In her 2005 book "A Deadly Game" about the Scott Peterson case, the author (Catherine Crier, former judge who was a journalist covering Laci’s case and the trial) mentions a 17-year-old boy from North Dakota who wrote a letter to Anne Bird, Scott’s half sister, in 2004-2005 saying that Peterson was his father from an encounter his deceased mother allegedly had.
The book includes part of a jail letter response from Peterson calling the letter "weird" but not denying the claim.
- Peterson's sister thought the anonymous allegation letter from a 17-year-old was significant enough to share with the well-connected journalist working on the case — someone who could and likely would follow up.
- As a seasoned reporter with inside access, Crier herself thought the unsubstantiated paternity claim was compelling enough to feature in her book, which shows that she thought it had some validity of some kind, either as a claim or in what it showed about Anne or Scott or both.
- According to Crier, multiple relatives of the teen had supposedly dropped "hints" about his deceased mother's alleged fling with Peterson, linking the grandson to the reviled murderer - despite how stigmatizing that would be after his conviction. However, it is not known when they dropped the hints - it could have been long before Scott was in the news, and the kid found a way to follow up after seeing Scott in the news.
The big head-scratchers:
- Why would Anne Bird share this with a journalist if not credible on some level?
- What made Crier prioritize including such a strange, unverified claim in her book?
- Why would any relatives link a teenager to a murderer in the news to the extent that he wrote to a family member of said murderer? Who would want to burden a teenager like that - oh, your mom is dead, and we think your deadbeat dad just got the death penalty.
Crier even quoted part of Peterson's jail response calling the allegation letter "weird."
Here's the full passage for context:
"In January 2005, I was contacted by a seventeen-year-old from North Dakota who believes that Scott Peterson is his father...He began his quest by contacting Scott's half sister, Anne Bird, who forwarded the letter to Jackie and Scott. When I sat down to interview Anne, she showed me Scott's response to the boy's plea, written from jail on January 9. In responding to the letter, Scott writes: "What a weird *advertiser censored* letter you received." He never denies the allegations, and adds only one more line, asking, "Why would someone do such a thing?”
This unresolved claim made it into Crier's book. But what actually motivated the inclusion by her and Peterson's sister? Did she want readers to investigate?
Does anyone know if this potential son and his deceased mother were ever verified or disproven after the book's publication? Or if any more details emerged about this paternity allegation against Peterson? The book left it as an unresolved loose thread