Now police have determined positively that the body of the unidentified female and fetus that washed ashore in the San Francisco Bay Area is that of Laci Peterson and her son. Despite the fact that it was widely reported that the body of the female was missing its legs, police now say they used marrow from her tibia and femur (both leg bones) to identify her. That illustrates what I was trying to tell Patsy earlier. We don't have all the information, and much of what we have is pure speculation by media types. It is not trustworthy data and must be considered and only accepted with a huge grain of salt.

I am not an attorney, however I am fairly familiar with the basics of law. Laci Peterson's husband, Scott, was arreted before noon, California time, today in the San Diego area. That predated the results of the positive identification of the bodies by several hours. In addition, at the press conference in which the determiniation of the identities of the two bodies was announced, it was also announced that Peterson had been arrested on two counts of capital murder. The problem with that is simple.

At the press conference, the Coroner for the county where the bodies were found stated publicly that it is impossible, at this point anyway, to determine the cause of death of Laci Peterson or the fetus. It would seem to me that any defense attorney can use that public announcement concerning the lack of verifiable evidence of a crime, much less that Scott Peterson was the one responsible for that crime, to make it difficult for the state to prevail at a murder trial. Like it or not, our justice system demands that Scott Peterson be given the presumption of innocence until the state proves beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime has been committed and that he is the one who committed it. Their own spokesman said they cannot yet prove a crime has been committed. No matter how much they believe one was, they MUST prove it to a jury's satisfaction. That's the law that pertains in this case.

Extensive questioning by reporters at the press conference also revealed that police investigators who made the arrest of Peterson did so after he indicated that he was aware that they had him under surveillance and even waved at the officers following him. In other words, he hurt their feelings and wounded their pride. Will their egos be responsible for giving a probable murdering swine a free pass?

Peterson provided police with proof that he was in the general area where the bodies were subsequently found when he gave them a receipt for use of the public launch facility at a marina pn the day that she disappeared that is only a few miles from where the bodies washed ashore. That coincidence is too great to ignore. I do not do so.

Most reasonable men or women would most likely conclude that he was most likely the cause of her death and the dumping of her body on Christmas Eve. The problem with that is that the prosecution is now saddled with a public statement by a Coroner saying that it is not possible, at this time, to say how she died. That is a major blow to the prosecution of the man.

Also, police allowed their pride to interfere with their professionalism when they arrested him and charged him with crimes that had not yet been proved to have happened to a victim who had not yet been positively identified. They did it because of wounded egos.

Scott Peterson probably did kill his wife and, subsequently, their unborn child. I don't know for certain that he did , but I - like Patsy - believe he probably did. The police have provided any worthwhile defense attorney with pockets full of "reasonable doubt" that should never have been allowed to rear its head. I am getting sick and tired of unprofessional law men doing stupid, unprofessional things because of their egos or in an effort to demonize a suspect they cannot prove did something of which they suspect him. Remember Richard Jewell? Peterson waved at cops who were doing a lousy job of surveillance. They should have been embarassed and ridiculed. They deserve to be! Then they compounded their ineptitude by arresting a man for a crime they cannot prove to the satisfaction of black letter law on victims who had not been identified at the time they arrested him. They claimed they feared he was planning to cross into Mexico, yet he had been in the San Diego area for quite some time, just a few minutes from that border. He was arrested in the parking lot of a golf club where he appeared to be getting ready to play a round of golf. Surely our border patrol can check people crossing into Mexico and would have turned Peterson back had he attempted to flee. They do stuff like that all the time.

Once again, we are seeing California police botch a murder investigation. Why can't they act more professionally? Is it any wonder there are those of us who now have doubts that prosecutors will be able to make a real case against the man? If he slaughtered his wife and unborn child, then they have damaged our society with their ineptitude and foolish pride. If he skates because they didn't do their jobs right, then we have victimized Laci Peterson's family yet again and we didn't need to do that. It takes more than some detectives deciding, for whatever reason, that the disappearance case has now become a "homicide" investigation. That requires a medical determination and the man charged with making that finding is now on the record as saying publicly that he cannot prove that, even hours after the man has been charged with committing that crime. If he cannot prove it to a mob of blood thirsty reporters, how can they prove it to twelve jurors in a few months?

Don't Laci Peterson's family and both sets of grandparents of that baby deserve better for their tax dollars?

Don't we?