Drew Peterson

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Drew W. Peterson
Bolingbrook Police Department
Born January 6, 1954 (1954-01-06) (age 55)
Years of service	1978 - 2007
Rank	Sergeant

Drew Walter Peterson (born January 6, 1954), is a former Bolingbrook, Illinois police sergeant who has been accused of killing his third and fourth wives.^{[1][dead link][2][dead link]} The story has received national media attention in the United States. Peterson has repeatedly denied involvement in both cases, and no charges against him have been brought forward by the authorities.

Contents 1 Disappearance of Stacy Peterson 2 Prior marriages 2.1 Kathleen Savio 2.2 Vicki Connolly 3 Police career 4 Police investigation 5 Larry King Live appearance 6 Recent news regarding Drew Peterson 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Disappearance of Stacy Peterson

Stacy Peterson (born January 20, 1984) went missing on October 28, 2007. She was officially reported missing in the early hours of October 29, 2007, after her sister, Cassandra Cales, failed to hear from her when expected. Drew Peterson claims that Stacy called him at 9 p.m. on Sunday to tell him that she had left him for another man and that she had left her car at Bolingbrook's Clow International Airport.

The last recorded words from Stacy Peterson were left on a voicemail on her father's answering machine on October 17 at 12:37 P.M., 11 days before she disappeared. The message said, "Hey dad! It's me, Stacy, I just wanted to call you and tell you I love you. I also wanted to give you my new phone number. OK, love you."^[3][4]

[edit] Prior marriages

[edit] Kathleen Savio

It was reported that between 2002 and 2004, police were called out to the Peterson house 18 times on domestic disturbance calls, including calls for returning children late after visitation, during Drew Peterson's third marriage, to Kathleen Savio (June 13, 1963 - March 1, 2004).^[5] Kathleen Savio's body was subsequently found in a circular bathtub on March 1, 2004. Her death was initially ruled an accidental drowning.^[2]

However, following Stacy Peterson's disappearance, Savio's body was exhumed and underwent forensic examination on November 16, 2007.^[6] Dr. Michael Baden, a former New York City chief medical examiner who conducted the examination at the request of Savio's relatives and Fox News, concluded that she died of drowning following a struggle when her body was placed in the bathtub. The results of the official autopsy ordered by the county have yet to be released to the public.^[7] Illinois state attorney James Glasgow told the press that after examining evidence in the case, he believed that the death was a "homicide staged to look like an accident."^[7][8] On February 21, 2008, Glasgow announced that a pathologist determined that Savio's death was a homicide,^[9] adding that the death had been investigated as such reopening the case following the exhumation.

Rev. Neil Schori, a pastor at Stacy Peterson's church, reported that she had told him that Drew had killed Kathleen Savio and had made it look like an accident and that she was fearful of her husband.^[10] Stacy had provided Drew's alibi for his whereabouts on the evening that Kathleen Savio died.

[edit] Vicki Connolly

Drew Peterson's second wife, Vicki Connolly, has alleged a history of abuse during her 10-year marriage to him,^[11] as has her daughter who lived in the household during this time, from the age of 8 to 17 years.

[edit] Police career

Drew Peterson had a 29 year career as a policeman. Peterson brought forward his planned December 2007 retirement as a Bolingbrook police sergeant following Stacy's October 28 disappearance. The Bolingbrook Police Pension Board voted on November 15, 2007 to allow Peterson to collect his $6,067.71 per month pension,^[12] stating current law gave them no option, as Peterson had not been convicted of any crime.^[11] In the 1980s Peterson had been fired for misconduct in conducting an unauthorized investigation dealing with drug dealers, but was reinstated and not convicted of any wrong-doing.^[11] Peterson was also accused of police brutality for allegedly breaking the thumb of an arrestee in May 2007. The charges were later dismissed as Drew was not present during that arrest, nor working that day.^[13]

[edit] Police investigation

Several leads have been followed in the investigation by Illinois State Police with FBI involvement. Four search warrants have been issued and carried on Drew Peterson's property following Stacy's disappearance, including seizure of his vehicle and Stacy's vehicle, and Drew's 11 guns.

Rick Mims, Peterson's long-time friend, has admitted that Drew Peterson and Mims bought three blue containers from a cable company, where they both worked part-time in 2003, and has provided photos of the containers to police. Mims had also sold his story to the tabloids for an undisclosed sum of money. Peterson's stepbrother, Thomas Morphey, who has a history of drug and alcohol addiction, attempted suicide two days after allegedly helping Drew carry a large blue plastic container from Peterson's Bolingbrook home to his sport utility vehicle, fearing he may have helped dispose of the body of Stacy Peterson. Neighbors reported seeing Peterson and another man hauling a 55-gallon barrel, large enough to hold a person, out of the house shortly after Stacy's disappearance. Cassandra Cales, Stacy's sister, said she wanted Drew Peterson to take a lie detector test about his knowledge of a blue barrel or container that she said she saw in their garage two days before Stacy disappeared. Joel Brodsky, Peterson's attorney has denied any container is missing from the home. There were also reports of truckers referring to the containers, but their stories were treated as not credible, after it was found they were not in the Bolingbrook area at the times they claimed.^{[10][14][15][16][17][18]}

One theory, according to a police source, was that Stacy Peterson was romantically involved with Scott Anthony Rossetto, or his brother Keith Rosetto, both of Shorewood, Illinois, though both Rosetto brothers denied this. Investigators have speculated that Peterson's body may have been dumped near Rossetto's home in an effort to frame him as the killer.^[19]

[edit] Larry King Live appearance

Drew Peterson appeared on Larry King Live on April 11, 2008. His lawyer was present as an adviser regarding which questions were okay for Peterson to answer.^[20]

[edit] Recent news regarding Drew Peterson

In December 2008, Drew Peterson's publicist Glenn Selig confirmed that Mr. Peterson was engaged to a 23-year-old mother of two, Christina Raines; she would be his 5th wife.^[21] On January 30, 2009, it was made public that Raines had moved out of Peterson's house. Her father, Ernie Raines, had issued an ultimatum, having her choose between him or Peterson. Ernie had issued the ultimatum because he didn't like the way Peterson began to control Christina; and was also scared that she would disappear like Stacy had.^[22] In February 2009, Christina and Drew appeared on NBC's Today Show, reporting that she had moved back in with him. Though Drew's divorce is not yet final, Drew said he hopes to marry "as soon as possible." Christina said her father made it clear he would not attend their wedding; in fact, she also admitted none of her friends and family support the relationship. When asked by NBC's Amy Robach if they would like to have more children, Drew responded, "We have enough, we have 8 between us" (apparently including in the count his adult children, as there are only 6 children living in the home: the two he had with Kathleen Savio, the two he had with Stacy, and Christina's own two); while Christina said, in a question-like tone, "Maybe one more?" When asked why she is with Drew, she said "I love him, he makes me laugh," and claims to have no concern for her safety.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Dateline NBC's interview with Drew Peterson