Probe into Bolingbrook cop's missing wife now a murder investigation
Authorities probing the disappearance of a police officer's wife said Friday the case has shifted from a missing persons investigation to a potential homicide.
They also received court approval to exhume the body of the previous wife of Bolingbrook Sgt. Drew Peterson after prosecutors said her death appeared to have been staged as an accidental drowning.
The review of Kathleen Savio's death comes as investigators search for Peterson's current wife, Stacy Peterson, 23, who was last seen Oct. 28.
A coroner's jury ruled the 2004 death of Savio, Peterson's third wife, an accident, even though there was no water in the bathtub where the 40-year-old's body was found face-down, her hair soaked in blood from a head wound. Investigators theorized the water had drained.
But in a petition the Will County state's attorney filed Friday listing the reasons authorities want to exhume Savio's body, prosecutors said a review of evidence in the case "is consistent with the 'staging' of an accident to conceal a homicide."
Prosecutors said they reviewed photographs of the crime scene and autopsy, the autopsy protocol, and police reports.
"The one-inch gash in the back of Kathleen Savio's head did not render her unconscious, which would have been necessary for her to accidentally drown in the bathtub," the petition stated.
Will County Circuit Court Judge Daniel J. Rozak signed the petition granting the exhumation Friday. It was not immediately clear when the body would be exhumed.
No charges were filed in Savio's death, but "at the very least, her death should have been ruled 'undetermined,'æ" Will County Coroner Patrick O'Neil said earlier this week.
Savio's niece, Melissa Marie Doman, said family members support the decision by the Will County state's attorney's office. Relatives have long suspected that Savio didn't drown accidentally, Doman said.
"I am all for it, along with the rest of my family, because something just was never right," said Doman. "I can't really say who, but someone did something. I don't think it was an accident."
Savio had gotten an order of protection in 2002, alleging a pattern of physical abuse and threats, according to court records. Drew Peterson has denied involvement with his ex-wife's death.
Savio's sister, Susan Savio, told the coroner's jury that her sister feared Drew Peterson.
In a transcript of the coroner's inquest, Susan Savio is quoted as telling the six-person jury that her sister told family members that, "if she would die, it may look like an accident, but it wasn't."
Bosco said Friday that Drew Peterson had gone to Savio's house the day her body was found. Unable to get into the locked house, Peterson reportedly solicited the help of a neighbor, who either used a key or called a locksmith to open the door.