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American Murder: Laci Peterson, the 3-part docuseries on Netflix, was released on August 14, 2024. Its official synopsis reads:
“Laci Peterson was eight months pregnant when she vanished, sparking a search that ended in tragedy. This docuseries delves into the 2002 murder case.”
The series deals with the mysterious disappearance of the pregnant 27-year-old Laci Peterson, on Christmas Eve in 2002. Her dead body was found in April 2003, badly decomposed and unrecognizable. That same year, her husband Scott Peterson was charged with the murder of Laci Peterson and her unborn child.
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Suspicion fell on Scott Peterson as various inconsistencies emerged in his statements, and as news of his infidelity came to the fore. American Murder: Laci Peterson is an elaborate yet thoughtful reconstruction of the case. About the intention of the docuseries, director Skye Borgman told Tudum on August 19, 2024:
“Intimate partner violence is something that’s really overwhelming. I want people to walk away from this thinking about that in a deeper way.”
American Murder: Laci Peterson: The docuseries is thoroughly investigative, yet comfortingly sympathetic
Episode 1, titled What Do You Mean, Missing? opens with a montage of shots that show how the Laci Peterson case became a sensation in America, with media houses dramatically reporting the investigation, as the investigation itself takes on the proportions of a grand spectacle. To find the missing pregnant mother, several search parties were conducted, and helicopters and boats were used.
The opening shots of the episode give way to a visibly emotional Sharon Rocha, Laci’s mother, as she explains:
“Nothing can change the truth. I was having Christmas Eve at my house, and she was going to have Christmas morning at her house. And that’s pretty much when everything started.”
Al Brocchini, a detective with the Modesto Police Department re-creates the timeline of the events as they unfolded while he was investigating the case. His account acts as an effective adhesive in American Murder: Laci Peterson, holding the various strands of the complicated narrative together.
Here lies one of the strengths of the docuseries; it presents the case in all its complexity, but its representation is never confused or slack.
For instance, each of the three episodes of American Murder: Laci Peterson uses a plethora of documents — be it real-life clips of Laci and her friends, contemporary interviews of her acquaintances, or police diagrams, maps, and reports.
Even with its many sources, the core of the docuseries remains firmly attached to its subject. Never for a moment does the extraordinary research behind the series feel like an overkill. It aptly complements the investigative eye of the documentarian.
And yet, the adherence to a largely investigative approach does not harm the sympathetic way in which Laci’s story is told in American Murder: Laci Peterson. Laci emerges as more than just a subject of an intriguing case. Through various accounts and audio-visual clips collected from her family and friends, a picture of the actual person is reconstructed.
American Murder: Laci Peterson goes to the gray areas
The director of the documentary, Skye Borgman, recently told Tudum:
“I’m not particularly interested in looking at stories that are very black-and-white. I like to be able to look at stories with various different layers and not necessarily give answers to things, but rather present a nuanced and a flawed perspective.”
American Murder: Laci Peterson is hardly a straightforward presentation of known facts. It goes to the gray zones of the case and thoroughly probes into the actual complications of a case like this.
For instance, episode 2, titled I Wasn’t a Mistress, furnishes a series of hard facts that clearly show Scott’s hand in murdering his pregnant wife. However, the episode also presents, among others, the testimony of Scott’s sister, Susan Caudillo, who vouches for her brother’s innocence. The docuseries is not afraid to give voices to those who complicate the case.
This approach is all the more appropriate for a case like this since Scott continues to plead innocent to this day. American Murder: Laci Peterson, in accordance with this fact, takes the position of an observer, not a judge.
Additionally, the docuseries gives Amber Frey a welcome platform. Scott, even before his wife disappeared, cheated on her with Frey. Frey was under the impression that Scott was a single man. As details of the case started emerging, she realized that she too was a victim of Scott’s.
Frey has historically helped the police gather evidence against Scott, recording her conversations with him and handing them over to the police.
The docuseries shows in detail how she came forward to ensure the punishment of a man who had allegedly killed his own wife and was then trying to entrap another woman through his deceits. In particular, episode 3, titled Nothing Can Change the Truth, shows the proactive involvement of Frey in helping the police. American Murder: Laci Peterson gives Frey the space to tell her story.
American Murder: Laci Peterson is streaming on Netflix.
