Former investigator says key evidence in Scott Peterson trial was not 'properly investigated'

new developments in the Scott Peterson case this morning a former California Fire official who says key evidence wasn't properly investigated is speaking exclusively at ABC news for the first time since the Los Angeles Innocence Project took on the case Kana Whitworth is in LA with the story good morning Kana George good morning to you Brian spitulski led the investigation into that burned van near the Peterson home and he tells me that he was shocked that he never heard from the prosecution or the defense at the time of the trial and now the LA Innocence Project claims that the evidence was never disclosed to the defense and now they want it Revisited this morning an ABC News exclusive a former fire investigator speaking for the first time since that bombshell filing in the Scott Peterson case about the potential of new evidence this has always been one of those things that kind of sits in the back of your head and kind of bugs you a little bit and you kind of wonder why this didn't happen or why it wasn't brought up nearly two decades after Scott Peterson was convicted of murdering his pregnant wife Lacy the Los Angeles Innocence Project demanding the case be re-evaluated largely hinging on information from then mesco fire investigator Brian spolski spolski investigating this burned out van found the morning after Lacy disappeared in December 2002 located less than a mile from the Peterson home lawyers from the Los Angeles Innocence Project now zeroing in on evidence from a mattress in the back of that van which with a red and brown stain on it you have this woman she's 8 months pregnant she's missing this van is of high interest and now a sample from a mattress on that van has tested presumptive positive for blood what were you thinking in that moment you know I don't know that I was tying the moment to Lacy I was more tying the moment that it was human blood it made it like this was much more important than just a a burned vehicle that somebody was just wanting to get rid of or cover up a a simple crime in a court filing lawyers say DNA testing done on a small portion of that mattress several years later was insufficient to determine whether DNA from Lacy or their unborn son was present you feel strongly that this evidence should be reassessed absolutely especially if we've got sample that can still be tested L's disappearance captivated the country suspicion against Scott already m ing when his then girlfriend Amber fry came forward about their Affair prosecutors later arguing Scott's motive for killing Lacy was for a $250,000 life insurance policy a jury siding with the prosecution in 2004 convicting Scott of first-degree murder for the death of lacy and second degree murder for the death of their unborn son Connor I don't have a an agenda or an opinion on his guilt or his innocence this is for me it's a a fire investigation in a vehicle that has blood possible blood you know um on the mattress and that right there is important former ABC News investigative Producer Mike gudel has followed the case from the beginning I think it's still a mystery you know the trial verdict uh was sort of unsatisfactory it didn't say what really happened to Lacy um and I think even prosecution cons conceded that during the trial Brian spolski now works as a private fire investigator says the case has left a mark on him is this the one that sometimes keeps you up at night absolutely now the Stannis district attorney told us in a statement in part that Peterson's conviction was upheld as recently as 2022 adding they can't comment further as litigation is pending but you guys the LA Innocence Project says that sensitive testing today could provide more information guys all right Kaa really fascinating stuff that all these years later there still seems to be a question Kaa thank you hi everyone George Stephanopoulos here thanks for checking out the ABC News YouTube channel if you'd like to get more videos show highlights and watch live event coverage click on the right over here to subscribe to our Channel and don't forget to download the ABC News app for breaking news alerts thanks for watching

Channel: ABC News

Views: 63,474

Keywords: Evidence, abc, amber, angeles, crime, dna, fry, gma, innocence, la, laci, los, modest, murder, new, news, p_cmsid=2494279, p_vid=news-106558937, petersen, peterson, project, scott, trial

Id: cxVaPP1EPbI

Length: 4min 24sec (264 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 22 2024