Amber Frey

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).

Amber Dawn Frey Hernandez (born February 10, 1975) is an American woman who came to national prominence as a lover to, 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.

Contents

[edit] Relationship

Amber Frey had believed he was unmarried when the relationship began. On December 8, 2002 Scott Peterson had told her that he was a widower.[1] 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, California came packaged with a shipping invoice that listed a billing address in Modesto, California.[2] He had told her he lived in Sacramento, California. 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, Ms. Frey ran a computer search on Mr. Peterson's identity with the help of a friend. They were unable to determine which was him among several men with identical names. That evening she followed up with a telephone message for a police officer she knew named Richard Byrd to ask for his assistance.[3]

[edit] Investigation

The following day Amber Frey supplied information about Scott Peterson to Officer Byrd although she was not yet aware of Laci Peterson's disappearance. On December 29 he contacted Ms. Frey with the results of his investigation: Scott Peterson was a married man who lived in Modesto, California and his pregnant wife had been missing for a week.[4] According to a MSNBC summary from an interview with Matt Lauer that took place after the trial:

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.[5]

Ms. Frey cooperated with the formal investigation that followed and recorded her telephone calls with Mr. 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 on an unmarried and carefree man on a business trip in France. Although Ms. Frey found these developments upsetting and she 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.[6] 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.[7]

During the early days when Ms. Frey recorded their conversations Mr. Peterson mentioned newspapers occasionally, apparently in an effort to probe for information from her about whether she had seen the news reports of his wife's disappearance. By January 6 increasing media attention to the story made it impossible for Scott Peterson to continue that part of the charade and he admitted to Ms. Frey that he was Laci Peterson's husband. She probed for more information in hopes of obtaining a full confession.

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?[8]

On January 23, 2003 Ms. Frey underwent a voluntary polygraph test and provided hair samples to the police.[9]

[edit] Publicity

On January 15, 2003 the Modesto police confided to Laci Peterson's parents that her husband had been unfaithful. This gave her family a reason to suspect him and some disclosed their misgivings to reporters. A media hunt ensued for the identity of the other woman. Ms. Frey has always objected to descriptions of herself as Mr. Peterson's mistress, or to characterizations of herself as having had an affair, becauase she had believed Mr. Peterson was not married during the romance.

The press located her on January 24, 2003 and barraged her workplace with requests for interviews.[10] 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 Ms. Frey was not a suspect.[11] Despite her public announcement from a police department, Mr. 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 Ms. Frey's January 24 statement to the press, Laci Peterson's mother Mrs. Rocha contacted Ms. Frey to express gratitude for her assistance. Afterward Ms. 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.[12] She made no public response at that time because of her importance to the investigation, but later expressed her reaction as follows:

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.[13]

Shortly afterward Ms. Frey spoke to several lawyers Fresno, but none of them became her counsel. In April 2003 Ms. Frey obtained counsel with Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred, partially to end the publication of nude pictures and other unwelcome attention from the media.[14] According to a public statement the following month by Ms. Allred:

She [Ms. 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.[15]

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 in fact yet 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.[16] In December 2003 the National Enquirer ran a story about Ms. Frey's second pregnancy and claimed that it would prevent her from testifying at Scott Peterson's murder trial.[17]

[edit] Testimony

Ms. Frey was a key witness at the trial. The evidence she provided demonstrated that Scott Peterson had acted carefree while his wife was missing and that he had lied about his life continually. In addition to her testimony Ms. Frey had provided more than twenty hours of taped conversations.[18] 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.[19]

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.[20]

In January 2005, Frey published Witness: For the Prosecution of Scott Peterson, an autobiographical account of her involvement in the notorious case. After the announcement of Scott Peterson's guilty verdict she ended her media silence and gave many interviews, often accompanied by attorney Gloria Allred. Her book discusses her history with Peterson as well as details about her personal life.

Janel Moloney portrayed Frey in a television movie, Amber Frey: Witness for the Prosecution, broadcast on CBS May 25, 2005.

[edit] 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 for those four years. The DNA tests determined that the girl's father was in fact Fresno restaurant owner Christopher Funch. .[21] According to Frey's attorney, Gloria Allred, Frey did not intend to deceive Flores because she believed Flores was the girl's father

[edit] Later News

Amber Frey married Robert Hernandez in 2006. Hernandez is a California Department of Corrections Officer. She has not spoken to the Rocha family since the trial. She now owns a day spa in Fresno.[22]

[edit] References

  • Frey, Amber (2005). Witness: For the Prosecution of Scott Peterson. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-079925-0. 
  1. ^ Witness, p. 20.
  2. ^ PP. 39-40.
  3. ^ P. 43.
  4. ^ P. 45.
  5. ^ Dateline NBC interview, Jan. 4, 2005[1]. (retrieved Mar. 17, 2007)
  6. ^ Dateline NBC interview, Jan. 4, 2005[2]. (retrieved Mar. 17, 2007)
  7. ^ Dateline NBC interview, Jan. 4, 2005[3]. (retrieved Mar. 17, 2007)
  8. ^ Dateline NBC interview, Jan. 4, 2005[4]. (retrieved Mar. 17, 2007)
  9. ^ P. 132.
  10. ^ P. 134.
  11. ^ PP. 134-138.
  12. ^ P. 157.
  13. ^ Dateline NBC Interview, Jan. 4, 2005.[5] (retrieved Mar. 17, 2007)
  14. ^ PP. 166-167.
  15. ^ P. 167.
  16. ^ Fox Reno, "Amber Frey Files Lawsuit Over Nude Photos", October 22, 2003.[6] (retrieved March 17, 2007)
  17. ^ P. 175.
  18. ^ P. 192.
  19. ^ Dateline NBC Interview, Jan. 4, 2005.[7] (retrieved Mar. 17, 2007)
  20. ^ Dateline NBC Interview, Jan. 4, 2005.[8] (retrieved Mar. 17, 2007)
  21. ^ ABC Local, "Amber Frey in Court Over Daughter's Paternity", Sep. 19, 2005.[9] (retrieved Mar. 17, 2007)
  22. ^ ABC News "Where is Amber Frey Today?" Feb. 17, 2007.[10] (retrieved Mar. 17, 2007)

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../a/m/b/Amber_Frey_829c.html"