PETERSON MURDER TRIAL Attorneys end their case after calling final witness

Two more witnesses were expected to testify for the defense.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. -- To the surprise of most in the courtroom, defense attorneys for Scott Peterson concluded their case Tuesday, having called only 14 witnesses in just over five days of testimony to help persuade jurors to acquit the man of murder charges.
As the final defense witness, Modesto police officer Michael Hicks told jurors Tuesday about a burglary that occurred at the house of a Peterson neighbor Dec. 26, 2002, two days after Laci Peterson vanished.
A confidential informant told police that Steven Wayne Todd burglarized Susan and Rudy Medina's house, across the street from the home of Laci and Scott Peterson. Hicks found Todd, who immediately admitted being involved in the crime.
"First thing, he said he would tell you about the burglary but he had nothing to do with the woman," defense attorney Mark Geragos said, reading from Hicks' report.
What happened
Hicks said Todd unraveled a detailed account of his crime, telling him that he moved a safe from the house to the front yard before seeking the help of Donald Glenn Pearce about 6:30 or 7 a.m. on Dec. 26, 2002. Pearce, who unlike Todd had access to a car, drove to the Medinas', where Todd placed the safe in the car, Hicks said he was told.
They brought the safe to the home of Pearce's mother, where he was living at the time, and pounded it open with a sledgehammer and other tools, Hicks said.
Both men were later convicted of burglarizing the Medinas' house, but also received an overwhelming endorsement from Modesto police for their complete cooperation in the matter.
Geragos appeared to be working to persuade jurors that Todd and Pearce could have been responsible for Laci's Dec. 24, 2002, disappearance. He has contended that someone abducted her while she walked the family dog around her neighborhood.
Her remains and those of the unborn son she was carrying later turned up along the Richmond shoreline not far from where her husband said he fished the day she disappeared.
Police arrested her husband April 18, 2003. He has been held without bail on two murder counts ever since.
Surprise ending
The sudden end to the defense case came as a surprise. Judge Alfred Delucchi had told jurors Monday that two more defense witnesses would take the stand after Hicks, but he emerged from his chambers Tuesday morning with news of the defense conclusion.
Many courtroom observers had expected Drs. Henry Lee and Cyril Wecht to testify about the condition of the human remains and the lack of evidence at the Peterson home where police believe the slaying occurred.
"I'm not sure whose ending was more fizzling, the prosecution's or the defense," said Paula Canny, a veteran San Mateo County defense lawyer. "Oh, boy."
Prosecutors are expected to call eight additional witnesses today to refute the defense case.
Lawyers will give their closing arguments next week with jurors possibly beginning deliberations Wednesday.