Brocchini hastened to get the Berkeley Marina identified as a crime scene

When we put things in time lines, we can get a better perspective of what happened.

So let's look very closely at other events on December 26th-28th, 2002.

December 26
-----, Ron Grantski told Greta Van Susteren: "I -- I talked to Scott two days after Laci was missing, and I -- I asked him then. I said, you know, if you -- if you had an affair, was seeing somebody, I think this is time to say something because I know the police are going to bug you about your fishing story, and he said, no, no problem. And so I let it drop."  Ron testified that it was the afternoon of the 26th when he quizzed Scott. Ron also testified that it was a day or two after the 24th when he first learned Scott had a boat, because someone asked if he knew about the boat.  Now isn't that curious?  Why didn't Ron tell the police that it was no big deal that Scott went fishing that afternoon because he himself went fishing that same afternoon.  Moreover, as we shall see, Brocchini did believe Scott went to the Berkeley Marina, albeit not to fish, but to dump Laci's body.  Of course, Brocchini knew he would need a motive -- and an affair would be perfect.  Didn't he and Buehler tell Amber Frey when they first met her that they were praying for someone like her to come along?  

4:12 p.m., Susan Medina places a call to her son in Los Angeles.  Susan and Rudy were returning to Modesto from Los Angeles and as they drove past the MPD on G street, they noticed the TV cameras; Susan called her son to find out why Modesto was again on the news.  When they reached Edgebrook and Covena, the entrance onto Covena was blocked by a police barricade, and they had to show identification to prove they lived on the street.  As they drove into their driveway, they noticed the hand truck (dolly) on the front lawn, and when Rudy went into the backyard, he noticed the french doors were wide open, having been kicked open.  Susan went out to the street and got the attention of police officers to report they had been burglarized.

4:45-4:50 p.m., Office Wend, on the scene for the Peterson search warrant execution, responded to the Medinas to investigate the burglary.  Wend said the dolly was approximately 25 feet from the street, and  described the burglary as "a pretty typical door-kick, grab what you can and take off with it. I mean, it wasn't, there was only one room that was really ransacked, and that was the master bedroom. And it wasn't ransacked a lot. Some things were taken off the top shelf in the bedroom, in the bathroom. In the master bedroom a drawer had been opened and a jewelry box had been laid, laid out."  The safe was approximately three feet tall by two and a half feet wide by two and a half feet deep. The point of entry was through a gate on the south side of the Medina property. The clue that it was a forced entry was the boot print by the lock, and the door standing open. The boot print was like moist dirt transferred to the door, but Wend couldn't tell from its composition how long it had been on the door.  Mr. Medina had placed a chair up against the doorknob, as an extra precaution, and the burglars moved the chair out of their way.  A lot of valuables in the house were not touched, such as TVs, VCRs, a vase containing $800 cash and jewelry out on a counter.  The keys to the Mercedes parked in the drive were hanging in the kitchen, but the car was undisturbed.  Wend left the forms for the Medinas to fill out, documenting everything that had been taken, and then had nothing more to do with the investigation of this burglary. 

Wend's description "a pretty typical door-kick, grab what you can and take off with it" doesn't pass the giggle test - one doesn't just grab a 3'x2.5'x2.5' safe and take off with it.  But the fact that valuables out in the open, much easier to grab and take off with, were not taken, suggests to me a robbery interrupted.

So, as the search warrant on the Peterson home was being executed, the MPD knew about the burglary right across the street.  It's unfathomable that both Brocchini and Grogan, who were at the Peterson home at the time Wend responded to the Medina burglary right across the street, could not have known about the burglary.  But they didn't seem to be a bit interested in it.  Not a bit.  Which isn't strange at all when we remember that Brocchini made up his mind what happened to Laci on the night of the 24th; and Grogan concurred on Christmas Day.  So it was just a matter of proving it, and not letting irrelevant stuff like a burglary across the street distract them from their noble cause.

~7:30 p.m..  We don't know exactly what time Cindee Valentin began the dog trailing effort with Merlin, but she did before Skultety arrived at 7:30 to begin the search warrant, which for that night only included a search for forensic evidence and signs of a struggle.  A few stains were probably blood and collected, but certainly nothing to compel any reasonable person to believe Laci had been murdered in that house.  Unless you already were certain she had been.  

~9:30 p.m. The dog trailing that Brocchini manipulated to prove Scott transported Laci's dead body from the house to the warehouse and then headed out of town had already terminated by 9:30 p.m., when Chris Boyer gave the scent items to Brocchini.  Brocchini kept these in his possession to be used for later dog trailing.  

To get the most traction out of the dog trailing on the 26th, Brocchini ensured that the media received only his interpretation, and thus we read in the ModBee:

When Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department deputies brought in a specially trained bloodhound on Thursday [Dec 26] to help in the search, it didn't head into the park.  Instead, it headed to Yosemite Boulevard.  Later, the dog led its handler from the Peterson house all the way to Maze Blvd.  

Which, of course, was a blatant lie.  Merlin led Valentin to the Gallo Winery.

December 27

------.  Rick Armanderiz was sent to the Berkeley Marina to meet with Berkeley police officers to confirm or refute Scott's alibi.  Remember, Scott said he went to the Berkeley Marina and produced a parking receipt.  Mark Geragos was not allowed to ask Armanderiz about his interviews at the Marina, or the media presence there, because Distaso objected on the grounds it was beyond the scope of his direct.  Delucchi ruled in Distaso's favor. However, we found out from a couple of the Marina people he did interview that there indeed was a media presence at the Berkeley Marina, and they were there because of the Laci Peterson investigation.  They hemmed and hawed their way out of saying it was the 27th, but that only confirmed that it was.  This is pretty important information to know -- that on the 27th, the MPD's very first field trip to the Berkeley Marina, there was already a media presence at the Berkeley Marina.  Folks, it was no secret that Scott Peterson went to the Berkeley Marina on December 24th.  

4:10 p.m., Diane Jackson informed Sgt. Ed Steele that she "witnessed the 459 [the California burlgary statute] on Covena on 12-24-02 at 1140 hours. She saw the van and the safe being removed from the house."  Some reports are that Jackson, who lived around the corner from the Petersons, saw the police there that morning for the conclusion of the search warrant, and walked over and told some of the officers about what she saw.  She obviously told the same thing to Sgt. Steele, perhaps at the Volunteer Center as he was the police liaison there.  Surely this should have caught someone's attention and caused someone to re-consider whether they were following the wrong lead in the investigation.  If it did raise any concerns or curiosity, that would soon be quashed.  

6:30 p.m. , Detective Stough was told about Jackson seeing the Medina burglary and he called her for an interview.  For me, I think I'd have gone to her house and had her give me much more information, like the exact location of the van she saw, exactly where she saw the 3 men.  Instead, Stough was content to get a description of the 3 men:  "three short of stature, dark skinned but not African American guys. . . . When asked to further describe the individuals she stated that that's all she could remember as she wasn't thinking about that and hadn't thought about that until she called the police."  The MPD wasn't in much of a hurry to solve this burglary -- it didn't release a description of the 3 men and the van or inform the public about the $1000 reward until the 31st. How did the reporters keep from laughing when Chief Roy Wasden said, on the 31st, "We really feel a compelling need to get the burglary solved to see if that moves us any closer to finding Laci."  Compelling need?  Really!

What do you do when the media, the public, and even some police officers get distracted in a murder investigaton?  You redirect them.  

December 28  

So it is that Brocchini asked Chris Boyer to take trailing dogs to the Berkeley Marina, and he chose Anderson and her dog Trimble and Seitz and his dog TJ.  Brocchini wanted to prove that Laci Peterson was brought to the Berkeley Marina by Scott Peterson.  Brocchini sent the scent items with two detectives to give to Boyer -- scent items he'd had in his possession since the night of the 26th.   

Boyer gave the glasses/case to Anderson, and the pink slipper to Seitz. Anderson's Trimble allegedly followed Laci's scent to the end of the pier and stood gazing out on the water.  Seitz' TJ didn't have any such luck -- he could not pick up Laci's scent at all.

Why the difference?  Perhaps because Seitz wasn't already convinced that Scott was guilty, as Anderson was, and thus wasn't leading TJ to smell something that wasn't there.  Perhaps because the glasses/case Anderson used was contaminated with Scott's scent.  Probably a combination of the two.

What evidence is there of such contamination?  The scent items were compromised from the very beginning. Valentin was the person who collected the scent items at 523 Covena Avenue in the late afternoon on December 26. She collected the items in this order:  pink slipper, brown slipper, sunglass case with sunglasses inside, and a hairbrush.  She did not recall changing gloves between the collection of the items.  For this reason, the scent items were compromised from the very beginning. The only exceptions were the pink slipper which was collected first, and the sunglasses inside the case which had not been opened.  However, he case itself had been inside Laci’s purse; and a number of people had put their hands inside the purse before the scent items were collected:  Boyer, Brocchini, Spurlock and Scott himself when he retrieved Laci’s keys.

All of the scent items were in Brocchini's possession from the night of the 26th to when he gave them to Detectives Stough and Schmierer to take to Boyer at the Berkeley Marina for the dog trailing that was to be done that day.  He sent the pink slipper and the sunglasses/case and the brown slipper.  The brown slipper is important, because it was Scott's brown slipper, with Scott's scent.  Ron Seitz used the pink slipper and found no evidence of Laci’s scent at the Marina.  Anderson used the glasses, and allegedly trailed Laci to the end of the pier and out onto the water.  Moreover, Anderson didn't take much precaution to prevent Trimble from picking up Scott's scent from the glasses case; she just opened the case and had Trimble smell the glasses.  

Noble cause: doing what needs to be done to get the guilty person.  So what if you have to nudge the evidence a little, to make it say what you want it to say. 

At the trial, the State addressed the issue of contamination by saying that if it had been Scott's scent that Trimble picked up, then Trimble would have followed Scott out of the Berkeley Marina back to Modesto, because trailing dogs are trained to pick up the freshest scent.  I'll remind you of this explanation when we get to the trailing that was done on January 4.  But there are other things to discuss in the meantime.

The net result is that by the end of the day on the 28th, Brocchini had his evidence that Scott murdered Laci, transported her to the Berkeley Marina, and brought her out into the Bay in his boat.  Now all that needed to be done was to get the rest of the investigative team and the media on the same page. The burglars were home free. 

Did Brocchini compromise the concrete evidence on the flatbed trailer?

One thing I've noticed about Brocchini is that if you give him enough rope, he'll hang himself.  During the Preliminary Hearing, McAllister got Brocchini to admit that he, Brocchini, stood on the flatbed trailer to take most of his photos of the boat on the night of December 24.  The flatbed trailer is, of course, where the concrete mess was noted a few days later on December 27, which was used to prove that Scott made more anchors.

BROCCHINI:  It's Number 87, Your Honor. I'll put a one and a circle.  I know I was standing -- like right here would be one photo (indicates).

McALLISTER:  Okay.

BROCCHINI:  I put a two in a circle. Maybe right here and a circle (indicates). I know I took one from out here (indicates) --

McALLISTER:  That would be three with a circle?

BROCCHINI:  Three and a circle. And I took some more, I might have took one or two, maybe -- I don't know exactly where.  I just remember I was on that trailer, and I was taking pictures of the boat. I'm going to put four, because I think I took another one of another area of the front, more front of the boat.  

McALLISTER:  Okay.  So what you've got there, one, two, three and four, those would be the areas where you were standing when you took the various pictures that you took?

BROCCHINI:  That's what I recall.

McALLISTER:  And so the pictures -- the pictures, other than the one from the foot of the boat, the closeup pictures were taken from the vantage point of standing on the trailer adjacent to the boat itself; is that right? 

BROCCHINI:  That's what I remember.

McALLISTER:  Okay.

Not only did Brocchini stand on the flatbed trailer to take his photos, but Scott also was on the trailer, at Brocchini's request.

BROCCHINI:  I said, "Scott, I forgot my notebook in the shop.  Let's go back and get it." He said, "Okay."

DISTASO:  All right.  Did you go back to the shop?

BROCCHINI:  Yes.

DISTASO:  Who opened the door?

BROCCHINI:  Scott.

DISTASO:  Had the door been -- when you left the shop, was the door locked?

BROCCHINI:  Yes.

DISTASO:  What happened next?

BROCCHINI:  I followed Scott in with my Streamlight.  We went in through the office door, through the inner office door. Scott jumped over the trailer, picked up my bifold.  It was in the boat.  Handed it to me, and we left, came back to the station.

I doubt Scott could jump over the trailer in one leap, but from the inner office door, Scott did have to go over the trailer to get to the boat.  Here's the diagram of the warehouse that was used at the Trial, People's Exhibit 148, with the evidence placards indicated:

And here are the evidence items for the placards 127-141.  It's highly unlikely that Scott could avoid the "concrete mess" entirely as he crossed over the trailer, as he likely would have crossed the trailer in the area of items 138 and 139--both identified as "voids" or, in their imaginations, concrete circles.  The complete evidence list can be viewed at http://pwc-sii.com/Research/scenes/warehouse.htm.

• Item 128, clear plastic water pitcher
• Item 129, Craftsman sledge hammer with wooden handle
• Item 130, Gray powder sample collected from off the top of the trailer.  Included in the power mix were several wood screws
• Item 131, photo only of a possible blood sample, PVC apparatus
• Item 132, ready-mix sample taken from floor
• Item 133, Delta Houser chisel Mortiser, serial #016064Q, collected from on top of the trailer in the warehouse
• Item 134, Cardboard flap for the box in which 133 arrived, including the packaging contents and tracking label
• Item 135, Photo of area on top of the trailer which appears to have a void of cement powder
• Item 136, Photo of area on top of the trailer which appears to have a void of cement powder
• Item 137, Photo of area on top of the trailer which appears to have a void of cement powder
• Item 138, Photo of area on top of the trailer which appears to have a void of cement powder
• Item 139, Photo of area on top of the trailer which appears to have a void of cement powder
• Item 140, A red and blue plastic bucket, both of which have been used and contain some residue on the inside
• Item 140A, a pair of black rubber boots, pair of white socks with red toes, one blue glove, Gore-Tex type, and one black watch cap found in the red tub
• Item 141, A Vaughn hammer with wooden handle

Another indication of Brocchini's duplicity is that he initially lied during the Preliminary hearing when he said he did not touch anything in the boat:

DISTASO:  Did you take anything out of the boat?

BROCCHINI:  No.

DISTASO:  Did you touch anything in the boat?

BROCCHINI:  No.

DISTASO:  So you just looked in the boat and took some pictures?

BROCCHINI:  Yes.

DISTASO:  And did you ever -- did you actually get inside the boat?

BROCCHINI:  No. 

And again:

DISTASO:  When I asked you if you'd touched anything in the boat, did you touch any of the items in the boat? 

BROCCHINI:  I didn't touch anything in the boat.  I set my thing on the boat to take pictures, but I never touched anything in the boat. 

But then McAllister hands him some rope and he hangs himself:

McALLISTER:  Okay.  One question on that tackle box.  That has  some kind of a hasp closing it? 

BROCCHINI: Yes. 

McALLISTER:  Snap or something?  All we see is the hinge side of  that, don't we?  What's your recollection of the other side  of that?  Is there something, a lip or something that it has  to go over?      

BROCCHINI: Yes. 

McALLISTER:  So when you opened it physically, what did you have to do to open it up?

BROCCHINI: I think I had to move a little plastic thing and flop the lid open.

McALLISTER:  Okay.  Now, was that done before or after the photo was taken?

BROCCHINI: I don't remember.

McALLISTER:  Okay.  And then you -- to get to that box, you climbed into the boat to be able to open that box up, didn't you?

BROCCHINI: No.

McALLISTER:  You did not?

BROCCHINI: I did not.

McALLISTER:  So what did you do?  Reach over from the trailer into there?

BROCCHINI: No.  I was standing on the ground, and I just reached in and opened the lid and looked in it.

McALLISTER:  And did you reach into the boat and touch or manipulate or open anything else in the boat?

BROCCHINI: No.   

Now, seeing him caught in the lie about not touching anything in the boat, do you really believe anything he says?

December 27th search warrant results

On December 25th, while making plans for search warrants to be served on both the Covena residence and the TradeCorp warehouse, Detective Grogan sent a detective to the warehouse to secure it.  It remained secured from that time until its search warrant was served on the afternoon of the 27th.  That meant that Scott Peterson had absolutely no access to the warehouse from that time on.  This was a smart move, since Scott Peterson was their only suspect, to ensure that he didn't destroy evidence.  Brocchini had visually inspected the house, the yard, both vehicles, and the boat, and he had been in the warehouse office the night of the 24th, so there was little chance that anything was moved or disrupted or removed that would have escaped Brocchini's notice.  And Brocchini was on hand for both search warrant executions to be sure everything that he considered suspicious was accounted for.  And it was.  Some of it was moved from the truck to other locations, such as sheds or to the warehouse, but since Scott had not been given any instructions not to move anything, and since those items were easily found, it can hardly be argued that moving them in any way constituted an effort to destroy evidence.


Detective Grogan, who by this time had been appointed lead investigator (though why Brocchini stepped aside is a mystery; Grogan's explanation that he was the next in rotation for a murder investigation doesn't fly as Duerfeldt and Carter already suspected a homicide when they called Brocchini in on the night of the 24th and Grogan was also on call that night), testified about the results of the search warrants, what value the evidence seized had for the investigation.  I've added some numbers next to the items Grogan identifies for easier reference in my discussion.

FLADAGER: And based upon what you have learned from other officers, and what you have learned from the search warrant being served, what are some of the things that you now know and that you rely on for your next steps in your investigation?

GROGAN: Well, we do know at the warehouse (1) there is evidence consistent with something being made with cement, and there is a mess apparently there from something being made. We know there is a boat in the warehouse that there appears to be (2) some water in the boat that can be tested.

FLADAGER: In the bottom of the boat?

GROGAN: Yes. We know that there is some fishing tackle in the boat and a couple of fishing poles. (3) There is no rope found in the boat to be attached to the anchor. That, initially, at least –

FLADAGER: And there is one anchor that's found?

GROGAN: (4) One anchor.

FLADAGER: Within the boat?

GROGAN: Yes.

FLADAGER: All right.

GROGAN: Also at the house we know that (5) small amounts of a substance that could be blood are recovered on the comforter cover in the master bedroom, and that a (6) blue tarp is recovered in the shed on the north side of the house; and that a (7) boat tarp is recovered in a shed on the south side of the house, with a leaf blower on top of it that appears to be leaking gas.

FLADAGER: How about patio umbrellas?

GROGAN: The (8) patio umbrellas apparently had been moved from the back of Mr. Peterson's truck to an area that's an overhang between the north shed and the house.

FLADAGER: Now, the tarp, the boat cover, and the umbrellas that you mentioned, these were all located in various areas in the backyard?

GROGAN: Yes.

FLADAGER: And they previously have been seen where?

GROGAN: The boat cover was seen in the truck. The blue tarp and umbrellas were in the truck.

FLADAGER: All right. As a result of the search warrant, was anything else found in the back of the defendant's truck?

GROGAN: Yes.

FLADAGER: What was that?

GROGAN: Some (9) concrete debris and a tool, I don't know what you call it. It's some sort of gardening tool with three prongs on one side and a hoe blade on the other.

FLADAGER: Was there anything unusual about the condition of that gardening tool?

GROGAN: Had some, had some cement debris on it, yes.

FLADAGER: During the course of the service of the search warrant on in the house, was clothing of, certain types of clothing of Laci Peterson being looked for?

GROGAN: Yes.

FLADAGER: And, to your knowledge, was any of that found?

GROGAN: Yes. I believe there was (10) at least two pairs of black pants that were recovered, and that was something that we were looking for because it was part of the description for Laci Peterson on the morning of December 24th.

FLADAGER: What else?

GROGAN: We were looking for a white shirt, but we didn't find one in the first search warrant, which would have matched her description on December 24th. We were also looking for white tennis shoes. We did find some white shoes, but they were slip on. They looked like tennis shoes from the front, but they slip on from the back. They don't have a standard back that a tennis shoe would have on them. As far as clothing, that's what I recall we recovered there.

FLADAGER: Why is it that you were looking for black pants and a white shirt, and white tennis shoes?

GROGAN: Because that was what the defendant said she was last seen wearing on December 24th when he left the home.

Fladager is trying to show the Jury the logical manner in which Grogan carried on the investigation.  So let's look at them one at a time.


(1) the cement mess.  That is a good description of the condition of the trailer and the surrounding floor area -- a mess.  Grogan said a few lines above the cited lines "it seemed like a tremendous mess for making one eight-pound anchor."  Yes, indeed it would be a big mess for one anchor.  But it wasn't made from making one anchor.  On January 31, they knew that Scott had on the warehouse computer an Excel spreadsheet for the costs of replacing fence posts in the backyard.  That's at http://pwc-sii.com/CourtDocs/Exhibits/D-7A.pdf, but here's a quick photo: 

This Excel file was created September 13, 2002.  Eric Olson testified that he told the MPD that he saw an opened bag of concrete near the flatbed trailer in September.  Doug Phelps, one of Scott's competitors, told the MPD on February 20, 2003 that he saw at least 4 bags of concrete, fence posts, and fence boards on Scott's trailer in September 2002.  Through the various search warrants, they obtained receipts for bags of concrete purchased at Home Depot.  One was even obtained through the search of the warehouse on the 27th (Defense 4K-8, last item), and another through the search of the Ford pickup truck as part of those same search warrants.  But the right hand doesn't seem to know what the left hand is doing.  


I noted in a previous article that Hendee had to painfully admit on the witness stand that the concrete mess on the flatbed trailer really wasn't in circles, after all, http://pwc-consulting.blogspot.com/2010/12/circles-on-trailer-ah-hah-moment-that.html.  When you read the article, be sure to view the photos to remind yourself just how much of a mess bags of concrete make.   


(2) some water in the boat that can be tested.  And what did the tests show?  Salt water.  Just like Scott told them, he took the boat into the Bay.  But what is interesting is that many news stories circulated that there wasn't any salt water found in the boat.  This was part of a bold headline by the National Enquirer, which seemed to have more than its fair share of sources "close to the investigation," or "close to the case," which simply is another way of saying, the cops.  It's hard to read, but the headline is "Cops Rip Hubby Alibi Apart."

Of course, this was all part of the effort to convince the public, especially the jury pool, that Scott was a liar. If you were one of those who believed these headlines, and other fictitious stories, don't you feel a little foolish now?  


(3) There is no rope found in the boat to be attached to the anchor.  Not true.  A rope suitable for attaching to an anchor was found in the boat.  It's "Item 146, A red rope and metal clasp on the ends" on the return for the boat search warrant.  The rope could be used either to tie to a pier or to attach to an anchor.  


 (4) One anchor.  Which is exactly how many Scott made.  Scott told Grogan on the 25th that he purchased a paint bucket to make the anchor, but Grogan didn't believe him.  So they labored for a year with the mistaken notion that the pitcher was used as the mold for the anchor.  


That's all the items Grogan mentioned for the warehouse.  He didn't mention the infamous pair of yellow-handled pliers with the hair.  And Fladager didn't remind him.  That's not so strange when we recall that no one except Hendee knew about those pliers and the hair until February 11, 2003.  However, Hendee said it was a pretty important moment for him to make that discovery, and he even said that others standing around looked at the pliers:

HENDEE: When I picked up the boat, excuse me, when I picked up the pliers, I was standing in the boat and I reached down, I didn't know if this was going to be anything we were going to collect or not, and I noticed what looked like a single hair in the pliers. It was about five to six inches long. It was dark colored. I look at this, I say Hey, there's a hair in here, and everybody else that was standing around the boat at that time stopped and took a look at it.

Where were Grogan and Brocchini when Hendee found the pliers?  They were both on hand for the examination of the concrete mess and Brocchini even fitted the anchor into the pitcher for that oops-not-so-perfect fit.  How could they not have known about the pliers and the hair?  Well, let's play a game of scramble.  It's two words, first word has 8 letters: b, u, l, i, 2 n's and 2 g's.  The second word has 6 letters: d, o, t, s, and 2 i's.  


Now let's get to the important evidence that the search of 523 Covena yielded.  


(5) small amounts of a substance that could be blood are recovered on the comforter cover.  What did the test results show?  First, the blood was Scott's.  Second, each of the stains amounted to no more than a drop.  Third, the stains were so small they wouldn't pick up in photographs, so Pin Kyo had to put sticky-notes by them.  Fourth, the position of the stains is not compatible with Scott having killed Laci on the bed, as was suspected.  You can see the discussion of these points at http://pwc-sii.com/Research/scenes/covena/duvet.htm.  And another important but oft overlooked fact is that Grogan knew that Scott only had a scuffed knuckle on the night of the 24th because Brocchini had observed both of Scott's hands when he did the gun powder residue test.  Also, on January 3 Grogan obtained blood samples, fingerprints, palm prints, saliva samples and photos of Scott front and back. In the photos Scott was down to his underwear, and Grogan confirmed that he did not have any injuries.  


(6) blue tarp is recovered in the shed on the north side of the house.  Isn't that what sheds are for, to store this kind of item.  And what evidentiary value did the blue tarp have?  None. You can read the details at http://pwc-sii.com/Research/scenes/covena/tarp.htm, including photos of the shed and its contents.  


(7) boat tarp is recovered in a shed on the south side of the house.  The details about the boat cover are at http://pwc-sii.com/Research/scenes/covena/cover.htm.  One of the things Geragos specifically asked Pin Kyo about is if there were any gasoline stains.  The MPD described the boat cover as "reeking" with gasoline, and yet there were no stains identified by Kyo.  Gasoline does stain, and the MPD did nothing with the boat cover except to drape it across the fence to air it out.  Much ado about nothing.  


(8) patio umbrellas apparently had been moved from the back of Mr. Peterson's truck to an area that's an overhang between the north shed and the house.  He simply put them back where they were. Why didn't he bring them to the warehouse where he said he intended to store them?  DUH! His wife was missing, he had more important things on his mind.  It was much easier to just remove them from the truck and put them in the back yard.  


(9) concrete debris and a tool, I don't know what you call it. It's some sort of gardening tool with three prongs on one side and a hoe blade on the other.  Why was the gardener's claw covered with concrete debris?  Simple answer, if you can put two and two together.  Scott worked with a lot of cement rebuilding the fence along the back yard line, and he needed a tool to mix the concrete with.  


(10) at least two pairs of black pants.  Grogan is downright deceptive on this one. Yes, there were two pair of black pants found in the house, but neither were the pair that Laci was wearing on the 24th. These 2 pair were found in a white bag in the Nursery, and in Hendee's judgment (he's the one that located the items during the search), they had never been worn. You can see all the details at http://pwc-sii.com/Research/scenes/covena/pants.htm.  Note specifically that Coyle, who searched the master bedroom, specifically said there were no black maternity pants found in the master bedroom closet or anywhere in the master bedroom, putting to rest the lie that black maternity pants were found hanging up in the master bedroom closet, which lie was circulating in at least one police report.

GERAGOS: Okay. Now, at some point were you told that you had found some black maternity pants in the closet of the home hanging on a hanger?
COYLE: Somebody told me apparently according to that report, yes.
GERAGOS: Okay. Well, what I'm asking you is, when you went through, did you not see the black maternity pants hanging on a hanger?
COYLE: I did not find any black maternity pants, no, not in the master bedroom.
GERAGOS: Were you later told that there were some that were hanging up?
COYLE: I believe I was told there were some black maternity pants found, I don't know where they were found.

What was not found during the search of the house?  "We were looking for a white shirt, but we didn't find one in the first search warrant, which would have matched her description on December 24th. We were also looking for white tennis shoes. We did find some white shoes, but they were slip on. They looked like tennis shoes from the front, but they slip on from the back. They don't have a standard back that a tennis shoe would have on them."


They did not find the black pants Scott said Laci was wearing, they did not find the white shirt Scott said Laci was wearing, and they did not find Laci's tennis shoes.


Nor did they find Laci's croton watch, which Scott said Laci was wearing, but we'll discuss the watch later.  


Nor did they find traces of Laci's blood in Scott's truck.  How does it feel, David Wright, to know that you were used to spread such lies?  

We interrupt our coverage of the Investigation to wish SII a Happy Birthday

It's a little belated, the days do tend to get away from me, but on December 26, 2003, SII made its debut on the World Wide Web.  Needless to say, I certainly didn't think we'd still be at this 8 years later.

What prompted me to put up SII?  Well, to make a long story short, I grew tired of the constant talk among those not at all convinced of Scott's guilt that someone should put up a website to counteract all the misinformation out there about Laci's disappearance and Scott's arrest and hearings.  I thought to myself, hey, maybe I can do that.  I had a small personal site up so I thought I knew enough to put up an information/opinion website.  Well, I was partly right, but I gained what knowledge I needed as I went along.

What surprised me most was the sheer hatred and contempt the site would generate.  It took me a long while to develop a thick-enough skin to deal with it.  I keep reminding myself that words on paper may espouse stronger feelings than the writer actually feels.  But mostly I just ignore the hate. Sincere disagreement, however, I welcome.  

SII grew much too large to handle, and that is why I opted to use a blog to keep interested readers updated on the case and to bring new information to light.  Had I to do over again, I would have used a blog from the beginning for opinions, trial coverage, and updates, and reserved SII for only the objective information, such as court documents, transcripts, and exhibits.  But it would take too much effort to divide the content now and I believe SII readers are intelligent enough to tell the difference between a transcript and an opinion article.

Because of SII, I've learned a lot that I would not otherwise have had the need to learn.  It's good for the aging soul to have something new to learn on a daily basis.  When I was laid off in 2004, suffered a stroke a few months later, and unable to find work for years, working on SII and a few other wrongful convictions gave me something very worthwhile to fill my time and keep my mind engaged.  I love my kids and grand-kids, but the mind needs something challenging to keep aging at bay.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming . . .

December 26 & 27 : The search warrants and the dog trailing

Convinced that Scott was responsible for Laci's disappearance, Grogan and Brocchini determined it was necessary to do a complete search of the residence, the vehicles, the warehouse, and the boat.

Let me back up and say that the steps the Officers and Brocchini took on the night of the 24th were good police work.  They well-documented the condition of the house and visually inspected both vehicles and the boat.   Photos were taken of both the house and the boat.  If Scott had been responsible, these actions would have prevented him from successfully destroying evidence.  And that is the sum total of the praise that I can give for this investigation, for what occurred from the 26th on was nothing short of framing Scott Peterson.  Yes, I boldly say this classifies as framing.  That's essentially what tunnel vision is.  When investigators are so absolutely certain that they know what happened, even without having collected a single piece of evidence or interviewed a single witness, then at some point in time, that certain knowledge hits a stone wall -- there just simply isn't the evidence to defend the conclusion.  That is when evidence is manipulated to force it to yield the preconceived results.  That's when exonerating evidence is intentionally pushed aside, even destroyed.  The only way the ill-conceived pre-judgment of guilt can be sustained is through evidence tampering and evidence suppression.  Those are the cold, hard facts.

An important factor peculiar to investigations also breeds severe tunnel vision with its inevitable evidence tampering and evidence suppression.  That factor is actually a necessity -- the need for the other officers and individuals to fully support the core investigative team.  Only the core team knows all about a case; other officers and investigators only know their part.  And the investigators know full well that in the next case, s/he may be the lead investigator, or on the core investigative team, and s/he will be just as dependent on loyalty and just getting the job done with no second-guessing.

The working theory at this point was that Scott murdered Laci in the home and used the truck to transport her to the warehouse and then probably transferred her to the boat at the warehouse and proceeded to where ever he dumped her body.  We know that's the working theory because that is the way they manipulated the evidence.

Let me demonstrate.  The search warrant for the residence on the 26th and 27th was intended to identify and collect any evidence of a clean-up.  They were convinced that Scott used the mop and bucket and vacuum cleaner to clean up any evidence.  In a facade of looking for intruders, the entry ways were examined for forced entry and dusted for fingerprints, but not a single one of them believed it was necessary, except to show that they were being "open-minded" and willing to follow all leads.  Luminal was used in the house to indicate possible blood and any reddish or brownish stains were scraped as evidence to be tested.  The floorboards were checked, as were all the walls and even the ceiling.  The carpeting was vacuumed with a special vacuum cleaner that can pick up trace evidence.  Even the crawl space under the house was examined and all the outer sheds were inspected.  As was the pool.  Lots of evidence was collected - you can see the entire list on SII at these links, which include information not only for this search warrant, but for others.  You can follow-through on many of the items to see what the forensic testing showed, but I can spare you the effort by simply telling you that none of the tests supported this initial theory that Scott killed Laci in the house and transported her body using the truck and boat.  However, there is lots of useful information on these SII pages, so I highly recommend you spend some time reading them.

• the residence http://pwc-sii.com/Research/scenes/523covena.htm 
• the Land Rover http://pwc-sii.com/Research/scenes/rover.htm 
• the Ford pickup truck  http://pwc-sii.com/Research/scenes/pickup.htm
• the warehouse  http://pwc-sii.com/Research/scenes/warehouse.htm
• the Gamefisher boat  http://pwc-sii.com/Research/scenes/boat.htm

In addition to crime scene investigators from the MPD, the DOJ, and the FBI, trailing dogs were also brought in on the night of the 26th. And this is where we see our first evidence tampering by guess who?  Yes, of course, our beloved Al Brocchini.

Cindee Valentin testified in the pre-trial hearings on the dog evidence that she knew the MPD officers she met with that night were convinced Scott was responsible, and some of her statements, which were stricken from the record, showed her own bias towards Scott's guilt.  Her testimony is at http://pwc-sii.com/CourtDocs/Transcripts/Valentin.htm, and a synopsis of that testimony is on the Timeline, which I repeat here:

• December 26, 2002 : 1st Trail by Valentin & Merlin--starting at 523 Covena:
• She scented Merlin using the sunglasses & case.
• From the southern edge of the property at 523 Covena Avenue he headed immediately north on Covena, turned west on Highland Drive, went into a house on 1326 Highland Drive (which is catty-corner and behind the property at 523 Covena Avenue), down driveway and into the backyard, circled the backyard, back through the gate, continued on west on Highland Drive to Santa Barbara Avenue, several areas past that, turned back and headed south on Santa Barbara Avenue, crossed several intersections to the intersection of San Barbara Avenue and La Loma Avenue, southeast on La Loma Avenue to the intersection of La Loma and Yosemite Boulevard, turned west and continued to Santa Rosa Avenue, turned south and headed down Santa Rosa Avenue.
• Valentin explained Merlin's interest in the Highland Drive backyard as there likely being a scent pool because of its being catty-corner to the Peterson house.
• All the way to and down La Loma, Merlin was going into the middle of the street and checking the bott dotts.  He was going back and forth between the yards and the middle of the street.
• On Yosemite, Merlin worked up against the buildings. Scent along the sides of buildings can come from a person riding in a car.
• Merlin was pulling hard on Yosemite, but LE did not shut it down to traffic so Valentin could see if Merlin would trail down the middle of the street.
• Merlin went into a parking lot on the west side of Santa Rosa, did not go into the middle of the street, even though the street had no traffic, but in and out of parking lots.
• Valentin stopped him inside of the Gallo property at the end of Santa Rosa Avenue because he wasn't showing all the signs of being on trail, and they hit the dead end into the Gallo property. 
• Merlin stopped giving a strong pull on the harness at Yosemite Boulevard and Santa Rosa Avenue.
• Valentin said other things could have been done to continue the search:
• They could have gone into the Gallo property to check for an in-and-out trail
• They could have gone back to Yosemite to see if there was scent that continued there
• They could have gone back to other intersections
• Valentin told the Detectives at command center that Merlin indicated Laci left in a vehicle, not on foot, because Merlin was pretty dedicated to always going back and checking those Bott Dots as they traveled through the neighborhood.
• Valentin was not asked to take Merlin to the park to trail for Laci's scent.
• From the conversations among the detectives, Valentin concluded that they suspected Scott of being responsible for Laci's disappearance.

Now, if dog trailing is a good science and if Laci went for a walk into the park, Merlin would have gone into the park and then followed her to wherever she ended up.  Merlin did not go into the park.

If Scott murdered Laci and transported her in his truck to the warehouse, then Merlin would follow the trail to the warehouse.  Maps.Google identifies 3 primary ways to get from Scott's house to the warehouse.  Merlin didn't follow any one of the routes to the warehouse.  You can click on these maps to enlarge.

They already know about the Medina burglary, because the Medinas have already arrived home and reported it.  They do not yet know who did the burglary, but the fact that Merlin did not go to the Park and did not go to the warehouse surely registered in someone's head that, aha, the burglars took her.  We'll return to this first trail by Merlin in a few days when we talk more about Todd and Pearce.

But Brocchini was undaunted in his efforts to find some evidence that Scott murdered Laci.  Merlin, having failed to trail Laci to the warehouse, was brought to near the warehouse to see if he could be helped a bit, you know, nudged in the right direction. The three routes from Scot's house to the warehouse all have one thing in common, they all arrive at the intersection of Kansas and North Emerald.  

• December 26, 2002 : Trails to and from the Warehouse
• Brocchini asked Valentin to see if Merlin would do a trail to Scott's warehouse.
• Valentin told Brocchini to take her and Merlin somewhere near the warehouse and she would see if Merlin picked up a trail that led to a warehouse.  She did not want to know where the warehouse was located.
• Valentin and Merlin were taken to the intersection of Kansas and North Emerald.
• Merlin picked up the trail and headed southbound on North Emerald Ave, in the opposite direction of the warehouse.
• Detective Brocchini asked Valentin to stop the trail and to start from the warehouse
• Valentin started Merlin at the B1 door of the warehouse,
• Merlin went out of the warehouse to the street, North Emerald Ave,
• turned south onto North Emerald Ave,
• continued on North Emerald across Kansas Ave to Maize Blvd,
• turned onto Maize Blvd and headed west
• Detective Brocchini stopped Valentin after they had gone about a quarter mile down Maize Blvd, even though Merlin was pulling hard.  Valentin made no objection to the search being called off.
• Valentin told detectives this was a vehicle trail because Merlin was constantly checking the Bott Dots in the middle of the street.

Brocchini, with Valentin's help, rationalized that Merlin didn't go from the intersection of Kansas and North Emerald to the warehouse because trailing dogs are trained to pick up the newest scent.  I'll remind you of that rationalization in a few days when we discuss another dog trail.  

It took a bit of work, but Brocchini finally had his evidence that Scott murdered Laci in their home, transported her to the warehouse in his truck, and from the warehouse headed West out of town.  As a detective of Brocchini's ilk, Mark Furhman, is quoted as saying, "not everything in a murder case is going to add up.  You have to look at the totality of the evidence" (Source). In other words, if it doesn't fit, ignore it or lie about it.  Merlin's failure to trail Laci from her home to the warehouse didn't fit with the working theory, so it was first ignored, then blatantly lied about.  We still hear people give as one of their evidences that Scott is guilty that the dogs trailed Laci from the house to the warehouse to the Berkeley Marina.  

Christmas Day, 2002

Not a Christmas that anyone would ever want to experience.  The MPD made a valiant effort through the night to find Laci.  Search parties scoured the park for hours and used every search means available to them.  In the next few days, officers went from door-to-door in the neighborhood to see if anyone had seen Laci or knew what had happened to her.  One branch of the MPD seemed to be doing everything right in the case of a missing person, while the other branch had already closed the case -- Scott was guilty, and it was their duty to prove it.

The morning started for Scott at the Modesto Police Department as Brocchini wanted to tape record an interview with him. Scott already knew that Brocchini had concluded he was responsible for Laci's disappearance, and so is it any wonder that he didn't trust the man enough to share personal information, especially when Scott didn't believe it had anything at all to do with Laci's disappearance.  He was certain Amber Frey didn't know about Laci, that has been her claim all along, and no one has brought forth any reason for Scott to have suspected that Amber was involved in Laci's disappearance.  Maybe he was just in denial, but until there is evidence that Amber was involved, Scott can't be faulted for not making his relationship with her known to Brocchini that night.  If Amber had any sense, she would appreciate how long Scott kept her out of the hands of the MPD and the media.

Other than not telling Brocchini about the affair, Scott told only the truth.  People quibble about his times not being exact, but forget that no one else's times were exact, either, and they were given the opportunity to consult receipts and cell phone records to be sure. Scott wasn't given that luxury.  If he thought he left home about 9:45, and it was found out it was closer to 10:08, then he was made out to be a liar.  Brocchini unrelentingly tried to catch Scott in every little tidbit of inaccuracy, and if he failed, he just made it up.  

After Brocchini dropped Scott off at home, Scott discovered his gun was missing from the glove box of the truck.  He called Brocchini, who admitted seizing it.  One more good reason not to trust the man.  Scott had consented to have his home visually inspected during 4 walk-throughs the previous night; he consented to have Brocchini visually inspect the two vehicles and the boat; he consented to have ID Tech Lovell come to the house to take photos -- and Brocchini wasn't honest enough to simply tell Scott he was taking the gun.  Brocchini had taken a GSR test at the MPD, to test for gun residue, which Scott consented to, so why not just tell Scott he took the gun?  He said he didn't tell Scott because he didn't want to lose Scott's trust, not just yet.  The truth is, he didn't want Scott's trust -- he wanted Scott to react, to do something to prove he was guilty.  It didn't work, because Scott is not guilty.

Because Scott told Brocchini he would take a polygraph, Agent Doug Mansfield, a polygrapher for the California DOJ, was called in.  In the meantime, Scott changed his mind.  But what everyone seems to forget is that he still met with Mansfield and Grogan for a 3-hour interview.  And Scott told only the truth, except for not admitting the affair.  For example, Scott told Grogan that he made the cement anchor in a paint bucket that he bought at Home Depot.  However, Grogan and the entire MPD labored for a whole year under the foolish notion that he made it in the plastic pitcher until Grogan was informed by an petrographer that the pitcher was not the mold for the anchor.  So Grogan scurried down to Home Depot and purchased a paint bucket and sure enough, it fit.

Mansfield and Grogan grilled Scott on a lot of details from both his and Laci's lives.  Scott held nothing back, except the affair.  

Earlier that day, Buehler interviewed Karen Servas, who was still reporting 10:30 as the time she found McKenzie.  Later that evening, Servas exposed her bias when she interpreted Scott's kindness in inviting her to join him and his parents for Christmas Dinner as something sinister.  

Modesto police and firefighters carried out a massive and futile search along Dry Creek. Her family offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to her safe return. Sharon Rocha was in the Covena Home on December 25th, and said she did not notice anything "unusual." Janet Kenworthy saw Scott on Christmas Day, as she was walking her dog in the park. "He reaches in his coat, pulls out a flier and says, 'My wife's missing,'" Kenworthy recalled. "He about broke down in front of me. I did see tears, retain-your-composure efforts." Kenworthy was especially touched, she said, to learn that the missing woman was pregnant. She said she gave Scott a hug. "I would have sworn at that time that he was innocent," Kenworthy said.  And she was right, he is innocent.


But some people besides the police were looking for evidence against Scott.  Fair-weather friends always turn their backs on someone when the going gets tough, and there aren't many situations tougher than having a best friend and loved one missing on Christmas Day.  After passing out flyers, Stacey Boyers went to the Covena home probably after 5:00 p.m. to bring a picture to Renee Tomlinson.  Boyers observed Scott vacuuming the area in front of the washer and dryer.  She said he was vacuuming that area the whole time she was there. When she reported this to the police, it raised their suspicion that Scott was still doing some clean-up.  Of course he was cleaning up.  Dozens of people had been in and out of that home all day.  Laci was a good housekeeper; he expected her to come home.  And what evidence was found from the vacuum cleaner and the vacuum bag?  Nothing.  No evidence of a clean-up.  It was all a figment of their imagination.  


And memories began to fade over time to Scott's detriment.  Witnesses had different accounts of where Scott was on Christmas morning.  Brent Rocha gave three different accounts in his interviews.  In the first, he said Scott was unaccounted for from 9:00-12:00 Noon, in the second that he saw Scott around 11 am, and in the third report that he joined with Scott at 10:30 to go hang flyers in the neighborhood.  In his trial testimony, he said the latter is the most accurate.  He didn't seem aware that his mother saw Scott during that time -- she met Scott coming out of the park with McKenzie and Scott accompanied her to her friend Jane's house around the corner from Laci's, and he was at the house later that morning when Sharon was there.  That was one of the problems - Brent didn't see where Scott was every minute, so assumed he must have been up to something very sinister.  No one seemed to be able to give Scott the space to be himself and to deal with this traumatic event in his own way.  He was the outsider, and they were too quick to become suspicious over the least little thing.  Laci's maternal aunt Susan Aquino, who didn't even know Scott, thought it was suspicious because Scott said a sighting wouldn't be Laci because she didn't cross the footbridge in her walks.  Everything looks yellow to the jaundiced eye.  


At 7:20 p.m., Scott called Brocchini to ask him if they were using cadaver dogs to look for Laci in Dry Creek Park. Brocchini told Scott he hadn't considered her being dead yet, so they hadn't used cadaver dogs. What a lie -- he did already consider that Laci was dead.  It's Scott that hadn't considered that she was dead, and that's why he wanted to know if they were using cadaver dogs, as he had heard they were.  Brocchini's hubris wouldn't allow him to be wrong about Scott, so he twisted whatever Scott did or said in whatever way he needed to prove Scott had murdered Laci.  

Meanwhile, Todd and Pearce had already started to give away some of the Medina jewelry as Christmas gifts to their women-folk, and to sell off some of the jewelry, guns, and other items.  Somehow or other, Deanna Renfro ended up with Laci's croton watch.  It was probably the nicest piece of jewelry she ever owned.  

The only bad thing that happened to Amber on Christmas day is that Scott didn't call her as he had promised.  I'm sure that was better than spending the day in hours of grueling interviews with detectives trying to prove she didn't have anything to do with Laci's disappearance, which is surely what would have happened if Scott had revealed he had an affair with her.  

That fateful day so many years ago . . .

December 24, 2002

9:30 a.m., or thereabouts, Scott loaded the umbrellas into the pickup bed.  He was seen by Kristen Dempewolf, who said he smiled and said Hello.

9:48 a.m., Scott was in the house with Laci watching Martha Stewart -- long enough to know she and her guest were making cookies and talking about meringue.

Shortly after the meringue mention, Scott left for the warehouse.  Somewhere along the way, or even from the warehouse, he checked his voice mail.  He had a voice message from his employer.  At the warehouse he fiddled around with email, put together a mortiser, and then hooked the boat trailer to his pickup truck and headed for the Berkeley Marina.

Meanwhile, Laci finished her mopping and went for a walk - not in the park, but around the neighborhood.  Credible witnesses -- unknown to each other -- identify that walk-route. (http://pwc-consulting.blogspot.com/2008/04/lacis-walk.html).

Exactly what happened to Laci is still shrouded in mystery.  The same people who swallowed hook, line, and sinker the State's theory with its massive gaping holes are quick to reject any other explanation because every single moment can't be accounted for.

But we know that Diane Jackson saw the Medina burglary in progress, at 11:40 a.m. -- she saw a van, 3 men, and the safe being removed from the house.

We know that Steve Todd and Glenn Pearce participated in that burglary, lied about when they did it, and apparently have failed to identify others that were involved.  Jackson saw 3 men by the van, and the safe being removed from the house, which requires at least 1 other person; so that's 2 persons still unaccounted for.

We know that Todd's friends, the Tenbrink brothers, were overheard talking about how Laci confronted Todd during the burglary and he threatened her.

We know that when Scott arrived home that evening, Laci was missing.

We know that Scott called Sharon at 5:17 p.m. to ask if Laci was there.  She instructed him to check with neighbors and friends.  When he called back to report no success, she instructed him to meet her in the park, and Ron Grantski was to stay at home and call 9-1-1 and also call local hospitals.  The 9-1-1 call was made at 5:48 p.m.

We know that the Modesto Police Department responded immediately.  Officer Evers responded at 5:48, Officers Letsinger and Spurlock soon followed, and Sgt. Duerfeldt was there by 5:58 p.m.  They responded to the Park because that is where Scott thought Laci was going to go for her walk.

We know that at 6:15 p.m., Duerfeldt advised Communications Center to notify all local hospitals.

We know that Officers Evers, Letsinger, and Spurlock went with Scott to the home at 523 Covena and secured the home, not allowing Scott to enter.  They did an initial walk-through, looking for any signs of what may have happened to Laci.

We know that Sgt. Duerfeldt arrived at the Covena home at 6:20 p.m. and spoke for about 5 minutes with Officers Evers, Letsinger, and Spurlock.  Based on that conversation, Duerfeldt concluded that Scott was responsible for Laci's disappearance and called Sgt. Carter to request a homicide detective.

We know that Officers Evers, Letsinger, and Spurlock went with Scott back into the home for a 2nd walk-through.

We know that Ron Grantski asked Scott, in the presence of Evers and other officers, if he had gotten in any golfing that day.  When Scot said No, he had gone fishing instead, Grantski remarked that 9:30 or 10:00 was too late in the day to go fishing, which was a very strange comment to make since he himself had been fishing that very afternoon.

We know that about 9:30 Detective Brocchini arrived, and he and the 3 officers did another walk through -- the 3rd that night.  Later, he, Evers, and Scott did a 4th walk-through.

We know that the only thing they found suspicious were some dirty white towels on the washing machine, two mops and mop bucket by the door, and a rug out of place.  Yet, Brocchini, Evers, Letsinger, Spurlock, and Duerfeldt were absolutely certain that Scot was responsible for Laci's disappearance, and that she was already dead.

We know that later that night, Brocchini visually inspected the Land Rover and the Ford Pickup Truck, seizing a gun that Scott had in the glove box of the truck. Then he asked to see the boat, and Scott took him to the warehouse where Brocchini visually inspected the boat and took some photographs.

We know that Brocchini called for ID Tech Lovell to go to 523 Covena to take photographs of the inside of the house.

Finally, we know that Brocchini took Scott to the police department to tape record an hour long interview.

And so it is that on this fateful day, so many years ago, a beautiful young woman, pregnant with her first child, innocently encountered danger across the street from which she most likely was not allowed to walk away from.  It wouldn't be till a few days before people became aware that the Medina home had been burglarized, as they were visiting children in southern California, but by then it was too late, because Evers, Letsinger, Spurlock, and Duerfeldt knew Scott was responsible within 45 minutes of the 9-1-1 call, and Brocchini was just as certain before he even arrived at the Covena home.

In the coming weeks and months, we'll revisit the investigation as it proceeded, to see just what the MPD focused on and how they were able to so completely miss the mark.