Amber Frey leaves the courthouse Wednesday after her second day of
testimony.
Wednesday, August 11, 2004 Posted: 8:52 PM EDT (0052 GMT)
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Amber Frey leaves the courthouse Wednesday after her second day of
testimony.
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REDWOOD CITY, California (CNN) -- The jury in Scott Peterson's murder trial heard hours of recorded conversations Wednesday between him and his one-time lover, Amber Frey, during which he declared they "could be wonderful together."
Frey, 29, began taping the calls December 30, 2002, at the request of Modesto police, whom she contacted after learning that not only was Peterson married, but also he was suspected in the slaying of his pregnant wife, Laci, around Christmas Eve.
On December 31, the day the Modesto community held a vigil for his missing wife, Peterson called and pretended he was celebrating New Year's in Paris, according to a tape played for jurors Tuesday. (Full story)
In a call the day before, played for jurors Wednesday, he told Frey, "I'll be in Paris tomorrow. I'm flying to Normandy right now and hopefully the phone will be better."
"I miss you," he added.
The sound quality of their phone calls was mostly poor, so that often they could not hear each other speak. Most of the comments on the tapes so far have been Frey's.
Frey testified Wednesday that the police wanted her to continue to play along with Peterson and not to let on that she knew he wasn't in Europe.
Frey, who testified for the first time Tuesday, sat among the spectators Wednesday while the jury heard more tapes. She was due to be back on the stand Thursday. She has not been cross-examined.
Frey's lawyer, Gloria Allred, told reporters after court adjourned for the day that it was apparent Peterson expected to have a life with Frey.
He spoke about trips they might take together and did not hide his admiration, Allred noted.
The Associated Press reported that in another call played Wednesday, this one from early on January 1, 2003, Frey asked him: "So what, do you want to be together with me?"
"Well, I mean, obviously ... I think that we, you know, would be wonderful together," Peterson responded. "You know, in my mind we could be wonderful together and I could ... I could care for you in any and every way. For the rest of our lives."
In a January 4 call played Wednesday, Frey told Peterson she and her sister got into a fight. Peterson replied, "Oh, sweetie, I'm so sorry."
"Can I tell you how amazing you are? I need a better vocabulary or book or thesaurus or something to find the right words to describe you."
In another call, he tried to use poetry to describe Frey: "I just started rambling, and there's a tear in my eye, and it's trickling."
Allred said she was struck by one piece of information that came out of Wednesday's session:
Peterson was heard saying on one of the tapes that he believed "The Shining" -- in which a crazed novelist tries to kill his wife with an ax -- was the best movie ever made.
Frey, a massage therapist, told the court Tuesday that Peterson told her a string of lies as their relationship progressed, including denying he was married.
Frey said that throughout their brief relationship, which began November 20, 2002, Peterson showed affection for her daughter, Ayianna, now 3. A single mother, Frey also has an infant and left the courtroom briefly Wednesday to feed the child.
In one tape played Wednesday, Peterson said he wanted to take Ayianna somewhere where there was snow.
Frey testified Tuesday that on December 16 a tearful Peterson acknowledged having lied about never being married. Peterson said he did so because he had lost his wife and it was too painful to talk about it, Frey told the court.
Peterson is charged with murder in the deaths of his pregnant wife and the couple's unborn son.
Laci Peterson disappeared on Christmas Eve. Her body and that of her unborn son washed up separately on the shores of San Francisco Bay in April 2003, not far from where Scott Peterson said he was fishing the day his wife disappeared.
He could face the death penalty if convicted.