Amber Frey

Amber Dawn Frey Hernandez (born February 10, 1975) is an American woman who came to national prominence as the girlfriend of, and later as a prosecution witness against, Scott Peterson during the well-publicized investigation into the disappearance of his wife Laci Peterson in California. Scott Peterson was convicted of his wife's murder and is currently sitting on death row. She resides in the city of Fresno, California.

Relationship

Amber Frey claims that she had believed Scott Peterson was unmarried when she began a relationship as his lover the day they met. On December 9, 2002 Scott Peterson had told her that he was a widower. [Witness, p. 20.] Over the next few weeks, she noticed inconsistencies in his descriptions of his life, particularly when a Christmas present shipped to her residence in Fresno came packaged with a shipping invoice that listed a billing address in Modesto, California. [PP. 39-40.] Peterson had told her he lived in Sacramento. She also grew suspicious about his tendency to telephone her from his bathroom while water was running. On December 26, before Amber Frey knew of Laci Peterson's disappearance, she and a friend ran a computer search on Mr. Peterson but turned up several men with the same name. That evening, she followed up with a telephone message asking for assistance from a police officer acquaintance named Richard Byrd. [P. 43.]

Investigation

The next day, Frey supplied information about Scott Peterson to Officer Byrd, although she was still unaware of Laci Peterson's disappearance. On December 29, Byrd contacted her with the results of his investigation: Scott Peterson was a married man who lived in Modesto, and his pregnant wife had been missing for a week. [P. 45.] According to an MSNBC summary from a post-trial interview with Matt Lauer:

:"Amber was beginning to realize she might be the key to investigating Scott Peterson. Remember, at this point, December 29, there were suspicions about Scott but no concrete reason not to believe his story that Laci disappeared near their home, while he was away on a fishing trip. No one knew about Amber Frey, least of all Laci's family, who continued to make very public expressions of their trust in Scott and his love for Laci." ["Dateline NBC" interview, Jan. 4, 2005 [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6786634/] . (retrieved Mar. 17, 2007)]

Frey cooperated with the formal investigation that followed and recorded her telephone calls with Peterson. During those conversations, she pretended to be unaware of the growing publicity that surrounded Laci's disappearance while he contacted her repeatedly, pretending to be an unmarried and carefree man on a business trip in France. Although Frey found these developments upsetting and feared for the safety of herself and her daughter, she also considered herself fortunate to be able to help solve the mystery of what had caused Laci Peterson's disappearance. "I was thankful there was me. Because if there wasn't me, then people wouldn't see, I guess the real Scott, the Scott that nobody knew about." ["Dateline NBC" interview, Jan. 4, 2005 [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6786634/] . (retrieved Mar. 17, 2007)] Also from the Lauer interview:

:Matt Lauer: "You were listening to him say things like, I'm at the Eiffel Tower. The celebration's unreal. By this time you knew there was a vigil that night for Laci Peterson. Are you thinking, I'm dealing with a sociopath here."

:Amber Frey: "I was very much afraid." ["Dateline NBC" interview, Jan. 4, 2005 [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6786634/] . (retrieved Mar. 17, 2007)]

During the early days, as Frey recorded their conversations, Peterson occasionally mentioned newspapers, apparently in an effort to learn whether she had seen the news reports of his wife's disappearance. By January 6, increasing media attention made it impossible for Scott Peterson to continue the charade, and he admitted to Frey that he was Laci Peterson's husband. She probed for more information in hopes of obtaining a full confession. [ [http://www.courttv.com/trials/peterson/docs/wiretaps.html Transcripts of Amber Frey's phone calls with Scott Peterson] ] [ [http://www.crimenews2000.com/lacipeterson Laci Peterson Case Information] ]

:Scott Peterson: "Amber, are you asking if I had something to do with this?"

:Amber Frey: "You never told me you haven't."

:Scott Peterson: "Yes, I have. I had nothing to do with this. You know that."

:Amber Frey: "How am I supposed to know that when I didn't even know you were currently married, you have a child on the way, how was I supposed to know?" ["Dateline NBC" interview, Jan. 4, 2005 [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6786634/] . (retrieved Mar. 17, 2007)]

On January 23, 2003 Ms. Frey underwent a voluntary polygraph test and provided hair samples to the police. [P. 132.]

Publicity

On January 15, 2003, the Modesto police confided to Laci Peterson's family that her husband had been unfaithful. They also told the Rochas that Peterson claimed to have "lost" his wife and would be spending his first Christmas without her--15 days before Laci disappeared. It was the latter revelation that caused the Rochas to turn against Peterson. [cite book |title=For Laci |last=Rocha |first=Sharon |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=2006|publisher=Crown Publishers |location=New York City |isbn=030733282 |pages= ]

A media hunt for the identity of the other woman ensued. Frey has always objected to descriptions of herself as Peterson's "mistress," or to characterizations of herself as having had an affair, because she did not know Peterson was married.

The press located her on January 24, 2003 and besieged her workplace with requests for interviews. [P. 134.] She refused to answer the calls and left the premises under police escort. Later that day, the investigating detective advised her to make a public statement and she delivered a hasty announcement to the media that expressed her desire for privacy and her desire to protect the integrity of the investigation. The Fresno police conducted the remainder of the televised press conference and assured reporters that Frey was not a suspect. [PP. 134-138.] Despite her public announcement from a police department, Peterson continued to telephone her, and she continued to record the calls in the hope that he would reveal more information. Her last contact with him took place in April, 2003 on the day Laci Peterson's and Conner Peterson's bodies were found: Amber Frey e-mailed Scott Peterson to ask if these were the bodies of his wife and son. The message went unanswered. Shortly after Frey's January 24 statement to the press, Laci Peterson's mother, Sharon Rocha, contacted Ms. Frey to express gratitude for her assistance. Afterward Frey met the Rochas in person and befriended them.

On February 9, 2003, the "National Enquirer" published nude photographs of Ms. Frey that had been taken during her brief modeling career. [P. 157.] She made no public response at that time because of her importance to the investigation but later expressed her reaction:

:Amber Frey: "I was devastated that they were out there. It was very hurtful."

:Matt Lauer: "Did you want to explain to people why you took the photos? Do you think, uh-oh, I wonder if people are thinking the wrong thing about me now."

:Amber Frey: "No, more so why are people doing this to me when I'm here helping Laci and her family. I've done nothing wrong but have helped and cooperated." ["Dateline NBC" Interview, Jan. 4, 2005. [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6786735/] (retrieved Mar. 17, 2007)]

Shortly afterward, Frey spoke to several lawyers in Fresno, but none of them became her counsel. In April, 2003, Ms. Frey hired Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred, partially to end the publication of nude pictures and other unwelcome attention from the media. [PP. 166-167.] According to a public statement by Allred made the following month:

:"She [Frey] has been offered money for interviews and she has refused and will continue to refuse those offers. We are committed to protecting the integrity of the prosecution, and we will not allow her testimony to be contaminated by offers of money for her story." [ P. 167.]

Following the announcement of her link to the Laci Peterson case, Frey became embroiled in other tabloid-fueled scandals: Michelle Hart, the ex-wife of former boyfriend Josh Hart, came forward to say Frey had become her husband's lover when he was still married. Ms. Frey had a public feud with former close friend Saki Vincent after Vincent sold photos of Frey and Scott Peterson to "People" magazine. Ms. Frey's father, Ron Frey, was a frequent guest on television shows, at times accompanied by Amber's attorney, Gloria Allred. He would usually defend against accusations that besmirched the good name of his daughter by stating that she was another innocent victim of Scott Peterson's manipulation. In October, 2003, Ms. Frey filed a lawsuit against a pornography broker who had published nude photographs of her on his website. [Fox Reno, "Amber Frey Files Lawsuit Over Nude Photos", October 22, 2003. [http://www.foxreno.com/news/2573409/detail.html] (retrieved March 17, 2007)] [ [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1812725/ Amber Frey] at the Internet Movie Database]

On April 27th, 2004, Amber Frey gave birth to her second child, a son, Justin Dean Markovich, whose father is her then-boyfriend, David Markovich.

Testimony

Frey was a key witness at the Scott Peterson trial. The evidence she provided demonstrated that Peterson had acted in a carefree manner while his wife was missing and that he had continually lied about his life. In addition to her testimony, Frey had provided more than twenty hours of taped conversations. [P. 192.] MSNBC summarizes her importance to the case.

:"When Amber Frey took the witness stand [in August 2004] , Scott Peterson had already been on trial for two months. Many observers thought the prosecution was in trouble. There was very little physical evidence tying Scott to Laci's murder, just a lot of bits and pieces of circumstantial evidence that needed something to hold them together. Amber was the glue. Her testimony and her tape recordings showed Scott Peterson to be an adulterer, a compulsive liar, a man who seemed pathologically able to woo his girlfriend even as his wife was missing and feared dead." ["Dateline NBC" Interview, Jan. 4, 2005. [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6786735/] (retrieved Mar. 17, 2007)]

Gloria Allred evaluates Ms. Frey's significance this way: "I think that the statement that Scott made on those tape recorded telephone calls, that he acknowledged having said to Amber before Laci ever went missing, I lost my wife. And these will be the first holidays without her, that that was important, in terms of premeditation." ["Dateline NBC" Interview, Jan. 4, 2005. [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6786735/] (retrieved Mar. 17, 2007)]

In January, 2005, Frey published "Witness: For the Prosecution of Scott Peterson", an autobiographical account of her involvement in the notorious case. In her book, she says that her faith (she is a devout born-again Christian) helped sustain her through the ordeal, and also said that many people told her that she'd been Laci's voice during the trial.

After the announcement of Scott Peterson's guilty verdict, she ended her media silence and gave many interviews, often accompanied by attorney Allred. Her book discusses her history with Peterson as well as details about her personal life.

Janel Moloney portrayed Frey in a television movie, ', broadcast on CBS May 25, 2005, while Tracy Middendorf portrayed her in an earlier TV movie '.

Child support controversy

In September, 2005, it was determined through DNA testing that Anthony Flores was not the father of Frey's then 4-year-old daughter. He had been paying child support in the amount of US$175 per month since her birth. The DNA tests determined that the girl's father was in fact Fresno restaurant owner Christopher Funch. [ABC Local, "Amber Frey in Court Over Daughter's Paternity", Sep. 19, 2005. [http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=local&id=3454963] (retrieved Mar. 17, 2007)] According to Frey's attorney, Gloria Allred, Frey did not intend to deceive Flores because she believed Flores was the girl's father.

Later News

Amber Frey married Robert Hernandez, a California Department of Corrections officer, in 2006. In October 2008 Frey filed for divorce from her husband citing irreconcilable differences. She has not spoken to the Rocha family since the trial. She now owns a day spa in Fresno. ["ABC News" "Where is Amber Frey Today?" Feb. 17, 2007. [http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=2886468&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312] (retrieved Mar. 17, 2007)] [ [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,202278,00.html Amber Frey to Marry Neighbor] July 06, 2006]

Book

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References