REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — Scott Peterson's mother pleaded with a jury to spare his life Wednesday, saying executing him would destroy the memory of the daughter-in-law and grandchild Peterson was convicted of killing.

"I really feel that if you were to take Scott away from us ... it would be like a whole family wiped off the face of the earth," Jackie Peterson told jurors through tears.

As Laci Peterson's mother, Sharon Rocha, sat expressionless in the front row of the courtroom, Jackie Peterson stifled a sob and added, "Both Sharon and I would lose a whole family. It would be like they never existed. It would be so unreasonable, such a waste."

The testimony of Jackie Peterson, a frail, petite woman who suffers from a lung condition that requires her to carry a canister of oxygen, was heavily anticipated for its potential to push jurors toward a sentence of life in prison without parole instead of death.

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Her turn on the stand was considered especially important as a counterpoint to Rocha's angry, heart-wrenching testimony Nov. 30.

During 45 minutes of testimony, Jackie Peterson recounted her own father's murder, her upbringing in an orphanage and her decision to give two children born out of wedlock up for adoption. She then launched into memories of her son.

"If you asked me about Scott, I would say he was a joy from the moment he was born," she said as defense lawyer Mark Geragos displayed baby photos of the defendant on a large projection screen.

She described her son as the joy of the blended family she and her husband, Lee, created with their marriage.

"We called ourselves the Brady Bunch," she said.

She told jurors that, because her medical condition prevented her from being around crowds, she could not do any "hands-on" charity work. Her son, she said, became her surrogate.

"In high school, he tutored the homeless and he came home and said, 'Mom, those kids don't even have shoes that fit,'" she said.

She said that, when he introduced her to Laci, the women immediately bonded over their love of Martha Stewart and devotion to Scott.

"She became like a daughter to us for eight years," she said.

Although she did not profess her son's innocence directly from the witness stand — as other family members and friends have — Jackie Peterson left little doubt about her feelings. She said her son and daughter-in-law were desperate to have children, a clear attack on prosecutors' claim that Peterson killed his wife because he dreaded fatherhood.

She called her son and daughter-in-law "a perfect match" and said, "We used to tease them about being joined at the hip."

She also said his "bizarre behavior" after his wife's disappearance was just his natural reaction to "his wife and baby being ripped from him" and blamed the media for harassing him.

Some jurors appeared attentive during her testimony. Others pointedly stared away from the witness stand. Near the conclusion of her testimony, she burst into tears as she spoke about the impact of a possible death sentence on her life.

"My husband and I talked, and we feel like we are just shells in front of you, like there is nothing left inside us," she said.

The jury foreman, a young firefighter-paramedic, squirmed in his seat and focused his eyes on the pen in his hand. But in front of him, a middle-aged panelist who works for an adoption agency looked stricken and dabbed at her eyes.

"I beg you to consider how he helps people," she said tearfully. "He can do a lot of good things with his life."

Her account also moved her son: He wiped away tears as she insisted he was a "nurturing, kind, loving person" and not the "devil" reviled by the public.

"He is not that. He has never been that," she said, looking longingly toward him at the defense table.

Prosecutor Dave Harris opted not to cross-examine the defendant's mother. There had been speculation that he would press her about her previous testimony that she had taken a lengthy walk with her daughter-in-law the weekend before the murder. In his testimony last week, Lee Peterson said his wife's lung ailment prevented her from walking more than two blocks at a time.

After the jury was dismissed for the day, the Peterson family exited the courthouse through a rear entrance. Lee Peterson turned toward camera crews and said, "When are you guys going to hold your next lynching?"

Four other witnesses also vouched for Peterson's character Wednesday. His teenage niece, Brittney, wept as she told jurors about the letters she received from him in jail and said she asked her parents to let her testify.

"This situation is completely tragic, and I can't stand back and watch my innocent uncle go through this," she said.

The other witnesses were Peterson's brother-in-law, Ed Caudillo, a college friend, Shelly Reiman, and a business associate, Thomas Beardsley.

The defense may call a final witness Thursday morning and then attorneys will deliver summations. Jurors could begin deliberating Peterson's fate as early Thursday afternoon.