California fire official calls for a new investigation of Scott Peterson case

Nearly 20 years after Scott Peterson was convicted for the murder of his pregnant wife and unborn son, a former California fire investigator is coming forward to ABC News, urging prosecutors to re-examine the case. This has always been one of those things that kind of sits in the back of your head and kind of bugs you a little bit and you kind of wonder why this didn't happen or why it wasn't brought up. Brian Spitalski, speaking out on the heels of the Los Angeles Innocence Project's stunning court motion about the potential of new evidence. Lawyers for the non-profit focusing on stains from a mattress in the back of a burned van that tested presumptive positive for blood. Spitalski investigated that van in December of 2002. It was found the day after Lacey disappeared, less than a mile from the couple's home. You know, I don't know that I was tying the moment to Lacey. I was more tying the moment that it was human blood. It made it like this was much more important than just a burned vehicle that somebody was just wanting to get rid of or cover up a simple crime. In a court filing, lawyers say DNA testing done on a small portion of that mattress several years later was insufficient to determine whether DNA from Lacey or their unborn son was present. Now a private fire investigator, Spitalski says no one from the prosecution or the defense came to him for his evaluation of the van. I don't have an agenda or an opinion on his guilt or his innocence. This is, for me, it's a fire investigation in a vehicle that has blood, possible blood, you know, on the mattress. And that right there is important. The LA Innocence Project believes enhanced DNA testing could provide more information. The district attorney's office says Peterson's conviction was upheld in 2022. Tim Pulliam, ABC News, Los Angeles.