Scott Peterson said in a declaration that he attempted to overturn his murder belief that “the loss and death of my wife and son have nothing to do with it.”
Peterson detailed his recollections of Rashi Peterson’s loss of failure in a 126-page declaration included in a petition filed last week by the Los Angeles Innocence Project.
The nonprofit group representing those convicted of crimes they want to prove innocence said they have revealed new scientific evidence and witness statements that prove that Peterson will not kill Rashi and the unborn baby Connor.
“From the moment my wife disappeared on December 24, 2002, to the trial, appeal, and to this day, from the moment my wife disappeared, I remained solidly innocent. It had nothing to do with the loss and death of my wife and son,” Peterson wrote in the declaration. “I’m not a violent person.”
The Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office declined to comment Friday.
Peterson, 52, is living in prison without the possibility of parole after being convicted of killing Rashi, eight months pregnant.
Prosecutors said they tried to hide the crime by dumping his wife’s body at Berkeley Marina, California on Christmas Eve 2002, making her appear missing. She and her unborn baby’s bodies washed land and land in San Francisco Bay four months after she disappeared.
Peterson was initially sentenced to death in 2005, but the California Supreme Court overturned his sentence in 2020. The following year he resented in prison without the possibility of parole.
In the declaration, Peterson said authorities had “targeted” him from day one and quickly labeled him as a suspect. He accused police of misrepresenting his statement or failing to record or document it.
When news of his relationship with Amber Frey surfaced, Peterson wrote that “already biased investigation” was “irreparably derailed.”
“I loved my wife very much despite the shameful and immature actions I used when I was dishonest to her, and despite the poor judgment I used when I exacerbated my mistake by not approaching the police,” he wrote.
“I have lived for the last 23 years with the pain of poor judgment and character flaws given to others. And I will live in that shame for the rest of my life. “I do not expect my poor judgment or forgiveness of my hurt sin. But I will never stop everything I can to learn who took my family from me, and in the process I will be able to prove that I had no role in their deaths.”
The Los Angeles Innocence Project, which took on Peterson’s case in 2023, details what it says is evidence that Peterson is innocent. This includes evidence that the house across from Peterson was stolen on the day Rashi went missing and witnesses overhearing evidence that Rashi had seen.
The van was also set up for a fire after it was reported missing LACI. The van was said to have a mattress in the back, and there was apparent bloodstain on top of it.
“The Los Angeles Innocence Project defends truth and justice regardless of who the defendants are or how controversial it is,” John Sonego, chairman of the organization’s board, said in a statement.
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