Drew Peterson
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Drew Walter Peterson (born 5 January 1954) is an American former police officer convicted of the 2004 murder of his third wife Kathleen Savio. He is also suspected of the murder of his fourth wife Stacy Ann Peterson, who disappeared in 2007 and has never been found.
Biography edit
Peterson joined the Chicago Police Department in 1977 and served for 30 years before his resignation in November 2007. He was given a tax-free pension of $79, 000 a year, but this was terminated after his criminal conviction in 2016.
Marriages edit
Peterson met his first wife, Carol Brown, in high school. They married in 1974, but divorced in 1980 because Peterson had been unfaithful. Afterwards Peterson married Vicki Connolly in 1982. He was controlling and abusive towards her during their marriage and threatened to kill her and make it look like an accident if she ever left him. They eventually divorced in 1992 after Peterson began seeing Kathleen Savio, who Peterson married two months later.
Peterson and Savio had two sons, Thomas and Kristopher. During their marriage, police were called to their home to deal with domestic disturbances eighteen times. Eventually they divorced on 1 October 2003, and on 1 March 2004 Savio was found dead in a bathtub. Her death was investigated by a grand jury which included several police friends of Peterson and deemed an accidental drowning. In the meantime, Peterson had married Stacy Ann Peterson (née Cales) on 18 October 2003. She had provided him with an alibi for the day of Savio's death.
Murder investigation edit
Stacy Peterson was reported missing on 28 October 2007. No trace of her has ever been found. Peterson's story was that she had called him to tell him she had left him for another man. During the investigation into Stacy's disappearance, Peterson's house and car were searched four times and he resigned from his job as a police officer. He was allowed to collect his pension as he had not been convicted of any crime. Neighbours reported seeing Peterson removing a 55-gallon barrel from his house the day of Stacy's disappearance and a friend of his told police he had helped to purchase three large plastic containers. Peterson's brother, who had helped him to carry the barrel to his SUV, committed suicide out of fear he had helped his brother to dispose of Stacy's body.
The investigation failed to find enough evidence to prosecute Peterson for Stacy's disappearance. However, police became suspicious that Kathleen Savio's death may not have been an accident and her body was exhumed. A second autopsy concluded based on unexplained injuries to the body that the drowning was deliberate and had occurred during a fight. As a result, the case was reopened and a murder investigation began. Stacy Peterson's pastor reported that she had told him Peterson killed Savio for leaving him and that she was afraid he would kill her, hence why she had given him an alibi. Several witnesses also claimed that Savio had told them she was afraid Peterson would kill her.
Peterson was officially charged with the murder of Kathleen Savio on 7 May 2009. He attempted to undermine the prosecution's case by submitting a motion asking that all the witness evidence be disallowed as hearsay. This was approved by Judge Stephen White, but an Illinois appellate court overturned the ruling and declared that the statements were admissible as evidence. Ultimately, Peterson was convicted of murder on 6 September 2012 and sentenced to 38 years in prison. After a number of appeals, the Illinois Supreme Court upheld Peterson's conviction.
On 9 February 2015, Peterson was charged with murder for hire after a fellow inmate wearing a wire recorded Peterson asking him to arrange the assassination of Chicago prosecutor James Glasgow. Peterson was sentenced to an additional 40 years for solicitation of murder for hire. His pension was subsequently terminated.