Laci's Parents Sue Scott for $25 Million

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Laci Peterson's father, Dennis Rocha, this week joined his ex-wife, Sharon, in a $25 million wrongful death civil lawsuit against convicted killer Scott Peterson, California's Modesto Bee newspaper reports.

The Rochas divorced in 1976, though Laci spent time with her father after the split, which took place when the girl was 1.

Peterson arrived on Death Row March 1 after his conviction for killing his wife Laci and their unborn child on Christmas Eve 2002. Though Scott's earnings in San Quentin are likely to be minimal, attorneys admit, the lawsuit will prevent him from benefiting from any potential book or movie based on his story.

Sharon Rocha and her second husband, Ron Grantski, sued Scott in 2003 for $5 million in a wrongful-death civil action. In amending their action with the higher monetary demand, they argued that such a judgment against their former son-in-law "would send a message ... that such vicious and outrageous savagery inflicted by one human being shall be met with the severest of penalties."

A $25 million request is "more appropriate," Gary S. Davis, the Modesto attorney representing Dennis Rocha, tells the newspaper. "One cannot think of a more horrendous or egregious act committed by anybody than what Scott Peterson did in this case."

According to the paper, last January one of Peterson's criminal attorneys said his client had no intention to pursue a book or movie sale.