A new player has emerged in the long saga of convicted wife killer Scott Peterson — the Los Angeles Innocence Project.

The pro bono legal organization has taken up Peterson’s case and “is investigating his claim of actual innocence,” according to a statement provided by a spokesperson Friday.

Peterson was convicted in November 2004 of killing his wife Laci and their unborn son.

Laci Peterson. (Wikipedia)

Prosecutors said Peterson was having an affair when he killed his wife in Modesto and used his boat to dispose of her body in the San Francisco Bay.

The crime and trial attracted widespread international media attention and continues to draw interest as Peterson, who maintains his innocence, has initiated several legal challenges to his conviction.

Initially sentenced to death, Peterson successfully contested that penalty and was eventually re-sentenced to life in prison after the California Supreme Court sent his case back to Superior Court in 2020.

The justices unanimously found that the trial judge excluded jurors who were personally opposed to the death penalty without first determining if they would still follow the law as the judge instructed.

Peterson’s lawyer Pat Harris said he welcomed the involvement of the L.A. Innocence Project.

“We are very excited to have the incredibly talented attorneys at the L.A. Innocence Project lending their considerable expertise to helping prove Scott Peterson’s innocence,” Harris said in an email Friday.

Kiley Russell writes primarily for Local News Matters on issues related to equity and the environment. A Bay Area native, he has lived most of his life in Oakland. He studied journalism at San Francisco State University, worked for the Associated Press and the former Contra Costa Times, among other outlets. He has covered everything from state legislatures, local governments, federal and state courts, crime, growth and development, political campaigns of various stripes, wildfires and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.