Detective Brocchini with the Modesto Police Department testified that Scott quote, “Told me a lot of truth.” Not only does this timeline show how truthful Scott was about the events of December 23rd and 24th, but it also shows the lack of time he had to commit the crime he's convicted of.
December 23rd, 2002
5:45-8:30pm
Scott said he and Laci went to Salon Salon where Laci's sister, Amy Rocha, worked and that Amy gave him a haircut.
Amy Rocha confirmed this to be true and added that she showed Laci how to "fun flip" her hair with a straightener. Amy testified that Scott invited her over for pizza that night, but she already had plans. Amy said Scott mentioned plans to golf in the morning and offered to pick up a gift basket for their papa at a store called Vella Farms. Amy Rocha told police that Laci was wearing tan pants and a black blouse with small flowers.
Scott said they then left the Salon and picked up Mountain Mike’s pizza on the way home. Once home, they ate the pizza and watched Monday night football.
8:30pm
Laci spoke with her mother, Sharon Rocha, on the phone to confirm their Christmas Eve dinner plans at Sharon’s the next day.
8:30-10:30pm
Scott said after Sharon's phone call, they continued watching football then watched the movie "The Rookie". Scott estimated they went to bed around 10:30 and that Laci wore his blue pajama bottoms to bed.
Amy Rocha later identified both the pants and blouse that Laci was wearing on December 23th during a February 18th search of the house. Laci’s clothing from the 23rd was accounted for after she went missing. She was not murdered or abducted in this clothing, which, unfortunately is presented as a fact in the made for TV movie, “The Perfect Husband”.
December 24th, 2002
7:00-8:39am
Scott estimated that Laci woke up about 7am. She got dressed and placed the blue pajama pants in the hamper. That is where they were found during a December 26th search of the house.
Scott said she ate right when she got up to avoid feeling sick, Laci’s mom confirmed this to be true. Scott said Laci had already eaten cereal by the time he woke up around 8 or 8:30. She ate a piece of toast while he ate cereal. Scott said the cereal was Cinnamon Puffins from Trader Joe's. Receipts show Laci had purchased the cereal the day before.
8:40-8:45am
At 8:40 Laci logged onto the computer in the spare bedroom while Scott was in the shower. The MSN home page, a weather site from Yahoo!, and two Yahoo! Shopping sites are accessed. One shopping site was for a red GAP scarf and the other a sunflower umbrella stand. Laci logged off at 8:45. An analysis of Laci's typical computer use could have been done to confirm that this was, in fact, Laci on the computer, but Detective Wall with the Modesto Police Department was never asked by the investigators in charge to do this analysis. This is evidence that Laci Peterson was still alive at 8:45am.
8:46-9:47am - other morning activities at Peterson house:
As Scott got dressed, Laci told him about her plans for the day. She was going to walk the dog, go to the store, and make Gingerbread. She needed to buy bread for the French toast they were going to serve at their Christmas Brunch. When recalling this conversation, Scott called it "Cordon Bleu" French toast to one person and "Grand Marnier" French toast to another. Scott also mentioned that Laci had to marinate the French toast. The recipe was on the kitchen counter. It was actually called Creme Brule French toast. The recipe called for Grand Marnier and the bread had to be marinated anywhere from 8-24 hours.
In a recorded phone call with Laci’s mom, Scott described Laci that morning. He said, "that she (Laci) looked so cute because she was sitting on her bench in front of the mirror styling her hair the way Amy had shown her."
A police photo, taken the evening Laci disappeared, shows Laci's curling iron on the bathroom counter with the cord extended toward the outlet near the toilet. The housekeeper, Margarita Nava, who was there the day before, testified that nothing was out on the bathroom counter and no bench was in the bathroom when she left. This is evidence that Laci was still alive on the morning of the 24th and curling her hair. Scott said he loaded three patio umbrellas from the back yard into the bed of his truck. He was going to store them at his warehouse. Neighbor Kristen Dempewolf walked by while Scott was loading the umbrellas. She said Scott was smiling and called out, “Good Morning” to her. Scott then went back in the house and filled the mop bucket for Laci so she could mop the floor.
9:48am
Scott told Detective Brocchini that he and Laci were first watching the Today Show and then had Martha Stewart on. Scott remembered seeing something on Martha Stewart about meringue and cookies.
Cookies and meringue were, in fact, mentioned on Martha Stewart on December 24th at 9:48am. You have to ask why Martha Stewart is on if Laci is not alive after being strangled from behind by Scott while mopping.
9:49-10:30
Scott then said he left out the side French doors for work while Laci was mopping. Scott gave various estimates for when he left home, all falling between 9:30 and 10:30. He made the nine minute drive to his warehouse, checking the voicemail on his cell phone at 10:08am. Scott parked at his office and entered through the pedestrian door.
10:30-10:56am
Scott told the police that he checked his e-mail and sent one e-mail to his boss, who had left him the earlier voicemail.
Computer forensics showed Scott continuously logged onto his work computer for 26 minutes between 10:30 and 10:56. He checked e-mail, sent e-mail, and looked up instructions on how to assemble a wood working tool called a mortiser that he had just received via UPS.
10:57-11:17am
There’s approximately 20 minutes from when Scott logged off the computer to when he left the warehouse. Scott said during this time, he cleaned up the office a bit and began assembling the mortiser. He opened the roll up door to the warehouse and unloaded some tools from the tool box in the bed of his truck. While doing so, he cut his knuckle on the tool box. He then opened the driver’s side door of his truck to get a napkin and thought that maybe his blood would be found there. To support Scott’s statements, evidence showed that Scott had just received the mortiser on December 20th and the mortiser was found assembled on a trailer in Scott's warehouse. Forensic testing also showed one drop of Scott's blood on his car door.