Rush To Publish

As "rush to judgment" is the mantra chanted by defenders of the "presumption of innocence" and skeptics of law enforcement, so could "rush to publish" be a criticism leveled at authors who have penned premature books on the Laci Peterson case.

Fleeman's, "Laci - Inside the Laci Peterson Murder," a pulp paperback mass produced by St. Martin's Press in December of 2003, is an accounting of the case from the "disappearance" Christmas Eve of 2002 to the burial of Laci and Conner in August 2003, two months before the preliminary hearing where many clarifying, enlightening and alarming facts would be presented. Fleeman, currently on the staff of People magazine and formerly with the Associated Press, attempts to portray a fairly balanced treatise, based heavily on articles from The Modesto Bee and press conferences, along with selected quotes and opinions from the Peterson family which have not, to my knowledge, appeared in print before.

From this observation, I conclude that the Peterson family was consulted during the research of this book and were compensated for it. Notably absent are statements from the Rocha side that were not derived from previously broadcast or printed media.
Whether because of inaccurate sources, ignorance, careless editing, or deliberate spin, the book contains an extraordinary amount of errors.

I am surprised that a professional such as Fleeman would allow this book to go to press without having someone with an informed background in this case proof read it first. To Mr. Fleeman's credit, interspersed as a sort of bucolic relief between recounting the chronology of the grim investigation, a few of his anecdotes about the history of Modesto are amusing. However, Mr. Fleeman's somewhat bland narrative is eclipsed by quotes from the major players in the story, and what few laughs and tears I experienced reading this book were all elicited by Laci or her family, who remain the heart and soul of this tragedy.

Fleeman's main source of information was obviously local news reports generated daily throughout the case by the Modesto Bee, some of which we now know were incorrect in many of the details, based on the flurry of activity and originally accepting much of Scott Peterson's explanations for events as fact. Various recurring descriptions of Peterson "crying, blubbering, incomprehensible," and "focused on the search for his wife," were no doubt contributed by his family, as any overt demonstrations of grief, credible emotional displays, or participation in active searches were nonexistent to the rest of the world. Fleeman relies on Peterson's timeline and other unreliable references for his activities of the 24th, the weather, the number and times of his phone calls, McKenzie's behavior, and Laci's plans that morning.


In his efforts to present Peterson's side of the story, Fleeman traps the defendant in numerous areas of disbelief.

Similar to the articles in People Magazine about the Petersons, Fleeman blatantly misrepresents the clan as "another blended family. Both his parents had three children from previous marriages and, like the Brady Bunch, this brood somehow formed a family when Lee and Jacqueline Peterson got married...He [Scott] was the baby of the family and the joke among the seven Peterson children - five boys, two girls - was that Scott never had to walk anywhere until he was at least age two..." Apparently Mr. Fleeman isn't privy to the fact that Jacqueline's first two children, Don and Anne, were given up for adoption and never met Scott until they were adults; and that Jacqueline, by all accounts was never married prior to Lee.

Other important (or incriminating) details that were omitted in the book include reports of Scott golfing during the searches, visiting the Berkeley area in rented cars only to stare out at the water for a few minutes and leave; and the revelation that a neighbor, Kim McGregor, was responsible for the burglary of Peterson's house while he was in L.A, which were all common knowledge before the preliminary hearing. Curiously, the 8-page photo archive in the center of the book includes no pictures of Laci, not even the ubiquitous "missing" poster. Any biographical information about Laci is derived from her family and friend's interviews with the press and television personalities. If I were writing a book about a murder, using the victim's name as the title, I would make a concerted effort to flesh out her life and history to portray her as a multi-dimensional person, and not merely rely on what has already been written about her.

The philandering and fraudulent Scott, on the other hand, warranted much more illustration, including several references to a golf scholarship to Arizona State that has yet to be confirmed as anything but Peterson family legend.
Regardless of the attempts to swing the anti-Scott pendulum more toward the center, Fleeman's cozying up to the Petersons is glaringly evident in the amount of ink he devotes to their point of view. Besides his propensity to revisit already trampled territory, the author fails to penetrate any source in the investigation on either side, which may be attributed to the fact that most insiders were strictly adhering to the gag order (despite what the defense and Peterson supporters allege), or just didn't trust Mr. Fleeman. After seeing how Fleeman misrepresented some of the salient details that were shared with him by people peripherally involved in the investigation, I'd be surprised if he gets any more opportunities for future interviews with key players (other than the Petersons) when the results of the trial are known and he wants to write another book. Perhaps he should title his next one "Scott."

A book with hardly any info! Unsatisfied!

There is only a small amount of information here. Almost all the information is already public and can be gotten on the internet or on the news. The pictures were not private and included no secret interviews. I followed the case, and I didn't add a lot more to my knowledge about this case after reading this book. It is just cheap and dull.

Not to great, save your money.

I read it at the book store, because I don't want Amber to have a dime of my money. She isn't worth it. I followed this case slowly at the beginning, but then kinda lost interest in it. I did learn things that I had not heard heard in the media, and we did get tidbids of Amber's *somewhat* juicy encounters with Scott. I think Amber is pretty pathetic to be honest with you, she saw a million red flags, and decided to ignore them. She also has conflicting information her here and there. There are about 10 pages in the book where she talks about her life, which is very boring. To be honest, if read Jenna Jameson's autobiography, you will find similarities. To be honest, I'm surprised Amber didn't land up making adult films.(If you read Jenna's book you would understand) Amber portrays herself her herself as a hero, and she she thinks America feels the same way. The book itself is around 210 pages, there are about 10 pages of pics. 10 pages of dialog between her and Scott. 10 pages of uninteresting info about her personal life. And probably 60-70 of info we already new, if you followed the case somewhat closely. So that leaves about 100 pages. I think the book retails for $25.95, save your money. Look forward to a FOX special between her and Tonya Harding in Celebrity boxing.