Sources: Tape Around Neck of Peterson Baby

May 29, 2003 -- A piece of nylon tape was looped around the neck of Laci Peterson's fetus when it washed up on a San Francisco Bay beach, and there was a laceration or tear on the tiny body, sources close to the investigation told ABCNEWS.

There also was tape on Laci Peterson's lower torso, outside her clothing, when her body was found April 14, a day after her baby's remains were recovered, the sources said.

Grisly new details emerging about the condition of the bodies could fuel speculation as to whether the baby ever lived outside the womb, which defense attorneys could use to undermine the prosecution's case against Scott Peterson, Laci's husband and the father of the child they had planned to name Conner.

The autopsy results have been sealed, but prosecutors said that, given media leaks, they will now file a motion removing their opposition to having the reports made public.

"Evidence in this case should be presented in court through the testimony of witnesses and not selectively leaked to the news mediaby unknown persons whom the press will not identify," Stanislaus County, Calif., District Attorney James Brazelton said in a statement.

Does This Hurt or Help the Cult Theory?

Laci Peterson, 27, of Modesto, Calif., was eight months pregnant when her husband reported her missing on Dec. 24. Scott Peterson, 30, was arrested April 18 and is being held without bail on two counts of murder. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

Peterson has acknowledged he was having an affair with a massage therapist, but he insists he never hurt his wife or the baby. His attorneys have suggested the pregnant woman may have been kidnapped and killed by a satanic cult. If there was evidence that the baby might have been born, that could be used to support the theory.

But investigators do not believe Laci was killed by a satanic cult, or that her baby ever lived on its own. "The autopsy in its entirety would not leave as much room for speculation," one source told ABCNEWS.

Sources said the tape found with the fetus's body resembled audio or video tape, rather than sticky tape, and there were knots in it. It was unclear how it got there, or whether the laceration on the body was made deliberately. Some sources pointed out that the bodies had been floating in San Francisco Bay, and could have come into contact with garbage there.

The fetus's body was in relatively good condition, compared to Laci's, and appeared to have been protected from the elements for a considerable time, sources said. Since the mother's womb was intact, authorities concluded the unborn infant was protected inside her for several weeks before it was separated from her body.

However, a defense source said the tape was tied around the baby's neck, the cut on the body appeared to have been made intentionally and the condition of the fetus was not consistent with a so-called coffin birth, in which a fetus is expelled from the body of a woman who died while pregnant.

‘Intended Victim’

While the defense and prosecution dispute what the latest revelations might mean, experts also appear divided.

When asked what the tape on the bodies might mean to the case, Robert Pugsley, a law professor at the Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles, told ABCNEWS Radio: "This 8-month-old fetus was the direct intended victim, as well as the mother, of the homicidal activities of the murderer.

"This is a clear indication that the state is perfectly justified — indeed, I think, obliged — to pursue the double-homicide case which they've already laid," he said.

But Dr. Robert Goldberg, a forensic pathologist in Marietta, Ga., said there are a lot of unanswered questions involving the tape, making it too early to tell if it means the baby was killed, or who the killer is.

"It could have been picked up as some artifact in the water," Goldberg said. "The child could have been dead before this occurred, and this could just be a connection to keep the child weighted down."

Royal Oakes, a Los Angeles-based attorney, told ABCNEWS the tape revelation also presents possibilities for the defense.

"A defense attorney's strategy, faced with this kind of bizarre evidence, is essentially going to be, 'What does this have to do with my client? What evidence is there that Scott Peterson did these things?' "

ABCNEWS' Chris Vlasto and Mike Gudgell contributed to this report.