Transcript: Amber Frey Talks With Hannity

This is transcript from "Hannity & Colmes ," Jan. 7, 2005.

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NOTE: This is part two of a two-part interview.

SEAN HANNITY, CO-HOST: Questions began to arise during this process about whether or not you might be involved. You heard them, you wrote about it in a book, and then the Modesto police asked you to take a polygraph.

AMBER FREY, FORMER GIRLFRIEND OF SCOTT PETERSON: Yes.

HANNITY: Explain what happened.

FREY: You know, at that point, I had been cooperating with the Modesto Police Department. And I don't recall to this time exactly, you know — basically their point in asking me to do that was just, for me, just giving my full cooperation. And they asked, the Detective (UNINTELLIGIBLE) asked if I'd come up and do a polygraph. And I had no problem with that, so I drove to Modesto, again, taking off, you know, time away from my work and home and took a polygraph.

HANNITY: Even the grandmother of your daughter asked you if you were involved with the case.

FREY: Yes.

HANNITY: Did you begin to feel like a suspect in any way, that the people you had been working for and taping for ...

FREY: Well, you know, I knew the truth. And, you know, I gave complete cooperation with the police. I wasn't worried in that respect, you know?

And it bothered me being questioned, because certainly not. And I can understand that, you know, in the same respect, people would question, because everybody was a suspect at one point.

GLORIA ALLRED, AMBER FREY'S ATTORNEY: May I add that she passed the polygraph, of course ...

HANNITY: Oh, OK.

ALLRED: ... with flying colors, and that law enforcement has told me that they have for a long time had the highest regard for Amber.

HANNITY: It was clear they did.

ALLRED: And she does for them, too, and their professionalism throughout this case.

HANNITY: And they thought you were brave in every way. All right.

Now, the story breaks. DJs start talking to people you work with.

FREY: Right.

HANNITY: You have to make a general statement to the press. I think we have the tape of that. You were basically behind the scenes having a panic attack. You said you almost cried. You even almost blacked out. Let's roll the tape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FREY: For fear of jeopardizing the case or the police investigation, I will not comment further. I am very sorry for Laci's family and the pain that this has caused them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: That's hard for you to watch.

FREY: Yes.

HANNITY: It just brings everything back up. But you know what? One of the things I wanted to ask you — you were very honest in this book. You talked about, you know, an abortion in this book, you talked about — you were honest and spoke with Scott about sleeping with him on the first date. And you didn't marry the child of your first husband or second. You even mentioned you had unprotected sex, and the nude pictures would come out. You knew all of this — did you think at any point that you'd go through difficult scrutiny?

FREY: At what point?

HANNITY: At the point where you have to make a decision that, you know, if you go public and you tell your story, that your life was going to be changed? Did you ever consider yourself, and that maybe you'd have to — that people might — that all of your past would come out in the public?

FREY: You know, at the point that — I called the Modesto police and assisted, you know, with the law enforcement, my focus remained — my focus was to help find Laci. It always remained that. And, you know, I have endured a great deal of personal sacrifices by doing so.

HANNITY: Why were you so honest in the book? You didn't have to tell all of those things.

FREY: Because that's who I am. And that's part of my past, or that's who I am, that's, you know — things that I can't change that I've lived through. And now I stand by them because I am who I am.

HANNITY: Are you proud of what you did here? Are you proud that you taped him? Are you proud that you took risks? Are you proud that, you know, you did something good?

FREY: Yes.

HANNITY: After you did this thing, you got the chance to meet with Laci's friends and her mother, Sharon Rocha. And you went to meet her the next day, and you met her whole family. You said a huge weight was off my shoulders knowing that they knew I wasn't the enemy. But the visit broke your heart. Explain that.

FREY: Because I was able to face them and also — why am I lost for words?

HANNITY: You met them for the first time, you meet her family, you're learning about this always-smiling young lady, Laci Peterson.

FREY: Yes.

HANNITY: Broke your heart.

FREY: One, that they welcomed me, and that they saw that I wasn't a bad person and that, you know, that they were open to me. And, you know, just to see their eyes in so much pain, and that I was, you know, sharing that pain with them, too.

HANNITY: And they knew that you didn't know he was married.

FREY: Right.

HANNITY: What was weird, Scott called you after the press conference ...

FREY: Yes.

HANNITY: ... that we just had. How bizarre was that, and praised you, said he was glad you did it, said you were brave?

FREY: Right.

HANNITY: What was that like for you?

FREY: I just thought, "I know he watched the same thing everybody else did." And the Modesto police, you know, stated I came to them and cooperated. And he yet continued to talk to me and to carry on like as if nothing.

HANNITY: The Modesto Bee's pointing out, because you did become friends with the Rochas, that they found it extremely hurtful and offensive — they had a spokesman say — for Laci's mother and her family, the cover of your book which we have here. They said, quote, "displaying a picture on the cover of Amber Frey's book portrays a lack of respect and insensitivity towards Laci and Laci's family and friends. In addition to that, to have Amber's picture positioned between Laci and Scott is extremely hurtful and offensive to Laci's mother and her family."

You really like Mrs. Rocha.

FREY: Yes.

HANNITY: Are you upset about them being upset about the cover?

FREY: Well, I haven't spoke to Sharon personally about that, and ...

HANNITY: What would you like to tell her about it?

FREY: Well, actually I think I would like, you know, for Gloria to speak on that subject.

HANNITY: All right.

ALLRED: Sean, as we know, the three persons who are shown on the cover of Amber's book, "Witness for the Prosecution of Scott Peterson," are the three people who were central to the prosecution of the criminal case, Scott Peterson, the defendant, Laci Peterson, the unfortunate murder victim — may she rest in peace — and Amber.

HANNITY: So you want to explain this ...

ALLRED: The courageous witness who came forward. And those images of the three together and separately have been shown on thousands of publications, on television, and on the Internet, because they are central to the case.

HANNITY: Right.

ALLRED: But she has the highest respect and regard, as I do, for Sharon.

HANNITY: When you heard the words "guilty," what did you feel?

FREY: It was a very emotional day. I know not only for myself, but for so many people. I was sad, you know, and it was really hard to, you know, see all of the people outside from the court applauding and cheering, when I know I wasn't. And to hear what was going on in the courtroom, nobody in there was, either. But I felt that justice was served. Justice prevailed. And there was truth. And, you know, the jurors took the evidence ...

HANNITY: The jurors have praised you. Does that make you feel good?

FREY: Makes me feel that everything I went through ...

HANNITY: Was worth it?

FREY: ... was worth it.

HANNITY: He's going to get the death penalty.

FREY: Yes.

HANNITY: You seem affected by that.

FREY: By the death penalty?

HANNITY: You seem affected that he's going to die for this crime and that you've played a part in his getting the conviction that he deserved.

FREY: I feel that the verdict, the death penalty, was a bold statement, and a bold statement to Scott Peterson and to other people out there that think they can get away with something, or be so manipulative, you know, to other people that it just really is a true — not only that, takes someone's life.

HANNITY: How hard — would you rather he not get the death penalty?

FREY: I wouldn't say that.

HANNITY: You want him to get it? He deserves it?

FREY: You know, that decision was made by the jurors. They saw all of the evidence, in which case I did not. And they had that decision.

HANNITY: But based on what you know, and the person that you've dealt with ...

FREY: Yes.

HANNITY: ... and the crime that we're talking about here, does he deserve the death penalty, in your view? You have no doubt he did it. He was convicted. Your testimony helped. Does he deserve it?

FREY: I have such a hard time, because I've suppressed so much and those — I think more so than not, that's just so personal that I almost don't — I don't want to say, "Yes," and I don't want to say, "No."

HANNITY: I understand. How hard was it the day when those bodies washed ashore for you? You had even, I remember, you e-mailed Scott that day.

FREY: Asking if ...

HANNITY: If it was Laci and Conner. What was that day like for you?

FREY: It was very emotional. You know, they hadn't stated whether — I believe, at that point, they hadn't stated — they hadn't had the autopsies. Forensics came in to identify them at that point. But the coincidence there was just too much.

HANNITY: Was it hard when your friends sold photos of you, friends started giving — so-called friends — started giving interviews about you, not knowing a lot about it? What was that like?

FREY: I experienced so much anxiety and just so much hurt by things that were going on. And obviously, you know, my friends haven't been speaking — haven't went to the tabloids.

HANNITY: Yes, your real friends.

FREY: Correct.

HANNITY: Yes.

FREY: They protected me. They've been there, you know, to pray with me, to support me in every way possible.

HANNITY: You were in the courtroom. You had to identify Scott at one point. Did you make eye-contact with him at other points? Did you see him? Did you think he was trying to get you to look at him?

FREY: Trying to get?

HANNITY: Yes, was he — you know, when you were in the courtroom, were you looking — did you want to look at him? When you did look at him, what did you think?

FREY: Well, I looked at him at one point, because I was asked to, and to point out, you know, Scott Peterson was in the courtroom.

HANNITY: Right.

FREY: And other than that, you know, I was focused on who was talking to me, and answering, you know, the questions, and giving my testimony.

HANNITY: One of the things I wanted to know after reading your book is, how is your daughter doing? And how do you explain this to her? What do you say to her?

FREY: In the last two years, I've been — I should say — pulled away often. And a lot of times I refer to her, you know, I have to go away and, you know, that I'd be back. And, you know, she'll see me from time to time. You know, she'll see me on TV or in print, and, you know, she'll get excited and say, "That's my mom." But she's very young, so she doesn't have to understand a lot right now.

HANNITY: What was rock bottom for you? What was the moment — you know, "I can't take it? This is too much for me?"

FREY: There were many points like that, to where I just had complete breakdowns of, you know, just everything going on, anxiety, you know, just people around me, you know, the media and everything, just everything that was involved. I can't really pinpoint one particular time.

HANNITY: What do you want to tell people, like other women that maybe can learn from your experience, what would you want to tell them?

FREY: You have to be strong. Don't be afraid of the truth. Don't be afraid of your past nor who you are.

HANNITY: Would you be a little more cautious? You think, if you could, in retrospect, would you have been more cautious about people you meet that you don't know yet?

FREY: Well, you know, when you meet people, you're not — I don't go into meeting somebody, and not even particularly in a relationship, with mistrust. I mean, you go into a relationship because what else — you know, you don't have anything to go against.

So certainly, you know, you always proceed with caution in whatever you do. And I wasn't completely, you know, out there. I did have caution, or else I wouldn't be where I am at today had I not.

HANNITY: What do you say to some people that say, "Oh, you shouldn't have" — I had a guy call my radio show yesterday, because I told them you were going to be on. "You shouldn't have written a book. You're profiting off a murder case." What do you say to them?

FREY: What do I say to them? You know, in the last two years, I have missed a lot of time away from work assisting with law enforcement, preparing for, you know, the preliminary, preparing for the trial. And I have two children that I owe a secure future to.

HANNITY: Amber Frey ...

FREY: Yes.

HANNITY: ... thanks for being with us.

FREY: Thank you, Sean.

HANNITY: I appreciate your time. Thank you very much. And all the best to you.

FREY: Thank you.

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