Requested by:  Steven P. Jacobson, Stanislaus County DA Investigator

Supervised by:  Steven P. Jacobson, Stanislaus County DA Investigator

Discontinued:  February 4, 2003

Reason:  Other investigative means not producing results; belief there were co-conspirators

Results:  No confessions or incriminating statements, but some reactions and lies that made Scott look bad

Initial Suspicion

Jacobson believed that Laci's abduction could not have been accomplished by one person, and felt it was very important that they listen to the phone calls between Amber and Scott separately and apart from what she was taping. She had no knowledge about the wire intercept. Jacobson felt it was important to either corroborate her statements that she was making to the police; or if she wasn't being truthful to the police, to start looking in that area as well.  Both Scott and Amber were named as interceptees in the warrant for the wiretap.  An interceptee is a person who is a target of the wiretap.  (See Jacosbson's testimony)

Phone Numbers Involved

(209) 505-0337, belonging to Scott Peterson

(209) 499-8427, belonging to Scott Peterson

Impact on the Investigation

Jacobson said that they started recording toward the very latter portion of the 10th or early morning on the 11th. People's 207 contains the information from this wiretap presented to the Jury.
 
Within 3-4 days, Jacobson was convinced that Amber was not being truthful with the MPD. In February, at the 402 hearings on the wire-tap evidence admissibility, Jacobson testified: "I'm just saying I was suspect in the fact that some of my information that I had didn't quite jibe with the information that was being told to me by the detective." Jacobson said Buehler was telling him that Amber appeared to want to have a relationship with Scott, and appeared to be, for lack of a better word, if not lying, working the detectives?

January 11 calls

January 11 was the day the MPD announced that the object located the day before turned out to be an anchor. The recorded phone calls on January 11 were played to the Jury for three reasons:
to prove that Scott was at the marina
to show his reaction to the object being an anchor instead of a body
and to prove he was lying about his whereabouts
People's 207A-2 & A-3 10:48 am, Jackie Peterson
People's 207A-4 Overview Map, Afternoon of January 11
People's 207A-5 12:55 pm, voice mail from Sharon Rocha
People's 207A-6 & A-7 12:56 pm, Sharon Rocha
People's 207A-8 & A-9 1:01 pm, Lee Peterson
People's 207A-10 & A-11 1:21 pm, Guy Miligi
People's 207A-12 1:25 pm, voice mail to Mike Richardson
People's 207A-13 & A-14 1:31 pm, Heather Richardson
People's 207A-15 2:02 pm, Robert Weaver

Brent Rocha January 16 call

In this wiretap, Brent asks Scott about the cement. That is the only point that Distaso made when he introduced it as the "cement slide."

People's 207B1-2 Brent Rocha with Scott

Selling the house calls

This wiretap sequence was used to prove to the jury that Scott intended to sell the house and all the furnishings, and by inference, did not care about Laci being missing.

People's 207C-1, Diagram of calls between Scott Peterson and Brian Argain
People's 207C-2 January 22, 2003 at 5:39 p.m.
People's 207C-3 January 23, 2003 at 5:42 p.m.
People's 207C-4 January 27, 2003 at 5:41 p.m.
People's 207C-5 January 29, 2003 at 3:32 p.m.

Longview WA sighting calls

The phone calls on the Longview sighting were played to the Jury to show Scott's disinterest in the reported sighting of Laci in a grocery store.

People's 207D-1, Diagram, Laci Sighting, Longview WA
People's 207D-2, Rita Cosby to Scott, January 30, 9:09 pm
People's 207D-3, Heidi & Aaron Fritz and Scott Peterson, January 30, 9:18 pm
People's 207D-4, Michael Reel and Scott Peterson, January 31, 8:28 am
People's 207D-5, voicemail from Jackie Peterson, January 31, 2003 time unknown
People's 207D-6, Jackie Peterson and Scott Peterson, January 31, 9:28 am
People's 207D-7, Scott Peterson and Longview WA PD, January 31, 10:02 am
People's 207D-8, Scott's call to Jackie, January 31, 2003 10:11 am
People's 207D-9, Voicemail from Rita Cosby & Eric Olsen, January 31, 11:23 am
People's 207D-10, Scott Peterson and Eric Olsen, January 31, 11:25 am
People's 207D-11, Checking voicemail, January 31, 4:09 pm
People's 207D-12, Amber Frey and Scott Peterson, January 31, 7:38 pm
People's 207D-13, Amber Frey and Scott Peterson, February 1, 10:08 am
People's 207D-14, Scott Peterson and Amber Frey, February 1, 10:55 am
People's 207D-15, Scott Peterson and Amber Frey, February 1, 1:06 pm
People's 207D-16, Scott Peterson voice message for Janey Peterson, February 2, 3:54 pm
People's 207D-17, Scott Peterson and Janey Peterson, February 2, 5:03 pm
People's 207D-18, Voice message from Rita Cosby, February 3, 9:08 am
People's 207D-19, Voice message from Joan Faria, February 3, 2:39 pm
People's 207D-20, Scott Peterson and Detective Jacobs, Longview PD, February 3, 2:49 pm

Problems with the wiretap

Jacobson requested further training on the Pen-Link equipment, which would have cost about $700, but his request was denied. A gentleman from Nebraska did come out to look at the servers and be sure all calls had been captured. What he discovered were audio calls that had not been properly linked up with data, thus had not been out to the work stations, or it hadn't been turned over to the prosecution or to the defense. Of the 176 calls that were affected, 95 of the audio files were not linked to the call data; 4 of the wav files were never heard and never attached to their data; 30 calls had no audio at all; 10 had short, unintelligible audio; 2 were busy signals and the computer didn't reset itself; 23 were voicemail hang-ups or immediate hang-ups but no audio, and the computer didn't reset itself; the remaining 12 were off-hook, or dead-air time, and the computer didn't reset itself.
 
The wiretap system had other problems. Sometimes parts of conversations were lost; for example in 207D-6, the call between Scott and his mother (Jacobson). If another call came in, the wiretap disconnected the call being taped to find the incoming call. Example, 207D-7.

Motions and Rulings

Defendant's Opposition to People's Motion for Release of Audio Recordings from Stanislaus County Wiretap No. 2 and 3 Records