The program presents disputed theories and previously unseen material as Peterson’s attorneys prepare to appeal a recent court defeat.
MODESTO, Calif. — A forthcoming documentary is presenting footage, witness accounts and expert opinions that its producers say raise new questions about Scott Peterson’s conviction for murdering his pregnant wife, Laci Peterson, and their unborn son more than two decades ago.
The two-part A&E program, “Scott Peterson: The New Evidence,” is scheduled to air July 16 and 17. It arrives less than three months after a California judge rejected Peterson’s latest effort to introduce evidence that his attorneys argue supports his innocence. Peterson, 53, remains imprisoned for the 2002 killings while the Los Angeles Innocence Project prepares an appeal. The documentary’s claims have not overturned his convictions or been accepted as proof of innocence by a court.
A jury convicted Peterson in 2004 of first-degree murder in Laci’s death and second-degree murder in the death of their unborn son, Conner. Laci, who was eight months pregnant, disappeared from the couple’s Modesto home on Dec. 24, 2002. Her remains and those of the baby were recovered along the eastern shoreline of San Francisco Bay in April 2003, several miles from the Berkeley Marina, where Peterson said he had gone fishing on the day she vanished.
Prosecutors built a circumstantial case alleging that Peterson killed his wife and transported her body in his recently purchased fishing boat before disposing of it in the bay. They also presented evidence of his affair with Amber Frey and false statements he made to Frey while investigators and volunteers searched for Laci. Peterson has acknowledged the affair and deception but has consistently denied killing his wife and child.
The documentary follows attorney and television legal analyst Chris Pixley and retired Los Angeles police Detective Ninette Toosbuy as they examine parts of the prosecution’s theory. They retrace Peterson’s trip to the marina and question whether he could have moved and disposed of a body from his small boat in daylight without being noticed, leaving more physical evidence or causing the vessel to overturn.
The program includes previously unseen defense footage showing a weighted dummy being pushed from a similar boat during a test that reportedly caused the vessel to take on water or capsize. Peterson’s trial jury did not see that demonstration. Prosecutors have long maintained that the defense test did not accurately reproduce the conditions of the alleged crime, and a documentary reenactment cannot by itself establish what happened in December 2002.
The series also examines handwritten notes attributed to Laci that supporters say suggest she knew Peterson had purchased the boat. That claim challenges the prosecution’s argument that he acquired the vessel secretly as part of a plan to dispose of her body. The meaning and legal value of the notes remain disputed, and no court has ruled that they undermine the verdict.
Other issues explored in the documentary include the estimated timing of Conner’s death, tidal evidence used to explain where the remains surfaced and reports of a burglary across the street from the Peterson home. Defense supporters contend that Laci may have confronted people connected to the burglary after Peterson left home. Authorities and prosecutors have said investigators examined the burglary and determined it occurred after Laci disappeared, while Peterson’s lawyers argue that witness accounts cast doubt on that timeline.
The documentary also discusses a burned van found after Laci vanished and reports about a suspicious vehicle in the neighborhood. Peterson’s legal team has sought additional forensic testing of evidence associated with a van, including material from a mattress. The defense argues that modern DNA methods could identify information missed during the original investigation. Prosecutors dispute the proposed connection between the vehicle and Laci’s death.
The Los Angeles Innocence Project began representing Peterson in 2024 and sought DNA testing and access to evidence. A judge allowed testing of a limited item but rejected most of the defense requests. Peterson’s attorneys later filed a habeas corpus petition asserting that newly collected scientific and witness evidence weakened the prosecution’s case and supported an alternative account of the killings.
On April 28, San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Hill declined to grant Peterson a new evidentiary hearing. News reports said the court found that the claims were procedurally barred or failed to qualify as new, admissible and material evidence showing actual innocence. The Los Angeles Innocence Project said the court did not fully evaluate the substance of its evidence and announced plans to seek review from a higher court.
The Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office has defended the conviction and said repeated court proceedings have failed to establish Peterson’s innocence. Prosecutors point to the full body of circumstantial evidence presented at trial rather than any single fact. Peterson’s original death sentence was overturned by the California Supreme Court in 2020 because of errors in jury selection, but the court left his convictions intact. He was resentenced in 2021 to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The documentary will bring renewed public attention to the competing interpretations of the evidence, but it has no authority to change Peterson’s legal status. He will remain imprisoned unless an appellate court grants relief or orders further proceedings. His attorneys’ planned appeal is the next confirmed step in his effort to overturn the convictions.
Author note: Last updated July 12, 2026.