From a burglary that occurred at a neighbor’s home to the burned van with a mattress inside, here are the biggest takeaways from Part 2 of A&E’s “Scott Peterson: The New Evidence” documentary.
A&E’s “Scott Peterson: The New Evidence” documentary concluded Friday, July 17, attempting to cast a shadow on Peterson’s 2004 double-murder conviction.
A jury found Peterson guilty of killing his wife Laci and their unborn son Conner in December 2002. Peterson, now 53, is currently serving life at Mule Creek State Prison about 40 miles southeast of Sacramento.
Attorney Chris Pixley hosted the two-night event, which pulled from a lengthy petition the Los Angeles Innocence Project (LAIP) filed in 2025, hoping to exonerate Peterson. Judge Elizabeth M. Hill of the Superior Court of San Mateo County denied the petition in April, in part for reasons explained below.
Here’s what Part 2 of the Scott Peterson documentary investigated.
Laci Peterson death has potential connection to neighbor burglary
Rudy and Susan Medina, who lived across the street from the Petersons, were robbed after leaving their house on the morning of Dec. 24. They returned home on Dec. 26 and reported a robbery for which Steven Todd and Donald Glenn Pearce were arrested. Pixley and Peterson’s former defense attorney, Mark Geragos, do not find it plausible that the robbery could’ve happened after Laci’s disappearance, given the media attention it spurred.
“I think what happened was the Modesto Police changed the date of the burglary [to Dec. 26] because it certainly would’ve undercut their theory on Scott,” Geragos says in the documentary. “Because if it had happened on the 24th, it’s the definition of reasonable doubt.”
USA TODAY has reached out to the Modesto Police Department for comment.
According to Judge Hill’s order, the state was not married to the robbery occurring on Dec. 26. “The prosecution did not present evidence at trial for the purpose of proving that the Medina burglary occurred on December 26,” the order states. “In closing argument, the prosecutor said one time ‘It didn’t happen on December 24th.’”
The fight for a mattress to be tested
On Dec. 25, 2002, the day following Laci’s disappearance, police found a van on fire 1.5 miles from the Peterson home, but did not link the act of arson to their missing Peterson case, according to the documentary. Furthermore, Geragos says he was not aware that the van had been set ablaze.
“Throughout the petition,” Pixley says, “the LAIP is claiming that the Modesto Police Department and the Stanislaus County D.A.’s Office destroyed, and suppressed evidence related to the burglary and the van fire, before, during and after Scott Peterson’s trial. All to keep Peterson’s defense team from having it.”
Though a mattress, allegedly covered in blood, was initially found inside the van, a judge later ruled through testing that there was no blood on it. The LAIP has since asked that the mattress be tested for Laci’s DNA, but the request has been denied.
Hill’s order explains, “The arson of the van the next day lacks materiality where no witness identifies its use in the crime, and the available forensic evidence neither demonstrates Laci’s presence in the van nor establishes the presence of blood.”
Discrepancies around baby Conner’s death date
Dr. Greggory R. DeVore, a fetal ultrasound expert, testified that it was likely Conner died around Dec. 23, 2002. The LAIP, referencing the conclusion of Dr. Peter Doubilet, believes Conner likely died sometime between Dec. 28 and Jan. 5.
Dr. Alison Galloway, a forensic anthropologist who also testified at the trial, says in “The New Evidence” that she believes Conner died between Dec. 23, 2002, and Jan. 27, 2003.
Dr. Ronald Wapner, director of reproductive genetics and professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, points out a problem in the documentary. “Without knowing the rate that a child is growing,” Wapner said, “a particular measurement in time can only be a range.”
Hill’s order categorizes Dr. DeVore’s testimony not as false, but “reflective of the disagreement between experts about fetal 15 biometry methods and inputs,” adding that “the jury was exposed to, and given the opportunity, to evaluate the competing theories when it heard the testimony of the defendant’s expert, Dr. Charles March.”
Did Scott Peterson do it?
Though the documentary highlights the theories that the LAIP is pursuing in hopes of exonerating Peterson, he remains behind bars in California after being found guilty of killing Laci and Conner.
Still, Geragos tells USA TODAY in an interview that he wants Scott “vindicated, desperately.”
“There’s no way he did this,” Geragos insists, “and I’ve seen no evidence that is compelling to me that supports the fact that he did this.”
Where can I watch Scott Peterson documentary?
“Scott Peterson: The New Evidence” documentary aired July 16 and July 17 on A&E. Both episodes can be streamed on A&E’s website here with a valid TV provider login.
