Monday, January 30, 2006

The Peterson Case Redux

Watching and reading the news accounts of the Entwistle tragedy, I can't help but think of its eerie similarities to the Peterson case. They both involve young, attractive couples, a mother and her infant child murdered, and husbands under clouds of suspicion. While we don't yet know how things will play out with Neil Entwistle--is he innocent in the deaths of his wife and daughter, or, like Scott Peterson, is he directly or indirectly responsible for their shocking killings?--we do know that his behavior since the murders were discovered is rather bizarre to say the least, particularly his fleeing the country. What strikes out at you in each instance is how jarring it is to contemplate two seemingly idyllic couples (the kind we all secretly envy), each with the brightest of futures ahead of them, both so horrificly torn asunder. An additional similarity they both now share is their appeal to the national media. Just this morning, as I was getting ready to go to work, I turned on the Today show to get the morning's top news stories, and they, too, were giving the Entwistle story in-depth coverage, as are all the national morning talk shows, not to speak of our own local media's saturation reportage. Since, for all intents and purposes, the Peterson case is now over (the only new development of any interest there will be when, presumably ten years or so from now, Scott Peterson will be executed), you can expect to see this shocking new case become its replacement as the nation's all encompassing murder mystery du jour, captivating our constant attention with each new development, even as we stare at our tv screens and read our daily newspapers in utter incomprehension.