Amber Frey in hot seat

Peterson is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and faces the death penalty if convicted. Prosecutors contend he killed his wife to continue the tryst with Frey and dumped her body in San Francisco Bay.

Frey, the most anticipated witness in the sensational double-murder trial, drew more than 250 people hoping to nab a public seat in the courtroom. She spoke softly during her first day on the stand. Numerous times, Judge Al Delucchi asked her to speak up and courtroom spectators often craned their neck to hear. Frey has laid low since her relationship with Peterson surfaced and a gag order bars her from speaking out. Yesterday, she appeared in a simple black suit and flanked by attorney Gloria Allred. Before her client's testimony, Allred said Frey was nervous but prepared.

Her history and character - such as a previous affair with a married man - are expected by legal pundits to come under fire by defense attorney Mark Geragos during cross-examination. Yesterday, though, Geragos kept his objections to a minimum.

At the time Peterson wined and dined Frey, the woman had no idea of his life in Modesto. He wore no wedding ring and said many times he was unmarried. By his accounts, Peterson lived in Sacramento but had a warehouse in Modesto and a condo in San Diego. He traveled extensively for work and planned getaway vacations with his family for the holidays. Both explained, Frey said, why the relationship between the two often grew through phone calls in the weeks between their first Nov. 20, 2002 date and the weeks after his wife was reported missing Dec. 24.

Those phone calls will be a crux of Frey's testimony, particularly hundreds of hours audio-taped at the request of the Modesto police. Those tapes weren't played for the courtroom until late afternoon. Instead, prosecutor Dave Harris focused his questioning of Frey on the beginning of the relationship and her realization that Peterson was not quite who he said.

Frey met Peterson through Shawn Sibley, her best friend who encountered the Modesto fertilizer salesman at a conference in October 2002. Sibley, who has already taken the stand in the trial, said Peterson asked him to set him up with somebody because he was looking for a serious relationship.

The couple's first date began at the Elephant Bar in Fresno and ended with an overnight stay at the Radisson Hotel. Shortly after meeting for the first time, Frey accompanied Peterson back to the hotel room so he could change. He produced strawberries and a bottle of champagne - a hint of the romantic gestures Frey said filled their time together. At other times, Peterson wooed Frey with a homemade caramel apple, dozens of roses and personally cooked dinners. On Dec. 2, the couple took Frey's toddler daughter hiking and star-gazing. By Dec. 14, she considered him her boyfriend.

"He said that he wasn't seeing anybody else and he was monogamous," Frey recalled about asking Peterson how he would like to be introduced at a Christmas party.

By early December, though, Sibley discovered the truth from a coworker who knew of Peterson's marital status. When she confronted Peterson, he became upset and said he had "lost" his wife. With tears in his eyes, he told Frey the same tale Dec. 9.

Frey could "hear his stomach churning a little bit" as Peterson said his loss was just too painful to speak about. She thanked him for coming clean and he responded by calling her "amazing."

Frey wouldn't discover the extent of why Laci Peterson was "lost" until weeks later, after seeing a story about the missing pregnant woman on the news. After contacting Modesto police, she began taping the calls.

Even before the news spots, Frey said she had doubts. Her suspicions first piqued when Peterson gave her a post office box address, she said. Those concerns grew after Peterson claimed to be in Paris for New Year's Eve. Yet, she continued the relationship and even gave him a card before his alleged trip. "To my love, I'll be keeping you close to my heart. Love, Amber," she wrote in the card which also contained a snapshot of her with her daughter.

Peterson's relationship with Frey's daughter, Ayianna, is also being closely scrutinized. Frey trusted him enough to pick the girl up from school and was touched when he gave the girl a gift. He told Frey, though, that Ayianna was enough. He did not want any more children and offered twice to have a vasectomy rather than let Frey take oral contraceptives. Frey found his insistence on such a permanent procedure "disturbing." Frey wanted more children.

Frey continues testifying at 10 a.m. today and is expected to finish out the week.

Michelle Durand can be reached by e-mail: michelle@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 104. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.