Perspective

Laci Peterson and her unborn son were murdered on December 24, 2002.

Almost two years ago.

Her husband and the father of their child has since been found guilty of their murders and was sentenced to death yesterday.

According to the FBI, in the year 2003, out of a total 14,408 murders in the United States, 3,125 of those murder victims were women. Of those 3,125 women, 1,927 were white, just like Laci. Of those who did not look like Laci, there were 1,113 black women, 133 women who fit into the "other" category, meaning that their race was mixed and it would have been too time consuming for the FBI Statisticians to break their numbers down and 44 women whose race was "unknown," meaning God only knows what.

Also, in 2003, 573 women, out of that whopping total of 3,125 were also murdered by their husbands. Just like Laci.

The data for the year 2004 has not been totaled up yet, but from the preliminary statistics released earlier this year, while the overall percentage of murders had gone down when compared to the same period of time in 2003, it wasn't by much...and there was plenty of time between June and December for those numbers to skyrocket.

My point? Other women besides Laci friggin' Peterson have lost their lives to a murderer since she died almost two years ago.

Yet, how many of them have we heard about in this endless media circus that has surrounded Laci's disappearance and, subsequently, Scott Peterson's trial?

Not many.

Why?

Because they weren't as cute as Laci was. Odds are, even a few of them were pregnant too, but the murder of their third-trimester babies didn't prompt a national debate and federal legislation. They weren't married to the boy-next-door. They didn't have families who manipulated the media to their benefit.

Does anyone care about them?

If you watch CNN, your answer would probably be "no."

I care. While everyone is jumping on the "I'm glad that motherfucker will fry!" bandwagon, I pray for these womens' families and friends. I hope their murderers have been brought to justice and that their attackers will, too, face the death penalty.

After all, justice is served up on a daily basis even if CNN isn't there to cover it.

Posted by Kathy at December 14, 2004 02:35 PM