“I’m not particularly interested in looking at stories that are very black and white,” says Skye Borgman. The award-winning director (Girl in picture, Kidnapped in front of everyone) has earned a reputation for exploring the nuances of harrowing true crimes that are anything but simple. “I like to look at stories with different layers and not necessarily give answers to things, but present a nuanced and flawed perspective,” she says.
Borgman’s latest documentary series American Nightmare: Laci Peterson applies this unbiased look to one of the most high-profile cases of the early 2000s. On December 24, 2002, Laci Peterson disappeared from her home in Modesto, California. She was eight months pregnant at the time. Her husband, Scott Peterson, reported her missing, claiming he had gone fishing at the Berkeley Marina that morning – Scott said when he returned home, Laci was gone. In the months that followed, a massive search effort was launched, involving countless volunteers, a headline-hungry media circus, and law enforcement growing increasingly skeptical of Scott’s claims.
Tragically, Conner Peterson’s body was found on April 13, 2003, and Laci’s remains were found nearby the next day. Both were discovered in San Francisco Bay – less than two miles from the marina. Scott Peterson was arrested five days later and charged with two counts of first-degree murder. On November 12, 2004, Peterson was found guilty of first-degree murder of Laci and first-degree murder of Conner. Scott Peterson was sentenced to death in 2005, but in 2020, the California Supreme Court overturned his death sentence, citing errors in jury selection. The court let Peterson’s conviction stand and sentenced him to life in prison without parole.
And whether you don’t know Peterson’s story or have followed it, American Murder: Laci Peterson represents a sober re-examination of the case.
“Crime has all these different facets of human nature,” says Borgman. “That’s what really fascinates me about some of these stories – the opportunity to paint this picture with all the different shades we have in our box of crayons.” Here, documentarian Tudum shares how she worked with friends and family of Laci and Scott to create a series that allowed both sides to share their truths.
How has your interest in the disappearance of Laci Peterson developed over the years?
Back in the early 2000s, I was very interested in it and followed it pretty closely, but then it kind of faded away. I didn’t hear that much about Scott and Laci anymore. I think it started to kind of float around and infiltrate the news in the last two or three years – I saw things about callings for Scott, and that’s when I started paying attention again. Then when the opportunity came up to do this series, I started looking around and diving a little deeper into researching it.
The number of true crimes increases every year. What elements of a case make you want to explore it artistically?
I’ve always been fascinated by women’s issues. Women’s issues can spill over into men’s issues, but women’s issues are always very important to me. I also like multi-layered stories. I’m not particularly interested in looking at stories that are very black and white. I don’t know if those stories really exist – I always think there’s a story that takes a story to a certain place or something that’s not being told.
There are so many series and documentaries about the Laci Peterson case. How did you think about positioning your work in this larger context?
You know, I honestly don’t worry about how mine compares to other documentaries out there. I’m really looking for… something that captivates me. I want to find the story and find out what speaks to me about it. In this particular case, I feel like Laci, and to some extent Conner, have been overshadowed by a lot of the stories that exist, and I really wanted Laci to be at the forefront of this story.
How do you get people to talk in depth about some of the most difficult events in their lives?
I’m always honest with participants. I never want to promise one thing and then deliver on something else because I think that’s the exact opposite of what I’m trying to do with my work. I also feel like my approach to documentaries is to really hear all the facts from all the different sides and get those facts out there. I never try to do “gotcha” interviews. I always try to make it clear what would be good about telling their side of the story, how that will impact the documentary, and how it fits into the plot. So I’ve talked to potential participants about what their participation means to the story.
There’s a moment in the docuseries where Laci’s mother, Sharon Rocha, stops mid-talk and seems overwhelmed with emotion. When something like that happens, what’s the sequence between those pauses and the next shot?
It’s always different and it happens a lot. It’s a lot of times that people just need a break. Usually when people need a break or need space, I find that the emotions are just there and kind of overwhelm them. They need to do something to feel centered again and so I just give them the space to do that. With Sharon in particular, I wanted her to feel comfortable sitting in the chair and listening to what she was telling us. What ended up happening that day was that she spaced out and we took a 20 or 30 minute break. We talked to her for a little bit and then she was ready to come back and tell the rest of her story.
Did you originally plan to include Scott Peterson in the series?
It’s interesting because I wasn’t sure if we wanted Scott in it or not. We definitely reached out to him and communicated with him. He ultimately decided not to be in the documentary, but I always asked, “Do we want his voice? Do we not want his voice?” And when he decided not to be in it was not a huge blow to us in any way. I was perfectly fine with it.
The series mentions that a number of women have been able to escape the cycle of domestic violence because they learned what happened to Laci Peterson. As true crime becomes more popular, there is a tension between the potential harm of engaging with these stories and the potential benefit of continuing to share them. What do you think about the pros and cons of telling stories like Laci’s?
Gloria Gomez talks in the film about the media circus and our role in it. That’s my role, too. It’s your role to do that interview and tell those stories. I think it’s always a question of calibration, and I think it’s always about not tipping the scales to the point where it becomes unethical or a Wild West-type approach, but looking at things journalistically and putting journalism at the forefront when we tell these stories by being honest with the facts and those involved – and to some extent, ourselves. Laci Peterson’s story is incredibly relevant to today’s audiences because this happens over and over again. It’s a very, very detailed, evidence-based look at how Laci Peterson disappeared and how Scott Peterson was convicted.
While filming this piece, I realized that it’s really a documentary about family. There are so many different facets of what a family looks like and what a family is, what a family goes through and what a family believes in – from Laci’s family and how they reacted and responded, how they healed and dealt with the trauma, to Scott’s family and how they reacted and how they healed and dealt with that trauma and the breakup of the Peterson family. You can look at families and they have the very best and the very worst. I think ultimately this series is a three-part documentary that really explores what a family can and cannot be.
What do you hope to achieve from the audience? American Murder: Laci Peterson?
There’s this statistic that shocks me every time I hear it: murder is the leading cause of death among pregnant women. Every time I tell people that, they tell me there’s no way that can be true, but it is true. And I think we can forget about that. Intimate partner violence is something that is really overwhelming. I want people to walk away from that and think about it more deeply.
Regard American Murder: Laci Peterson now on Netflix.
