Death sentence for murder of pregnant wife
US husband Scott Peterson was sentenced to death today for murdering his pregnant wife, Laci, more than two years ago.
Judge Alfred Delucchi denied a defence request for a new trial before upholding the jury’s recommendation that he be sentenced to death, calling the murder of Laci and her foetus “cruel, uncaring, heartless and callous”.
“The court is satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant, Scott Lee Peterson, is guilty of first-degree murder” and second degree, Delucchi said at the court in Redwood City, California.
Peterson, shackled atthe waist and wearing a dark suit, was escorted into court under heavy security.
He will be sent to death row at San Quentin State Prison outside San Francisco, the infamous jail which overlooks the same bay where Laci Peterson’s body was discarded.
Peterson, 32, was convicted on November 12 of two counts of murder – of his wife and her unborn child.
The jury recommended the death penalty a month later.
