Key players in the Scott Peterson murder trial

Scott Lee Peterson

The 31-year-old fertilizer salesman was born in San Diego, the youngest of five boys. He attended Arizona State University on a partial golf scholarship but moved to Morro Bay before graduating. To pay his way through Cal Poly State University he worked as a waiter at the Pacific Cafe, where he would meet Laci. After selling their restaurant the couple moved back to Modesto and he found a job as a fertilizer salesman.

Peterson has admitted to cheating on his wife before her disappearance but said Laci knew about it. Peterson was arrested in April, shortly before DNA tests confirmed the identity of two bodies washed up in Richmond as Laci and Connor. He was on a San Diego golf course with dyed blonde hair, $10,000 in cash and his brother's identification.

Amber Frey

Frey, 30, is a massage therapist in Fresno who met Peterson Nov. 20, little more than a month before his wife was reported missing. Frey has acknowledged having a romantic relationship with Peterson but said he claimed to be a widower about to celebrate his first Christmas without his wife.

Peterson escorted Frey to social events while dating and met her friends and family.

Once Frey realized the truth about Peterson, she contacted police Dec. 30 and even agreed to secretly tape phone conversations between the two.

Frey is a single mother and has said Peterson met her then-2-year-old daughter. Frey is also about six months pregnant currently, a fact that makes some legal analysts wonder if it will remind the jurors of Laci Peterson.

Prosecutor Dave Harris

Harris, a senior deputy district attorney, has worked in Stanislaus County since 1991 after four years in Southern California. Harris received his law degree from the California Western School of Law. His resume includes a wide range of cases, including the capital murder trial of a landlord who killed a tenant after he set fire to a rental unit for insurance money. The defendant was sentenced to life in prison.

Prosecutor Rick Distaso

Distaso, a senior deputy district attorney, has worked for Stanislaus County since 1996 after three years in the United States Army Judge Advocate General's Corps. Distaso received his law degree from Loyola Marymount Law School and has experience as both a defense attorney and a prosecutor. His resume includes several murder cases in Modesto.

Defense Attorney Mark Geragos

The managing partner of a 12-attorney firm in Southern California, Geragos has nabbed recognition for his criminal defense of actress Winona Ryder, Susan MacDougal, former partner of President Bill Clinton, and more recently, pop singer Michael Jackson.

Geragos, 45, is a common fixture on television as a legal commentator. He graduated from Loyola Law School.

Judge Alfred Delucchi

Delucchi, 72, has presided over 22 death penalty cases during his three-decade career. Most notably, he sentenced Tyrone Robinson to death in 1989 for the murder of Black Panthers co-founder Huey Newton. Delucchi retired in 1998 but actively serves in the Assigned Judges Program.

Delucchi was appointed by state Chief Justice Ronald George Jan. 27 after prosecutors challenged first choice Richard Arnason.