REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — The jury that will decide whether convicted murderer Scott Peterson should live or die heard Tuesday from Laci Peterson's grieving relatives, including her mother, who glared at the defendant through tears and screamed, "Divorce is an option, not murder!"
In opening testimony in the trial's penalty phase that had at least eight jurors wiping away tears, Sharon Rocha, Laci's mother, choked back sobs and said, "I miss her. I want to know my grandson. I want Laci to be a mother. I want to hear her called 'Mom.' "
Peterson remained expressionless while spectators, including sheriff's deputies, members of the public and seasoned court watchers, sat teary-eyed.
The jury, which convicted Peterson earlier this month of first-degree murder in Laci's death and second-degree murder for killing the couple's unborn son, is expected to begin sequestered deliberations as early as Friday on whether he should be executed or sent to prison for life without parole.
Laci Peterson, 27, disappeared Dec. 24, 2002, about a month after her husband began an affair with Fresno massage therapist Amber Frey.
The headless and limbless body of Laci and her fetus were found about four months later, washed up on the rocky shores of San Francisco Bay, near where Peterson had told police he had been fishing on the day she was reported missing.
Rocha did not give her own opinion of the death penalty. But with her former son-in-law seated about 10 feet in front of her, she turned to the defendant and said, "Laci had motion sickness, and you knew that. That's why you dumped her into the bay. You knew she'd be sick for eternity!"
Rocha also spoke about the confusion, anger and emptiness the family has felt since her daughter disappeared.
"On the first Mother's Day after she was killed, I laid on the floor and cried most of the day," Rocha said. "Because she should have been there, and should have been a mother also. That was taken away from her.
"She gave me a picture of the sonogram; it's the only picture I have of the baby, and it was taken on Dec. 14," Rocha recalled. "The next day, Dec. 15, was the last day I saw her."
For the next 116 days, Rocha waited, not knowing where her daughter was, or if she'd ever come home. Yet, Rocha said, she managed to appear at news conferences and "beg for whoever had her to bring her home, let her go."
