Scott Peterson finally moved off San Quentin’s death row

SACRAMENTO — Scott Peterson has been moved off death row more than two years after the California Supreme Court overturned his death sentence for killing his pregnant wife two decades ago, corrections officials said Monday.

Peterson was moved last week from San Quentin State Prison north of San Francisco to Mule Creek State Prison east of Sacramento. A new mug shot taken Friday shows Peterson, 50, with salt-and-pepper stubble compared to his previous clean-shaven look.

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Jurors imposed the death penalty after convicting Peterson of the first-degree murder of Laci Peterson, 27, and second-degree murder of the unborn son they were going to name Conner, dumping them into San Francisco Bay on Christmas Eve 2002.

The state’s high court overturned that sentence in August 2020 after finding that potential jurors were improperly dismissed for saying they personally disagreed with the death penalty but would be willing to follow the law and impose it.

Last year, the convicted killer was resentenced by a San Mateo County Superior Court judge to life in prison without parole under the glaring eyes of Laci Peterson’s family.

“No matter what happens, no matter what transpires in the future, there are two things that will never change,” Laci’s mother Sharon Rocha said during the victims statements at the resentencing. “Laci and Connor will always be dead. And you will always be their murderer.”  

A state judge is now considering if Peterson deserves a new trial after the justices separately said his jury may have been tainted by a biased juror.

Peterson was mainly kept at San Quentin during that monthslong hearing process in part so he would have better access to his attorneys.