The Murder of Peter Theriault
For this case, I watched an episode of The Perfect Murder. It’s season 5 episode 7, titled ‘The Green-Eyed Monster.’
A man disappears, and his beloved convertaible is later found in the parking lot of an apartment complex.
Background
Peter Theriault was born on July 7, 1947. He was only 51 years old when he disappeared.
Peter worked as a maintenance worker at a Ford warehouse. He was also an Army veteran, and counseled other former Army veterans, who were suffering from PTSD.
Peter was described as an avid golfer, and outdoorsman. He loved to shoot guns, and drive around in his black Mustang Convertible.
Peter Theriault
The Disappearance
In December 1998, Peter didn’t show up for his night shift at the Ford plant. It was very unusual, as Peter didn’t miss work.
Peter’s supervisor contacted his live-in girlfriend Judy Valot. Judy also worked at the Ford plant, as a forklift operator. Judy revealed to the supervisor that she and Peter had gotten into an argument, and that he had driven off in his car.
Judy contacted the police about 48 hours after Peter disappeared.
Possible Theories
The police went to speak to Judy at the home she shared with Peter, and her daughter from a previous relationship.
Judy told them that she and Peter had argued over her daughter, who was about 13 or 14 years old at the time. Judy said Peter drove off around 8pm, and she hadn’t seen him since. Judy said that Peter was good to her, and her daughter, and he treated her like his own.
The police looked around the home, but didn’t find any sign of violence.
Judy revealed that Peter had served time in the Army, and had recently been counseling another vet named George. George had a serious drinking problem, and had even crashed on their couch in the past.
The police spoke to George. George said he had been at a bar until 2am, closing time, on the night that Peter had disappeared. This was verified by the bartender, and he was ruled out.
One of Peter’s friends, and co-workers, revealed to the police that Peter’s mom rented out her home. The last renter was a very sketchy man, who Peter believed was selling and manufacturing drugs.
The neighbors also revealed that the man was sketchy, and that the man who have people going in and out of his house at night.
The man was questioned, but was soon ruled out. He was a drug dealer, but hadn’t killed Peter.
A Jealous Girlfriend
The police soon learned from the same friend of Peter’s that had told them about the sketchy tenant, that Peter was a ladies man.
He told the police that a few weeks before he disappeared, Peter had received a call from a woman at work. Peter didn’t tell him who called, but he had seemed shaken up about it.
The police spoke to Judy. Judy revealed that Peter had a lot of admirers. She admitted she had lied before, and that their argument was really about his affairs. She told the police that someone had been calling the house, and hanging up. Peter acted like it didn’t matter, but Judy was furious.
Judy believed that another woman could’ve killed Peter.
The Missing Car
Six days after Peter disappeared, the police discovered that Peter had a tracking device on his convertible. It was found only 3 miles away, in the parking lot of a random apartment complex.
The car top was up, the car was locked, and the keys were missing. The police also made another discovery. The seat was very close to the steering wheel, as if a shorter person had been driving.
A cadaver dog was brought in to search the car. The dog walked to the main street, and to the home of Peter and Judy. Judy became angry, and said that Peter must have been with one of the women he had been having an affair with.
By this point, the police believed that Judy was jealous of everyone. Their theory was confirmed, when a co-worker of Peter and Judy’s came forward. The woman said that Judy would confront her at work about her possible involvement with Peter. The woman said that it had gotten so bad, that she had to get the union involved. The woman denied ever being in a relationship with Peter.
The Evidence
The police came up with a ruse to confront Judy, which was legal in California. They went to speak to Judy again, and told her that they had put a surveillance camera on Peter’s car, and had seen her park the car in the apartment complex.
Judy told them that she had parked the car. She said on the night of their argument, Peter left on foot, so she took his car, and walked back home.
The police put a 24-hour surveillance on Judy.
Another friend of Peter’s revealed that Peter wanted to break up with Judy, and that he was probably somewhere on Judy’s property in Blythe, Riverside County, California, about 3 hours away.
The police obtained search warrants for Peter’s home, as well as Judy’s property in Blythe.
At Peter’s home, they found blood drops leading from the bedroom, to the garage. On Peter’s pick up truck, they found more blood on the tailgate of the truck and on the garage floor.
At the Blythe property, the police found a SAG Sauer gun, that belonged to Peter. Peter was very meticulous about cleaning his guns, but this one was a live firearm, that had two rounds missing. The police also found a military style shovel with dirt on it.
To this day, Peter’s body has never been found.
The Trials
Judy Valot was arrested, and went on trial three times.
The first trial took place in 2000. Judy was convicted of second degree murder, but the conviction was overturned.
In 2004, the trial ended in a hung jury.
On July 22, 2005, Judy was again found guilty of second degree murder. She was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.
It’s believed that Judy was a “green-eyed monster,” and believed that Peter cheated on her with every female he met. Peter wanted to end the relationship, but she wasn’t going to let that happen. She killed him on December 2, 1998, cleaned up the scene, put Peter in his truck, dumped his body, and took his Mustang to that apartment complex.
Peter’s body is believed to be somewhere out in the desert, between Orange County and Blythe.
A newspaper clipping talking about Peter’s death, and Judy’s arrest
Other
In 2013, Judy’s appeal for parole was rejected.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I don’t believe Judy ever had any evidence that Peter was cheating. He was described as a good looking man, and maybe he had admirers, but she never had any proof that he was cheating.
I hope that Peter’s remains are located one day. It’s crazy to think that Just was that good at hiding a body. At least there was other evidence to convict her, otherwise, she’d be out probably accusing someone else of cheating on her.
Sources
https://charleyproject.org/case/peter-lewis-theriault
https://militaryjusticeforall.com/tag/peter-theriault/
https://murderpedia.org/female.V/v/valot-judy.htm
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-jun-23-me-valot23-story.html
