Peterson killed wife to be free, state says: "REDWOOD CITY, Calif. -- Scott Peterson strangled or smothered his pregnant wife not simply to be with his lover, but to rid himself of an unwanted child and to pursue life as a freewheeling bachelor, a prosecutor contended Monday during closing arguments.
'The reason he killed Laci Peterson was Conner Peterson was on the way,' prosecutor Rick Distaso told jurors. 'Things were going to change. No more of this running around, living this double-life thing.
'He wants to live the rich, successful, freewheeling bachelor life. He can't do that when he's paying child support, alimony and everything else,' the prosecutor said. 'He didn't want to be tied to this kid the rest of his life. He didn't want to be tied to Laci for the rest of his life. So he killed her.'
The trial is in its 23rd week after testimony from 184 witnesses.
Peterson is charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of his wife, Laci, and the fetus she carried. Prosecutors claim he killed her on or around Christmas Eve 2002, then dumped her weighted body into San Francisco Bay. The remains of Laci Peterson and her fetus were discovered along a shoreline about four months later, a few miles from where Scott Peterson says he went fishing alone the day his wife vanished.
Defense lawyers say someone else abducted and killed Laci.
Prosecutors have said Peterson's main motive for murder was to be with his lover, massage therapist Amber Frey. On Monday, Distaso elaborated on that theme.
'Amber Frey represented to him freedom. Freedom is what he wanted,' Distaso told jurors.
The prosecutor highlighted the 'two lives' of Scott Peterson -- the public man who appeared to have had the perfect marriage, grieving for his missing wife, and the private man who continued to woo his lover and lie to frie"
