523 Covena

523 Covena, Modesto CA was the residence of Scott and Laci Peterson at the time Laci disappeared.  The house was searched the night of December 24, 2002, during 4 walkthroughs by officers from the Modesto Police Department (MPD), who immediately suspected Scott Peterson was responsible for Laci's disappearance.  A search warrant was executed on the residence on December 26 and 27, 2002.  A second search warrant was executed February 18 and 19, 2003. 

The State argued that Scott strangled or suffocated Laci on the bed in the master bedroom on the night of the 23rd or the morning of the 24th.

• Scott's Timeline

• Photos taken by the ID Tech, People's 1

• 2 mops and a mop bucket, collected

• 11 cleaning rags/towels, collected

• scrunched rug, observed as suspicious

• Berkeley Marina parking receipt

• flashlight incident

Detective Grogan asked for the first search warrant because there was no evidence of a crime on the night of December 24th, but the mops and mop bucket and the fact that Scott washed his clothes indicated a clean-up.  The 1st search warrant on 523 Covena was primarily to find evidence of a clean-up and to find the trace evidence that would have survived the clean-up. 

Birgit Fladager: Now you were aware, were you not, that police officers had in fact walked through the house on Christmas Eve that night?
Craig Grogan: Yes.
Birgit Fladager: And to your knowledge had they reported seeing any evidence of a crime scene that jumped out at them?
Craig Grogan: No.
Birgit Fladager: Now given that information, was that any reason to you why you should not still try and determine if there were a crime scene at the house?
Craig Grogan: That didn't mean that there wasn't something that we hadn't found. Certainly there was no forensic tests done at the house in a brief walk-through on the night before. There were issues about a mop being out and some mop water recently thrown out. The fact that the defendant washed his clothes apparently after the fishing trip that led us to believe that possibly a cleanup had taken place at the house and we needed to try to go back there and see if that was the case or not.
Birgit Fladager: If there's a cleanup is there some sort of testing that can be done by some particular agency that can help determine that?
Craig Grogan: Well, it depends on the agency. As I learned then, the Department of Justice Crime Lab will come out and they will, they will examine along floorboards and through the house very carefully and then test specific items that they see to see whether it is blood or not. The FBI had access to a substance that the Department of Justice does not use which, and that's called Luminol, and it's a substance that you can spray and if it is blood it is supposed to fluoresce. So we decided that we wanted to call the FBI and see if they would come and assist in a search of the house.

Detective Rudy Skultety was the crime scene manage for this search warrant.  He arrived on the 26th at 7:30 p.m.  Detective Rick House had already secured the residence. The officers were briefed prior to the search detailing the specific items sought under the search warrant.  The only objective on the 26th was to search for forensic evidence--signs of blood, a struggle, etc.  A clean-up was suspected, so the officers were instructed to search baseboards, creases, lower parts of furniture.  On the 27th, they conducted a complete search, looking for the items listed in the search warrant. 

The FBI assisted with their special blood-detecting equipment. All suspected blood stains were tested, all items that could have been used in a cleanup were collected as evidence, and a special vacuum cleaner was used to vacuum the area Scott had been seen vacuuming on the 25th.

Results:  No evidence of a clean-up or of trace evidence left behind.  This is a nearly complete list of items examined and/or collected during this first search warrant.  To see the complete set of Photographs taken, click here. 

• Search of the Master Bedroom

• 2-day fishing license, purchased 12/20/02

• brown stain on the kitchen floor near the trash can

• brownish-colored splatter on water heater door

• Clothes hamper in Master Bedroom

• Item 3, folding pocket knife

• Item 12A-B, pair of work boots

• Item 13A-B, pair of Tennis shoes

• Item 14, vacuum debris from living room/laundry area

• Item 26, contents of drawer in bathroom

• Item 26A, blue-black hairbrush (Laci's)

• Item 26B, wooden-handled hairbrush (Laci's)

• Item 27, upright Dirt Devil vacuum cleaner

• Item 28I, shotgun shells

• Item 29, Principal Financial Group binder

• Item 34, Verizon cell phone bills

• Item 35, unopened AT&T wireless bill

• Item 37A-B, 2 pairs Motherhood Maternity size Medium black stretch pants

• Item 41, Blue tarp from large shed

• Item 42B, Columbia brand fleece jacket, size extra large

• Item 43, Boat cover

• Item 44A-B, telephone answering machine & tape recording of its messages

• Item 45A-B, t-shirt and Columbia brand x-large fleece jacket

• Item 46, pair of men's blue jeans from the washing machine

• Item 47, samples of all carpets and area rugs

• Item 48, McKenzie’s leash

• 2-day fishing license for 2000

• Item 52, pair of men’s blue jeans from the armoire

• Item 53A-C, market umbrellas

• Item 53D, hair found on one of the market umbrellas

• Item 57, Duvet Cover (Comforter) from the bed in the Master Bedroom

• Conner’s last Sonogram

• Louis Vuitton purse

• Handwritten notes

• Jewelry

• Jewelry receipts

• Wall Calendar

• Yoga schedule

• 35 mm camera, including rolls of film

• Bag of cement

• Insurance card

• Diary

• Passports

• Laci's Social Security Card

• Compaq Armada laptop computer

• Dell Latitude laptop computer

Seeking another search warrant for the Covena home and storage shed, Lead Detective Grogan outlined his theory. 

• Laci's clothing