MODESTO, Calif. -- The autopsies of Laci Peterson and her unborn son were completed by the Contra Costa County coroner and sealed Thursday by a judge in Stanislaus County Superior Court, prosecutors said.
The autopsies were completed sooner than expected, but it wasn't clear if a cause of death had been determined in the homicides. Jimmy Lee, a spokesman for the Contra Costa sheriff would not comment, but has said in the past that the cause of death may never be known.
Scott Peterson, 30, is being held without bail on two counts of murder and could face the death penalty if convicted. He has pleaded innocent.
He was arrested last month after the decomposed remains of his wife and the son they planned to name Conner were found on the shore of San Francisco Bay in Richmond near where Peterson told police he went fishing on Christmas Eve, the day he reported his wife missing.
Police have not revealed how they believe Laci Peterson, a 27-year-old substitute teacher, was killed or any of the evidence they compiled against her husband, a fertilizer salesman.
Prosecutors and defense lawyers asked to seal the autopsy and Judge Al Girolami agreed. The autopsy report could be unsealed at a May 27 hearing in which news organizations are seeking the release of other court documents, including search warrants and police reports.
About a dozen court records, including a wiretap and an affidavit supporting an arrest warrant, have been sealed.