(NewsNation) — Scott Peterson, convicted in the killings of his wife and unborn son in 2004, has new court dates set 20 years later as the Los Angeles Innocence Project takes on his case.
Currently in California’s Mule Creek State Prison, Peterson has always maintained his innocence.
A judge has now allowed his case to move forward, with LA Innocence Project lawyers saying there’s new evidence proving his innocence.
This evidence includes a burglary that took place right across the street around the time Laci Peterson vanished on Christmas Eve 2002, as well as a van fire that happened on Christmas Day just one mile from the Petersons’ home in Modesto.
Retired Modesto fire investigator Bryan Spitulski, one of the first responders at the fire, gave the LA Innocence Project a declaration outlining his concerns about the van’s possible connection to Lacey’s disappearance after finding blood-like stains on a mattress in the back of the vehicle.
After testing the mattress for blood, Spitulski got a positive result, he told NewsNation.
Spitulski then cut a separate section of the mattress for testing, and gave it to the Department of Justice, which did not yield blood results.
He said he waited days, then weeks, then years for someone to tell him what happened with the investigation.
“Every time a documentary came on, I have these questions,” Spitulski said. “I had this van information, and nobody was ever interested at that time at what I had known… so it was very frustrating. But what do you do? I mean, you hope that the system works.”
When he stopped working for the city of Modesto, he was no longer able to get any information on the investigation.
Peterson’s next hearing is set for 9 a.m. April 16 via Zoom.