Laci Peterson life insurance goes to mother

Judge: Scott Peterson shouldn’t get $250,000 from policy on murdered wife

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updated 8:55 p.m. ET Oct. 21, 2005

FRESNO, Calif. - A judge ruled Friday that proceeds from a $250,000 life insurance policy Scott Peterson took out on his wife, Laci, will go to her mother instead.

Because Scott Peterson was convicted of killing his pregnant wife, Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Roger Beauchesne said he is not entitled to collect the benefits of her life insurance policy. Under state law, criminals cannot profit from their crimes.

The judge said the money should go to the executor of Laci Peterson’s estate, her mother, Sharon Rocha.

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Neither Rocha, who had petitioned the court, nor Scott Peterson’s attorney could be reached for comment Friday.

Scott Peterson was sentenced to death earlier this year for killing his wife and their unborn son. Their bodies were found on the shore of San Francisco Bay months after her December 2002 disappearance.

A $25 million wrongful death lawsuit filed against Scott Peterson by Laci Peterson’s family is set for trial in April.