Drew Peterson's lawyer says he doesn't expect charges
A lawyer representing a former Bolingbrook police officer suspected in the disappearance of his wife said Monday he does not believe his client will face charges stemming from the investigation.
Speaking on NBC's "Today" show via satellite, lawyer Joel Brodsky also criticized the media for their coverage of Drew Peterson, who resigned as a Bolingbrook police sergeant after his 23-year-old fourth wife, Stacy, vanished three weeks ago.
"We do not expect to be charged in these cases," Brodsky said. "This is out of control. It's a rush to judgment fueled by people, by entertainment and people seem to want to be entertained by what's going on."
Police have named the 53-year-old Peterson as a suspect in her disappearance, and authorities have called the case a possible homicide. He has denied any involvement in her disappearance, and on Monday night told reporters he still loved his wife.
"I'm still in love with Stacy. And I miss her," Peterson said.
Earlier Brodsky, who began representing Peterson on Friday, declined to let his client respond to most questions during Monday's short television interview.
Peterson, whose children with Stacy Peterson are 2 and 4, answered "yes" when asked if he was worried she may never return home. "Kids need a mom," he said.
Asked if he was worried about his wife, he said: "Of course. Your wife leaves you and I have kids at home, you're very much worried about her."
Peterson reiterated that he thinks his wife left him for another man. "I'd like to have her publicly show herself so we can clear all this up," said Peterson, who has older children from an earlier marriage.
Peterson told reporters in the driveway of his Bolingbrook home that the attention paid to his life was "mind-boggling."
"People are looking at me under a magnifying glass. It's very upsetting. You know, I mean, what I had for breakfast is newsworthy. So it's crazy. Look at these people," he said, gesturing to the media. "This is hilarious. It's just not how I want to be spending my retirement."
Peterson on Monday also participated in a photo shoot in his backyard, but it was not immediately clear which media outlet commissioned it.
Stacy Peterson, who was studying nursing at a junior college, disappeared from the couple's suburban Chicago home Oct. 28. Volunteers have been canvassing fields, lakes and construction sites near the family's house, but have found no traces of the woman.
Still, the investigation into her disappearance caused prosecutors to reopen the investigation into the death of Peterson's third wife, Kathleen Savio, whose body was found in a bathtub in 2004.
At the time, authorities ruled her death an accidental drowning, but investigators exhumed her body last week at the request of a prosecutor, who has said after examining evidence he believes her death was a homicide staged to look like an accident.
A pathologist who conducted another autopsy on Savio's body for her family said last week he believes the woman was murdered.
Savio's remains were returned Monday to the cemetery, according to the Will County coroner's office. The state's attorney's office said it could be a couple more weeks before investigators have final results from tests related to the autopsy.
Peterson also has denied any role in Savio's death. He was asked Monday for his reaction to speculation that Savio was murdered. "Yes, I'm upset to hear something like that said. Very much so," he said on the "Today" show.
Later, he denied claims made by his second wife, Vicki Connolly, that Peterson told her he could kill her and make it look like an accident. Connolly said that while she didn't believe he ever would kill her, she confided in Bolingbrook police officers she considered friends.
"I've never said anything like that, or even thought anything like that," Peterson said. "I don't know what's going through her head. I thought her and I had a good relationship. I thought we were friends. For her to say something like that, I don't know if it was driven by the media or whatever. Who knows?"