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Drew Peterson pre-trial hearing will examine hearsay evidence

Posted January 16, 2010 10:00 pm

By Christy Gutowski

In the months before Kathleen Savio's mysterious drowning death, relatives say, the Bolingbrook woman grew "terrified" that her estranged husband would harm her.

Her fears also were captured in writing, such as in a 2002 letter to a prosecutor in which Savio said Drew Peterson "knows how to manipulate the system, and his next step is to take my children away. Or kill me instead."

Such hearsay evidence, which, in effect, allows Savio's words to be heard from beyond the grave are the subject of a landmark court hearing opening Tuesday in Will County.

Peterson, 56, is charged with murdering his third wife, whose body was found in a dry bathtub on March 1, 2004, in the midst of their bitter divorce.

Authorities initially ruled the 40-year-old woman's death accidental but, after Peterson was named a suspect in the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy, last seen in October 2007, Savio's body was exhumed. Her death was ruled a homicide after a second autopsy.

Peterson, a former Bolingbrook police sergeant, has not been charged in Stacy's disappearance, but he was arrested May 7, 2009, in the Savio investigation.

His trial won't begin until later this year, but media members from across the country are expected to converge on the Joliet courthouse for a hearing that may take three weeks with up to 60 witnesses.

Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow will lay out much of the prosecution's case against Peterson during the hearing, which is required under a recent state law written in part to respond to the ex-cop's high-profile case.

The law requires a judge to hold a pretrial hearing to determine whether so-called hearsay evidence - testimony or documents that quote someone secondhand who is not in court - is admissible in murder trials.

Prosecutors must prove whether a "preponderance of evidence" shows those statements are reliable and that the defendant's wrongdoing made the witness unavailable to testify. If not, the evidence cannot be presented to a jury at trial.

Glasgow has not publicly released the lengthy witness list, but he showed much of his hand during a May court hearing when the defense unsuccessfully challenged the law's constitutionality.

Prosecutors said Peterson killed Savio because he faced financial devastation from their divorce as he tried to begin a new life with his fourth wife, Stacy, 23, - with whom he had an extramarital affair while he still was married to Savio. Peterson even offered a man $25,000 to kill Savio months before her death, prosecutors said.

"My life would be easier if she were just dead," Glasgow quoted Peterson as telling a fellow police officer he saw at the courthouse before Savio's death.

Both state witnesses likely will testify at the hearsay hearing, along with relatives who have said Savio feared Peterson. She repeated those fears in court records.

"She told me that she would never live for the settlement," sister Anna Doman said, "that Drew was going to kill her and that if anything did happen, to please take care of the children. She said, 'You know, Drew's lethal.' She was terrified of him."

Peterson would have had to pay as much as $200,000 in a lump sum to Savio and likely would have lost the couple's Bolingbrook home, Glasgow said. He said her death led Peterson to receive about $25,000 annually in Social Security payments for their two young sons, who as beneficiaries of their mother's life-insurance policy stand to receive $500,000 each.

In addition, evidence in the Stacy Peterson investigation is expected to be presented in the hearing. The Rev. Neil Schori told police Stacy Peterson confided in him before she vanished that her husband admitted killing Savio. He, too, may take the witness stand.

The defense team, led by attorney Joel Brodsky, unsuccessfully fought to have the hearsay hearing in a closed courtroom to control media coverage that it argues will taint the jury pool with "rumor, innuendo and gossip" and "erodes the presumption of innocence" by asking a judge to decide before the trial even starts that Peterson murdered Savio to silence her.

Drew Peterson will not testify.

"You're going to see a lot of the state's case, which we'll attack, but not ours to a great extent," Brodsky said. "We don't want to show them our hand. This is not a mini-trial. This is really the state exposing their case and letting us cross-examine their witnesses."

Will County Circuit Judge Stephen White ruled this month that public access to court proceedings is paramount. The judge took earlier steps to protect the jury pool. In August, White warned some 240 potential panelists to avoid Peterson media coverage. He said a follow-up letter also would be sent before the hearing starts to remind them of his edict.

This is the second time a hearsay reliability hearing is being held under the law. In DuPage County, prosecutors successfully invoked the law in the Oct. 9, 2004, fatal shooting of a 17-year-old Warrenville girl who was killed shortly after accusing an acquaintance of battery. The man, Joshua Matthews, 24, goes on trial later this year in Wheaton.

Peterson is being held on a $20 million bond in the Will County jail. He maintains his innocence.

Former Bolingbrook police sergeant Drew Peterson arrives in May 2009 at the Will County Courthouse in Joliet for his arraignment on charges of first-degree murder in the 2004 death of his former wife, Kathleen Savio. Associated Press

Timeline in Drew Peterson investigation

March 1, 2004: The body of Drew Peterson's third wife, Kathleen Savio, 40, is discovered in a bathtub in her Bolingbrook home. Her death is initially ruled an accidental drowning.

Oct. 29, 2007: His fourth wife, Stacy, 23, is reported missing, a day after she fails to show up at a family member's home.

Nov. 9, 2007: Illinois State Police declare Drew Peterson a suspect in Stacy's disappearance and announce they've launched an investigation into Savio's drowning death. A Will County judge signs an order to exhume Savio's body.

Nov. 12, 2007: Drew Peterson resigns from the Bolingbrook Police Department, where he had been an officer for nearly three decades.

Nov. 13, 2007: Savio's body is exhumed for a second autopsy.

Nov. 16, 2007: Forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden says Savio likely was murdered.

Nov. 21, 2007: A special Will County grand jury is convened to hear evidence in both cases involving Savio and Stacy Peterson.

Feb. 21, 2008: Kathleen Savio's death officially ruled a homicide.

May 21, 2008: Drew Peterson surrenders to police on a weapons charge unrelated to the disappearance of his fourth wife.

Nov. 20, 2008: Gun charges dropped against Peterson after Will County prosecutors refuse to hand over internal investigative documents.

May 7, 2009: Drew Peterson indicted on two counts of first-degree murder for Savio's death; peacefully surrenders during a traffic stop. Peterson remains jailed on $20 million bond.

Oct. 2, 2009: Will Circuit Judge Stephen White upholds new state law that allows Savio beyond-the-grave hearsay evidence at trial if later deemed reliable.

Jan. 19, 2010: A landmark hearsay court hearing is scheduled to begin in which prosecutors lay out their evidence against Peterson in Savio's death.

Source: Daily Herald archives

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