they found that suspicious and said it didn't rain.
Sylvester Goosby, a marina maintenance worker, described the day as "drizzly" and said he saw no one at the boat launch ramp. On cross-examination, however, Goosby said "people drive in and out of the marina all the time," adding that some people live on their boats.
The trial is in recess until Monday so one of the attorneys in the case can attend a funeral.
https://www.foxnews.com/story/prosecutors-believe-peterson-hid-wifes-body