American Murder: Laci Peterson overlooks an important detail about the boat

“American Murder” from Netflix: Laci Peterson delves once again into the infamous true crime case, but one detail of the investigation is left out – and it has to do with the boat.

For those who don't know, Laci was reported missing by her husband, Scott Peterson, on Christmas Eve 2002. She was 27 years old at the time and eight months pregnant with her first child, Conner.

What followed was a media storm and a nationwide manhunt. Investigators now turned their attention to the main suspect, Scott.

During their investigation, many details came to light, including that Scott had secretly purchased a boat and a fishing license in the days before Laci's disappearance.

Netflix

Scott bought a boat and a fishing license prior to Laci's disappearance

On the day she disappeared, he was about 90 miles from her home in California by boat.

A few months later, the remains of Laci and Conner washed ashore just a few miles from where Scott had been fishing that Christmas Eve, leading to his arrest and conviction for the murders.

While Netflix's new docuseries explores the various details that led to his arrest, speaking directly to officers involved in the case as well as Scott and Laci's families, American Murder does not address the mysterious anchors discussed in the 2004 trial.

According to the autopsy, Laci's body appeared to have been pressed to the ocean floor with weights before breaking apart and washing ashore. Detectives searching Scott's warehouse, which he maintained for his job as a fertilizer salesman, discovered a homemade concrete weight.

Superior Court of California/San Mateo County

They also said they found cement residue on various items, including a pair of shoes, his truck and the wooden bed of a boat trailer, which had five circular areas with less dust.

During the trial, prosecutors argued that Scott made five cement anchors and used four of them to weigh down Laci's body.

The fact that this was not addressed in “American Murder” may be because it was never verified – and no additional anchors were ever found.

The defense team argued that Scott simply made a weight to anchor his boat and used the rest of the cement bag to repair his driveway.

Numerous contradictory statements followed – for example, prosecution witness Robert O'Neill, president of Micro-Chem Laboratories, testified that the cement from the driveway was different from that used for the anchor because it contained gravel-like stones.

However, concrete expert Steven Gabler disagreed, and defense attorney Mark Geragos said the bricks were already on the driveway when Scott poured the cement on them, causing mixing.

Despite the prosecution's compelling arguments, the mystery surrounding the anchors remains one of the many unclear details of this polarizing case.