Drew_Peterson

Drew Peterson Drew Peterson was a Bolingbrook Police Officer who was popular only in his community. That is, until his 3rd wife died and his 4th wife disappeared. These two traumatic events had one common denominator, Drew Peterson. After the revelation that these two, seemingly separate events, may be somehow related the Bolingbrook Police Department decided to reopen the case of his dead ex-wife. Drew Peterson began his life on January 5, 1954. He attended Willowbrook High School, went on to the Army, married a woman by the name of Carol Hamilton, and had two kids. Things began to sour in his marriage and the happy couple was soon divorced. Back on the market, Drew dated for a while and eventually met a woman worth marrying, again. This time he married Vicki Connolly, started a business, and raised their kids. Drew seemed to have some problems during his marriage due to infidelity and his controlling behavior. This marriage, like the one before, ended in divorce. During Drew’s marriage to Connolly, he was fired from the Bolingbrook Police Department for misconduct, but was later reinstated. Drew’s infidelity led to his third marriage to Kathleen Savio. Drew and Savio had a relationship while he was married to Vicki Connolly. To the union of Drew and Savio were born two children. Drew remained on the police force, even after his wife filed an order of protection against him. Soon thereafter, Drew found himself in divorce court once again. He also continued a relationship that he had with a woman named Stacy Cales. Drew and Cales began their relationship in an identical fashion to the relationship he began with Savio, an affair. Drew was 30 years’ Stacy’s senior, but this did not stop their love affair. The couple was married and had two children. Drew and Kathleen could not come to an agreement about their finances, so even after the divorce, they went back and forth to court to resolve the issue. The case was supposed to finalize the financial arrangements in April 2004, but before the case could be heard in court, Kathleen drowned in a dry bathtub. When the police arrived on the scene, they found a dry bathtub and a dry Kathleen. The only part of her that was wet was her hair. Even under the circumstances and with the evidence, or lack thereof, Kathleen’s death was ruled an accidental drowning. Stacy stood by Drew during the financial battle with his ex-wife and throughout the trauma of her death. Like all good things, the relationship with Stacy began to deteriorate and unlike his previous marriages, this one did not end in divorce court. This marriage ended with the disappearance of Stacy. Authorities could not tie Drew to Stacy’s disappearance, but her disappearance made them question Kathleen’s death. Her body was ordered exhumed and her death was ruled a homicide. Drew Peterson was arrested for Kathleen’s murder. The case against Drew Peterson relied heavily on circumstantial evidence. He was the one to find her body. He had a motive to want her dead. He had a history of domestic violence. One of the most damning pieces of evidence against him was the disappearance of his 3rd wife and the statements that her and his 4th wife made against him. In past years, the statements would not have been a problem for him, but in 2008, a year before he was arrested, Illinois passed a law to admit hearsay evidence in certain circumstances. “The Illinois law allows a judge to admit hearsay evidence in first-degree murder cases if prosecutors can prove the defendant killed a witness to prevent them from testifying.” (Cleveland.com, 2011, par. 6). Once the hearsay evidence was admitted into court, Drew’s case took a detrimental hit. With his violent past and the words of his two ex-wives, Drew was made out to be a monster. The jury did not get to hear every negative or violent thing that Drew said or did to his ex’s because the judge only allowed a portion of the hearsay evidence. “A Illinois court prohibited the use of eight of the 14 second-hand statements by prosecutors. Prosecutors appealed that decision in 2011, but an appellate court upheld the ruling.” (biography.com, 2012, par. 14). Drew Peterson went from protecting and serving the community of Boilingbrook, Illinois to fighting for his freedom at the expense of hearsay evidence. At the conclusion of the case, the jury returned a verdict of guilty. “On September 6, 2012, 58-year-old Peterson was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio.” (Biography.com, 2012, par. 16). He is now in an Illinois Prison awaiting sentencing, but in the process, he has fired his lawyer and has a new one working on appeal. References Biography.com. 2012. Drew Peterson. Biography. Retrieved October 11, 2012, from http://www.biography.com/people/drew-peterson-259248 Cleveland.com. 2012. New Illinois hearsay law to shape Peterson case. Retrieved October 11, 2012, from http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2009/05/new_illinois_hearsay_law_to_sh.html