Free A Deadly Game by Catherine Crier Page B

after their birth, and Scott didn't learn about them until he was an adult. Their fathers' identities remain unknown.
    One source close to the family told me that Jackie reportedly considered giving up her third child, John, as she had done with the previous two children. When her doctor advised against it, however, Jackie raised John as a single mother, and Lee adopted John after he married Jackie.
    John was six years old when Scott was born. At the time, Lee worked for a trucking company, and Jackie had a small dress boutique. Before Scott's arrival, the family was somewhat estranged. However, the new baby became a focal point for their love and attention, and was said to have reunited the "fractured family"-a phrase that would be used many times in Scott's trial.
    Scott's half-siblings, John and Susan, would later testify about those early years. They were both thrilled to have a little brother. He was carried around so much that family members joked about being afraid that "he might not learn how to walk." Scott's childhood nickname, Scooter, captured his upbeat charm perfectly. Always smiling, always quiet and well behaved, Scott apparently could do no wrong. John could think of only one incident where the boy displayed a temper. At age four, after a light spanking by his father, Scott left the room. A moment later he came back and punched his father in the stomach.
    That was the only memorable disturbance in Scott's gentle demeanor until Christmas Eve 2002.
    When the fair-haired boy turned four, his family moved to Scripps Ranch, a neighborly middle-class suburb in northeast San Diego. Scott's father began a shipping and packing business nearby, and his young son would often accompany him on deliveries. Witness after witness described their close father-son relationship. Together they enjoyed fishing and pheasant hunting on the weekends, and from the age of five Scott went along with his father to the local driving range to learn golf. He practiced with a special sawed-off driver his father made for him. Lee had saved the homemade club in the basement of the family's home as a memento of those days. By age seven, Scott joined the Peterson clan on golf outings at a local country club. Yet he rarely made it to the eighteenth hole, opting instead to take his small fishing pole to a nearby river.
    Lee described Scott as a happy, "shiny" baby who rarely cried. His own childhood hadn't been as bright as the one he gave his children. Lee's grandmother had immigrated to the United States from Lithuania, settling in Minnesota, where the family lived without running water. Just as Scott accompanied his father on deliveries, Lee had followed his mother on her housekeeping jobs. As a young man, he joined his father on his rounds repairing typewriters. Lee eventually joined the business.
    Lee wanted his family to enjoy a better lifestyle, and for years he had struggled financially to make it happen. The family finally turned the corner when they moved to Rancho Santa Fe. When Scott was ten, the family headed to Poway, an inland city of about 50,000, where he attended Painted Rock Middle School. He went on to the University of San Diego High School, a Catholic preparatory school set high above the city overlooking the Pacific Ocean. While there, Scott honed his passion for golf. When he got his driver's license at sixteen, his parents rewarded him with a used Peugeot sedan.
    Police learned that Scott had at least two high school girlfriends. The first was Stephanie Smith, who began dating Scott when he was a senior and she was in the tenth grade. When the police interviewed Stephanie, she described how Scott had lavished her with gifts and flowers. He picked up the tab on all their dates, and even presented her with a special ring for Valentine's Day.
    The two had been dating for nearly four months when Stephanie heard rumors about a classmate named Dawn Hood. Friends were saying that Dawn had been seen driving Scott's new car and