The Double Life of Scott Peterson

On New Year's Eve 2002, a 27-year-old massage therapist named Amber Fry sat at a party in Fresno when her phone rang. The man on the other end told her he was in Paris, standing near the Eiffel Tower. In reality, he was three blocks from his own front door in Modesto, California, standing among a thousand people holding candles and photographs of his missing wife—eight months pregnant with his first child. Amber already knew the truth. She was holding a tape recorder given to her by police, and she was recording every word.

How Amber Fry Uncovered Scott's Double Life

Scott Peterson met Amber Fry on a blind date on November 20, 2002. He told her he was single, a fertilizer salesman who traveled the world, and that he lived alone in a Sacramento house built in the 1940s. Over the next several weeks, he met her two-year-old daughter, picked the little girl up from preschool, took them both to choose a Christmas tree, and told Amber he was looking for his life partner.

Amber's friend Sean Sibley, who set up the date, discovered Scott was married on December 6th—two days before Lacey Peterson would disappear. When Sean confronted him, Scott broke down crying and said he had "lost his wife" and that it had been very hard for him. He begged Sean not to tell Amber, promising to explain in person. Lacey Peterson was still alive at this point.