Peterson faces death

last updated 8 January 2015

Modesto, Calif.

A California jury this week decided that Scott Peterson should be executed for murdering his wife, Laci, and their unborn son. A crowd outside the courthouse erupted in cheers at the news. The murder and trial have been a fixture in tabloid newspapers and on cable news channels since Laci Peterson, who was eight months pregnant, disappeared on Christmas Eve two years ago. Prosecutors said Peterson, 32, was “the worst kind of monster,” a man who murdered his pregnant wife and dumped her body in San Francisco Bay so he could resume a bachelor’s lifestyle. Peterson’s mother pleaded with jurors to spare her son’s life. But Laci Peterson’s mother, Sharon Rocha, screamed at her son-in-law in the penalty hearing. “Divorce was an option,” she said, “not murder.” If the judge follows the jury’s recommendation, Peterson will join more than 600 inmates on the state’s death row.