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Where Is Scott Peterson Now, and Will He Ever Be Released? (We Have Answers)
Scott Peterson, convicted of murdering his wife and their unborn child more than 20 years ago, is currently housed with a handful of infamous killers.
The high-profile case of Scott Peterson, convicted of murdering his wife and her unborn baby more than 20 years ago, is back in the spotlight. So where is he now?
The California man made headlines around Christmas 2002 when his wife, Laci Peterson, disappeared from their Modesto home. At the time of her disappearance, the 27-year-old expectant mother was eight months pregnant with their unborn son, Conner Peterson, sparking massive search efforts that caught the attention of mainstream media outlets.
Nearly four months later, both mother and son were found dead at separate locations after washing up along the San Francisco Bay, and ultimately, Scott Peterson was arrested for the double homicide.
Scott Peterson’s extramarital affair, financial troubles, and life insurance policies would become paramount when jurors in November 2004 found him guilty of first- and second-degree murder. He was handed a death sentence, which was later commuted to life in prison, for the murders and continues to argue his case today, having since gained the support of the Los Angeles Innocence Project.
He will give his first interviews in decades in the three-part Peacock true-crime special, Face to Face with Scott Peterson, premiering Tuesday, August 20, 2024.
Catch up on where Scott Peterson is now ahead of the new series.
Where is Scott Peterson now?
Scott Peterson has lived at the Mule Creek State Prison since 2022, serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole, as reported by Oxygen.com. He’d previously stayed at California’s only death row at the historic San Quentin State Prison (now called the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center) before Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order issuing a moratorium on executions, granting Peterson and hundreds of inmates temporary reprieve.
Mule Creek is a men’s state prison located in Ione, California, about 40 miles east of Sacramento, and currently houses a few well-known inmates. James Carson, one half of the serial-killing duo known as the California Witch Killers (as once covered on Oxygen’s Snapped: Killer Couples), is doing his time at Mule Creek. John Albert Gardner, convicted of the rapes and murders of two teenagers and the focus of a 2022 Dateline: Secrets Uncovered episode, is another infamous criminal under the same roof as Peterson.
Freeway Killer Patrick Wayne Kearney, one of the most notorious killers of Los Angeles, is another murderer kept at Mule Creek.
Past convicted persons at Mule Creek have included the I-5 Strangler Roger Kibbe, Manson Family cult member Charles “Tex” Watson, music producer Suge Knight, and 1990s notorious crime figure Lyle Menendez.
Most recently, on July 16, 2024, Peterson appeared via Zoom as a San Mateo County Judge heard motions regarding the defendant’s ongoing bid for a new trial, as reported by San Francisco Bay outlet KRON-TV. He appeared remotely from Mule Creek.
Will Scott Peterson ever be released?
Scott Peterson is serving life in prison without the possibility of parole, meaning there are no indications that he’ll leave state prison in his lifetime, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
That would change, however, if his ongoing appeal proves successful.
On January 18, 2024, the Los Angeles Innocence Project took Peterson on as a client, filing motions “seeking D.N.A. testing and post-conviction discovery,” according to a statement by The Innocence Project. In court documents filed in the San Mateo County Superior Court and obtained by The Associated Press, attorneys suggested that Laci Peterson possibly witnessed a break-in across the street from the couple’s Modesto home on Christmas Eve 2002, the same day the expectant mother disappeared.
The L.A.-based advocacy group introduced a theory that Laci was kidnapped and murdered by the alleged burglars.
At a Tuesday, July 16, 2024 court hearing, those defending the convicted husband said jailhouse phone calls containing “critically important information” supported the burglar theory, according to KRON-TV.
However, the killer burglar theory was used in Scott’s trial by his defense and was rejected during an appeal. Authorities have steadfastly insisted that the robbery likely took place on December 26, which was two days after Laci Peterson was last seen, according to a 2007 report by the Modesto Bee. The precise date of the robbery is unclear since the owners of the home were traveling from December 24 to 26.
The burglars themselves have denied any involvement in Laci Peterson’s death.
A judge has 90 days to rule whether Scott Peterson’s appeal will proceed.
Learn more from the three-part true-crime special Face to Face with Scott Peterson, premiering Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024, exclusively on Peacock. The series will also air on Oxygen on Monday, November 25 at 8/7c.
