Drew Peterson is well known around the Chicagoland area. His trial was well publicized across the country, but the people in and around Chicago are particularly vested in his fate. Peterson was a Bolingbrook police officer who was married four times. His third wife died under suspicious circumstances and his fourth, much younger wife simply vanished.
Currently, Drew Peterson is serving a 38-year sentence for the murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio. She was found in a bathtub in 2004, and her death was initially ruled accidental. After Stacy Peterson disappeared in 2007, the family of Savio pushed for an exhumation of her body, and it was determined that her death was a homicide. It was suspicious because Kathleen and Drew Peterson had a court appearance scheduled just days after her death to discuss their children and money issues. He was rumored to be worried about what would happen, and that is the reason he was suspected and subsequently convicted of her murder.
This case has been a battle for Drew Peterson. The evidence surrounding Kathleen Savio’s death was lacking, but hearsay testimony is what helped the prosecution seal the deal and get the conviction. Peterson and his attorney have tried to appeal the murder conviction based on the fact he has not been able to face his accusers. According to the Chicago Tribune , Drew Peterson was denied a new trial again, and the murder conviction is upheld in Illinois. His lawyer is reportedly going to take it to the Supreme Court for an appeal.
Aside from the 38-year sentence for Kathleen Savio’s death, Drew Peterson was given 40 more years for plotting to kill the prosecutor who got him convicted. This was a murder-for-hire plot, one that was allegedly concocted while he was in Statesville. Now, if Peterson gets his conviction overturned, he will still have to serve his time for wanting to kill the man who put him in jail. At 63-years-old, Drew Peterson will likely die behind bars.
Meanwhile, Drew Peterson’s fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, is still missing. It has been 10 years since anyone has seen or heard from the young woman. She is presumed dead, but Drew has not been charged in her disappearance, but he was named a suspect. The last decade has weighed heavily on both Kathleen Savio’s family and Stacy Peterson’s family, especially without concrete answers about what happened to either woman.
[Featured Image by M. Spencer Green/AP Images]
