Former Chicago-area Police Sergeant Drew Peterson has been found guilty of murdering his ex-wife, Kathleen Savio. The murder occurred in 2004. The jury took fourteen hours before delivering their verdict. Click below to read more.
The jury of seven men and five women deliberated for nearly 14 hours total before delivering its verdict convicting Peterson in the death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio.
“Finally somebody heard Kathleen’s cry,” her mother, Marcia Savio, told reporters after the verdict. “Twelve people did the right thing, oh thank God.”
Savio was found dead in her dry, clean bathtub on March 1, 2004.
While prosecutors claimed Peterson killed Savio, the defense contended that she fell, hit her head and drowned.
The headline-grabbing case did not arise until after Peterson’s fourth wife, Stacy, disappeared in October 2007. It was during the search for Stacy Peterson — who has not been found — that investigators said they would look again into Savio’s death, which was initially ruled an accidental drowning.
In February 2008, authorities altered their judgment and ruled Savio’s death a homicide. Peterson was later arrested and charged with first-degree murder.
Peterson was married to Savio in 2001 when he had an affair with then-17-year-old Stacy Cales, who later became his fourth wife. Savio and Peterson filed for divorce in October 2001 and their relationship remained contentious for the next several years.
Bolingbrook, Illinois, police records indicate officers were called to Savio’s home 18 times to intervene in domestic fights from 2002 to 2004. Peterson had Savio arrested twice for domestic violence, though she was found not guilty in both cases.
On February 27, 2004, Peterson picked up his two sons from Savio’s home and spent the next two days with them. Prosecutors said he entered her home again early on February 29 and killed her.
The jury released a statement, read outside the Joliet courthouse by Will County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Ken Kaupas, in which they thanked the judge, bailiffs and sheriff’s office and said they took their responsibility seriously.
