Peterson's Alibi In Question

Laci Peterson's sister said Friday that Scott Peterson told her he had golf plans in Modesto on Christmas Eve, an admission that throws into question his story about fishing the day his wife vanished.

Amy Rocha, testifying on the third day of a hearing to determine if Scott Peterson will stand trial in his wife's death, said he told her about his golf plans as she cut his hair on Dec. 23.

"He said he was going to be out that way golfing," she testified. "I assumed all day."

But Scott Peterson said he took his boat to the Berkeley Marina the next day instead. The testimony cames as Stanislaus County prosecutors began laying a foundation for Laci Peterson's disappearance with words from the last people to see her alive.

Scott Peterson, a 31-year-old former fertilizer salesman, is charged with murdering his pregnant wife and the baby boy she was carrying.

The remains of his 27-year-old wife and the fetus were discovered in April on the shores of San Francisco Bay about three miles from where he said he was fishing.

Also on the witness stand Friday was Laci's mother, Sharon Rocha. She testified that Scott Peterson told her "Laci is missing" in a phone call at 5:17 p.m. on Christmas Eve.

Laci's mother said that the word "missing" scared her, reports CBS News Correspondent Manuel Gallegus.. She immediately went to the park near Laci's house to search for her, but she would never see her daughter again.

Sharon Rocha testified that up until Christmas Eve she had thought the world of her son in law.

The court heard from Scott's father, Lee, too. Taking the witness stand he announced, "I am proud to say Scott is my son."

He went on to testify that Scott called him sometime between noon and 2 p.m. Christmas Eve. That's the time Scott says he was fishing at the marina, but on the phone he never mentioned he was fishing. In fact, his father said he didn't even know Scott owned a boat.

Laci Peterson's sister testified Friday that Scott Peterson said he had golf plans on Christmas Eve, throwing into question his story about going fishing the day his pregnant wife vanished.

Amy Rocha, a hairdresser, said she cut Scott Peterson's hair Dec. 23 and that he had offered to pick up a gift basket for their grandfather near the country club where he was a member.

"He said he was going to be out that way golfing," she testified. "I assumed all day."

Peterson, 31, told police he last saw his wife about 9:30 a.m. on Christmas Eve as he left to go fishing near Berkeley. He told them he returned to Modesto late that afternoon, shortly before family members reported Laci Peterson missing about 6 p.m.

On the third day of a preliminary hearing to determine if Peterson will stand trial for the slaying of his 27-year-old wife and unborn son, prosecutors began laying the foundation for Laci Peterson's disappearance with testimony from the last people to see her alive.

Among them, Laci Peterson's mother, Sharon Rocha, told a jammed courtroom she thought "the world" of Scott Peterson before last Dec. 24.

She recalled Peterson calling at 5:17 p.m. on Christmas Eve to say her daughter was missing.

Laci's mother said that the word "missing" scared her, reports CBS News Correspondent Manuel Gallegus..

"I was getting really scared by then when he said 'missing.' He didn't say she wasn't home or he couldn't find her. He said 'missing."'

She immediately went to the park near Laci's house to search for her, but she would never see her daughter again.

She and others described a happy but weary-looking Laci Peterson who was "ecstatic" and looking forward to having her first child.

Housekeeper Margarita Nava said she cleaned the family's modest single-story house the day before the disappearance was reported. Nava said Laci Peterson seemed tired after shopping for groceries, but otherwise appeared much as she had the three previous times she cleaned the house.

"Like all the other days I had gone she was content," Nava said. "She looked happy."

Scott Peterson's father, Lee Peterson, also took the stand, saying, "I proudly say Scott's my son."

Peterson recalled talking with his son between noon and 2 p.m. on Christmas Eve. Asked by prosecutor Rick DiStaso if Scott Peterson said he was going fishing, he said no.

Lee Peterson said he didn't know his son owned a boat, but added it wasn't unusual for Scott Peterson not to tell him about major purchases, including a motorcycle and a pickup truck.

Also taking the stand was Modesto police Officer Jon Evers, who said Scott Peterson told his wife's stepfather, Ron Grantski, that he scrapped golf because it was too cold, heading instead to San Francisco Bay to fish.

Evers said Scott Peterson told police he cut short the fishing trip because he became chilled as it started to rain. "He couldn't say" what kind of fish he was angling for, Evers testified.

These are not exactly bombshell revelations so far against Scott Peterson, but they may raise suspicions. Prosecutors appear to be laying the foundation for Laci's disappearance by establishing a timeline of events.

The key witnesses in this case may come next week. That's when Scott's alleged mistress, Amber Frey, testifies about what he may have told her, and when the medical examiner likely reveals details on how Laci and her unborn son may have been killed.

The family members' testimony on Friday followed two days of technical DNA evidence linking Laci Peterson to a hair found on pliers in the boat Scott Peterson said he took fishing on Christmas Eve.

Defense lawyer Mark Geragos continued to fight Thursday to have the hair thrown out, attempting to cast doubt on the first piece of evidence, questioning an FBI expert about a type of DNA evidence that is not widely used in court, suggesting it was unreliable and based on faulty databases.

FBI lab supervisor Constance Fisher acknowledged that mitochondrial DNA, which can show links between a mother and child, is not an exact science, that a computer program used in the analysis had several glitches and that lab equipment routinely broke down.

But she said the problems didn't impair the results that showed a link between a hair in the pair of pliers in Scott Peterson's boat with a DNA swab from the mouth of Laci Peterson's mother, Sharon Rocha.

The analysis cannot show an identity match with the same level or reliability as so-called genetic fingerprinting DNA techniques usually introduced in court. The defense will present its own expert to rebut the testimony and question the DNA analysis next week.

"Although DNA testing is probably more reliable than ever," notes CBS News Legal Analyst Andrew Cohen, "the FBI certainly has had its share of problems over the past few years when it comes to ensuring the reliability and accuracy of test results. That's a theme that the Peterson defense has started with and it's obviously a theme that is going to be trotted out for jurors if there is a trial."

The defense strategy at this point, says Cohen, is to either have the hair found on the boat excluded from evidence, "which is a long shot, or have its reliability and accuracy so contested that jurors are at least willing to consider it as a neutral piece of evidence."