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Author Topic: Drew Peterson arrested/indicted for murder 3rd wife Kathleen Savio #1(GUILTY)  (Read 311217 times)
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Nut44x4
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« Reply #160 on: February 23, 2010, 05:17:46 PM »

 

Missing 4th wife may be big part of Peterson trial

Tuesday, February 23, 2010; 4:13 PM

JOLIET, Ill. -- As Drew Peterson heads to trial in the death of his third wife, it's clear that prosecutors hope to make their case by trying to prove he also killed his missing fourth wife, even though he has never been charged in her disappearance.

That unusual strategy depends on whether a judge permits testimony about what Stacy Peterson allegedly told others before she vanished in 2007, including that she considered threatening to tell police her husband killed ex-wife Kathleen Savio three years earlier; that he came home dressed in black and with a bag of women's clothes the night before Savio's body was found; and that the former Bolingbrook police officer had bragged about being able to conceal a homicide.

"You still can win without Stacy, but it's much tougher without it," said David Erickson, senior law lecturer at Chicago-Kent College of Law.

Will County Judge Stephen White still must rule on whether he'll allow such hearsay - or secondhand - evidence at Peterson's upcoming trial on charges of killing Savio, whose body was found in a bathtub in 2004. On Tuesday, White said jury selection will begin June 14.

Prosecutors have not said how much they would tell jurors about Stacy Peterson, but an extraordinary pretrial hearing revealed just how closely the circumstantial evidence against Drew Peterson in Savio's slaying is tied to Stacy Peterson's disappearance.

The hearing was the result of a new Illinois law that allows a judge to admit hearsay evidence - statements not based on a witness' direct knowledge - if prosecutors can prove a defendant may have killed a witness in order to prevent him or her from testifying.

Prosecutors claim Peterson killed Savio to keep her from testifying against him in a property settlement hearing and prevent her from getting the hundreds of thousands of dollars such a settlement might cost him.

Savio's divorce attorney testified at the hearsay hearing that Stacy Peterson asked him to represent her in her own planned divorce of Peterson and asked about extorting money out of Drew Peterson by threatening to tell police that he killed Savio. Stacy Peterson disappeared shortly after that - before she filed for divorce and got any of Peterson's money.

Stacy Peterson's disappearance also figures in another cornerstone of the prosecutors' case: that Drew Peterson had the ability to kill Savio, not leave any evidence, and even make her death look like an accident.

"This is not somebody who just watched CSI," Assistant State's Attorney John Connor told White on the last day of the hearing in which prosecutors detailed Peterson's law enforcement career, including his experience as an evidence technician. "This is somebody who's been CSI."

Peterson knew how to render someone unconscious without leaving any marks that would indicate a struggle, prosecutors said. Also, prosecutors said, he knew how easily crime scenes can be contaminated and made sure neighbors entered Savio's house before he did the day her body was found.

One challenge in Savio's case is convincing jurors there was a homicide at all; a coroner ruled her death an accidental drowning and police didn't collect forensic evidence.

That might be easier if prosecutors could convince jurors he killed Stacy Peterson.

To do that, experts say prosecutors would have to zero in on what happened after Stacy Peterson disappeared: nothing.

That means presenting witnesses to testify that she was never heard from again after Oct. 28, 2007, never again used a credit card or her cell phone, and never wrote a letter to anyone she knew.

"And the biggest one: She never attempted to contact her children," said DuPage County state's attorney Joe Birkett, who has prosecuted a number of high-profile cases and has used the hearsay law.

Even if the judge does not initially allow anyone to testify about Stacy Peterson's disappearance, the cases are so intertwined that there is always a chance a single question by one of Peterson's attorneys could change that.

"When you're doing cross examination you've got to be damn sure you don't do something that trips into the other case," said Erickson. "If there's one phrase trial judges love it's, 'Counsel, you opened the door.'"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/23/AR2010022303596.html
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« Reply #161 on: February 25, 2010, 06:02:53 PM »

Chicago Sun Times 
February 24, 2010 Wednesday
 
Peterson trial: June 14; jury selection under way   
 
Former Bolingbrook cop Drew Peterson will go on trial June 14 for murder in the 2004 death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio.   

On Tuesday, Will County Circuit Judge Stephen White ordered jury selection to begin that day for the 56-year-old former Bolingbrook police sergeant, who's charged with killing Savio in her bathtub during their bitter divorce.

Peterson remains in jail.

He has denied any involvement in Savio's death -- which initially was ruled accidental. Rolling Eyes   

He also has denied any involvement in the 2007 disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, who remains missing.  Rolling Eyes
http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=574&topicId=100020825&docId=l:1133073869&start=16
« Last Edit: February 25, 2010, 06:05:16 PM by Nut44x4 » Logged

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« Reply #162 on: February 25, 2010, 06:08:03 PM »

      Thanks Nut.
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« Reply #163 on: February 25, 2010, 08:34:25 PM »

Thanks Nut    
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« Reply #164 on: February 26, 2010, 09:29:47 AM »

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/bolingbrooksun/news/2070145,6_1_NA26_PETERSON_S1-100226.article
Judge sets trial date for Drew
Hearsay hearing ends, murder trial upcoming for Peterson
 February 26, 2010
By JOE HOSEY jhosey@stmedianetwork.com

Drew Peterson is less than four months away from meeting the men and women who will decide whether he heads to prison for what will surely be the rest of his life.

Judge Stephen White Feb. 23 set a June 14 date for the start of jury selection for Peterson's murder trial.

Peterson, a 56-year-old former Bolingbrook police sergeant, is charged with drowning his third wife, Kathleen Savio, in March 2004.

Savio and Peterson were in the midst of a contentious divorce when she was found dead in her dry bathtub. She was due to claim hundreds of thousands of dollars of her husband's assets only weeks after she died.

Despite the financial savings Peterson achieved through Savio dying, and the circumstances of her death, state police investigators quickly determined she accidentally drowned and closed the case.

State police were forced to open it back up after Peterson's next wife, Stacy Peterson, vanished in October 2007.

Peterson claims his fourth wife left him and ran off with an unidentified lover. If Stacy did indeed abscond with a boyfriend, she has managed to keep such a low profile that she not been heard from since.

State police do not buy Peterson's story of abandonment and have publicly identified him as the sole suspect in what they have termed Stacy's "potential homicide." Police have not charged Peterson with harming Stacy.

The state police did arrest Peterson in May for the murder of Savio, and he has remained in jail on a $20 million bond while awaiting his trial, which will commence after a jury is picked.
White said two shifts of 35 potential jurors each will be brought through court when the selection starts.

Attorneys from both sides will have 240 possible jurors to choose from. In August, White had the 240 men and women come to court and fill out questionnaires. He also warned them to avoid information about the Peterson case.

A landmark hearing to determine what hearsay evidence will be allowed at Peterson's trial wrapped up just last week.

Seventy witnesses testified during the hearing, which was held under recently passed state legislation dubbed "Drew's Law" for its supposed connection to the Peterson case.

After the hearing, it was left to White to rule how many of 14 hearsay statements made by Stacy and Savio will be admitted at the trial. White's decision will be kept under wraps until the start of the trial.
A long trial
For a month during the hearsay trial, Peterson listened to family, former friends and ex-in-laws talk about him allegedly stalking and abusing three of his four wives. He heard stories about his supposed plots to kill two of the women he married and then cover up the crimes.

The last day of the hearsay trial Feb. 19 saw State's Attorney James Glasgow hurling such aspersions as "knucklehead Drew" and "greedy Drew" at the defendant.

Glasgow likened him to "some sort of hideous B-movie stalker."

Even with the lack of criminal charges, Prosecutors tried over the course of the month-long hearing to prove Peterson killed Stacy to keep her from testifying against him in the Savio case.

Peterson's attorneys have questioned the constitutionality of the state hearsay law. In the closing arguments they made at the trial, they also attacked the reliability of the witnesses who repeated the hearsay statements and, in Savio's case, went after the original source.

Peterson's lawyer Andrew Abood, who split the closing arguments with defense attorney George Lenard, said Savio lied during a divorce deposition about income from a tenant and was dishonest to an insurance investigator regarding the theft of her wedding ring.

"She describes things the way she wants, to make people feel sorry for her," Abood said.

More than 10 witnesses have testified that Savio told them Peterson broke into her house and threatened her life. Some said Savio claimed he menaced her with a knife. At least six said she accused him of cutting a hole in the wall of her house to get inside, and another six said Savio predicted Peterson would kill her and make her death appear to be an accident.

Witnesses testified that Stacy expressed similar fears. As Assistant State's Attorney John Connor put it, "Mr. Peterson's wives are 2-for-2 in predicting their own murders."
It was a homicide'
Prior to the attorneys presenting their closing arguments Friday, celebrity medical examiner Michael Baden testified for the prosecution and said he believed Savio was attacked, beaten and drowned.

Baden, who performed an autopsy on Savio's exhumed remains that was later broadcast on the Fox News Channel in November 2007, said, "My opinion is that it was homicidal, that it was a homicide, and that she was drowned and beaten up."

As an alternate theory to Savio's death being an accident, Abood suggested her boyfriend, Steve Maniaci, had greater access to her bathroom -- and less of an alibi -- than Peterson, and questioned why he was not the one under suspicion.

And as far as Stacy, Lenard said the evidence points to her running off with another man.

"She doesn't want to have sex with (Peterson) anymore because it makes her skin crawl. I don't think that's a compliment," Lenard said.

"No offense to Drew Peterson, but he's not the young boy-toy anymore," Lenard said. "He's not the guy walking around with the gelled hair. He's an old man she doesn't want to be with anymore."
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« Reply #165 on: February 26, 2010, 06:48:16 PM »

eerrrrrrrrrr......ummmmmm Mr.  Lenard ......show us the evidence that Stacy ran off with another man! Drew Peterson was hardly a young boy-toy when he met and married Stacy. He was old when she married him (as compared to herself)and he's even older now  and I bet he HATES that, lmao. 

If she had left him for another man, she'd have taken her kids. 

Drew killed both women and he is goin' down for BOTH murders!!    Need some more soap on a rope Drew??    omg I loatheeeeeeeeeee him 
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« Reply #166 on: February 28, 2010, 10:16:48 AM »

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/news/2074488,police_bungle_peterson_jo022810.article
Did state police bungle the Peterson case?
Testimony shows cops may have mishandled much of murder investigation
February 28, 2010
By Joe Hosey JHOSEY@STMEDIANETWORK.COM

Prosecutors spent a month tarring Drew Peterson with hours of testimony about how he supposedly killed his last two wives. But after all the witnesses and all the arguing, in the end, it was the state police who may have looked the guiltiest of all.

The revelations about how the state police allegedly mishandled the death investigation for Peterson's third wife, Kathleen Savio, emerged during the hearsay hearing as a prelude to Peterson's murder trial.
» Click to enlarge image
Former Bolingbrook police Officer Drew Peterson (left), his missing fourth wife, Stacy, and his late third wife Kathleen Savio. Peterson is charged with killing Savio.


Savio was found dead in her bathtub exactly six years ago tomorrow. At least one woman and three men, including an attorney and a Bolingbrook police officer, went to the state police soon after her body was discovered and tried to report the suspicions they harbored about her ex-husband, Drew Peterson.

Those suspicions fell on deaf ears.

"I told them Kathy was afraid of Drew," Savio's boyfriend, Steve Maniaci, testified during the hearsay hearing. "I told them Drew broke into her house. I told them the fact that he had cut a hole in the wall to gain entry and it should be looked at. I told them Kathy was very scared of Drew and it should be looked at closely."
Police: No sign of foul play
Based on testimony from witnesses, closely is not a word one would use to describe the way the state police looked at the death of Savio.

But dismissing the concerns of those who reached out to them was only half the problem with the state police's method of gathering witness information in the Savio case. The law's long arm did not reach out very far to find anyone else; a state police "canvass" of the residents around Savio's home stopped short of her ex-husband Drew Peterson's street, less than a quarter mile away.

Possibly worse, the state police did not interview a single member of Savio's family during their investigation, including two sisters who said Savio predicted Peterson would kill her and make her death appear accidental.

One of the two sisters, Susan Doman, testified at a coroner's inquest convened about a month after Savio died. From the stand, Doman said -- in the presence of a state police special agent assigned to the case -- that Savio "was just terrified of (Peterson). He always threatened her."

The inquest ended with a jury ruling that Savio's death was accidental. The jury reached its verdict after the same special agent, Herbert Hardy, testified that the state police found no sign of foul play during the investigation.
Belief unchanged
While the state police did not talk to too many people about the circumstances surrounding Savio's death, others, including Lisa Mordente, who was once Savio's boss at a Romeoville sign company, did not go out of their way to seek out the law either.

"Because it wouldn't have helped," Mordente testified during the hearsay hearing. "Because Kathleen said it wouldn't have helped."

Sgt. Patrick Collins, the top man of a team of state police investigators, made up his mind within an hour of arriving at Savio's home that the dead woman in the tub had died accidentally. And apparently no one could talk him out of it. Not even one of his own.

State police Master Sgt. Bryan Falat worked the Savio death investigation when he was a trooper on loan to the agency's investigation division. He testified on the 12th day of the hearsay hearing that he repeatedly urged Collins, the lead agent on the investigation, to approach the case as if something more sinister than a slip-and-fall accident had occurred in Savio's bathtub.

For example, Falat suggested re-interviewing the friends and neighbors who found Savio's body. He advised that allowing Drew Peterson to be questioned in the lunchroom of the Bolingbrook police station, where Peterson had worked as an officer since 1977, might not be the most prudent course of action. And he spoke against allowing Peterson to be present for the interrogation of his much younger, new wife, Stacy Peterson, which was held in the basement of the couple's house.

Collins did not heed any of Falat's objections or recommendations. He apparently was already under the sway of the third member of the investigative team, state police Crime Scene Investigator Robert Deel who -- despite the first-degree murder charges now facing Peterson in connection with Savio's death -- still believes she was the victim of nothing more than an accident.
'I don't care why ...'
Collins testified at the hearsay hearing that he had never worked a homicide when he was sent to Savio's home and that he deferred to the judgment of Deel, a 24-year veteran of the state police.
 
Deel collected no evidence during his investigation of the Savio death scene. He overlooked a glass of orange juice on her kitchen counter, a mug of water in her microwave and a condom Falat says he told him was in a bathroom wastebasket. Deel denies Falat told him about the condom -- which Savio's boyfriend says he did not put there. Either way, Deel conceded that he did not look in the wastebasket, or any other trash receptacles, during his investigation.

Deel also failed to check for the clothes Savio was wearing before she took her supposed death bath, or to document whether there were any towels in the bathroom. And he neglected to dust for fingerprints or conduct chemical blood testing.

When she was found in the tub, Savio had an inch-long bloody gash on the back of her head, which she apparently sustained during the "accidental" fall before she drowned. But Deel did not find it strange that he could find no blood or hair on any of the surfaces around the tub.

Savio's body also bore the marks of scratches and extensive bruising, but it was not enough to raise Deel's investigative radar. As he put it, "The bruises on the body are insignificant to me."

The fact that Peterson and Savio, who while legally divorced were still in the midst of a contentious property dispute that was due to wrap up in the coming weeks with Savio claiming hundreds of thousands of dollars in the couple's assets, including a portion of her husband's pension, was also lost on Deel. As was Peterson and Savio's acrimonious and violent history, which was lowlighted by 19 calls to the police and allegations of assault, battery, theft and harassment. Motive, after all, does not come into play when Deel probes a potential murder.

"I don't care why it happened," he explained.
No demerit?

 And if anyone else in the state police -- aside from Falat -- cared about the circumstances of Kathleen Savio's life and death, they must not have looked into it deeply; the state police determined she died accidentally, just as Deel and Collins figured from the start.

But less than three and a half years later, Stacy Peterson, the wife Collins allowed to be held and coached by Drew Peterson during her basement interview, mysteriously disappeared. Suddenly, the Kathleen Savio backstory became a much more compelling subject to the state police.

It was about this same time that the Will County state's attorney's office ordered the state police to keep Deel out of its jurisdiction. At least that's the way Deel tells it.

During the hearsay hearing, one of Peterson's attorneys, Andrew Abood, asked Deel whether his superiors reprimanded him for failing to take fingerprints or if he was stuck with a "demerit" for his performance in the Savio investigation. Deel answered no to both questions.

"Nobody from the state's attorney's office has written a letter to the I.S.P. and said, I don't want Bob Deel investigating crimes in Will County anymore?" Abood asked, to which Deel replied, "I don't know about a letter, but I know that's happened."

Charles B. Pelkie, the spokesman for State's Attorney James Glasgow, declined to confirm whether that request came from Glasgow himself.

Following his appearance at the hearsay hearing on Feb. 4, Deel answered, "No comment," when asked if he is allowed to conduct investigations in Will County, but state police Master Sgt. Isaiah Vega confirmed Deel does still work here.
Another murder case
Whether Deel can operate in the county or not, the damage to the Savio investigation has already been done. And questions about his performance may be raised in at least one other high-profile murder case as well.

Joliet attorney Gerald Kielian, who represents Christopher Vaughn in a pending quadruple murder case, confirmed Deel had a hand in processing the crime scene.

"He was the chief investigator," Kielian said.

Vaughn, who could face the death penalty if convicted, allegedly shot his wife and three young children to death as they sat in the family's sport utility vehicle on the Interstate 55 frontage road outside Channahon in June 2007.

While Kielian declined to comment further, or to disclose whether Deel's handling of the crime scene will be an issue during the trial, his co-counsel, attorney John Rogers argued a motion to dismiss the case in September based on the alleged mishandling of a piece of evidence.

A towel found on the lap of the dead body of Vaughn's wife, Kimberly Vaughn, was seized and taken to the Will County morgue, where for some reason it was put in the wash, destroying its evidentiary value. Vaughn's attorneys maintained that the evidence lost in the wash might have played a part in clearing their client.

The judge in the case shot down the argument but it remains unclear who washed the towel and why he did so.

Pelkie declined to discuss the towel, as did Vega, pointing out that the state police do not comment on ongoing criminal investigations or prosecutions. Which was why he could not comment on the Savio case or the Stacy Peterson investigation, which possibly could have been avoided if Collins had listened to Savio's attorney, Harry Smith, her boyfriend Steve Maniaci, her friend Kristin Anderson, or Bolingbrook police Officer Richard Treece.

"I attempted to do what she told me to do (if she died)," Smith said. "I had to go to the authorities and tell them Drew did it.

"I called," Smith said. "I told him who I was and I told him essentially the complaint and the thing Kathleen had told me. At least I attempted to."

The state agent he spoke to "was not prepared for that kind of a conversation," Smith said, and told him "someone would get back to me."

No one did.
Critical of the cops
Anderson, who briefly lived with her family in Savio's basement, told much the same story as Smith.

"They never followed up with me," she said. "I called. I made a couple of phone calls."

Three-and-a-half years later, when the state police got a second chance to solve the mystery of what happened to one of Drew Peterson's wives, they again proved less than adept at returning telephone calls.

"I immediately made attempts to call the state police," Neil Schori, a pastor who says Stacy Peterson confided in him about her husband killing Savio, said of his reaction to the news Stacy was missing.

"I made multiple phone calls, left multiple voice mails," said Schori, noting not one was returned. He said he also went to the District 5 state police headquarters in Lockport, but no one would meet with him.

As luck would have it, Schori happened to be serving on a grand jury when Sgt. Collins was called as a witness. He stood up and said he needed to speak with the sergeant and was finally able to share his information, which may prove vital to the prosecution in Peterson's murder trial.

During the hearsay hearing, Schori testified how Stacy told him of Peterson missing from their home in the early morning hours just before Savio was found dead. When he showed up again, Peterson was dressed all in black and was dumping clothes from a bag into the washing machine.

Peterson came up with a cover story, Schori said Stacy told him, and he coached her how to answer the cops when they came with questions.

Stacy may have lied to the state police to make her husband's alibi, but she was still critical of the cops who bought her story for the way they conducted their investigation of Savio's death.

"It never went very far," Schori said Stacy told him of the police probe. "The police didn't go very far looking at him."
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« Reply #167 on: March 07, 2010, 02:52:50 PM »

Im not sure if I have linked it here, but...

Here is the case archive album, everything that has happened (more or less) since the beginning, saved in pictures:

http://s296.photobucket.com/albums/mm166/crankycrankerson/Stacy%20Peterson%20-%20Kathleen%20Savio/
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Saved pictures and vids from lots of cases:

http://s296.photobucket.com/albums/mm166/crankycrankerson/
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« Reply #168 on: March 09, 2010, 04:16:45 PM »

Im not sure if I have linked it here, but...

Here is the case archive album, everything that has happened (more or less) since the beginning, saved in pictures:

http://s296.photobucket.com/albums/mm166/crankycrankerson/Stacy%20Peterson%20-%20Kathleen%20Savio/

Thanks!   
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« Reply #169 on: March 13, 2010, 03:36:12 PM »

 

3/13/10
Savio pathologist dies

Dr. Bryan Mitchell, the pathologist who performed autopsies in the death of Kathleen Savio and many other notable cases, has died, Will County authorities have announced.
Mitchell has been the chief pathologist for the Will County coroner's office for the past 12 years, said Coroner Patrick K. O'Neil.

"Dr. Mitchell had performed over 3,000 autopsies for our office and the citizens of Will County during his professional time with us," O'Neil said.

"More compassionately known in Will County as Dr. Bryan, he befriended all those who worked in the forensic community to include hospital staff, law enforcement, prosecutors and funeral directors," O'Neil added.

"Dr. Mitchell was a consummate professional whose skillful work as a forensic pathologist enabled us to successfully prosecute many murder cases in Will County over the past decade," said James Glasgow, Will County state's attorney. "He was a compassionate and insightful colleague, and he will be greatly missed."

Glasgow added: "With regard to pending cases in Will County, Illinois statute clearly provides prosecutors with the ability to enter an autopsy protocol at trial in the event of a pathologist's death."

Among thousands of autopsies, Mitchell handled the 2008 shootings at Northern Illinois University, the 2004 Utica tornado and the 1999 Bourbonnais train crash. He traveled to Croatia to examine victims of torture.

Mitchell correctly identified Kathleen Savio -- the former wife of ex-Bolingbrook police officer Drew Peterson -- as a drowning victim. Both forensic pathologist Dr. Larry Blum and medical examiner Michael Baden determined Savio was the victim of a homicide.

Peterson is charged with drowning Savio, who was his third wife.

Dr. Mitchell was also a distinguished member of the Illinois Coroners and Medical Examiners Association, where he developed new guidelines for coroners and medical examiners, O'Neil said. He was also instrumental in designing the new morgue complex in Kankakee County, O'Neil added.
snipped....
http://www.pioneerlocal.com/burrridge/news/2100862,burr-ridge-pathologist-031310-s1.article
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« Reply #170 on: April 16, 2010, 03:47:59 PM »

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-04-14/news/ct-met-0415-peterson-attorneys-20100414_1_andrew-abood-joel-brodsky-drew-peterson
2 attorneys for Drew Peterson withdraw
They cite ‘irreconcilable differences’ with co-counsel Joel Brodsky
April 14, 2010|By Alicia Fabbre, Special to the Tribune

Drew Peterson lost two members of his defense team on Wednesday as attorneys Andrew Abood and George Lenard withdrew from the case citing "irreconcilable differences" with co-counsel Joel Brodsky.

Will County Circuit Judge Stephen White approved Abood's and Lenard's requests to withdraw from the case. When asked if he objected to their motions, Peterson hesitated before telling White he had no objections.

"I think (Peterson) understands, and I think he's disappointed that we're no longer on the case," Abood said after the hearing.
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Peterson is charged with killing his third wife, Kathleen Savio, in 2004. State police also suspect that Peterson was involved with the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, but he has not been charged.

In their motions, Abood and Lenard said they differed with Brodsky over strategy and that proceeding with the case would violate their "ethical duty to zealously represent the best interests" of their client.

Brodsky admitted to differences with his co-counsels about defense strategy but declined to elaborate.

Abood and Lenard spent several minutes speaking with Peterson before the motion hearing. After the hearing was over, Abood shook hands with Peterson and wished him "good luck."
It was a pleasure working with Drew Peterson and Andrew Abood," Lenard said after the hearing. "It's unfortunate it got to the point that it did, but there were no alternatives."
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« Reply #171 on: April 16, 2010, 03:51:24 PM »

http://www.suntimes.com/news/peterson/2159252,drew-peterson-shark-lopez-041410.article
Noted defense attorney joins Drew Peterson's legal team

April 14, 2010

BY STEVE WARMBIR AND NATASHA KORECKI Staff Reporters

Drew Peterson, going to trial in June for allegedly killing his wife, now has a “Shark” in his corner.

Well known criminal defense attorney Joseph “The Shark” Lopez, who once represented a mob hitman who killed 13 people, is joining Peterson’s legal defense team.

Moments before filing his appearance in the case Wednesday, Lopez said he’s getting involved to see justice done.

Peterson “is being blamed for some kind of accident,” Lopez said. “It’s not justice. Justice never rests, and I want to help.”

Peterson, a former Bolingbrook police officer, is charged with murder in the 2004 death of Kathleen Savio. He’s a suspect in the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, but hasn’t been charged.

Lopez, practicing law since the early 1980s, has represented clients in dozens of murder trials over the years. Most recently, he represented Outfit killer Frank Calabrese Sr. in the historic Family Secrets mob case in federal court, one of several well known mobsters Lopez has worked with over the years. Lopez, known for his colorful courtroom attire and quick wit, also represented Peterson in a mock trial for a local radio station.

Lopez is coming into the case as two attorneys are leaving.

Attorney Andrew Abood says the motion he and attorney George Lenard filed Wednesday cites “irreconcilable differences.” Neither Abood nor Peterson’s lead attorney, Joel Brodsky, would elaborate.
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« Reply #172 on: April 19, 2010, 09:09:09 AM »

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/04/19/drew.peterson.lawyers/
'Shark' joins Drew Peterson's defense amid shakeup
By Emanuella Grinberg, CNN
April 19, 2010 8:23 a.m. EDT
(CNN) -- Former Illinois police officer Drew Peterson has changed up his defense team two months before the murder trial in his third wife's death is scheduled to begin.

Joining the defense team is Joseph Lopez, a veteran trial attorney nicknamed "The Shark." He is known in legal circles and among mafia buffs for representing some of Chicago's most notorious mobsters.

Peterson lost two other attorneys last week after they filed motions asking to withdraw from the case, citing "irreconcilable differences" with lead attorney Joel Brodsky.

Brodsky said the shakeup would not affect the trial's June start date.

"We absolutely want to go on as planned. Drew wants to go to trial June 14, I want to go to trial on June 14 and Mr. Lopez will be ready on June 14," Brodsky said in a telephone interview Friday.

Charges against Peterson, 56, for the death of Kathleen Savio came amid an investigation into the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy. He has pleaded not guilty to charges he murdered Savio and denies involvement in Stacy's disappearance.
Lopez, a friend of Brodsky's, is no stranger to Peterson's case. He "represented" Peterson in a mock trial staged in 2009 for a local radio station. The mock trial ended in a hung jury.

His law firm doesn't have a Web site. Instead, Lopez said he prefers to rely on his reputation for tenacious cross-examination and off-the-cuff remarks to the press to bring in clients.

"They just come, like moth to a flame," he said in a phone interview. "I've always been ruthless when it comes to this kind of stuff -- anything, you name it."

Lopez speaks proudly of his roots in the heart of Chicago's Little Italy, where he was born and raised, and scoffs at the irony of his high-profile representation of 13 mobsters in the "Family Secrets" federal trial, which is credited with taking down the upper echelons of the Chicago Syndicate.

Lopez said his arguments in the Peterson mock trial mirror his view that Savio's death was an accident that only became a homicide when authorities couldn't pin charges on Peterson for Stacy's disappearance. Stacy still hasn't been found.
It's just a straight-up case of an accident that later turned into an allegation of murder. There's no DNA, no scientific evidence, bunch of expert witnesses that disagree on the cause of death, and that raises reasonable doubt right there."

Brodsky said Lopez's years of experience as a trial attorney and his shared view of the defense strategy in Peterson's case made him an ideal replacement for Andrew Abood and George Lenerd, who asked to withdraw from the case on Wednesday.

Abood said that he and Lenerd were not forced off the case, attributing the decision to leave to personality differences with Brodsky.

"Joel's a different kind of lawyer than I'm used to," he said. "He's a very good lawyer in his office and he's very knowledgeable, but to be a trial lawyer and to present a case requires a certain amount of skill and ability to think on your feet and understand issues and an ability to communicate those issues to jurors."

Brodsky, however, said it was impossible to divorce the concept of clashing personalities from trial strategy when defending a client charged with murder.
Everybody's got their own style, everybody has their own ideas, and maybe when he tries to convince me that his way is the right way and I don't agree with him, maybe he considers that to be a personality conflict," Brodsky said.

"I'm sorry he couldn't see things my way, but there can only be one boss, one bus driver, one captain of the ship, whatever you want to call it. You can try to convince, you can try to argue, try to make people see things your way, but if you can't agree when the captain or coach or lead counsel makes the final decision, and you really can't go along with it, then I guess you have to step aside."

The two attorneys left on good terms with Peterson, Abood said. "We shook hands and wished each other the best."

As for Brodsky?

"I don't think Joel will be inviting me to any Christmas parties," Abood said.
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« Reply #173 on: April 23, 2010, 08:28:24 AM »

http://www.wlsam.com/Article.asp?id=1780003&spid=
Sun-Times Media
 
Apr 21, 2010

(BOLINGBROOK) A band of volunteers searched a southwest suburban Bolingbrook pond for missing mother Stacy Peterson on Wednesday.

Bolingbrook police Lt. Michael Rompa said the search was strictly a civilian effort with no presence from his department or State Police.

State Police have been the lead agency investigating Peterson's October 2007 disappearance. They consider her to be the victim of a potential homicide and named her husband, former Bolingbrook police Officer Drew Peterson, the sole suspect in their case. <!--[endif]-->

Drew Peterson was arrested in May and charged with murdering the woman he was married to before Stacy Peterson -- third wife Kathleen Savio. His murder trial is set to start June 14.

The search of a pond near the intersection of Boughton and Weber roads was led by Stacy Peterson's sister, Cassandra Cales, Rompa said.
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« Reply #174 on: April 23, 2010, 08:31:25 AM »

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=375396
Two more big names join Peterson defense team
By Christy Gutowski | Daily Herald Staff
Published: 4/22/2010 5:27 PM | Updated: 4/23/2010 12:17 AM
They don't have cool nicknames like "The Shark," but two other high-profile Chicago attorneys known for their aggressive courtroom styles are joining the Drew Peterson defense team.

Attorneys Steven A. Greenberg and Ralph E. Meczyk are expected to file their appearances by Monday to defend the former Bolingbrook police sergeant on charges he killed his third wife as the former couple neared a financial settlement in their divorce.

Both attorneys have handled dozens of murder trials in their lengthy legal careers.

Most notably, Meczyk defended former Chicago police officer Anthony Doyle in the landmark Family Secrets federal mob trial. And, late last year, Greenberg represented triple killer Brian Dugan for the infamous 1983 sex slaying of Jeanine Nicarico of Naperville.

In that case, a DuPage County jury in November initially signed a "life" verdict form after the defense explored functional brain imaging technology to explain Dugan's mental makeup. The panel ultimately sent Dugan to death row, however, after the main holdout juror had a change of heart before the initial verdict was announced.

Greenberg and Meczyk join lead attorney Joel Brodsky, Reem Odeh, and Joseph "The Shark" Lopez, who also was a lead attorney in the Family Secrets trial. Lopez filed an appearance last week after Andrew Abood and George Lenard withdrew, citing "irreconcilable differences" with Brodsky regarding key trial strategy issues.

Drew Peterson, 56, maintains his innocence in Kathleen Savio's 2004 drowning death. His fourth wife Stacy, 23, was reported missing in October 2007, but Peterson hasn't been charged with any wrongdoing in that case.
Jury selection is slated to begin June 14, but the trial may be delayed if prosecutors appeal Will Circuit Judge Stephen White's anticipated ruling regarding the admissibility of about one dozen hearsay statements.

"The passing of a law designed to convict a specific person makes this a witch hunt; that offends my sense of justice," Greenberg said of a recent hearsay law sparked by the Peterson case. "I look forward to the challenge of ensuring Drew gets a fair trial and is found not guilty."

Peterson, arrested May 7, remains in the Will County jail on a $20 million bond.
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« Reply #175 on: May 05, 2010, 01:10:47 PM »

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/bolingbrooksun/news/2213628,4_1_JO29_THEBOOK_S1-100429.article
Violence expert taps Peterson case for book
Author: 'Time's Up' can help women escape abusive relationships

 April 29, 2010
By JOE HOSEY jhosey@stmedianetwork.com

JOLIET -- Friends and family of missing mother Stacy Peterson told how she feared that the husband she wanted to get away from would kill her before letting her go.

A new book from family violence expert Susan Murphy-Milano would have given Peterson the ways and means to escape her allegedly abusive relationship.
It was born out of Stacy's death, actually," Murphy-Milano said of her new book, "Time's Up," which was released April 12.

While Peterson remains missing, the state police investigating her disappearance believe she may have been slain by her husband, former Bolingbrook cop Drew Peterson, although they have yet to bring criminal charges in the case.
Women's advocate
Murphy-Milano has firsthand experience of an unhinged police officer perpetrating acts of violence on their wives. Her father, a Chicago detective, murdered her mother before committing suicide in 1989. Murphy-Milano found their bodies.

"It was something he always said he would do," Murphy-Milano said of her father.

The startling event propelled Murphy-Milano on her path to becoming an advocate for battered women.

"It chose me, I don't think I chose it," the former investment banker said of her current vocation, which has included penning two other books on the subject of domestic violence prior to "Time's Up."
Peterson case
Murphy-Milano said the idea for "Time's Up" came to her after she got involved in the Stacy Peterson case and spoke with a preacher Stacy confided in about her fears of her husband. Stacy also told the preacher, Neil Schori, that her husband allegedly killed the woman he was married to before her, Drew Peterson's third wife, Kathleen Savio. Drew Peterson currently faces a murder charge in connection with Savio's March 2004 death.

"It was after I met with Neil Schori, and we talked," Murphy-Milano said of the preacher, who now presides over a church in Naperville.

Murphy-Milano said she spotted the extensive video equipment in Schori's church and told him that she has taped all of her interviews with victims of domestic violence since 2004.

Leaving behind a videotaped statement might be enough to dissuade a murderous spouse from acting on a violent impulse, Murphy-Milano pointed out. And if it isn't, the tape could be used in court to help convict a spouse charged with murder.

"If Lisa Stebic would have done this -- that's another case that's not been solved," Murphy-Milano said of the Plainfield mother of two who vanished in April 2007. Police suspect her husband, Craig Stebic, of doing her in, but he has not been charged with harming her.
Protecting victims
The book "Time's Up" provides a roadmap to safety for victims of domestic violence by showing them the unseen pitfalls of leaving a violent relationship and how to navigate around them.

"Time's Up" also has explicit details and instructions how to fill out an "evidentiary abuse affidavit," one of the unique things that Murphy-Milano has created and used through the years in high danger cases. She believes the evidentiary abuse affidavit, which after it is filled out is notarized, has saved many lives.

Murphy-Milano also envisions her book being distributed by prosecutor's offices and court systems to both promote justice and save money.

"I can't see it not happening," she said.

"It makes the prosecution's case easier," she said. "Look at the millions of dollars they've spent on this whole (Peterson) investigation."

"Time's Up" is available at bookstores and on Internet book sites.
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« Reply #176 on: May 12, 2010, 09:33:36 PM »

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/bolingbrooksun/news/2262344,4_1_JO12_PETERSON_S1-100512.article
Drew's Peterson's motorcycle on eBay
No takers for $50K Harley-Davidson yet


May 12, 2010
By JOE HOSEY jhosey@stmedianetwork.com

JOLIET -- A piece of the Drew Peterson -- and the Harley-Davidson -- lifestyle can be yours if you score the high bid on an eBay auction for his motorcycle.

Peterson, the serial marrier and accused wife killer now jailed on murder charges for a few days more than a year, has his prized Harley-Davidson on the Internet auction block with a starting price of $50,000.
While Peterson could use some money to cover his legal expenses, that is not the sole reason for selling the motorcycle, said his attorney, Joel Brodsky of Chicago.

"First of all, the bike's been sitting there for over a year now," said Brodsky, who has his own Harley-Davidson up for sale on eBay as well. The minimum bid for Brodsky's bike is $8,500.

"Mine's got nothing to do with money," Brodsky said of unloading his motorcycle. "I'm just getting older."

Peterson allegedly murdered his third wife, Kathleen Savio, in March 2004, but was not arrested until May 2009. The state police had maintained that Savio accidentally drowned in her bathtub but changed their tune when Peterson's next wife, Stacy Peterson, vanished in October 2007.
Peterson and Stacy owned matching Harleys and rode together before she mysteriously disappeared. State police suspect that Peterson had a hand in possibly slaying Stacy but have not charged him with harming her.

The day the state police finally arrested Peterson on murder charges, the former Bolingbrook cop spent a good deal of time tooling around town on his motorcycle. He also cut a dashing figure in the days following Stacy's disappearance by roaring away from his home astride the Harley with an American flag bandana covering his face.
High price
The website Justice Cafe, a blog devoted to the Peterson case, broke the news of the Internet auction. The motorcycle was listed on eBay by Jim McGovern, who said he is an investigator for another of Peterson's lawyers, Ralph Meczyk of Chicago. The listing boasts that "this is the actual bike owned by Drew Peterson," which must count for something, as the original manufacturer's suggested retail price is only $24,995.

Brodsky insists the bike is valuable even without the Peterson connection.

"It's a collector's item, in addition to being Drew Peterson's motorcycle," he said. "If the person who buys it doesn't care where it comes from, that's fine, too."

And just because Peterson is selling this motorcycle -- and facing what would surely amount to a life sentence in prison if convicted on the murder charges -- does not mean he does not plan to ride another day.

"When he gets out he can always buy another one," Brodsky said. "They're not going to stop selling Harleys."



What an a**hat.   
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« Reply #177 on: May 17, 2010, 04:10:06 PM »

Rolling Eyes
Monday, 17 May 2010 2:06PM

Drew Peterson's Harley-Davidson motorcycle has finally sold

CHICAGO (WBBM)  -- Drew Peterson's lawyer says Peterson's Harley-Davidson motorcycle has finally sold - after being pulled off eBay at least twice.

The new owner of Drew Peterson's motorcycle?

"We went with a private buyer, who gave us a very good price."

Joel Brodsky, Peterson's lawyer, says eBay took Peterson's Harley off the auction site twice - after complaints that it was "murderabilia."

After it was taken down the first time, Brodsky objected - and eBay put the bike back up.

Then, Brodsky says more complaints. And the Harley was taken down again.

Finally, Brodsky says, he and Peterson went with a private buyer - for what Brodsky calls a "good price."

Brodsky wouldn't say how good. Peterson had been asking that bidding start at $50,000 - more than twice the blue book value.

Newsradio 780 has tried to reach eBay for comment.
 
http://www.wbbm780.com/Drew-Peterson-s-Harley-Davidson-motorcycle-has-fin/7067039
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« Reply #178 on: May 17, 2010, 04:11:31 PM »

The money should be turned over to Stacy's family for her 'search'.

What a *&(**&^ dirtbag he is. I hate him 
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« Reply #179 on: June 02, 2010, 10:01:41 AM »

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=7474331
Peterson trial could be delayed
Updated at 07:46 AM today
June 2, 2010 (WLS) -- A decision is expected Wednesday on a motion to delay the start of Drew Peterson's murder trial.

The trial is set to begin June 14. Peterson's attorneys want to delay the trial until August because prosecutors have proposed to call four new expert witnesses.

Peterson is accused of murdering his third wife, Kathleen Savio, 40, in 2004. He's also suspected in the 2007 disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy.

Peterson has pleaded not guilty to Savio's murder and denies any involvement in Stacy's disappearance.
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