January 19th Hearsay Evidence to be aired

[Lorie Taylor]

Friends: Stacy Peterson wanted out of marriage

January 26, 2010
By JOE HOSEY [e-mail]

www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/news/peterson/2010050,Peterson-hearsay-neighbor-testifies_JO012510.article
JOLIET — Stacy Peterson's close friend and next-door neighbor sobbed on the witness stand Monday after telling how the young mother predicted her death at the hands of her husband.

"She said, 'If I disappear, Sharon, it's not an accident — he killed me," Sharon Bychowski said Monday during the ongoing hearing to determine what hearsay evidence will be allowed at the murder trial of former Bolingbrook cop Drew Peterson.
» Click to enlarge image
Stacy Peterson (left), fourth wife of Drew Peterson, allegedly told her friend and neighbor Sharon Bychowski (right) that she feared for her life just days before she went missing in 2007.
(Sun-Times Media File)

» Click to enlarge image
Cassandra Kales (from left) Stacy Peterson's sister, Pam Bosco, spokeswoman for Stacy Peterson's family, and Bruce Zidarich, a friend of Stacy's, listen at a May 8, 2009, press conference announcing the murder indictment issued against former Bolingbrook police sergeant Drew Peterson.
(AP File)

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• Archive: Drew Peterson case

Stacy Peterson did indeed disappear, vanishing within a week of allegedly warning Bychowski in October 2007 that her husband planned to kill her. State police believe Stacy may have been slain and suspect Peterson of having a hand in it, but have yet to press charges in the case.

In spite of this, prosecutors are trying to prove Peterson killed Stacy to make her unavailable to testify in the upcoming trial for allegedly murdering his third wife, Kathleen Savio.

Savio and Peterson were in the midst of a contentious divorce when she drowned in a dry bathtub in March 2004. Stacy was instrumental in providing Peterson with an alibi, and her word apparently proved satisfactory to the state police who investigated Savio's death.

On Monday, Bychowski told how Stacy wanted Peterson out of their home and had started packing his belongings.

"She said, 'Look it, I've packed 10 boxes for him. I want him to go and he won't go," Bychowski said.

"I'm already dead," Bychowski said Stacy told her. "He's going to kill me."

Even though his wife was demanding a divorce, Peterson was planning to stick around, Bychowski said.

"She said Drew wouldn't go," Bychowski said. "She said she didn't love him anymore. Even having sex with him made her skin crawl."

But sex was still appealing to Stacy, one of her friends, Bruce Zidarich of Downers Grove, testified Monday, especially if it helped push Drew out the door.

Zidarich, the former boyfriend of Stacy's sister Cassandra Cales, said Stacy spoke of having sex with another man in front of Drew Peterson so he would let her go.

"In the same house, in front of him, while he was there," Zidarich said. "So he would give up on her basically and let her go.

"She definitely wanted away," he said. "She wanted to make him stop loving her," Zidarich said.

'Creepy' man

Also Monday, a Bolingbrook couple testified they saw a suspicious man they say was Drew Peterson lurking around their neighborhood the last day Stacy was seen alive.

"It felt very creepy, out of place that he was in the neighborhood," Jacquelyn Torrez said of the man she saw walking on her street, about a mile from Peterson's home on Pheasant Chase Court.

The man so alarmed Torrez's husband, Hector Torrez, that he called the police to report a suspicious person.

"It's like he had killed somebody," Jacquelyn Torrez said of the man she saw walking on Cranberry Street in Bolingbrook. She said she was sure he and Peterson were the same person because both have "fish eyes," a "broad nose" and a mustache.

Soon after noticing the man on their street, the Torrezes — who had no idea of the drama unfolding just to the east of them on Pheasant Chase Court — happened to see something about Peterson on a Web site.

While they were oblivous to the media sensation and mystery surrounding Stacy Peterson's disappearance, Jacquelyn Torrez said she was aware of more helicopters than usual around her house.

Jacquelyn Torrez said the helicopters bothered her daughter and her dog. She called them a "nuisance."

Update: Pastor Neil Schori has been called to testify about what Stacy Peterson told him about her troubled marriage. Drew Peterson’s attorneys are objecting on the grounds that his testimony would violate clergy privilege. State's Attorney James Glasgow is arguing that the privilehge does not apply to nondenominational clergy. Attorneys for both sides are researching case law.

[Lorie Taylor]

petersonstory.wordpress.com/2010/01/25/drew-peterson-hearsay-hearings-day-4/#comments
rescueapet
January 25, 2010 at 6:06 pm | #48
Quote

Hi everyone.

There was a witness for the State, who is now retired. He was in a management capacity, I believe, at Meijers. He was the kind of witness who just answered what was asked of him by both sides. He was very cordial, and he seemed to be a very genuine, nice man.

Anyway, he filled-in with how he would call Drew for things, Drew would help him out, and he could count on Drew if he needed something.

This is the man who Drew contacted at a point to see about getting TMorphey a job. Drew talked to Mr. Gotto (I hope I have his correct name), I believe a couple of weeks before Stacy went missing. Mr. Gotto testified that a decision was made not to hire TMorphey. He was asked specifically, on redirect exam, if Drew was informed by him that they would not be hiring TMorphey, and he answered yes, that Drew was informed of this.

It was asked of him if Drew had an appointment to bring TMorphey in there on either 10/27 or 10/28 (Drew has said that he was supposed to bring TMorphey in there about a job).

NO, he did not have an appointment for Tom on either 10/27 or 10/28

[Lorie Taylor]

POSTED BY RESCUEAPET:


January 25, 2010 at 6:46 pm | #52
Quote

The one thing that stands out in my mind is Sharon’s response to a question asked of her about whether she thought Stacy trusted her. As I mentioned to Facs when I spoke to her during a break, Sharon replied that she was being asked to assume Stacy’s thoughts, and she can’t do that.

I don’t get the connection between the menstrual cycle discussions. I don’t know if it was supposed to mean they were so close, they could talk about that, or if he was getting at the idea that Stacy acted as though Drew said she did when she was premenstrual. I just don’t know, and I wish I did. ;-)

Mr. Lenard gave me the impression he was trying to bring out the idea that the Sharon B, exposure in the media has helped Avon. He questioned her about book contracts, etc., to which she answered no. Okay — I’ll leave it at that.

At one point, Sharon testified to a very strange incident. She said Drew had come over to her house to help shield the kids, I guess, from the enormous media attention that was going on at his house. There were two LE officials in Sharon’s house at the time, I believe, she testified to. Drew asked her to come into the powder room – he wanted to talk to her about something. She asked the LE people if it was okay, and so they went into the powder room, with her intention being to hear what he wanted to talk to her about. He made a strange remark to her. She was shocked at this remark, and wondered why they were even in there.

There was a time when Drew, Stacy, and Sharon were dressed up for an occasion, and Drew made a remark to Sharon that she looked nice, and he’d “do her.” Mr. Lenard spent a few minutes on that term/remark, to get Sharon to describe what she thought her definition of “do her” meant. Apparently, Sharon didn’t think their relationship was such that she would think “do her” meant what he wanted it to mean. Prior to that, he asked whether Sharon knew about him being a jokster.

I’m not really going to describe this line of questioning further, because, at this point, I don’t understand a lot of what was being asked and why. It was, well, not exactly moving me to think how effective the defense was. I’m only going to say that this is the way the defense’s questioning goes with witnesses.

A lot of the time, they take a witness’s testimony, and repeat a question, in five different ways, only to get the same answer, with no deviation.

There was an instance where a neighbor, who was on the stand today, described seeing a suspicious gentleman, matching Drew’s description, walking down the same street they were, while they were walking their dog early Sunday evening, avoiding them (there were two different neighbors seeing the same suspicious “man”). He was wearing a dark sweatshirt, with the hood pulled up. Andrew Abood, in his cross examination, spent I can’t tell you how much time, bringing up the fact that this neighbor referred to the suspicious man as a “gentleman” in his ISP interview. He tried a half dozen ways to elaborate on that specific word, even breaking it up — gentle man. Finally, the witness had to clarify that he refers to women as ladies and men as gentlemen. He said he doesn’t refer to men as “criminals.” That drew laughter, Abood looked ridiculous. When I looked over at SA Glasgow, he and another attorney had their faces in their hands, shaking their heads.
petersonstory.wordpress.com/2010/01/25/drew-peterson-hearsay-hearings-day-4/#comments

[Lorie Taylor]

#
rescueapet
January 25, 2010 at 9:56 pm | #82
Quote

Trying to remember what I can:

Drew Peterson’s timeline:
3:15 p.m. – Tom’s school friends pick him for a band concert.

6 p.m. – Drew takes the three other children to McDonald’s.

7: 30 p.m. – Drew and the children return home.

8 p.m. – Tom returns from band concert.
***********

Pharmacist neighbor, Jacqueline Torrez (and her husband), left house at 6:34pm to walk dog. She remembers the time because she looked at the cable box and that’s what the displayed time was.

She testified that there was a car parked on a street called Apple Valley, an odd place for someone to just park/leave a car. She said a man was walking towards them. He had dark clothing. He had on a hooded sweatshirt, hood up, and she said he looked to her as to be walking without purpose. In other words, in that neighborhood, people are walking/strolling, pushing babies, walking dogs. He was not; he crossed the street to avoid them, and he looked back over his left shoulder at them a few times. She could not see his hair, but his mustache was gray, he had bags under eyes (although she used a medical term), a broad nose, and creases in facial features. She testified, prior to recently becoming a pharmacist, she was a graphic artist. She sketched renderings of faces, and some of her early (high school) work was shown and put into exhibits. She said, as a pharmacist, she studies peoples faces, because she likes to know the patients when they drop off prescriptions, when they pick them up. She pays attention to details of people’s features.

Cable company employee/neighbor and wife were walking their dog between 6:00 & 7:00pm. If he was more precise in that time, I don’t recall. He also describes encountering a suspicious “gentleman,” hood up, sweatshirt, dark colored. He also described a vehicle parked in the same area, purple/metallic/glittery color, GM make. He said Chevy, Buick, something like that, but definitely GM. The fact that he was wishy-washy on the make, and named Chevy, Buick, was called out, but he made himself clear that he referred to it as definitely a GM model, as opposed to Toyota, Ford, and said GM makes similar models.

Band mother testified that she picked up Tom for band concert between 3:20-3:25. She said she stayed in the car and her daughter went up to the door to get Tom. Drew answered. She said she could see he was wearing a dark sweatshirt. Called it Old Navy Sweatshirt. Dropped Tom off between 7:15-7:30. She said there were two vehicles in the driveway during her testimony, an SUV and car. But, the defense was able to get her to become confused by asking her, if she told the ISP there was only one vehicle in the driveway, would that be incorrect. Her answer, finally, I believe, was that what she told the ISP at the time would be what she saw. She said Drew was puttering in the garage, and there was discussion as to what puttering meant. I think, finally, it was determined that he was in the garage. Who the hell knows what he was doing, LOL.

Since she does so many pick-ups, drop-offs of teens, she was asked how many times a day/week she does this type of thing. After it was narrowed down, she was asked why this day was more special than any other day, being that she could recall these details. She said that little Lacy was playing in the driveway, and she took notice of her, being she was “cute” or something similar to that. I guess that was what then caused her to notice Drew in the garage. Tom didn’t mention anything unusual about the day during the time they were together regarding the band concert.


petersonstory.wordpress.com/2010/01/25/drew-peterson-hearsay-hearings-day-4/#comments

[Lorie Taylor]

January 25, 2010 at 11:41 pm | #94
Quote

chicagotribune.com
Witness recounts last hours before Stacy Peterson’s disappearance

By Steve Schmadeke and Erika Slife, Tribune reporters

January 25, 2010

The last person known to have spoken with Stacy Peterson before her 2007 disappearance testified Monday that she was so desperate to leave her husband that she considered sleeping with someone else “so he wouldn’t love her anymore.”

Bruce Zidarich, 45, of Downers Grove, said he and Stacy had grown closer in the weeks before she vanished because they both were having relationship problems — he with Stacy’s sister Cassandra Cales and she with Drew Peterson, then a Bolingbrook police sergeant.

“She said she didn’t want anything — she wanted out,” Zidarich said. But Stacy told him Peterson, who had been tracking her whereabouts with a GPS system on her cell phone, wasn’t about to let her go, telling her that even if she slept with someone else in front of him he would still love her.

Monday was the fourth day of a pre-trial hearing on whether certain hearsay statements will be heard in the trial of Peterson, who is charged in the 2004 drowning death of third wife Kathleen Savio. As expected, much of the testimony so far has been about Stacy’s disappearance. Prosecutors are trying to convince a judge that Peterson caused Savio’s death or Stacy’s disappearance in order to have hearsay admitted under a new state law.

Zidarich said he was increasingly worried about Stacy’s safety. He recalled a July 2007 incident when Peterson came to his Yorkville home looking for Stacy, who had left 10 to 20 minutes earlier. Peterson asked to see a computer, and Zidarich said he took him to his home office.

“He showed us how he had all the phones on GPS,” Zidarich said. Peterson showed him where Stacy was on the map.

On Oct. 27, the day before Stacy vanished, Zidarich talked to Stacy about her increasing desperation to leave Peterson. They exchanged a series of text messages just after midnight, where Zidarich suggested they meet for coffee. Stacy asked if they could “go to breakfast in the morning w/my babies instead” because it had been a long day.

But the planned meeting on Oct. 28 never happened. Instead, Zidarich spoke to Stacy by phone later that morning about helping him repaint the inside of his Yorkville rental home.

Stacy never responded to his 4:30 p.m. text message — “Whatcha doin 2marrow?” and within a few hours Stacy’s family and friends were frantically searching for her.

Zidarich said he and Cales drove past the Petersons’ home, spotting both of their cars in the driveway — and when he called Peterson about 2:25 a.m. Drew Peterson told him that Stacy had taken $25,000 and gone to Jamaica with her boyfriend.

Sharon Bychowski, Stacy’s friend and next-door-neighbor, broke down Monday and had to be helped from the witness stand as she recounted seeing Stacy sobbing in the parkway outside her home shortly before her disappearance.

“Drew won’t go — he won’t leave,” Stacy said, according to Bychowski, showing her 10 boxes of his stuff she’d packed in their garage.

“If I disappear, Sharon, it’s not an accident — he killed me,” said Bychowski, crying and holding her hand to her chest.

When she urged Stacy to write down what was happening, Stacy told her: “I’m already dead,” Bychowski said. “He’s going to kill me.”

In 2006 and 2007 before she disappeared, Stacy got a tummy tuck, liposuction and breast implants.

“She told me that’s what Drew wanted,” Bychowski said.

But if Stacy had hoped it would improve things at home, friends said it didn’t work. In the days before she disappeared, Stacy showed Bychowski a ring that Peterson recently had given her and commented: “He thinks it’s going to keep me. No way.”

Stacy also showed Bychowski a hole in the garage ceiling she said was made when Drew fired a gun through the bedroom floor.

Prosecutors on Monday also called three Bolingbrook residents who testified they saw Peterson on Oct. 28. One woman who saw him walking away from a car parked about a mile from Peterson’s home around 6:30 p.m. said Peterson seemed extremely suspicious, testifying that she later told her daughter, “It was as if he had killed somebody.”

One of Peterson’s defense attorneys questioned Bychowski about her numerous television appearances and whether she had enjoyed or stood to profit from them.

“There’s nothing in this two and a half years that makes me feel special, sir — it makes me feel sick,” she said.

[e-mail]

[e-mail]

www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/ct-met-0126-drew-peterson-hearing-20100125,0,5557788.story?page=2

[Lorie Taylor]

POSTED BY RESCUEAPET:


January 26, 2010 at 10:01 am | #7
Quote

joehosey
Pastor Neil Schori was called to testify. Attorneys are
arguing whether his meetings with Stacy were privileged.
3 minutes ago from txt

petersonstory.wordpress.com/2010/01/26/drew-peterson-hearsay-hearings-day-5/#comments

[Lorie Taylor]

www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/metro/pastor-testimony-questioned-peterson-hearing#

Pastor's Testimony Questioned in Peterson Hearing

Updated: Tuesday, 26 Jan 2010, 10:38 AM CST
Published : Tuesday, 26 Jan 2010, 10:24 AM CST

By Craig Wall, FOX Chicago News

The judge in the Drew Peterson hearsay hearing issued a recess Tuesday after the defense called into question whether a key witness' conversations with Stacy Peterson were privileged.

Neil Schori -- a former pastor at the Westbrook Christian Church -- claims that Stacy Peterson told him that Drew Peterson admitted to killing his previous wife, Kathleen Savio.

However, the defense has raised objections to Schori divulging those conversations, saying they were based on clergy privilege and part of a confidential counseling session.

Peterson's neighbor, Sharon Bychowski, told the judge Monday that about a week before Stacy disappeared, she saw Stacy sitting out front of her house crying.

She said Stacy told her she wanted a divorce but "Drew wouldn't go, he wouldn't leave, she didn't love him anymore," adding “having sex with him made her skin crawl."

Bychowski said Stacy also told her "if I disappear, it's not an accident. He killed me."

Peterson's attorney Joel Brodsky suggested Bychowski made that quote up, saying it sounded strangely similar to what Peterson's third wife Kathleen Savio allegedly told her sister before she died. Peterson is now charged with her murder.

“What she did was take a clip from Kathy, about it being an accident, and tried to stick it into Stacy’s case,” Brodsky said.

Bychowski also testified Monday about gifts Stacy showed her, including a ring. Bychowski said Stacy told her Drew gave it to her thinking it would make her stay, but Stacy told her it wasn't going to work.

[joy]

WGNTV VIDEO OF TODAYS HEARINGS

www.youtube.com/v/NoZ2aFSVPAs&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="344"

[joy]

www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/02/peterson-hearsay-hearing-expected-to-end-today.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ChicagoBreakingNews+%28Chicago+Breaking+News%29

Pathologist: Kathleen Savio ‘drowned and was beaten up’

February 19, 2010 1:13 PM | No Comments

A renowned forensic pathologist who performed an independent autopsy on Drew Peterson’s ex-wife testified today that “she drowned and was beaten up,” and that she was a homicide victim.

Dr. Michael Baden, who was asked in 2007 to perform the autopsy on Kathleen Savio by her family, testified that “it’s extremely rare” for healthy people who are not elderly or under the influence of drugs or alcohol to drown in a bathtub, as Savio did in 2004.

“My opinion is this is a homicide in which she drowned and was beaten up,” Baden said.
Baden, a FOX News consultant who went on the air for the network to discuss the findings in the autopsy, was not paid any fees for performing it.

His testimony is expected to be the culmination of three weeks of testimony in a hearsay hearing in Peterson’s murder case. The hearing is to determine what hearsay evidence — including statements prosecutors contend Savio made — Judge Stephen White will allow a jury to hear.

Much of the testimony has been from nearly 70 witnesses witnesses called to bolster prosecutors’ contention that Savio’s death was a homicide and not an accident as it was originally ruled.

Peterson, a former Bolingbrook police sergeant, is charged with first-degree murder in connection with Savio’s death. He is also a suspect in the 2007 disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy.

–Steve Schmadeke and Associated Press

[joy]

twitter.com/joehosey

joehosey, 02/23/2010 11:00am

Jury selection for the Drew Peterson trial set for June 14.