Blood Brother: 33 Reasons My Brother Scott Peterson Is Guilty

By Anne Bird

What happens if, after being given up for adoption in childhood, you reestablish contact with your biological family -- only to discover that your newfound brother is a killer?

Anne Bird, the sister of Scott Peterson, knows firsthand.

Soon after her birth in 1965, Anne was given up for adoption by her mother, Jackie Latham. Welcomed into the well-adjusted Grady family, she lived a happy life. Then, in the late 1990s, she came back into contact with her mother, now Jackie Peterson, and her family -- including Jackie's son Scott Peterson and his wife, Laci. Anne was welcomed into the family, and over the next several years she grew close to Scott and especially Laci. Together they shared holidays, family reunions, and even a trip to Disneyland. Anne and Laci became pregnant at roughly the same time, and the two became confidantes.

Then, on Christmas Eve 2002, Laci Peterson went missing -- and the happy façade of the Peterson family slowly began to crumble. Anne rushed to the family's aid, helping in the search for Laci, even allowing Scott to stay in her home while police tried to find his wife. Yet Scott's behavior grew increasingly bizarre during the search, and Anne grew suspicious that her brother knew more than he was telling. Finally she began keeping a list of his disturbing behavior. And by the time Laci's body -- and that of her unborn son, Conner -- were found, Anne was becoming convinced: Her brother Scott Peterson had murdered his wife and unborn child in cold blood.

Filled with news-making revelations and intimate glimpses of Scott and Laci, the Peterson family, and the investigation that followed the murder, Blood Brother is a provocative account of how long-dormant family ties dragged one woman into one of the most notorious crimes of our time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Mar 17, 2009
• ISBN: 9780061739408

Anne Bird

The mother of two sons, Anne Bird lives outside of San Francisco, California.

Reviews for Blood Brother

[Penny Lewis · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this perspective. I'm sure it must have been a tough time. The Unfathomable gets us every time.

[linda.marsheells · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

An alternate title for BLOOD BROTHER could be NARCISSISM 101, describing Scott Peterson -the wife and baby killer of the 90's. This book is written by his half- sister Anne, ( their shared mother had 4 kids and gave away 2 ) so this is the story from a new perspective. Honest, open, hopeful and sad this was an interesting read even tho her writing skills are not all that....

[laneysmith-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Interesting read. It's unfortunate they couldn't have the relationship it could've been. But, it was also interesting to read some of the details that the media didn't have access to.

[Deanna King · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Anyone writing a book is just profiting from the poor girls murder .

[bellafoxx · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The title of this book is rather misleading. It is more a recounting of the life of Anne Bird then a discussion of Scott Peterson’s guilt. The 33 Reasons are from a list Anne wrote up at her therapist’s instruction and is brought out at the very end of the book.Anne was given up for adoption by her mother and adopted by the Grady family. She tells of her childhood which was happy, and her siblings one also adopted and two the biological children of her adoptive parents. By all accounts she had a happy childhood and while curious about her biological family claims to not have a burning desire to reconnect with them, mainly because she had read many accounts of such reunions not ending well. She was introduced to her biological family by her brother who had also been given up for adoption. Her mother had 4 children, two she kept and two she gave up for adoption, Scott was one of the ones she kept and he was referred to as ‘the golden boy’. Anne later reveals that he took this title seriously.She talks about how she became close to her biological family, how much she and Scott looked alike, how excited Laci was to be pregnant, while Scott seemed to be disinterested. How she refused to believe Scott had anything to do with her disappearance, to the point where she let him stay with her when the press wouldn’t leave him alone.The book is well-written and interesting, but as mentioned above it is a memoir of Anne’s life, how the actions of Scott affected her and her marriage, how she came to believe that Scott was guilty, the list of “33 reasons” are odd behaviors she observed, not really proof of his guilt.I gave this book three stars because it was well written and interesting, I didn’t give it more because due to the title I was expecting more of true crime than a memoir.

[talento eva · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

You know the TRUTH and nothing but the TRUTH for the main reason you wrote this book. You thanked the lawyerS who made big profits for this horrific injustice. I believe there is HELL for all of the guilty bloody greed from this murder and they will face the eternal punishment into the lake of fire. No one will get away from this crime. God knows it all. In the end, true justice will prevail.

I do not fear you and your demons. Evidently, this book can't even acknowledge that Laci and her son will be REMEMBER and will never be forgotten and how much they are loved. It was all about how the lawyers full of greed were deeply appreciated by this book.

[miniry · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I picked up this book hoping to see a different perspective, and maybe gain some insight as to why the families of murderers (especially men who kill their wives and children) often live in denial despite things like common sense and evidence. I was disappointed. It seemed as if it was more focused on telling the readers that the author now believes he is guilty and is not a bad person too, rather than seriously address previous denial and the reasons for it, or the reasons why he is guilty. The "reasons" given were interesting but not compelling, and certainly not the focus of the book as the TITLE would have you believe. She detailed certain facts, his behavior, conversations and events, but added no analysis. Why did these things lead her to change her mind, suddenly, when she was in absolute denial for so long? I don't know, though I probably should after reading a book that is supposedly about that.

An easy read, largely due to the poor writing, which was like reading a blog disguised as a book. I didn't hate it, but I wouldn't recommend it, either.

I really wish I could rate this book higher, if only because of the subject matter, but I can't. If you are expecting any sort of compelling and well thought out argument or analysis regarding the reasons he is guilty, look to any of the other books written about this monster. If you want a short, easy read, that doesn't really answer any questions but is interesting enough to pass the time, then this is not a bad choice.

[MichelleSin · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was eleven when all this was going on so it's my first time reading about it I read Amber Freys book first and then this one it's interesting because it lets u know at the time scotts where Anita and what he was doing when he was not with Amber its like the others of the story

[moonshineandrosefire · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The story no one else can tell...except perhaps a family member. What happens if, after being given up for adoption as a child, you reestablish contact with your biological family - only to discover that your true brother is a killer? Anne Bird, the sister of Scott Peterson, knows firsthand. She gives her account of her brother's marriage and his disturbing behavior - and tells how she realized that her brother was capable of murder.Soon after her birth in 1965, Anne was given up for adoption by her mother, Jackie Latham. Welcomed into the well-adjusted Grady family, she lived a happy life. Then, in the late 1990s, she got back in contact with her birth mother - now married - and her family, including Jackie's son, Scott Peterson, and his wife, Laci. Anne was welcomed into the family, and over the next several years she grew close to Scott and especially Laci.Together they shared holidays, family reunions, trips to Disneyland. Anne and Laci even became pregnant at roughly the same time, and the two quickly became confidantes. On Christmas Eve 2002, Laci Peterson went missing, and the happy facade of the Peterson family began to crumble. Anne immediately rushed to the family's aid, joining in the search for Laci, even allowing Scott to stay in her home while the police attempted to find his pregnant wife. Yet Scott's behavior grew increasingly more bizarre as the search for Laci intensified, and Anne grew suspicious that her brother knew more about the situation than he was telling. She began keeping a list of Scott's disturbing quirks. And by the time Laci's body - and that of her unborn son, Conner - were found, Anne was becoming convinced: Her brother Scott Peterson had murdered his wife and unborn child in cold blood.Filled with news-making revelations as well as intimate glimpses of Scott and Laci, the Peterson family, and the investigation that followed the murder, Blood Brother: 33 Reasons my Brother Scott Peterson is Guilty is a provocative account of how long-dormant family ties dragged one woman into one of the most notorious crimes of our time.I have to say that while I generally enjoy reading about true crime, I prefer reading books about certain crimes told from the family's perspective - about the personal effects of that specific crime on them as members of the family, or of the search for justice for their loved one. I give this book a definite A+! It was well-written and easy for me to read and I truly sympathized with Anne and the difficult position that she found herself in.Anne Bird went through so much due to her initial support of the Peterson family and her preliminary belief in Scott Peterson's innocence. Her marriage suffered, but as the police investigation revealed more and more inconsistencies in Scott's alibi, Anne eventually had to choose between her burgeoning loyalty to the Peterson family and her lasting loyalty to her husband and two sons - knowing that as her own sons grew up, they deserved to know their mother's thoughts on such a infamous crime.

[leahboyer · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I "enjoyed" this. I'm contine to be amazed at the stupidity of guilty people. In this case Scott Peterson.

[leahhenderson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I "enjoyed" this. I'm contine to be amazed at the stupidity of guilty people. In this case Scott Peterson.