Copycat Killers - Did Scott Peterson Inspire Other Murders?

In this bonus episode of Once Upon a Crime, we ask a disturbing question: did the Scott Peterson case inspire other men to murder their wives?

We examine the cases of Lori Hacking, Jennifer Corbin, and Teresa Lane, three women whose murders shared striking similarities with the Peterson case. In some instances, the connection went beyond coincidence. One killer reportedly followed Peterson’s trial closely, while another allegedly referenced Peterson directly before murdering his wife.

We also turn the question around: could Scott Peterson himself have been influenced by earlier disappearances and murders that occurred while he was a college student in San Luis Obispo?

From staged accidents and disappearances to the dangerous myth of “no body, no crime,” this bonus episode explores how high-profile murder cases can become cautionary tales... or, in the wrong hands, criminal blueprints.

Sources:

Erased: Missing Women, Murdered Wives, Marilee Strong, Jossey-Bass Publishers, 2008.

“Death and the Dentist,” Rob Stafford for NBC News, October 18, 2006

https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna15253153

“Thomas Lane, convicted of wife’s murder, sentenced to death,” Jared Boyd, AL.com, June 7, 2016.

https://www.al.com/news/mobile/2016/06/mobile_man_accused_of_killing_3.html

Thomas Robert Lane v. State of Alabama, Feb. 5, 2010, accessed on Findlaw.com.

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/al-court-of-criminal-appeals/1507261.html

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