Blue Tarp from large shed

Collected on: December 27, 2002

Collected by: Detective Rudy Skultety, Crime Scene Manager

Item No.: 41 

Reason:  Suspected of being used to conceal Laci's body

Media Reports: 

Received by:  California Department of Justice crime laboratory, Ripon, CA

Received on:  December 30, 2003

Case No:  CV-02-010941

Request No: 01

Tested by:  Pin Kyo

Tested on:  January 9, 2003

Bates No. for Report:

Results: Negative

In his Closing Argument, Rick Distaso said Scott wrapped Laci in this blue tarp when he removed her from the house to the pickup.

The defendant strangled or smothered Laci Peterson the night of February, January, December 23rd, or in the morning while she was getting dressed on the 24th. . . . When he was ready to leave the house, he wrapped her up in that blue tarp.

The blue tarp was collected as evidence during the search warrant executed on December 27, 2002.  It was in the pickup on the night of the 24th.  On the 27th, the 68"x91" blue tarp was found by Detective Ray Coyle, folded up in the large shed housing home garden fertilizers (People's 1M, Defense 6L-5).

The cadaver dog had difficulty with the shed where the tarp was found, and Scott was suspected of intentionally contaminating it with home fertilizer in order to destroy trace evidence. 

Eloise Anderson used her cadaver dog Twist to examine the shed the tarp was found in.  This is the summary of her testimony, as given in the Pre-Trial hearings on February 25, 2004.

Pin Kyo did the analysis and testing.  Her pictures are People's 240 A and the detail of the tarp is Defense 6M-5.  She described the blue tarp as having a mildew smell and observed sawdust, dirt, and pollen, like a part of flowers, and greenish stain which she concluded was a grass stain.  She also found two long blond hairs, some shorter hairs that were possibly animal hairs, and fibers (Kyo).  The tarp had two stains which tested negative for blood.  She also confirmed that the tarp had no tissue or other trace evidence (Kyo). She sent the hairs to criminalist Rodney Oswalt for examination (Kyo), but Oswalt did not report on the tests in his testimony.  Kyo said nothing about any indication that the tarp had been contaminated or any trace evidence damaged or destroyed by being in the shed with home garden fertilizer products.

Had the blue tarp been used to wrap Laci's dead body for transport, it would have been laden with trace evidence, especially if Laci had already been dead for 12 hours or so.  But, the tests performed by Kyo found no trace evidence whatsoever, and Kyo offered no expert testimony that its presence in the shed would have removed such trace evidence.  The State of California provided no expert witness to make such a claim.  Twist obviously was alerting to the chemicals in the shed, not to any scent from Laci, for if there had been scent on the tarp, there would have been trace evidence.