A defense witness in the Peterson trial has died

[GalvestonDuck]

Elderly Witness in Scott Peterson Trial Dies
Thu Feb 5, 1:21 PM ET

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - An elderly witness who could have bolstered Scott Peterson (news - web sites)'s assertion that he was fishing when his pregnant wife was murdered has died of natural causes, officials said on Thursday.

The death of neighbor Vivian Mitchell, 78, comes as Peterson's trial was scheduled to get underway in coming weeks in Redwood City, California. It had been moved from his hometown of Modesto.

Fertilizer salesman Peterson was arrested in April 2003 after the body of his wife and their unborn child washed up on the shores of San Francisco Bay. Peterson, who maintains his innocence, said he had left his wife Laci at home to make the roughly two-hour trip to the Berkeley marina to go fishing on Christmas Eve 2002.

Mitchell told police she was looking out the window on Christmas Eve morning and saw Laci walking by.

"Oh, look, there's the woman with the beautiful smile walking her dog," she told her husband.

That testimony could reinforce the defense theory that Laci was abducted by strangers while walking her dog. Prosecutors believe Scott killed her in the early morning hours.

Mitchell died after falling ill on Sunday, her family said.

The next stage of pretrial hearings is scheduled for Monday. Peterson lawyer Mark Geragos said he has cleared his calendar to devote himself to this case.

Also on Thursday, court officials were due to meet media representatives after complaints the county was charging unfair prices to cover the high-profile trial. San Mateo County said last week that it would charge television stations $51,000 to reserve a spot outside the courtroom to park their equipment.