SCOTT PETERSON BREAKS HIS SILENCE

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MORE THAN 20 YEARS, THE CONVICTED MURDERER SPEAKS OUT IN A NEW DOCUMENTARY AMID AN EFFORT TO PROVE HE'S INNOCENT. BUT COULD HE REALLY GO FREE? PLUS, LACI'S MOTHER, SHARON ROCHA, HONORS HER LATE DAUGHTER

- JOHNNY DODD

Sitting in the noisy dayroom of Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, Calif., as he speaks over a grainy video call, Scott Peterson looks more like a laid-back surfer than a man convicted of the heinous murder of his wife, Laci, and their unborn son Conner. His hair, which he sometimes wears in a ponytail, is long and tousled, his demeanor calm and friendly. At one point he grows emotional as he recounts his memories of saying goodbye to Laci, then eight months pregnant, when he left the couple’s home in Modesto, Calif., on Christmas Eve morning in 2002—the last time, he says, that he saw his wife alive. “This past Saturday somebody made a mention [of the anniversary], and I was stunned,” says Scott, 51, wiping his eye. “A guy I never would expect to show humanity, a guy I was working in the kitchen with that day, brought it up.”

But in speaking out for the first time on camera since before his arrest 21 years ago, Scott is seeking much more than the sympathy of a fellow inmate. In Face to Face With Scott Peterson, a new threepart docuseries premiering on Peacock on Aug. 20, the former fertilizer salesperson—now serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole—is once again denying any involvement in the disappearance and death of Laci and the child she was carrying. He is appealing to the public to listen to his side of the story of what he calls the “so-called investigation” carried out by police and prosecutors who, he claims, ignored significant leads and relied solely on circumstantial evidence in their quest to convict him of double murder during his trial in 2004. Says Scott: “I regret not testifying [at my trial], but if I have a chance to show people what the truth is, and if they are willing to accept it, it would be the biggest thing that I can accomplish right now—because I didn’t kill my family.”