Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: True crime, Netflix, Film and TV
Callum Jones
Viewers watching Netflix's latest true crime documentary have been left 'appalled and disgusted' after spotting a key detail.
On Christmas Eve 2002, 27-year-old Laci Peterson, who was eight months pregnant, disappeared from her home in Modesto, California.
A months-long searched ensued to find the mom-to-be, but four months later tragedy struck as the bodies of both Laci and her unborn son were found washed up.
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Her husband Scott was ultimately charged with first-degree murder in the death of his wife and second-degree murder for the passing of their unborn son.
However, Scott has always maintained his innocence and pleaded not guilty at his 2004 trial.
However, the jury found him guilty and he was sentenced to death by lethal injection.
The California Supreme Court overturned this death sentence in 2020, citing errors in the jury selection process.
Scott was ultimately handed a life's sentence behind bars without the option for parole.
Scott and his team were hoping for another trial - something which was turned down in 2022.
San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Anne-Christine Massullo wrote at the time: “The Court concludes that Juror No. 7’s responses were not motivated by pre-existing or improper bias against [Peterson], but instead were the result of a combination of good faith misunderstanding of the questions and sloppiness in answering.”
Defence attorney Pat Harris told the Associated Press: “We believe this sets a bad precedent for future cases where jurors purposefully commit misconduct but nevertheless know it will be excused by simply shrugging it off with ‘I forgot’.
“Jury questionnaires and the attorneys who read them depend on the honesty of the answers in order to get a fair trial. It will make it difficult if jurors believe they can lie and there will be no repercussions.”
The chilling story has made its way to TV in the form of Netflix's American Murder: Laci Peterson.
One viewer has since taken to the Netflix Reddit forum to 'vent' about some disturbing body language displayed in the series.
They wrote: "I am surprised that not enough has been said about Scott’s facial expressions throughout the whole incident depicted in the documentary.
"He is constantly smiling and holding his head up high. I cannot even imagine how and why someone in his position wouldn’t even bother 'faking it'.
"He seems completely indifferent and oblivious of his reality. I’m just so appalled and disgusted, wanted to vent here."
Speaking about the docuseries, director Skye Borgman told Tudum: "I’m not particularly interested in looking at stories that are very black-and-white.
"I like to be able to look at stories with various different layers and not necessarily give answers to things, but rather present a nuanced and a flawed perspective."
American Murder: Laci Peterson is available on Netflix now.