Why We Were Infatuated With the Peterson Case

Nov. 22, 2004 — -- There was no doubt that the crowd outside the courthouse in Redwood City, Calif., approved of the verdict in Scott Peterson's murder trial.

When jurors convicted Peterson of first-degree murder in the slaying of his pregnant wife, Laci, and second-degree murder in the death of the unborn son they had named Conner, people outside the courthouse erupted in cheers. Some cried with joy and hugged bystanders. Others mugged for the cameras with newspapers that already had the headline "Guilty!" atop a photo of Peterson. Some pumped their fists in the air.

A verdict had not inspired this kind of public emotion since O.J. Simpson's acquittal in 1995 for the slayings of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. So why were people who did not even know Laci or Scott Peterson obsessed with the case and celebrating as if they had won a lottery?

"People are interested in stories of gravity, news that involves the interests of the community as a whole," said Robert Thompson, founding director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University. "They're interested in issues like healthcare and the economy."

"But Scott Peterson was not the kind of story that changes national public policy," Thompson continued. "Usually, for a story to attract the public's attention, it must have one of four dramatic elements: If a celebrity is involved; if a child is murdered; if there's some kind of sex scandal or if there's a betrayal of family. The Peterson case has three out of those four elements."

The Peterson case first generated headlines during the 2002 Christmas season, which tends to be a slow news period.

Maybe the public couldn't stop staring at the photos of a vibrant, smiling Laci. Maybe it was the fact that she was pregnant when she disappeared on Christmas Eve, a time for families and togetherness. Perhaps some people saw the Peterson case as the ultimate combination of tragedies -- the loss of young lives, hopes and dreams, and the betrayal of a husband who had a mistress whom he called even as volunteers searched for his wife.