Laci Peterson's murder case revisited after 20 years in these two new documentaries

This November marks 20 years since a jury convicted Scott Peterson of killing his wife, Laci, and their unborn son. The child, who was to be named Conner, would have been the couple’s first.

Ahead of the milestone, two documentaries revisit the 2002 tragedy that began when Laci Peterson, who was eight months pregnant, disappeared on Christmas Eve. Scott claimed he went fishing at Berkeley Marina, about 90 miles west of their home in Modesto, California. When he returned, Laci’s car was in the driveway and her purse undisturbed, but she wasn't home, he said. He put his clothes in the wash, ate pizza, took a shower, then phoned Laci’s mother to say he believed she was missing.

Laci and Conner’s bodies were found near the marina. Days later, authorities arrested Scott Peterson, who had $15,000 and multiple cellphones in his possession. He is serving a life sentence at Mule Creek State Prison, about an hour southeast of Sacramento.

How do the two documentaries compare?

Netflix’s “American Murder: Laci Peterson” began streaming Aug. 14, nearly a week ahead of Peacock’s “Face to Face with Scott Peterson,” which debuted Aug. 20.

The projects are the latest of many to chronicle the saga. "American Murder" reviews evidence and builds a convincing case against Scott Peterson. It also includes interviews with Laci's family, friends and law enforcement. "Face to Face," conversely, attempts to raise more suspicions about Peterson's guilt. In the three-part documentary, he speaks for the first time since his incarceration, in a video-chat interview with director Shareen Anderson.

Murder of Laci Peterson: Timeline as Scott Peterson's case picked up by Innocence Project

“I regret not testifying (at my trial)," Peterson says in "Face to Face." "(If) I have a chance to show people what the truth is, and if they are willing to accept it, it would be the biggest thing that I can accomplish right now − because I didn’t kill my family.”

The project also chronicles efforts by the Los Angeles Innocence Project to seek another trial in light of new evidence. But there's little evidence in the film to make viewers question the conviction.

Scott Peterson breaks decades-long silence in 'Face to Face'

Peterson slams the theory that he wanted to end his marriage after falling for Amber Frey, calling the notion "so disgusting.”

“I was a total a-hole to be having sex outside our marriage,” he admits, but he claims he concealed his affair from police because he thought news of their relationship would detract from the search for Laci. He also downplays his ties to Frey, claiming "she tried to turn it into a relationship after the fact" and make it "something more” than it was. But in a conversation with Frey recorded for police, Peterson told her, “I could care for you in any and every way. For the rest of our lives.”

When asked who killed Laci, Peterson says he believes Laci went to the neighbor’s house while it was being robbed “to see what was going on,” and the burglars abducted her. But would a woman who's eight months pregnant really go investigate a potential robbery? Well, we wondered, anyway, but viewers won't see Anderson pose that question to Peterson, or ask why he told Frey he lost his wife two weeks before Laci's disappearance. Or ask why he lied to Diane Sawyer during an interview by saying he informed police immediately of his affair, or why dark hairs were found wrapped up in a pair of needle-nose pliers found on his boat. Viewers will not see Anderson push Peterson at all.

Peterson refuses to participate in Netflix documentary

Skye Borgman, director of “American Murder,” says her team was in contact with Peterson for several months, but he ultimately declined to participate. Which was fine with her, she says.

“My project really is about Laci, and a lot of the other projects that have happened in the past few years or a lot of the current headlines in the news now are really about Scott. And I think we've lost sight of who the victims were in this crime,” Borgman says. “It's something that's really important to me and the work that I do is having it be very victim-forward.”

The one question she would’ve had for Peterson? Simply, “Why?”

In Borgman’s three-part docuseries, Laci’s mother, Sharon Rocha, shares her early suspicions of Scott and says she was concerned he was too good to be true and “filling (Laci) with crap.”

“Talking to Sharon − and maybe it's because she's had 20 years to reflect on this − where she was really able to recognize that that she didn't always trust him 100%, that there was always this little tiny gut feeling that had a little bit of mistrust for Scott,” Borgman says. “And when she says ‘I've learned one thing: to listen to my gut,’ it's another thing that we can all take from this series and try to implement in our lives.”

'American Murder': Stream the latest documentaries with local internet plans from USA TODAY Home Internet

'American Murder' highlights Amber Frey's contributions to the investigation

“American Murder” gives Frey the chance to clear her name. Though headlines dubbed her Peterson’s mistress, Frey says she thought Peterson was single when they started dating in November 2002. When Frey realized he was married and his wife had vanished, she contacted the Modesto Police Department and helped authorities by recording her phone conversations with him.

“We don't really know how brave Amber was,” Borgman says. “Everybody thinks about her as ‘the mistress,’ and I really want people to think about Amber in a much more complete way, as this very brave woman who came forward and − against a lot of odds and in a very tenuous situation − continued talking to Scott for weeks … and really presented some recorded compelling evidence that helped Modesto PD build their case against Scott Peterson.”

“American Murder” also features conversations with Peterson’s sister, Susan Caudillo, and sister-in-law Janey Peterson, who earned a law degree to help prove Scott’s innocence.

Borgman says her team investigated Caudillo and Janey’s theories.

“We looked in police reports and we were fully ready to say, ‘OK, there's something here,’” Borgman says. “We couldn't find another source that backed up what they had to say.”

Judge allows duct tape to be retested in Scott Peterson case, denies other requests: reports

The director hopes her docuseries brings attention to violence among intimate partners and the fact that homicide is the leading cause of death for expectant women in America.

“We are in danger as women living in this world,” Borgman says. “And I'd like for people to walk away from this and to just be thinking about that a little bit more.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Laci Peterson murder revisited by documentaries; Scott Peterson talks