American Murder: Laci Peterson: Why Did Scott Peterson Never Take a Polygraph Test?

Disclaimer: The article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.

Netflix’s upcoming documentary series American Murder: Laci Peterson explores the mysterious disappearance and slaying of Laci Peterson. The documentary series delves deeper into the case and provides details that never came out initially. Moreover, the series features interviews with Laci Peterson’s mom, Sharon Rocha, and her loved ones, who were devastated by her murder. But one of the most shocking revelations in the documentary comes when Laci’s husband, Scott Peterson, refuses to take the polygraph test to prove his innocence.

American Murder: Laci Peterson reveals that Laci Peterson’s family reported her missing on December 24, 2002. They filed the report after Scott Peterson called Laci’s mother, Sharon Rocha, and some of her friends and told them that Laci was missing. After the word went out, the community assisted the family in the search operation. Subsequently, authorities questioned her husband, Scott Peterson. During the initial interrogation, he told the investigators that Laci watched TV when he got up. She planned on going shopping and taking their dog for a walk. Meanwhile, Peterson decided to go fishing.

While giving out details about the day of the disappearance, the husband told police that he went to Berkeley Marina, which is 90 miles away from their house in Modesto, California. He even made the officer hear his call to Laci after fishing. After the initial round of interrogation, the officer asked if Scott was willing to take the polygraph test. However, Scott hesitatingly answered, “I’m… certainly willing,” but eventually denied taking the test after having a phone call with his father.

American Murder: Laci Peterson reveals why Scott Peterson never took a polygraph test

American Murder: Laci Peterson reveals that the authorities set up the polygraph test for December 25, 2002. However, he didn’t take it that day. In the documentary, one of the senior investigators working on the Laci Peterson case revealed that Scott Peterson had a telephone conversation with his father, who told him not to take the polygraph test. As a result, Scott refused to take the test even though he said the evening before that he would take it.

During the search operation, Laci Peterson’s mom, Sharon Rocha, enquired Scott Peterson about not taking the polygraph test. In the documentary, she said, “Why don’t you take the polygraph test? Then everybody will know you’re okay, you know, you didn’t do this.” According to Rocha, Scott Peterson simply said, “Well, I’m too upset to take that [polygraph test].”

After a long investigation, police apprehended Scott Peterson for the murder of Laci Peterson and their unborn child. The case went to trial, and the jury found Scott guilty, reported ABC7 News. Initially, the court gave him a death sentence. However, in 2021, the court changed it to life imprisonment after they found errors in choosing the jury.

American Murder: Laci Peterson will be available on Netflix on August 14.

Aayush Sharma

Entertainment Journalist by profession and a complete cinephile, Aayush Sharma has been writing about Hollywood movies, US TV shows, True Crime and more from the last 7 years. Previously, he has worked for reputed media outlets such as ANI, International Business Times, and MEA Worldwide.