Scott Peterson's sister speaks out

Matt Lauer: The first day Scott gets there you all have dinner together, the three of you, Tim, your husband, you and Scott. What do you remember about that dinner?

Anne Bird: You know, we had a lot of wine. And...

Lauer: Two bottles between the three of you, I think.

Bird: Two bottles of wine, yes.

The truth is, they were all a little stressed out. Scott Peterson, under suspicion in the disappearance of his wife, Laci, tried to escape the spotlight by staying 85 miles from Modesto at the home of his sister, Anne Bird.

Lauer: And what was Scott's demeanor at that dinner.

Bird: You know, he didn't bring up Laci's name. He stayed away from the entire topic.

Lauer: She's been missing for three weeks. There are vigils all over the place. And he never brings up her name at dinner?

Bird: No.

Lauer: What did you think about that?

Bird: I thought that maybe this is a man who was so traumatized that, you know, maybe he can't show emotion in front of us.

Lauer: As the wine continued to flow did he open up at all? Did he seem more emotional?

Bird: No, no, he seemed to be enjoying himself.

In her book, "blood Brother," Anne recounts how that dinner set a tone in her household. Even as the evidence mounted, Anne continued to believe in her brother, Scott. But almost immediately, her husband, Tim, had doubts.

Lauer: Here's how you put it in the book:

“'I don't know,' Tim said. 'I sort of expected him to be more screwed up over this. He seemed fine at dinner.' 

'He was making an effort to be sociable,' I said. 'It didn't look like it took too much effort.'

'It was the wine then,' I snapped unable to keep the anger from my voice. And so it began, the big sister making excuses for her little.

Bird: You know, it was too hard for me to comprehend that someone who is as courteous, as kind as he is, would kill his wife and unborn child. It is just something that is so incomprehensible.

But Anne was seeing Scott up close at a time when he was avoiding the news media and the police. She was getting insights no one else had.  She says that while police and volunteers searched for Laci, Scott just sat in her living room and watched TV.

Lauer: Did you ever, you know, on a quiet evening or in a morning, pull up a chair next to him and say, "Scott, what do you think happened to Laci?"

Bird: Well, I asked often. And, you know, I asked, "What leads do the police have?" And he was almost dismissive, you know, that that, you know, was not of interest to him.    

Scott may have seemed indifferent to the search for Laci, but Anne says he seemed anything but indifferent to her babysitter, an attractive young woman whom she calls by a pseudonym, Lorraine.

Bird: It was a little bit awkward. He was acting like a bachelor, you know, very interested in her.

Lauer: So, his wife's missing. And now he's — would it be a stretch to say he's flirting with the baby sitter?

Bird: Not at all, I would say he was definitely flirting with our babysitter.

Anne didn't know it at the time, but Scott was also flirting by phone with his girlfriend in Fresno, Amber Frey. And some of those calls originated from Anne's house.

Bird: When I first saw Fresno on our phone bill, I asked my husband, "Who are you calling in Fresno?" And he said, "Well, I, you know, probably have some business contact down there, or something like this." So, we just ignored it.

But they couldn't ignore the news that broke on January 24, a month after Laci disappeared, when Amber Frey went public about her relationship with Scott.

Bird: He was in our living room. And I said, "You know, what happened? And did you have an affair? And why?" And he said he did. And I said, "Did Laci know?" And he said, "Yes." And he said, "She was fine with it." And then I --

Lauer: Let me stop you. You're a sister. And you're a woman. Didn't that sound strange to you?

Bird: Yes.

Lauer: That his pregnant wife knew about it and was fine with it?

Bird: Yes. I said, "Really?" And he said, "Well, she was upset for a day. And then she got over it." Which I have always known to this day that that was a lie.

Amber Frey's appearance was a turning point in the case and a flashpoint in Anne Bird's own marriage.

Lauer: What did Tim, your husband, think when he heard about Amber Frey?

Bird: Well, he was livid. And he said that Scott can no longer stay in our house. That he's no longer welcome. And he was really upset that he did this to Laci. And he was upset with me for not being more upset about it.

You see, against all odds, Anne still believed Scott was not involved in Laci's disappearance. Her belief was based in part on the rock-solid faith of their mother, Jackie.

Bird: She said that all Amber Frey proved was that Scott had an affair. He didn't kill his wife. And so I, you know, got that affirmation again not to doubt Scott.

Lauer: So, no matter what Jackie was the great defending mom?

Bird: Yes.

Anne's loyalties were torn -- her brother and mother, or her husband? Anne tried to split the difference, giving Scott the key to a mountain cabin her adoptive parents owned, hoping to give Scott a safe haven, but not under the same roof as her husband. After that, Scott visited less often, but when he did, he still made disturbing statements, which Anne is only revealing now.

Lauer: At one point, you're in your house and he turns his attention to the TV and starts to shake his head, and he says this, "They're looking in the wrong places," he said.

Bird: Right.

Lauer: And you said, "Who?" He said, "The police, everyone." Now, you write in the book, a normal response would've been to ask him where they should be looking.

Bird: Right.

Lauer: But you didn't ask him that.

Bird: I didn't ask him that. I just didn't want to cast the judgment on him.

On March 5, ten weeks after Laci's disappearance, police changed the status of the case from missing person to homicide. That same month, Scott changed his appearance, bleaching his hair and his new goatee.

Bird: He said that he was in Mammoth skiing, I believe with some family members. And he said that he swam in the pool and that the pool chlorinated his hair and his facial hair.

Lauer: I don't know if this is your natural hair color. But I mean, did that seem a bit far-fetched to you?

Bird: I would be swimming in that pool. You know, I knew immediately that that was a lie.

And Scott continued his infatuation with Lorraine the babysitter, something Anne has never talked about before. In late March, Scott came to Anne's house and mixed Lorraine a cocktail he called a "flirtini."

Bird: It was such an odd situation, you know. Here he is, you know, kind of a person on television every single night who has a missing wife. And he's walking around our living room handing out flirtinis.

Lauer: And hitting on the babysitter.

Bird: And hitting on our babysitter.

Lauer: As if he's single.

Bird: As if he's single. Yeah.

It would have been comical if it weren't so deadly serious. On April 13, the body of a full-term baby washed ashore in San Francisco Bay. A day later, the badly decomposed body of a woman was found nearby. It was Laci Peterson and the little boy she had planned to name Conner.

Lauer: They were found about two miles from your home. Correct?

Bird: Yeah.

Lauer: Two miles from that room where he would sleep when he was your houseguest, overlooking the bay.

Bird: I know. In the same bay that he was saying, "You're wasting your time," in looking there.

Lauer: Did you think he was guilty then?

Bird: You know, a part of me, I think, did. A part of me was kind of getting it. But I still, you know, tried to keep a wall up.

But four days later, Scott was under arrest and soon Anne would face the facts -- not only that he could have done it, but that she might know how and why.

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