Police Officer Testifies He Saw Mops Outside Petersons’ Home

Police Officer Jon Evers said Tuesday he noticed a mop bucket and two mops in front of Scott and Laci Peterson’s home as officers began investigating the pregnant woman’s disappearance on Christmas Eve.

The Modesto officer said the mops were in plain view as he entered the modest single-story green-shingled house.

Evers, questioned by one of Scott Peterson’s lawyers, said he never smelled bleach or any other cleaning agent inside the house.

The testimony is considered a counterpoint to a possible prosecution argument that Peterson, 31, cleaned and mopped the kitchen after killing his wife on the night of Dec. 23.

Evers testified on the fifth day of a hearing to determine if Peterson will stand trial on two counts of murder for the death of his wife and the son she was carrying. Peterson said his wife was missing Christmas Eve when he returned from fishing in San Francisco Bay -- near where her remains washed ashore four months later.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Peterson.

Tuesday’s court session was cut short because lead defense lawyer Mark Geragos had to return to Los Angeles in the murder trial of another client in which the jury is deadlocked.

On Friday, the couple’s housekeeper, Margarita Nava, testified that she had mopped the kitchen floor Dec. 23 with water and Pine-Sol. She said she put the mop outside to dry but put the bucket on top of the washing machine with rags that needed to be laundered.

Other officers have reported detecting the scent of bleach in the kitchen. The mop bucket was seized for evidence, Evers said.