Newspaper Articles

[Lorie Taylor]

www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,311218,00.html

Daughter of Drew Peterson's Second Wife Breaks Her Silence to Greta

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST: Tonight: Stacy Peterson still missing. It's been two weeks and one day. Stacy's husband, Sergeant Drew Peterson, is officially a suspect. The case has gone from a missing persons case to a potential homicide investigation. Stacy Peterson is 23 years old, has two small children with Sergeant Peterson. Searchers are now looking at bodies of water near the Petersons' home.

Just a short time ago, we spoke with Sergeant Peterson's stepdaughter stepdaughter from wife number two. Now, this is her very first interview. She asked us to protect her identity, so we are only using her first name and we put her in silhouette.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VAN SUSTEREN: Lisa, thank you very much for joining us.

LISA, DAUGHTER OF PETERSON'S SECOND WIFE: Thank you for having me here tonight, Greta.

VAN SUSTEREN: Now, Lisa, I should probably explain, because no one can actually see you, that you wanted to have your identity hidden. Is that correct?

LISA: Yes, ma'am.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right. Except for the fact that the one thing that you do want to establish is who your mother is, who your mother was married to.

LISA: Yes, ma'am.

VAN SUSTEREN: Who was your mother married to, and what years?

LISA: My mom was married to Drew Peterson from 1982 to about 1992.

VAN SUSTEREN: In about 1982 when your mother first married Drew Peterson, about how old were you?

LISA: I was had just turned 8 years old.

VAN SUSTEREN: So he was in your life for approximately 8 to 18 years old?

LISA: Yes, ma'am. Actually, 17 is when him and my mom had gotten divorced.

VAN SUSTEREN: Did you live in the same household with Drew and your mother, or did you live with your father?

LISA: No, I lived with my mother and Drew. He was the man who had helped raise me.

VAN SUSTEREN: What was it like growing up with Drew as your stepfather?

LISA: He was very strict, extremely strict, sometimes not a very nice person.

VAN SUSTEREN: Did he ever strike you?

LISA: I was punished, yes, ma'am.

VAN SUSTEREN: But punished as sort of any child would be punished, or was it in your opinion excessive punishment?

LISA: I think that it was to the extreme with the punishment sometimes.

VAN SUSTEREN: Give me an example.

LISA: I was hit with a belt for many years.

VAN SUSTEREN: Now, did your mother ever discipline you that way, or was that only Sergeant Drew Peterson who did?

LISA: No, he was the one who handled the discipline in the home.

VAN SUSTEREN: How would you describe your mother's marriage those 10 years to Sergeant Drew Peterson?

LISA: Looking from the outside, you would think that they were happy, but I know that my mom wasn't.

VAN SUSTEREN: Was there ever I mean, obviously, because there was a divorce, there was, you know, discord in the marriage. But was there any violence in the marriage?

LISA: He was abusive to my mother. He was very controlling to her, watched every move that she had made.

VAN SUSTEREN: When you say watched every move she made, can you describe it a little bit more? Because that's also, oddly enough, the description we received about Stacy.

LISA: My mom was not allowed to have friends. She was not allowed to talk with our family. It was pretty much the only person that Drew had wanted her to have in her life was him.

VAN SUSTEREN: Did you ever see Drew Peterson get physical with your mother?

LISA: I did not see it. I heard it, though.

VAN SUSTEREN: During the course of the 10 years, did you ever see any injuries on your mother that you suspected had been inflicted by him?

LISA: I think that with the physical abuse, he had did his best to hide it. I saw a lot of mental abuse that he had did to my mother moreso than anything.

VAN SUSTEREN: How did the marriage end? Who wanted out first?

LISA: My mom did because he was not being faithful to her, and he had not been faithful for many years. And I think that she knew and finally had just had it, just wanted out.

VAN SUSTEREN: When you say not faithful, was that with wife number three, Kathleen Savio?

LISA: Yes, ma'am.

VAN SUSTEREN: Do you know if your mother ever met Kathleen Savio?

LISA: I do not know. I know he was doing his best to hide the affair, though. Our home was tapped. Their business was tapped. And he was doing everything that he could to hide what he was doing to her.

VAN SUSTEREN: Who was tapping it?

LISA: Drew.

VAN SUSTEREN: How do you know that he was tapping it?

LISA: We could just hear there would be things that I would get in trouble for, and it would be, like, Oh, my goodness, how did he know that? And we ended up finding out that he did, he had our phone lines tapped.

VAN SUSTEREN: Since the time your mother and Drew Peterson divorced, do you know if they've had any contact at all, either by telephone or seen each other?

LISA: Oh, yes, ma'am. He talks to my mom.

VAN SUSTEREN: How often?

LISA: But she doesn't talk to him. Not very often. He just kind of pops up out of nowhere sometimes. The last time I myself had seen him was five years ago at my grandma's wake. I believe my mom had talked to him a few months ago. So it was kind of you know, mom said it always seems like he's there somewhere.

VAN SUSTEREN: How do you describe the relationship, then? I mean, it sounds like, if they're still talking, it's a pretty friendly relationship?

LISA: I think that she's decent because she feels that's how she has to be. I know that she's still afraid of him.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right. Now, you say she's afraid of him. Has she said she's afraid of him?

LISA: She still fears him.

VAN SUSTEREN: Why does she fear him?

LISA: Because he's told my mom before that he can hurt her, and I think that she feels she has to be decent on that level because she doesn't want to be hurt by him.

VAN SUSTEREN: Do you remember when wife number three died, did anyone contact your mother about it?

LISA: Actually, he had contacted my mom and told her about it.

VAN SUSTEREN: What did he say happened?

LISA: He just said that there was an accident with his wife, and you know, somebody might try and contact her to find out some information.

VAN SUSTEREN: What did she think it meant?

LISA: I think she was kind of tossed up with it.

VAN SUSTEREN: Meaning what?

LISA: Just didn't know what to think. You know, it's one of those things. Is that something that he could have done? Did he do that? I know that she didn't want to believe that. I mean, this is somebody who she had spent many years with, but could it be a possibility? You know, she had all those thoughts in the back of her head.

VAN SUSTEREN: I take it she has heard that Stacy vanished about 15 days ago.

LISA: Yes, ma'am.

VAN SUSTEREN: How did she hear that, do you know?

LISA: I'm actually the one who had told her.

VAN SUSTEREN: How did you hear?

LISA: From a good friend of mine.

VAN SUSTEREN: And does that friend know Stacy and Sergeant Peterson, or did the person hear it in the media?

LISA: She knows them.

VAN SUSTEREN: Here's what I don't get, Lisa, is that you're in the shadow and we can't see you because you have fear.

LISA: No...

(CROSSTALK)

VAN SUSTEREN: Well, you're not the only one. That's what I was going to ask you. Go ahead.

LISA: No. I actually it's I'm not and I will say this honestly. I have not I feared Drew my whole life, growing up. I really did. I was afraid of him. When my mother finally divorced him, I no longer feared him because he could no longer hurt me. So it's not him that I'm hiding myself from. It's just I because of this I don't want my family and the life that we live now, in a sense, to have everything be known.

VAN SUSTEREN: Does your mother has she expressed any fear of him in the last two weeks?

LISA: When we had heard that possibly my stepbrother's mother passed away, it was she was extremely scared. Knowing that he is still walking out and possibly responsible for hurting these women, she's very cautious and very careful. And then with me being able to give her, you know, little bits of information and stuff, OK, I'm a little bit better now.

VAN SUSTEREN: And when you say your stepbrothers, you're talking about Kathy Savio in 2004, or are you talking about Stacy Peterson?

LISA: The two older boys.

VAN SUSTEREN: What about since Stacy vanished has your mother said anything, about fear?

LISA: Yes, well, that's why I said she does I mean, it just- the whole idea of him being out there, being loose (ph). I mean, I told her she doesn't have to be afraid of him anymore, but obviously, he had hurt her, you know, so badly all those years ago that she still thinks about that. He used to tell my mother that he could kill her and make it look like an accident.

VAN SUSTEREN: She told you that?

LISA: Uh-huh.

VAN SUSTEREN: Did he say it on more than one occasion? Did he say how he could do that?

LISA: No, he didn't go into detail with that, but that was one of the things that she had told me.

VAN SUSTEREN: When did she tell you that? How recently?

LISA: Within the last couple of weeks, with all of this going on.

[Lorie Taylor]

www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/647336,6_1_NA13_PETERSON_S2.article

Expert: Exhuming body may not crack case

November 13, 2007
By Jennifer Golz Staff writer

A noted forensic pathologist says a new autopsy of Kathleen Savio may not be the answer for which so many are desperately hoping.

Savio's body is expected to be exhumed today, a move by Will County officials that Dr. Cyril Wecht says is for the public's benefit more than that of science.

"Quite frankly, in terms of coming up with something different or even of a helpful nature regarding the pathologist process is extremely doubtful," he said.

Savio, 40, was found dead March 1, 2004, in a waterless bathtub of the Bolingbrook home she previously shared with her ex-husband Drew Peterson, a 29-year veteran of the Bolingbrook police department.

Her death was ruled an accidental drowning by a corner's jury, but officials re-opened the case days after Peterson's fourth wife, 23-year-old Stacy Peterson, mysteriously went missing.

"I don't think exhumation will help ... unless someone feels that certain things were deliberately missed," Wecht said.

A Pennsylvania-based attorney and forensic pathologist with more than 40 years' experience, Wecht is well known in his profession, having consulted on the O.J. Simpson and JonBenet Ramsey cases, among others.

"I would argue against it because I wouldn't think it's going to be very productive - you're not talking about a bullet wound, skull fracture or neck injury," Wecht said.

The autopsy of Savio, performed by a Will County corner's forensic pathologist three weeks after her death, details a 1-inch laceration to her scalp consistent with a blunt trauma, and more than 10 bruises and cuts about her body.

More than three years later, all those injuries would be unidentifiable, Wecht said.

"You can't tell a darn thing years later about drowning and if there are no skull fractures and just lacerations and soft tissue bruises, soft tissue would be decomposed," he said.

"Drowning is a difficult diagnosis to make, even in fresh cases," Wecht said. "And coroner's juries are not too different from a grand jury - you get from them what you want."

But last week Will County Coroner Pat O'Neil said he did not get what he wanted from the coroner's jury in 2004, and had he been able, he'd have ruled the death "undetermined."

In 2004, the manner of all deaths other than natural causes were required to be ruled on in a coroner's inquest. But this year the law changed, giving Illinois coroners the ability to rule on a manner of death independently.

"There's nothing wrong with revisiting a case, but that usually occurs when new evidence has been introduced," Wecht said.

"If you don't have new evidence or information ... you can't fault someone for having the courage and integrity to go revisit and acknowledge maybe it should have bore more scrutiny."

Especially if the alternative to an "undetermined" manner of death is homicide, more investigation is needed, he said.

"Where do you get all those bruises? How do you get a laceration to the scalp and how do you wind up drowning in your own bathtub when you're a 40-year-old person?" Wecht said. "It raises some serious questions as far as I am concerned."

This is the second time Bolingbrook police has turned over its investigation into Drew Peterson's spousal troubles to Illinois State Police, but Wecht suggested the autopsy should have been brought to another jurisdiction outside of Will County, as well.

"Did the forensic pathologist for Cook County or another large community review the case?" he said. "Did the state police go and turn it over to a forensic pathologist that is experienced outside of that jurisdiction? That's what should be done in that situation."

[Lorie Taylor]

www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,311656,00.html

Husband of Stacy Peterson Asks Her to Come Home

November 14, 2007

NEW YORK An Illinois police officer suspected in the disappearance of his fourth wife pleaded Wednesday for her to come home, even as he maintained that she left him for another man.

"Come home. Tell people where you are," Drew Peterson said on NBC's "Today."

Stacy Peterson was last seen Oct. 28. Authorities say the case is a potential homicide investigation and have identified her husband, a 53-year-old police sergeant in the Chicago suburb of Bolingbrook, as a suspect.

Peterson denied that he harmed his 23-year-old wife or had anything to do with her disappearance, saying that "she found somebody else, those were her words." He also said he had no plans to help search for her because he thought she left willfully. He also said he was a "media sensation" and would attract attention that could harm the search effort.

"Why would I look for somebody who I don't believe is missing? She's just gone. She's where she wants to be," Peterson said.

The interview aired a day after the body of Peterson's third wife, Kathleen Savio, was exhumed in Illinois.

Savio was found in the bathtub, her hair soaked in blood from a head wound. A coroner's jury ruled the 40-year-old's death was an accidental drowning, even though there was no water in the bathtub. Investigators had theorized the water had drained out, but now say evidence suggests that someone killed Savio and tried to make it look like an accident.

Peterson acknowledged that there were mysterious circumstances surrounding Savio's death, but said he didn't know what, if anything, the exhumation would accomplish.

"It's a shame her rest in peace has to be disturbed for something like this," he told NBC.

Peterson described his relationship with both women as troubled, saying both came from troubled homes and struggled with depression. But he denied involvement in either case.

"I can look right in your eye and say I had nothing to do with either of those incidents," he said.

Peterson has been relieved of duty and placed on suspension without pay pending completion of an internal affairs investigation and hearing.

[Lorie Taylor]

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21773405/

Why it makes sense to suspect Drew Peterson
Van Zandt: Threats, mysterious death of third wife make cop likely suspect

By Clint Van Zandt
MSNBC
updated 4:56 p.m. CT, Tues., Nov. 13, 2007

If I tried to leave him, he said hed kill me.

Those were the words allegedly spoken by 23-year-old missing mother of two, Stacy Peterson, to a friend and neighbor about a threat her 53-year-old husband Drew Peterson made.

On Oct. 26, Stacy told Drew she wanted a divorce. Two days later she was gone. Her policeman husband suggests that she has left for personal reasons in the past, and that he suspects she has either run off on her own or run away with an unnamed man. No evidence of either scenario has yet been discovered.

What is it, though, in Sgt. Petersons background that would make him any more of a person of interest in his wifes disappearance than the statistical probability ascribed to any other spouse or partner of a missing person?

Common sense would support her husband knowing something more about her disappearance than is publicly known. Consider the following:

Sgt. Peterson is 30 years his wifes senior, having met and allegedly dated her when she was 17 and while he was still married to his then 40-year-old wife, Kathleen Savio. Stacy Peterson is Sgt. Petersons fourth wife and he has a total of eight children.

A history of deceit: Sgt. Peterson allegedly told Stacy he was single when he was still married to his third wife. Other wife-killers have told similar lies concerning their marital status, like Scott Peterson who told Amber Frey he was a widow.

Sgt. Peterson allegedly threatened and beat his third wife, Kathleen, who he married less than three months after his second divorce. Of the 18 individual reports of domestic abuse from their household, at least half were related to allegations of physical abuse by one or both parties to the marriage.

After his divorce from Kathleen, who once had a domestic protection order against him, Sgt. Peterson attempted to have his $2,000-per-month child support payment reduced, to no avail. Kathleen continued to live in the house in which she, Sgt. Peterson and their two children resided at the time of her untimely death. At this point, she was in legal action to receive part of Sgt. Petersons anticipated retirement pension.
Kathleen Savio's death

On the weekend of her 2004 death, Kathleen is believed to have turned over her two children to Sgt. Peterson. When he later returned the children to his former residence, he was unable to get into the house. So he, an experienced police officer, went to a neighbors residence for help. The neighbor called a locksmith who responded and unlocked the door to the residence.

The neighbor entered the house and found Kathleen dead in an empty whirlpool-style bath tub. Her head reportedly showed signs of trauma and there was blood in her wet hair. Because her hair was wet and her fingers were wrinkled, the local medical examiner ruled her tragic death to be accidental, saying the water had probably slowly leaked away from the tub.

Kathleen had made notes concerning her fights with her former husband just in case, according to her sister, something happened to her.

A pattern of behavior?
Stacy Peterson told relatives she was afraid of her husband. Sgt. Peterson had allegedly monitored and limited his current wifes telephone and social contacts, watching her every move, even to the extent of allegedly following her as she went to class at a local college. He previously refused to allow her to visit her sister in a nearby community and had allegedly threatened her on more than one occasion. Stacy had told a number of friends that if anything happened to her it was not an accident; her husband, who had allegedly beaten her in the past, would kill her.

Stacy Peterson was said to be a good mother to her two children with Sgt. Peterson and the two children she was raising from his previous marriage to Kathleen. Family and friends say she would never run off and leave her children. She was, however, according to friends and relatives, depressed concerning the deaths of two of her sisters, one by SIDS and one in a fire.

Sgt. Peterson acknowledges a telephone call from Stacy on the day of her disappearance in which she allegedly indicates that she was leaving him. It is unknown if this call has been verified by independent investigation.

In an e-mail to a friend, Stacy described her husband as controlling, manipulative and somewhat abusive, asking her friend to pray for her for wisdom, protection and strength.

Some believe that had Drew Peterson not been a police officer, the alleged domestic abuse and subsequent death of his third wife, and his alleged abuse of his current wife, would have brought him to the attention of the criminal justice system.

In many police departments, allegations of domestic abuse and the issuance of a restraining order would have caused the officer to have his firearm taken away. His supervisors would have placed him on some kind of administrative duty until the allegations were resolved (the so-called rubber gun squad.)

In a recent media interview by his current chief of police, no indication was given of any type of such action ever being taken against him.

Sgt. Peterson was due to retire or had otherwise indicated his desire to retire in November 2007.

Love, honor, murder
A similar story in the news has been the case of Lisa Stebic, a Chicago-area wife and mother who, like Stacy Peterson, was alleged by her husband to have simply walked out of their home last April. She hasn't been found, either. Where have all of these runaway wives and moms gone, if, in fact, they really had the chance to run away?

Sometimes a crime represents the anger or rage of the perpetrator. In December 2006, 49-year-old Ellen Robb, wife of University of Pennsylvania Professor Rafael Robb, was bludgeoned to death. She died in her home as she made cookies for their children. Professor Robb has been charged with his wifes murder and the suggested motive was their impending divorce. Somehow the words love, honor and obey seem to have lost their meaning, at least for some couples.

For others, these words have been hammered into a weapon, one that can be used by one against the other, often resulting in the death of a spouse or significant other. The children become the ultimate victim.

But with Stacy Peterson, we just dont know. She grew up with an alcoholic, abusive father who reportedly used to tell her you better be nothing like your mother. Stacy's own mother disappeared a decade ago. Perhaps it was the desire for stability that made her to date and marry a man a year older than her father, another male authority figure.

Case leads
Should Stacy have been able to squeeze in a extramarital relationship with all her responsibilities her two biological children, caring for Sgt. Peterson's children, her schooling, and his alleged obsessive, stalking-like behavior it could be expected that Sgt. Peterson would likely know the identity of her lover. He would have already provided police this information.

Now authorities take a new look at the death of Kathleen Savio and continue in their search for Stacy. Peterson has been seen wearing a cover on his face, indicating he didnt want to be identified. This is perhaps why he's been absent from the ranks of those currently searching for his missing wife.

The challenge for authorities is to either find Stacy or prove that some type of crime has been committed. This is hard to do in the absence of any evidence. There have, after all, been runaway brides. Missing women have returned of their own volition or have been recovered from their kidnappers.

In Stacy's case, friends and relatives hope for the best while preparing for the worst. But in this case, the worst like in the case of Lisa Stebic may simply be the not knowing.

[Lorie Taylor]

ttp://www.abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3863586&page=1

Ill. Cop Under Fire Proclaims Innocence
Drew Peterson: 'I Had Nothing to Do With Either of Those Instances'

By DAVID SCHOETZ
Nov. 14, 2007

The Illinois cop suspected in the disappearance of his fourth wife and possibly in the death of his third wife flatly denied any involvement in either case this morning, instead describing both women as emotionally unstable.

"I can look you right in the eye and say I had nothing to do with either of those instances," Drew Peterson said in an interview this morning on NBC's "Today."

The police sergeant from Bolingbrook, a Chicago suburb, told NBC he believes his wife, Stacy, ran off with another man, and pleaded during the interview for her to come home.

"She 'found someone else,'" Peterson said. "Those were her exact words."

Since the woman was last seen, Peterson's status has been upgraded by investigators from a "person of interest" to a "suspect." It's a change that comes as no surprise to Peterson, who is currently on unpaid leave from his department.

"I think they've always considered me a suspect," he said. "You know, the husband always did it."

Peterson said that his wife's emotional state declined after her sister lost a cancer battle and that she was taking new medications and struggled with depression.

He dismissed a comment from Kerry Simmons, Stacy's stepsister, who said that the Stacy told her that if there was ever an instance where she didn't answer her phone, that Simmons and others would have to go searching for her. He also called an e-mail allegedly sent by Stacy in which she describes her relationship as "somewhat abusive" a "fabrication."

Peterson admitted to having verbal confrontations with his wife, but said that he never raised a hand to her, even after an instance in which she threw a frozen steak at him. He also said that Stacy frequently asked him for a divorce. "Stacy would ask me for a divorce after her sister died on a regular basis," he said. "I'm not trying to be funny here, based on her menstrual cycle."

The televised denial of his involvement comes one day after authorities exhumed the body of Kathleen Savio, Peterson's third wife, who was found dead in a bathtub in 2004. The decision to reopen that case came after Stacy's disappearance.

Results from an independent doctor regarding Savio's manner of death could take several weeks, but a grand jury reportedly is considering charges connected to Savio's disappearance.

In that case, a coroner ruled Savio's death an accidental drowning, even though there was no water in the bathtub, and her hair was soaked from an apparent head wound. Authorities theorized that the water had drained from the tub. Peterson was the duty sergeant working the night that her body was discovered.

Investigators say a $1 million life insurance policy, which is protected and can only be accessed by Peterson's children, had been taken out on Savio's life. In 2002, according to court records, Savio had gotten an order of protection against Peterson.

"It's a shame that her rest in peace has to be disturbed for something like this," Peterson said when asked about the decision to exhume the woman's body.

Peterson described Savio, as he did Stacy, as emotionally disturbed. "She came from an abusive home life, she had abusive stepparents," he said about Savio. "After she had children, hormones kicked in, and again, an emotional roller coaster with her."

Peterson, who claims that he cooperated with the police in their initial interview about Stacy's disappearance but stopped talking to investigators at the advice of attorneys, said the media spotlight -- not the investigative spotlight -- has agitated him and made life a challenge for his family, which includes two teens from a previous marriage and two young children from his marriage with Stacy.

The media attention, he said, is one of the reasons he has not participated in the ground search for Stacy. "Number two," he said, "why would I search for someone I don't believe is missing?"

Peterson said he feared the legal costs that may be associated with defending himself in these cases. When asked if he was worried that any potential legal proceedings might take him away from his children, Peterson said he did not fear being found guilty and having to face life in prison or potentially the death penalty because his children would be provided for and cared for by his family members.

As for Stacy, he had a simple message. "Come home," he said. "Tell people where you are."

[Lorie Taylor]

www.suntimes.com/news/metro/650673,petersontranscript111407.article

The transcript of the Peterson interview on 'Today'

November 14, 2007
A full transcript from NBC's "Today Show" from Wednesday morning:

MATT LAUER, co-host:

And former Sergeant Drew Peterson is here for an exclusive interview this morning.

Mr. Peterson, good morning, nice to have you here.

Mr. DREW PETERSON (Suspect in Fourth Wife's Disappearance): Good morning.

LAUER: I was watching your face as you were watching that report. And the image of your third wife's casket being taken out of the ground by that crane. And now that you know that the body has been exhumed and forensic experts are going over it, what's your response to this development?

PETERSON: It's a shame that the--her rest-in-peace has to be disturbed for something like this when they did it once, now they're doing it again.

LAUER: Do you think there are no mysterious circumstances surrounding her death? You don't understand why the police are doing this?

PETERSON: I understand exactly why. But I really have no opinion on...

LAUER: You think it's a wasted effort, they're not going to find anything?

PETERSON: I don't know. If there was anything that happened to her, you know, it should be found out.

Media circus

LAUER: You flew here from Chicago last night accompanied by one of our producers who told me that there's quite a scene outside your home right now.

PETERSON: Correct.

LAUER: There's an enormous media presence there.

PETERSON: For the last two weeks.

LAUER: Right. Give me an example, or just tell me a little bit about what your life has been like for you and for your two young children.

You've got a two-year-old and four-year-old, Lacy and Anthony.

PETERSON: Right. And I have two teenage boys, also, 13 and 14. I think this is weighing a little harder on them than the two young ones. The two young ones we can play with and they pretty much accept their circumstances. But the older boys, it's harder on them. We basically have to sneak them in and out of the house in the morning to go to school and--or out to see friends or just engage in their normal school activities. So it's been very hard on them.

LAUER: You say you can play with the two younger ones, the two-year- old and the four-year-old, but what have you told them about their mom's disappearance? What do they know? How do you explain why mom isn't home?

PETERSON: Basically, mom's gone on a vacation. And every time anything comes on the television, we go ahead and just kind of shuffle them out of the room or we go to another room to watch the story.

A suspect from the beginning

LAUER: When Stacy went missing on October 28th, police questioned you, they came to your house, there was a search warrant. They've come twice, by the way. You were initially labelled by police as a person of interest and you're a police officer, or were a police officer. You know all about these labels. You know what this means.

PETERSON: Sure.

LAUER: Since that time, though, with further investigation, they've decided that you are in fact a suspect in this case. Why do you think, in your opinion, they've changed their characterization of you?

PETERSON: I think they've always considered me a suspect. You know, the husband always did it. And I think it's just a title to basically progress our case or try to progress their case.

LAUER: So you think the only reason you're considered a suspect right now is because the husband is always considered a suspect?

PETERSON: Pretty much. And I believe I was a suspect from the beginning when they first started talking to me.

LAUER: Let me go over a couple of things that have raised some eyebrows. Stacy went missing, as I said, on October 28th. According to reports, she had asked you for a divorce just two days earlier.

Stacy wrote an e-mail to a friend on October 17th - so we're talking about a little more than a week prior to her disappearance this is wh it said. Quote, "as I mature with age, I'm finding that the relationship I'm in is controlling, manipulative and somewhat abusive. If you could keep me in your prayers, I could use some wisdom, protection and strength." What do you think she meant by that?

PETERSON: I don't think that's her words. That doesn't sound like a thing that she would say. And that vocabulary is certainly out of line for her. So I think this was fabricated, as a lot of things have been throughout this case, and this is a made-up e-mail.

LAUER: Stacy's stepsister, Kerry Simmons...

PETERSON: OK.

LAUER: ...was on this program, and let me play you a portion of what she said to Meredith earlier.

PETERSON: OK.

LAUER: OK?

(Beginning clip from Meredith's interview with Kerry Simmons) Ms. KERRY SIMMONS: It was the end of pretty much every conversation that we had when we were together or spoke on the phone with both of us that, you know, if one day she never answered her phone or if we couldn't get a hold of her, that, you know, we would need to look for her, that something happened.

(End of clip)

LAUER: That we would need to look for her, that something happened.

Why do you think Stacy was concerned that something was going to happen to her and that they would need to look for her?

PETERSON: I don't know. I don't know.

LAUER: Well, then describe the relationship. What was your relationship like with Stacy?

PETERSON: Our entire relationship was - in the beginning it was very romantic. And after her sister passed away with cancer, she took a serious downslide of her emotions. She lost her faith. She was very religious before this time. And ever since her sister died, we actually had her go to a psychiatrist. And she was on medication, mood medication. And every day with her thereafter, after her sister passed away, was basically an emotional roller coaster. Every day...

She hit with a frozen steak

LAUER: Emotional for Stacy or emotional between the two of you? Would you describe your relationship as volatile, was it ever violent?

PETERSON: I don't believe it was ever violent.

LAUER: You'd either know it was violent or not violent.

PETERSON: There was - there was a few instances where like Stacy and I would have like verbal confrontations and I would be in her face and she hated being cornered and one time she hit me in the head with a frozen steak. And, OK, I walked...

LAUER: Did you ever hit her?

PETERSON: Never.

LAUER: Never raised a hand to her?

PETERSON: Never raised a hand to her. There was an incident where we tried throwing her in a swimming pool at a party, but that was in jest and she came up swinging and she was very angry at that happening, but we were playing.

She found somebody else

LAUER: You have said on occasions that Stacy came to you and said she was seeing someone else, that there was another man. Is it fair to say that you believe that Stacy right now is with that other man?

PETERSON: She never told me she was seeing another man. She - well, maybe she did. But I believe she's with somebody else right now.

LAUER: Let me just go back to, did she or did she not say to you, `I'm seeing someone else, Drew?'

PETERSON: It wasn't put like that. She found somebody else. That was her exact words.

LAUER: And you believe that she is now not dead, that she is actually run off with another man?

PETERSON: I believe that, yes.

LAUER: You've described her as, although she had emotional issues, as you've said, she was a good mom.

PETERSON: Great mom.

LAUER: All right. And so how does a good mom of a two-year-old and a four-year-old go off with another man and never call the kids to see how they're doing or to tell the kids that she's OK?

PETERSON: I don't know. I can't answer that.

LAUER: No explanation for that?

PETERSON: I don't have an explanation for that.

Lawyers said to keep quiet

LAUER: Are you cooperating with the police? There have been conflicting reports. The police, from what I understand say you're not offering much assistance and you've said that you are cooperating. What's the truth?

PETERSON: I sat down the first night they interviewed me the day after she was missing. That evening they were over at my house. And I gave them a full account of the story, of what took place. And thereafter, I hired some attorneys and the attorneys said don't talk no more.

LAUER: No more. Have you participated - we've seen images of people out in the area where you live searching for Stacy.

PETERSON: Right.

LAUER: Have you ever taken part in the search for Stacy?

PETERSON: Well, there's two things. One thing, it's like I'm such a media sensation right now, if I go out and search, I think the search would be hampered by, number one, all the media attention I'd be getting. And, two, why would I look for somebody who I don't believe is missing? She's just gone. She's where she wants to be.

I was on of the first there

LAUER: Another reason there's so much attention being paid to you, is because of the circumstances surrounding the death of your third wife, Kathy Savio. She drowned in her bathtub, according to the report at the time, an accidental drowning back in 2004. However, at the time there was no water in the bathtub. Her hair was matted with blood and apparently there was a one-inch gash on the back of her head. Now state officials are saying that it looks like an accident staged to cover a murder. What was your impression at the time she died? Did you think it was an accident?

PETERSON: I was one of the first people there. And I was actually the watch commander of our town at the time that it happened. And I went ahead and met with her best friend because I haven't seen her for a couple of days, which was very unlike her, to not be seen or heard from. So I was planning the next day to go into her home, you know, with her neighbor, and see if she was OK, but her neighbor was upset and her best friend was upset, same person. And she wanted to go in that night. So we called the locksmith, went into the house. I didn't go in the house. I waited outside. Her friend...

LAUER: Why didn't you go in the house?

PETERSON: Kathy was always accusing me of things like she didn't want me in the house ever because she was afraid I was going to steal something.

LAUER: But you're the police officer...

PETERSON: Right.

LAUER: ...the watch commander.

PETERSON: Right, exactly.

LAUER: And it's your job to investigate crimes if they've committed.

PETERSON: That was Kathy. That was Kathy.

LAUER: You just wouldn't go in the house.

PETERSON: So when I heard screaming, I went inside and there she was in the bathtub.

LAUER: What did you see? And did it look like an accidental drowning to you at that time?

PETERSON: I felt the ... I didn't know if she was dead or live, so I felt her pulse and, you know, being a policeman, I basically didn't want to touch anything or disturb anything.

LAUER: True or false: you ended up with a million payout from a life insurance policy you had on her.

PETERSON: My children did. And that money is in a protected account for them when they turn older.

The hormones kicked in

LAUER: And what was your relationship with Kathy like? Tell me about her.

What kind of a woman was she?

PETERSON: She came from an abusive home life growing up. She had abusive stepparents. At first it was very romantic and, again, after she had children, hormones kicked in and, again, an emotional roller coaster with her. But our relationship was always a one-upmanship relationship. We were always trying to basically outdo each other with different things. Who was smarter, who was stronger, that type of thing.

LAUER: So you describe both of these women, Kathy and Stacy, as having emotional problems?

PETERSON: Yes, both of them.

LAUER: Both troubled?

PETERSON: Both came from troubled homes.

LAUER: Both dealing with depression at some point or another?

PETERSON: Yes.

LAUER: So what drew you to these women?

PETERSON: Both women were very beautiful, very exciting when I first met them. Kathy was a lot of fun when I first met her. She was good to my kids. Kids from a prior marriage. We went to fun places. We went out to dinner.

We saw shows and we did a lot of fun things together and she was a lot of fun. Very beautiful woman.

I'm afraid of the media

LAUER: I have more I want to ask you in our next half-hour, but let me just end this half-hour and ask you to just - you know, you're a police officer. You've probably said this to other people that you've investigated over the years. Can you look me straight in the eye and tell me that you had nothing to do with the death of your third wife Kathy or the disappearance of your fourth wife Stacy?

PETERSON: I can look right in your eye and say I had nothing to do with either of those incidences.

LAUER: You seem extraordinarily calm and collected. And I guess if I were under the pressure and the scrutiny you're under right now, possible indictment as early as today or tomorrow...

PETERSON: Sure.

LAUER: ...I think I'd be a little more, I don't know, rattled.

PETERSON: Basically, I'm not afraid of law enforcement. I'm afraid of the media. And I've been hounded by the media and the media's what's causing my aggravation or me being upset with life and living today.

LAUER: Drew Peterson, we're going to talk to you more in our next half-hour. I appreciate your being here this morning.

PETERSON: OK.

LAUER: But first, this is TODAY on NBC. ...

LAUER: But let's start with Drew Peterson, the long-time Illinois police sergeant under investigation today. Did he have anything to do with the fate of his third and fourth wife? We'll talk to him again in a moment in an exclusive interview. But first, here's NBC's Kevin Tibbles.

KEVIN TIBBLES reporting:

It's been more than two weeks since 23-year-old Stacy Peterson went missing. Stacy is the fourth wife of Bolingbrook, Illinois, Police Sergeant Drew Peterson. Her family says the couple met when she was just 17 and he was 47. Now married four years, they have two young children. Their relationship began while Peterson was still married to his third wife, Kathleen Savio, who was later found dead in her bathtub. Three years ago, Savio's death was ruled an accident. But in light of Stacy Peterson's disappearance, authorities exhumed Savio's body Tuesday to try to determine if her death was truly accidental.

Drew Peterson denies any wrongdoing. For TODAY, Kevin Tibbles, NBC News.

It was her menstrual cycle

LAUER: PETERSON, welcome back.

PETERSON: Thank you.

LAUER: So, just real quickly touch on the fact that, as I said, it's said it's - it's reported that Stacy asked you for a divorce just two days before she disappeared. And you - and you combine that with the fact that Kathy died while your divorce settlement was still being negotiated. Do you understand why people see a rather alarming consequence here?

PETERSON: Sure. However, Stacy - I'm not trying to be funny here - but Stacy would ask me for a divorce after her sister died on a regular basis. I'm not trying to be funny. And it was based on her menstrual cycle.

LAUER: So - so, when Stacy asked you for a divorce on October 26th, it didn't anger you? You weren't upset by it?

PETERSON: It was like every - any other moment that she had that she was unhappy with something, she would want a divorce.

LAUER: So, when people look at you and they say, `Here's a guy who's been a cop for 30 years, he knows police work, he knows weapons, he probably knows how other criminals have gone about covering their tracks, he's the perfect guy to commit a crime,' how do you respond to that?

PETERSON: How can I? What can you say? I can't even respond to that.

LAUER: As someone who does know the system and who's understood for years what it takes to piece together a case, to bring together evidence, how does it feel to have the weight of that system now turned and focused on you?

PETERSON: It's very frightening, very frightening.

LAUER: What are you most frightened about?

PETERSON: Basically, my legal defense. Talking to lawyers Monday night, it could cost as much as a quarter million dollars to defend one of these cases. So, basically, I'm reaching out to attorneys of America for help. If anybody would like to take my case and help me out here, please call. Let me know what you can do for me. Help me out.

I'm as guilty as they come

LAUER: The families of Stacy and of Kathy have been very vocal as of late.

PETERSON: Right.

LAUER: Why do you think they would target you if they think you had nothing to do with either the death or disappearance of their loved one?

PETERSON: I don't know. Maybe they even are prompted by the media to say this or do that. You know, I had a meeting with Geraldo Rivera and he was at my kitchen table and he asked me to tell my story. And as I'm telling the story, he says, `Well, say it like this, say it like this.' So, everything he said wasn't even my words. And he walks outside and he says, `Here's a man with a noose tightening around his neck.' I mean,...

LAUER: If you were me or if you were the average citizen on the street who's read about this case and seen it on TV, would you think you're guilty, that you had some involvement in this?

PETERSON: Based on the media coverage, I'm as guilty as they come.

LAUER: And yet, you still maintain there is no guilt?

PETERSON: No.

LAUER: You have no connection to any of these...

PETERSON: No.

LAUER: ...situations?

PETERSON: And I--I think my silence has basically painted me guilty in the media.

LAUER: A grand jury has been convened in this case. They're starting to question family members of yours, friends of yours. Do you expect to be charged?

PETERSON: I don't know. I just don't know. I think because of the media coverage and the - the magnitude of this case, I believe somebody has to do something. So, and if they don't do anything, they'll be - they'll be scrutinized for that.

LAUER: Do you have anything you can present to me that might prove your innocence?

PETERSON: No. I don't know what to tell you. Just let the case unfold as it does.

Get the media off my back

LAUER: There are - there are probably a lot of legal experts and lawyers out there right now saying, `This guy should not be sitting on this show talking to this guy right now while he's the subject of this investigation, perhaps even these investigations.'

PETERSON: Right.

LAUER: Why did you decide to do this interview?

PETERSON: I'm doing all that I can, my God, get the media off my back. Get them off my family's back. That's all I'm asking. And I'm here today in an attempt to basically let them see my face, here I am, please get away from my house and leave my family alone.

LAUER: Do you think this interview will accomplish that...

PETERSON: I'm...

LAUER: ...or in some ways do you think it might turn up the heat?

PETERSON: I'm begging that it does. Or if it turns up the heat, then I made a mistake coming here.

LAUER: You know the law, you know that if somehow you're deemed to be involved in the death of Kathy Savio or of the disappearance or perhaps even death of Stacy, you face either life in prison or the potential for the death penalty.

PETERSON: Correct.

LAUER: Have you thought about it?

PETERSON: Yes. And it's a frightening thing, but my family's provided for, my kids will be OK. They're with my brother and sister-in-law and my son. And I can go in peace if that happens.

What they're seeing is not me

LAUER: And if you can tell the people watching today one thing about you that they clearly don't know and don't understand, what would that be?

PETERSON: What they're seeing is not me. I'm - I've been a jokester all my life. And it's just like now that they're seeing this serious person in deep trouble, and this isn't me. Me is a guy playing jokes on people and kidding around and trying to have fun with life and living.

LAUER: And if Stacy is out there, as you say, where she wants to be, perhaps with another man, perhaps even watching this interview, what would you say to Stacy, your fourth wife?

PETERSON: Come home. Tell people where you are. And that's all I can say.

LAUER: Drew Peterson. I appreciate you agreeing to do this interview this morning. And,...

PETERSON: Sure.

LAUER: ... obviously, we'll keep our viewers posted on - posted on the details of this case.

PETERSON: OK. Thank you.

LAUER: Thank you very much.

[Lorie Taylor]

www.chicagosuburbannews.com/woodrid...age/x1855991835

Coroner reports Savios death as drowning

By Don Grigas, [e-mail]
GateHouse News Service
Wed Nov 14, 2007, 06:14 PM CST

The cause of Kathleen Savios death remains classified as a drowning, according to Will County Coroner Patrick ONeil.

According to a press release issued by ONeils office late Tuesday, Dr. Larry Blum, an independent forensic pathologist, found nothing to contradict a change relative to drowning as the cause of Kathleen Savios death.

The release did not state whether or not the latest findings addressed a six-person Will County Coroners Jury determination in March 2006 that Savios drowning was accidental.

Dr. Blum will provide an independent opinion once his review of the case is complete, which could take several weeks to complete, the release said.

Dr. Blum was called in to perform an autopsy Tuesday on the remains of Savio, exhumed from Queen of Heaven Catholic Cemetery in Hillside early Tuesday morning.

On March 1, 2004 Savios body was discovered by neighbors in her bathtub in her residence in Bolingbrook.

A six-person coroners jury listed her death as an accidental drowning, but several circumstances surrounding her death led Will County States Attorney James Glasgow to recently re-examine the case.

Savio is the third wife of Sgt. Drew Peterson, whose wife Stacy Peterson, has been missing since Oct. 29.

Her disappearance has led to intense media coverage and law enforcement investigations of both cases.

On Friday, Nov. 9 the Illinois State Police, the lead investigative unit for the Stacy Peterson case, listed Drew Peterson as a suspect in her disappearance.

According to the release issued by ONeils office, Dr. Blum will review all the facts and circumstances surrounding Kathleen Savios death including scene photos, original autopsy photos, toxicology, microscopic examination of tissues, radiologic evidence and investigative reports."

[Lorie Taylor]

www.suntimes.com/news/metro/651839,CST-NWS-boling15.article

Drew's TV plea to Stacy: 'Come home'
'TODAY' INTERVIEW | Peterson blames her 'menstrual cycle' for their marital problems

November 15, 2007
BY SHAMUS TOOMEY AND DAN ROZEK Staff Reporters

Drew Peterson, with an awkward smile, told his missing fourth wife to "come home, tell people where you are" during a live "Today" show interview Wednesday in which he blamed Stacy Peterson's "menstrual cycle" for her repeated requests to end their marriage.

"I'm not trying to be funny here, but Stacy would ask me for a divorce after her sister died, on a regular basis," Peterson told NBC's Matt Lauer, who questioned him for nearly 20 minutes. "And it was based on her menstrual cycle."

That answer set off a spokeswoman for Stacy Peterson's family.

"He tries to explain that it was because of a menstrual cycle? That's the most ridiculous thing I ever heard. It doesn't explain what happened to Stacy," said Pam Bosco.

Drew Peterson, 53, a Bolingbrook police sergeant, is a suspect in his 23-year-old wife's disappearance. She went missing Oct. 28, causing authorities to take a second look into the death of his third wife, who was found in a bathtub in 2004. Her body was exhumed Tuesday.

With media camped outside his house, Peterson flew to New York for the NBC interview. He told Lauer he was going on camera to "get the media off my back."

He showed little emotion, looked into the camera to make points several times and made a plea for legal help. He also denied having any role in either Stacy Peterson's disappearance or Kathleen Savio's death.

"I can look right in your eye and say I had nothing to do with either of those incidences," he said.

Bosco dismissed the interview as a Peterson attempt to drum up legal support but said she was surprised by his demeanor. "I think a normal human being would have been more emotional," she said.

A Savio relative said Peterson's comments were not "a big deal."

"It didn't have an impact at all because it was all bull - - - -," said Savio's nephew Charles Doman, 33. "It was just Drew being Drew."

During the interview, Peterson denied abusing Stacy Peterson and dismissed as "made up" an e-mail Stacy Peterson's friend Steve Cesare said he received from her Oct 17. It described her relationship with Peterson as "somewhat abusive."

"I think this was fabricated," Drew Peterson said.

Cesare responded by saying, "I know in fact those are real. I'll swear on a stack of Bibles, I'll go on a polygraph, I'll do anything."

Meanwhile, Drew Peterson's brother Paul appeared before a Will County grand jury Wednesday, according to Peterson's neighbor Steve Carcerano, who was to testify but was told to come back.

Paul Peterson declined comment.

Drew Peterson submitted his resignation this week, but Bolingbrook Police Chief Ray McGury refused it, saying he wants Peterson to face department disciplinary hearings.

[Lorie Taylor]

www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3868974&page=1

Both Ill. Cop's Wives Feared 'Accidents'
Stacy Peterson's Friends Don't Buy Husband's TV Plea for Her to Come Home

With the search for missing Illinois mother Stacy Peterson wearing on and another woman's exhumed body under examination, friends and family members of both women grow increasingly suspicious of her husband, Drew, despite his insistence Wednesday that he had nothing to do with either case.

"He's not asked anybody if we know where she is. Maybe because he already knows where she is?" said Sharon Bychowski, a friend of Stacy's.

In an interview broadcast on NBC Wednesday, Drew, the suspended police sergeant who became a suspect in his fourth wife's disappearance and possibly his third wife's death, proclaimed his innocence and made a public plea for a defense lawyer.

He also sent an unusual message to Stacy, his fourth wife. "Come home, tell people where you are, and that's all I can say," he said in the interview, while laughing.

Peterson also said that his young wife's numerous recent requests for a divorce were "hormonal," explaining that she had become depressed after the recent cancer death of a sister.

"Every woman in the world should be appalled by that," Bychowski said. "For him to say that, it's really, really ridiculous. He should be ashamed by that."

Drew says he believes Stacy ran off with another man. Her friends and family tell another story.

"'Sharon,' she used to say constantly to me, 'just remember, if I disappear, it is not an accident. He killed me.' She said it all the time," said Bychowski.

Stacy's stepsister Kerry Simmons said, "As controlling as he was, for him to switch off and act like he doesn't care that she left with another man? That would never happen."

Stacy disappeared the day before she was scheduled to meet with a divorce lawyer, friends said.

Previous Wife's Death Explored
The remains of Drew's third wife, Kathleen Savio, were exhumed this week after police reopened the investigation into her death. Savio was found dead in a bathtub in 2004 just days before her divorce from Peterson was finalized.

The decision to reopen that case came after Stacy's disappearance.

Results from an independent doctor regarding Savio's manner of death could take several weeks, but a grand jury reportedly is considering charges connected to the case.

A coroner initially ruled Savio's death an accidental drowning despite the fact there was no water in the bathtub and her hair was soaked from an apparent head wound. Authorities theorized that the water had drained from the tub after her death. Peterson was the duty sergeant working the night that her body was discovered.

Savio's sister Sue Doman said today on "Good Morning America" that the family had always been suspicious of Peterson. Doman said Savio also shared her fears before her death in words that are eerily similar to what Stacy reportedly told friends.

"Just the Thursday before she passed away she said she was so afraid 'he was going to kill me and make it look like an accident. Take care of the children,'" Doman said.

Friends are concerned about the four Peterson children, who remain in Peterson's custody.

"It's just very sad that the older children have to endure losing one mother in a bathtub, losing another mother just several years later, and now the possibility of losing their father. Their whole world is upside down," Bychowski said.

Drew has reportedly told the two younger children that their mother, Stacy, is on vacation.

[Lorie Taylor]

www.suntimes.com/news/metro/651815,CST-NWS-boyfriend15.article

Stacy's sweetheart speaks out
3-YEAR ROMANCE | 'She was so heartfelt with everything. She was really concerned'

November 15, 2007
BY KARA SPAK Staff Reporter/[e-mail]

Stacy Peterson wasn't the type to date around.

With the exception of her husband, whom she met when she was 17 and married when she was the 19-year-old mother of his fifth child, she only had one serious boyfriend as a Romeoville High School student.

That boyfriend, Ralph Chira, talked about her Wednesday. He discussed his surprise when she started dating Drew Peterson, a man 30 years her senior, how Peterson proposed to Stacy two years before they married, and how Chira's experiences with Stacy don't jibe with Drew Peterson's statements on the "Today" show.

Drew Peterson reiterated Wednesday his wife left him for another man. State Police are calling Drew Peterson a suspect in a possible homicide investigation.

A high school psychology teacher paired Chira with Stacy for a class assignment that involved her walking him around the school blindfolded. He bumped into a railing on a second-floor balcony. She grabbed his arm, nervous he would fall.

"She was about to cry," said Chira, now 26 and the manager of a Meijer meat department. "She was so heartfelt with everything she does. She was just really concerned."

The chance encounter spurred a three-year romance that included two proms, dinners out and the first serious romantic relationship for both.

Chira said while he knew he wouldn't go to college, Stacy started at Joliet Junior College right after graduating from high school. She was studying nursing there before disappearing Oct. 28.

Though he said they were both falling in love for the first time, the pair never discussed starting a family. The only discussions involving children were how not to have them, he said.

In 2001, Chira and Stacy broke up after he said he started spending more time with his friends. Weeks later, she told him she met Drew Peterson.

"She told me he was older, a Bolingbrook police officer," Chira said. "She worked overnight [at a hotel], and I guess he would come in there and make her feel safe."

Soon thereafter, Chira said she told him Drew Peterson had asked her to marry him, though he was married to Kathleen Savio. Stacy told Chira she said yes. She never mentioned Savio, who divorced Peterson in 2003 and was found dead in a bathtub in 2004. Stacy and Drew Peterson married after his divorce in 2003 and the birth of their son.

Chira said he saw Stacy frequently shopping at Meijer. He said he saw no outward signs of the depression or moodiness Drew Peterson spoke of on "Today." Nor did he remember any unusual behavior associated with her menstrual cycle. Peterson claimed Wednesday she would ask him for a divorce when she got her period.

"She seemed happy," Chira said of the last time he saw her, about six weeks ago. Unlike Drew Peterson, he has participated in searches for her.

[Lorie Taylor]

www.suntimes.com/news/sneed/651787,CST-NWS-sneed15.article

Where's FBI? The Peterson case . . .

November 15, 2007
BY MICHAEL SNEED Sun-Times Columnist

Why hasn't the FBI been asked to provide assistance in the disappearance of Stacy Peterson, which has become a nationwide story?

It's a question being asked by Sneed readers . . . and, for that matter, by Sneed.

The shocking answer: The FBI hasn't been asked.

Media mayhem: It's no secret the case has become a runaway media circus, starring TV tongue titans Geraldo Rivera, Greta Van Susteren and Nancy Grace tripping all over one another to retrieve any tasty tidbit tossed over the transom of the Illinois State Police, which is ramrodding the probe.

So Sneed called the FBI: "On its face, Stacy Peterson's disappearance does not appear to be a violation of federal law, which would fall under the jurisdiction of the FBI," said FBI spokesman Ross Rice. (In other words, it hasn't been classified a kidnapping yet.)

The kicker: "However, we have, in the past, on a number of occasions, been asked to provide assistance to local police departments involving local crimes. For example, the Lisa Stebic case comes to mind. We have been asked to help in that case," Rice told Sneed.

The surprise: "But as of right now, the Illinois State Police has not asked [the FBI] to provide any assistance in connection with the investigation," Rice added.

Drew who?
Sneed hears that Peterson's husband, suspended Bolingbrook cop Drew Peterson, not only appeared on the "Today" show Wednesday morning . . . but reportedly agreed to be interviewed afterward by "Dateline: NBC."

Quoth a source: "I'm told Peterson was pretty impressed with his fancy hotel digs in New York."

[Lorie Taylor]

www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,311815,00.html

Grand Jury Probes Death of Sgt. Drew Peterson's Third Wife
Thursday, November 15, 2007

This is a rush transcript from "On the Record ," November 14, 2007. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST: Sergeant Peterson's wife number three, Kathleen Savio, died bizarrely in a bathtub in 2004. And back in 2004, a coroner's jury declared her death an accident.

But since wife number four's disappearance, everyone is asking, is wife number three's death actually a homicide?

Yesterday, wife number three's body was exhumed, and today a grand jury met to officially investigate whether her death was an accident or a homicide. The grand jury called Sergeant Peterson's brother, Paul Peterson, and Steve Carcerano, who found Kathleen's body.

Joining us live in Bolingbrook, Illinois, is Steve Carcerano. Steve, nice to see you.

STEVE CARCERANO, FOUND SAVIO'S BODY: How're you doing, Greta?

VAN SUSTEREN: I'm doing very well. So you got called to the grand jury today. Did you actually get a chance to testify?

CARCERANO: No, I didn't . I pretty much sat there for three-and-a-half hours and waited until next week.

VAN SUSTEREN: Did they explain to you why they never got to you?

CARCERANO: There was a couple of other individuals that went before me. Two other jurors (ph) were called in, one of them being Drew's brother, Paul, today, that weren't there last week. And they didn't say why they didn't get to the last three people.

VAN SUSTEREN: How long was Paul in there, could you estimate?

CARCERANO: Approximately 40 minutes, something like that.

VAN SUSTEREN: Where you called last week to the grand jury, or is this the first time you've been called?

CARCERANO: No, I was called last week, as well, but didn't get a chance to speak last week, either.

VAN SUSTEREN: So I bet you're pretty happy you get dragged down there every Wednesday and you get to sit around and wait. I bet that makes you happy.

CARCERANO: Yes, well, next week, I'm going to bring Portillos' (ph) hot dogs or something while I wait.

VAN SUSTEREN: Well, believe me, nobody likes sitting around the grand jury or anyplace. I mean, I would not be ecstatic about that. But anyway, we'll move on. You've been talking to Sergeant Peterson, haven't you.

CARCERANO: Correct.

VAN SUSTEREN: When was the last time you talked to him?

CARCERANO: I talked to him earlier today when he was in New York. As everybody knows he was on the "Today" show this morning. Had a brief conversation with him at that point.

VAN SUSTEREN: Did he call you or did you call him?

CARCERANO: I called him.

VAN SUSTEREN: What'd he have to say about what'd he say about his own appearance?

CARCERANO: He asked me what I thought of it. I thought he did a good job. You have to understand that he has the pressure of the world on him right now, and for him to get on a flight and show his face for the world and give his side of the story, I thought that was very commendable.

VAN SUSTEREN: Did he say how he actually felt he did, though? I mean, I understand that he now has asked you how you thought he did, but did he say anything about it?

CARCERANO: He felt he did a good job.

VAN SUSTEREN: What did he say about Matt Lauer's questions?

CARCERANO: He thought they were asked very professional. He was very satisfied with Matt Lauer's interview.

VAN SUSTEREN: Is he now back home, or is he still in New York?

CARCERANO: I don't know the answer to that question.

VAN SUSTEREN: Did he tell you what his plans were?

CARCERANO: No, he did not. He said he was still in New York. When I was on the phone with him, he didn't tell me if he was coming tonight or not.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right. Now, prior to this morning, when was the last time you talked to him?

CARCERANO: I talked to him last night when he landed in New York. He gave me a call.

VAN SUSTEREN: Has he ever told you has he ever discussed Stacy with you?

CARCERANO: No, he hasn't.

VAN SUSTEREN: Has he ever I mean, I know that he feels like the media is dogging him and being unfair to him. Does he ever talk about that with you?

CARCERANO: Absolutely. He's very upset with the media. He asked me the other day to express to the media to, you know, stay away from his house for a while so he can get some semblance of a family back with his kids. He has two small children well, 13 and 14, they go to school with my kids, and it's very difficult right now.

VAN SUSTEREN: Now, you the way that you were sort of brought into this story, for better or for worse, is because you found Kathleen Savio in the tub, is that right?

CARCERANO: Yes, that is correct.

VAN SUSTEREN: Since that event in March of 2004, have you been regular friends with Sergeant Peterson, or just your kids sort of your kids just hang out together?

CARCERANO: The kids go to school together. We have -my wife and I have been to Sergeant Peterson's house with Stacy for a barbecue, and the kids went swimming. But I would say that we Drew and I talk on occasion.

VAN SUSTEREN: Think Stacy would walk out on her kids?

CARCERANO: I don't know the answer to that question. I'm, you know, hearing everything after the fact. I was not around that day, so I don't know the particulars.

VAN SUSTEREN: Steve, thank you. And I hope next week, when you go to the grand jury, they have you testify, or at least not make you go sit there until it's your turn. Thank you, Steve.

CARCERANO: Thank you, Greta, very much. All your people have been great to work with.

VAN SUSTEREN: That's great to hear. Thank you.

[Lorie Taylor]

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21813759/

Experts: Drew Petersons body language says a lot
Say officer under scrutiny for fate of last two wives acting inappropriately

By Mike Celizic
TODAYShow.com contributor

Drew Petersons behavior and words during interviews with TODAY and NBC News did not match up with what would be expected from someone whose wife had abandoned him and his children for another man, two analysts said Thursday.

Body language expert Tonya Reiman and NBC analyst and former FBI profiler Clint Van Zandt reviewed the tapes of Peterson talking exclusively to TODAYs Matt Lauer on Wednesday and saw a man sitting back with legs spread wide in a position of arrogance. They said they also saw a man who showed no anger or frustration or concern for his children, who have been left without a mother since the Oct. 28 disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy.

Just indifference, pure indifference, Reiman told Lauer after analyzing the tape. [Petersons] wife is missing, and you notice that theres really nothing going on with his expressions. You dont see any remorse, you dont see any anger, frustration.

She and Van Zandt were most struck by Petersons response when Lauer asked what hed say to his missing wife.

Come home, the former Bolingbrook, Ill., police sergeant had responded with a laugh and a shrug. Tell people where you are. Thats all I can say.

Wheres the Im-in-trouble-right-now-cause-youre-missing? Reiman wondered. Wheres the anger, wheres the frustration? I would be pleading as opposed to laughing.

Van Zandt wondered why Peterson showed no apparent concern for his children. He has two teenage sons from his third marriage to Kathleen Savio, who was found dead in her bathtub four years ago while she was negotiating a divorce from Peterson.

Originally ruled an accidental drowning, the investigation into her death has been reopened after Stacy Peterson disappeared. He also has two sons, ages 4 and 2, by Stacy Peterson.

A person worried about those children, Van Zandt said, would have begged a missing spouse to at least send a message to those children.

Theyre scared to death, theyre frightened, theyre not sleeping at night. Do this for the sake of the children. Ill give you the divorce tomorrow, would have been the expected response, Van Zandt said.

Finally, some emotion
In a later interview on Wednesday with NBC News, Peterson had gotten emotional about his children, but only in response to a question about what would happen to them if he is charged and found guilty with killing either Savio or Stacy Peterson.

He briefly choked up when saying, If my kids are OK and provided with, Im OK with anything that comes. If youre trying to get me to cry, youre close.

Van Zandt also found it difficult to believe that the 53-year-old Peterson, a cop for 30 years, would be unable to provide any evidence that his 23-year-old wife of four years had, as he claims, found another man. He said Petersons responses made little sense in the context of what has been reported about the couples troubled marriage.

This is a guy, were told, who wouldnt leave his wife alone. He followed her to college, he monitored her cell phones, he knew who she saw socially, he said. Number one, he ought to be able to say, Heres her cell phone records. Heres the name of her boyfriend. Number two, he cant give us one name, one example of who this mysterious person she may have run off with is.

Then theres the question of opportunity, Van Zandt continued, saying, Nobody yet has raised a hand and said, This woman whos raising four children, going to college, keeping a household, being followed everywhere by her almost stalkerlike husband, would have time to develop a boyfriend.

Stacy Petersons uncle, Kyle Toutges, confirmed that observation in a separate interview on Thursday from Chicago with TODAYs Meredith Vieira.

None of us knew of another man, he said, speaking for her family. Her husband, Drew, was on top of her all the time, there was no way she had time to be with another man. He knew where she was every minute.

Asked for his reaction to Petersons laughing request to his wife to come home, Toutges said, He knew where she was, and he knew she aint coming home, thats what it said to me.

[Lorie Taylor]

www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-peterson_16_nov16,0,5607495.story?coll=chi_tab01_layout

Peterson's second wife tells her story
She recalls he threatened to kill her, make it look like an accident

By Erika Slife | Tribune staff reporter
November 16, 2007

For the last two weeks, Vicki Connolly has watched in disbelief and with conflicting emotions as controversy swirls around her ex-husband, Bolingbrook police Sgt. Drew Peterson.

She doesn't know whether he had anything to do with the disappearance of his current wife, Stacy Peterson, who has been missing since Oct. 28, or the death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, who died mysteriously in 2004.

But in the first interview granted by one of his ex-wives since Stacy's disappearance, Connolly, 48, said Thursday that during their marriage an increasingly controlling Peterson told her he could kill her and make it look like an accident. While she couldn't believe he would ever do it, something prompted her to confide in Bolingbrook police officers who she considered friends. "So they would know he said these things to me," she said.

She said Peterson would hit her but not hard enough to go to the hospital, and not often enough for her to expect it. It made it worse, she said, that she never knew it was coming. "It was mind games; it was head games," she said.

Peterson, who did not return phone calls Thursday, has denied being abusive to Savio or Stacy Peterson.

Police have described Peterson, 53, as a suspect in 23-year-old Stacy's disappearance and are reinvestigating Savio's death. Will County State's Atty. James Glasgow said her death appeared to have been staged as an accident. Savio's body was exhumed Tuesday.

Peterson, who is not charged with any crimes, has denied involvement in both cases.

"He has the experience, the knowledge, the means, and the mind to do that," she said, her voice trailing off. "That's all I've thought about. ... I'm still working through it. I'll be honest."

This much Connolly knows: She was married to Peterson for 10 years, beginning in 1982. They raised each other's children from previous marriages. They operated a bar together. She stuck by him through his infidelities and during legal problems in the 1980s -- until she finally "caught him cheating on me with someone with my own eyeballs."

"The thing with Drew Peterson, and I'm sure if [Savio and Stacy Peterson] were here to comment they would say the same thing, when it was good, it was wonderful, it was great," Connolly said. "But when it was bad, it was really bad."

She met Peterson in a Bolingbrook bar in the early 1980s. She was there with her friends to see a favorite band.

"This man, just oozing of confidence, he wanted to dance with me and buy my girlfriends drinks," she recalled. "And he set his eyes on me and it was like he was going to get me. He couldn't get me to move in with him fast enough."

At the time, she was married, a relationship that was already ending. She said it was only three or four months after her divorce that she moved in with Peterson. He was so persistent, she said.

"He thought he took me away to a better life. He definitely felt that way. It's ironic," she said. "In his eyes, he did believe that."

It's a pattern Peterson continued in his next two relationships, she said.

Several days after his wife's disappearance, Peterson told the Tribune that when he met Stacy, he had an "uncontrollable need to take care of her." On Wednesday, Peterson told the "Today" show that both Stacy and Kathleen came from troubled homes.

Henry Savio, Kathleen's older brother, disputed that assertion. "No, we're OK," he said. "She was a very strong woman." He added that Kathleen owned her own condo and worked as an accountant.

Connolly said she also was well off when she met Peterson. She had a steady job at a bank and drove a new car. But she thought it was romantic that he wanted to save her.

In hindsight, his motive is now clear, she said.

"I believe that man had a disease to his ego. He's a legend in his own mind," she said.

The couple's honeymoon ended about two years after they were married. He worked with the Metropolitan Area Narcotics Squad as an undercover narcotics officer. He was a talented officer, she said, and his success poisoned his outlook.

"He really led a double life. But what fed his ego was his line of work, how he could deceive people," she said. "When he'd come home, he'd be the exact opposite. He could do it and he could do it with no problems."

His zeal for his job, though, led to a brief downfall. According to court documents, Peterson was fired in 1985 after the Bolingbrook Fire and Police Commission found him guilty of official misconduct, disobedience, failure to report a bribe and self-assigned police action. At the time, he was working on a case against a reputed drug dealer.

Connolly declined to comment on the case, but she said it was during this time she learned of his first of many affairs. But she forgave him.

In 1986, Peterson was reinstated after a Will County judge overruled the commission's decision. And his controlling behavior intensified, she said.

"We had bugs in our house. He put a microphone in our kitchen and taped our conversations. He was cheating so much he wanted to make sure I wasn't," she said. "His whole thing with us is that, 'I need to know my family is safe at home and you're not going to be doing anything you shouldn't be doing' -- and that enabled him to do whatever he wanted."

When tensions would boil over, the police came to the house a few times, she said, but added, "the police were our friends," and no reports were filed.

Finally, about 1992, she had enough. By this time, he was already having an affair with Savio, she said, and it was easy for them to divorce. She called it amicable.

Now, although remarried and living on a farm Downstate, she still feels resentment when looking back on her life with Peterson.

"We had such a great life and he blew it. It wasn't good enough for him. He had four great wives who did everything for him. And it was never enough for Drew Peterson."

Earlier Thursday, the Bolingbrook Police Pension Board voted unanimously to give Peterson his pension, saying the law prohibited it from taking any other action, even though one board trustee expressed apprehension.

"While I understand the pension statutes, I'm not comfortable with the decision we have to make today," Trustee Alyssia Lee said, reading a prepared statement. "I am aware that if I am the only no vote, Sgt. Peterson will receive his pension. Therefore my decision is based solely on the statute."

Attorney Richard Reimer issued a news release explaining the board had no alternative but to grant Peterson's request for retirement and give him his $6,067.71 monthly pension.

"While the trustees ... are sensitive to the intense scrutiny placed on Sgt. Peterson and, unfortunately, the Village of Bolingbrook, the Board is required to grant Sgt. Peterson's benefits without delay, as to do otherwise would expose the trustees to liability for breach of their fiduciary duties ...," the release stated.

A grand jury has subpoenaed witnesses in the Savio and Stacy Peterson investigations. A source familiar with the cases said Drew Peterson exercised his 5th Amendment rights when he appeared last week.

State police searched a water-filled quarry Thursday and coordinated a ground search with about two dozen of Stacy Peterson's friends and relatives, finding nothing.

[Lorie Taylor]

abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3874806&page=1

Did Police Officers Protect Drew Peterson?

Third Wife Documented Abuse in Writing; Peterson Talks on 'America's Most Wanted'

Drew Peterson spoke out again Thursday night to "America's Most Wanted," saying he is angry at his missing fourth wife, Stacy, whose disappearance has generated a media frenzy and mounting suspicion that he is involved.

"I hope she exposes herself to be alive and well," Peterson said on the TV show.

Peterson maintains he had nothing to do with Stacy's disappearance or third wife Kathleen Savio's death. But police have named Peterson as a suspect in Stacy's death and this week they also exhumed the body of Savio to conduct a new autopsy.

Peterson has said that Stacy ran off with another man. He also said, "It would take a lot of talking for me to take her back."

Still, the suspended police sergeant from Bolingbrook, Ill., a Chicago suburb, has a trail of abuse allegations that span more than a decade. As those allegations come to light, it raises questions about whether his fellow police officers helped protect him?

Third Wife Appealed for Help From Police
During Peterson's marriage to Savio, police responded to at least five domestic violence calls at their home.

"Drew grabbed her and put a knife to her throat and he threatened to kill her," Savio's sister Sue Doman told "Good Morning America" Thursday. "She told me that she feared for her life."

Her sister says Savio felt unprotected and afraid. She kept notes about what happened, filed for an order of protection against her husband and even sent letters to a local prosecutor complaining about the police.

"There have been several times throughout my marriage with this man where I ended up at the emergency room," she wrote in one letter. "And I have reported this only to have the police leave my home without filing any reports."

In another note, she wrote, "He knows how to manipulate the system, and his next step is to take my children away, or kill me instead."

Officers on the force who worked with Peterson denied a request from ABC News for an interview.

Diane Wetendorf, who runs a nationwide program to help spouses of abusive police officers, says this frustration is not unique.

"Police officers rely on each other for their safety. There is a lot of solidarity there and there is a code of silence," Wetendorf said.

Friends of Stacy say she believed asking for police protection was not an option.

"She didn't think leaving him was even possible option for her," said her friend Sharon Bychowski. "She knew there would be consequences for her, for her family."

[Lorie Taylor]

www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=43016

Drew Peterson - A Case Study in Bad PR

November 16, 2007

Is Drew Peterson really a sociopath or did he just play one on TV? The ex-police sergeant from Illinois who is now officially a suspect in his wife Stacys disappearance, ramped up the PR machine this morning by granting an interview to Matt Lauer on the Today Show to combat all the media attention surrounding him. If that comment alone doesnt leave you scratching your head in confusion, things got worse as Peterson appeared to launch a smear campaign directed at his missing fourth wife and deceased third wife. You could almost hear a collective shut your dang mouth from defense attorneys, media experts and housefraus across the United States, as Peterson did his best to gain the publics affection and attention.

For those of you who missed it, here are the Top 3 things you can do to come off as a narcissistic sociopath on national TV while attempting to avoid a murder wrap:

1. Begin with a character assassination of the victim: How can the public hate HER and hate you at the same time? As such, you need to immediately begin chipping away at your missing spouses reputation. Dont get suckered into worrying about things like your kids emotional well-being, your spouses family or your wifes legacy! If you start to feel yourself fading, think of OJ - he still manages to find ways to speak trash talk Nicole more than 10 years after her murder. Now thats a man who doesnt lose focus!

2. Make disparaging remarks that are impossible to disprove: Talk about the time your missing spouse beat you with a frozen meat product when nobody was looking. If an interviewer makes references to problems in your marriage, quickly make claims of infidelity and talk about the fact that your spouse was always overly emotional every time she had her menstrual cycle. Whos going to argue that?

3. Play the victim: Does it really matter if the mother of your child is missing, when in the bigger scheme of things, youve lost 20 pounds? Make sure to mention what a strain the whole ordeal has been for you. Talk about the emotional toll of being married to women who have lots of problems. And dont forget to take the time for a shout-out to potential sponsors by throwing in statements like, If there are any attorneys out there who want to help with this, give me a call.

Overall, Petersons performance wasnt the worst ever, but certainly not the caliber of Scott Petersons head in the hands grieving husband approach. Drew also loses points for not putting out a pitch for potential agents to negotiate book, TV and movie deals. But then again, he did say he's doing everything he can to stay out of the media spotlight.

[Lorie Taylor]

www.newsweek.com/id/70824

A Cop Under a Cloud
Meet Drew Peterson: family man, criminal suspect.

By Hilary Shenfeld | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Nov 16, 2007 | Updated: 5:06 p.m. ET Nov 16, 2007

A veteran cop who knew how to turn on the charm, Drew Peterson was known to those around him for his lighthearted humor and, perhaps more than anything, his devotion to his children. "His kids were the center of his life," Lt. Ken Teppel, a fellow police officer in the Chicago suburb of Bolingbrook, told NEWSWEEK. "He was always talking about them."

Now it seems that everyone is talking about Petersonand some are questioning if they really knew him at all.

In a dramatic turn, the 53-year-old sergeant has been named a suspect in the disappearance of his 23-year-old wife, Stacy Peterson, who has been missing since Oct. 28. Authorities say the case of Stacy, his fourth wife, is being considered a "possible homicide." But the questions about Peterson don't stop there.

Authorities are investigating whether Peterson played any role in the mysterious drowning death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, in 2004. Bolingbrook police say they responded to 18 calls concerning domestic violence at the home of Peterson and Savio during their marriage.

As part of the renewed investigation into Savio's death, authorities on Tuesday exhumed the woman's body for an autopsy. When Savio was found dead in a bathtub, police say her hair was soaked in blood and she had a one-inch gash on the back of her head. A coroner's jury ruled her death accidental. Savio at one time had secured an order of protection against Peterson, and she said that he had threatened to kill her, according to her family members.

Peterson's second wife, Vicki Connolly, 48, has now come forward to describe Peterson, when they were together, as controlling and abusive. She said he threatened to kill her and make it look like an accident, according to a report published Friday in the Chicago Tribune.

She told the newspaper that Peterson had a remarkable talent for exuding charm and winning the confidence of people. Connolly, who was married to Peterson for 10 years, said she met him in a Bolingbrook bar in the early 1980s. "This man," she said, referring to Peterson, "just oozing confidence, he wanted to dance with me and buy my girlfriends drinks." She added, "And he set his eyes on me and it was like he was going to get me. He couldn't get me to move in with him fast enough."

Peterson hasn't been charged with any crimes, and he denies involvement in either case. But he acknowledges that he is viewed with deep suspicion. "Based on media coverage," he told the "Today" show earlier this week, "I'm as guilty as they come."

Stacy Peterson was 17 and working as a hotel desk clerk when she met the police officer, who was 30 years her senior. Blond and pretty, Stacy stood five-foot-two and weighed only 100 pounds. When they married, she was taking pre-nursing classes at a community college. The relationship was a mystery to some, including Stacy's longtime friend Pam Bosco. "We were trying to figure out why she was even interested in an older man," she said.

Bosco described Drew Peterson as "personable" and a "man of few words." But she said Stacy became deeply unhappy in the marriage. "She talked about her fear of him," said Bosco. "She said she was worried he was going to kill her. It was scary."

She said Stacy wanted desperately to leave Peterson, who she said had tight control of all financial matters, but didn't know how. "She said he was following her; he was tracking her with GPS," said Bosco. She said Stacy had asked about moving with her two children into a rented place owned by Bosco just a few days before she vanished. "She said she wanted a divorce."

Two days later, on Oct. 28, she said Drew called some friends and family members to say that Stacy was leaving him for another man. In interviews since her disappearance, Peterson has repeated his belief that his wife is somewhere with a man.

Until he became a household name around Chicago, Peterson kept a low profile. A friend of Peterson's for 27 years, Ric Mims says he didn't even know much about Peterson's three previous wives. Mims says he always knew Peterson as a man who played with his younger children, held family barbecues in the backyard, took the young ones to festivals and amusement parks. "They liked to spend a lot of time with their kids," Mims said of Peterson and Stacy. Peterson has two young children with Stacy, two teenage boys from his third marriage and two adult sons from his first.

Peterson, who did not respond to interview requests from NEWSWEEK, was hired as an officer by the Bolingbrook Police Department in 1977. He was lately working the 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. shift, supervising 10 patrol officers. It seems he has had some troubles at work, too. In September he was suspended for eight days for violating department policy on car chases. Officers under his supervision chased two teenagers who drove off the road and crashed at a construction site. "The pursuit never should have happened in the first place," said Teppel, of the Bolingbrook squad. "We don't pursue for property crimes." Peterson also was fired in 1985 for improper conduct while working as a narcotics officer, but the case was later overturned and he was reinstated.

Since the investigation into his missing wife, Peterson has been suspended without pay. He tendered a letter of resignation this week.

Acquaintances say Peterson, a risk-taker, enjoyed riding a black Harley-Davidson motorcycle painted with blue flames and piloting his ultralight airplane. Friends say he also collected rifles. A former colleague, Don Bolger, who worked as a part-time police officer, said Peterson was "very businesslike, very professional" on the job. He is more outgoing off the clock, said Bolger, who was also a neighbor of Peterson's when he was married to Savio.

"He's a jokester," Bolger told NEWSWEEK. "He has an outgoing personality If you needed a hand with something, he would help you." Peterson had an interest in photography, and snapped the photos for Bolger's 1981 wedding as a gift. Bolger says he would often see Peterson playing with his two kids with Savio, riding bikes and chasing after them.

Despite the cloud of suspicion, Peterson still has his supporters. A former neighbor, Margie Carcerano, said the family liked to rollerblade, go camping and attend their kids' sporting events. "They were both awesome parents," she said of Peterson and Savio. "What I see of him as a father, he is always there. He is always at every activity."

Margie's husband Steve Carceranowho found Savio's bodysays simply, "I believe my friend. He said she left him for someone else, and I have no reason to think otherwise."

On Thursday the Bolingbrook Police Pension Board voted unanimously to give Peterson his pension. Although one board member said she was "uncomfortable" about the decision, the board said it had no legal basis for ruling that Peterson didn't deserve the money.

Pam Bosco, Stacy Peterson's friend, makes it clear what she thinks the police officer deserves. "We think she met with foul play," said Bosco, referring to Stacy's mysterious disappearance. "And we think Drew had something to do with it."

[Lorie Taylor]

www.wjbc.com/wire2/news/09211_OfficersWifeWEB_084153.htm

Forensic expert says third wife of suburban cop was murdered

11/17/2007 08:41:55

JOLIET, Ill. (AP) The family of former Bolingbrook Police Sergeant Drew Peterson's third wife say a nationally known pathologist has examined her exhumed remains at their request and has determined that her death was a homicide, according to a published report. The former chief medical examiner of New York City chief medical examiner examined Kathleen Savio's remains yesterday Friday and determined that she died after a struggle and her body was then placed in the bathtub where she was later found.

Friday's autopsy by Dr. Michael Baden was private and for the benefit of Savio's relatives, who requested his services. He's doing it pro bono.

Earlier this week, Baden said that the absence of drugs or alcohol and the lack of any history of seizures or heart disease made it unlikely that she would drown in the tub.

[Lorie Taylor]

www.suntimes.com/news/655554,CST-NWS-boling18.article

The man Stacy went to in trying time

ROSSETTO |

November 17, 2007
BY JOE HOSEY AND JANET LUNDQUIST Herald News

Investigators in the disappearance of Stacy Peterson have turned an eye to a Shorewood man from her past she reached out to just three weeks before she vanished.

Searches have been conducted in the area around the home of 35-year-old Scott Rossetto, and authorities have called him before a grand jury this week, he said.

A police source, however, said investigators do not count him as a suspect in Peterson's disappearance. Instead, the source said investigators have speculated that Peterson's body may have been dumped near Rossetto's home in an effort to frame him as the killer.

A police source said Rossetto and Peterson, 23, were romantically involved, but Rossetto insisted they were not. He said he only knew her because his brother and a friend had dated Peterson years ago, before she married former Bolingbrook police Sgt. Drew Peterson.

Rossetto said he had not heard from Stacy Peterson in years when she called him last month.

"All of a sudden she called me once out of the blue about three weeks before she disappeared," Rossetto said. "That was the first contact in six years I had with her. She said she was just going through some stuff and just found my phone number."

Rossetto declined to discuss his recent conversation with Stacy Peterson, saying, "I can't tell you anything." He also refused to say whether she spoke of any trouble in her life.

The two exchanged messages, but never made plans to meet, he said. "We were friends," Rossetto said. "We talked every once in a while. But that's it." Police tracked down Rossetto through phone and text messages.

State Police have branded Drew Peterson a suspect in the disappearance of Stacy Peterson, his fourth wife. And authorities exhumed the body of his third wife last week to see if she really drowned in her bathtub as initially believed.

The suspicions swirling around Drew Peterson, 53, have not frightened Rossetto.

"Let him [try to get me]. I don't give a crap," Rossetto said. "Why would I be afraid of Drew? What is he going to possibly do to me? He's more than welcome to try busting into my house."

Rossetto said he was not tempted to indulge in an affair with Stacy Peterson.

"No. I didn't want any baggage," he said. "Sorry, she had a lot. She was married to a Bolingbrook cop and could've made my life miserable. I wasn't risking it. And I knew Drew well enough to know to stay away from her."

Rossetto said he didn't know that police are looking at him as a lover of Stacy Peterson's.

"I'm sure Drew probably thinks that, but I could care less about what Drew thinks," he said.

Drew Peterson said Friday he knows little about Rossetto -- but he knows of him.

"I heard of him," Drew Peterson said, but added that he had "no idea" how long the Shorewood man may have been involved with his wife.

"The police are looking into it," Drew Peterson said of the connection between Stacy Peterson and Rossetto, although he would not elaborate. He said police have not approached him about Rossetto.

Rossetto said he met Drew Peterson only once. Asked if Stacy Peterson was afraid of her husband, Rossetto said, "I'm not confirming that."

Rossetto said his brother dated Stacy Peterson for about two months years ago and they broke up when he left for the Army. "When my brother left for the military she started dating Drew and we haven't seen her since because he cut off all ties with us," he said.

Drew Peterson has repeatedly said he feels Stacy Peterson abandoned their family and likely ran off with another man. He recently appeared before a grand jury, as did his brother, Paul Peterson.

Drew Peterson, who in the last week traveled to New York City to appear on a national talk show, said the daily grind of police and media scrutiny is wearing on him.

"I'm just tired," Drew Peterson said. "It wears on you, you know?"

[Lorie Taylor]

www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-071118schmich-column,1,3602364.column?coll=chi_news_local_util

Stories of lost so terrible, too easy to forget

Stacy Peterson, 23, missing, feared dead.

Kathleen Savio, 40, exhumed, possibly murdered.

Lisa Stebic, 37, missing, feared dead.

Alma Mendez, 39, throat slashed.

Unknown woman, age unknown, burned, strangled and left in a trash bin. That's the list of missing or dead women who've made Chicago headlines in the first half of November alone.

A person in another country who heard these reports could easily feel about Chicago the way I feel when I hear news accounts of women routinely abused in foreign places:

What a primitive society it must be to treat its women so violently, as if women were inferior and disposable.

But I live here, in this civilized place, and so I know, or tell myself, that these incidents in Chicago and its suburbs are not the mark of rampant evil or a full-blown cultural disorder. So many such events in so short a time is an anomaly, not a trend.

And though violence against women is only too common, if the media didn't play the stories so bigand do so partly to entertain an audience that thrives on whodunits about women in perilwe wouldn't feel we were in the midst of an epidemic. I tell myself.

Still, the accumulation of these cases is unusually depressing and impossible to ignore even if, as I've done, you've turned away from the daily details.

I've been reluctant to give full attention to any of these cases because it feels like gawking at violence and at the misery of others, allowing their pain to be turned into our diversion.

And yet, so many women gone. If you live here, you can't help but feel it.

Every day lately we face the images, on TV, in the newspaper, on Web sites.

One day recently it was the friends and family of Lisa Stebic holding a candlelight vigil to mark the six-month anniversary of Lisa's disappearance. Another day, they were giving out hand-warmers bearing Lisa's picture to hunters in the Michigan vacation area where her estranged husband has been known to hunt.

Then there was the day the body of Kathleen Savio, the third wife of a suburban cop named Drew Peterson, was heaved out of the graveyard dirt as part of the investigation into the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy.

Another day it was Alma Mendez, slain in her jogging clothes, pulled from a lake in a forest preserve.

Then there was Theresa Bunn, eight months' pregnant, discovered in a South Side garbage bin, just like another woman who hasn't yet been granted the dignity of a name.

Only a few weeks ago, there was another woman, too, a pretty, lively woman who dominated the news for days after she went missing:

Nailah Franklin, 28, found partially buried behind a vacant building.

You may have forgotten her name already. That's another strange, depressing aspect of this spate of deaths and disappearances. How quickly each name is replaced by another in the news cycle, though not in the hearts of the people for whom the lost women are so much more than news.

Theresa, Stacy, Kathleen, Lisa, Alma, Nailah.

Long after the news is gone, the people who have loved them will think about them, weep for them, see them in their dreams.

And the rest of us, because we don't live in a primitive society, might take a moment to remember these women really are more than just news stories, more than just cases to be debated and mysteries to be solved, like an episode of "CSI." They are, they have been, our neighbors.