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Peterson gun charge still lingers
January 21, 2010
<snipped>
Two of Peterson's attorneys &#8212; Joel Brodsky and Andrew Abood &#8212; argued that Will County Judge Richard Schoenstedt was right to dismiss a felony unlawful use of a weapon charge against Peterson.

Peterson was arrested in May 2008 on a charge of unlawful use of a weapon for owning a Colt AR-15 assault rifle with a barrel shorter than the state-mandated 16 inches.

On Wednesday, Gary Gnidovec, a lawyer with the state's attorney's third district appellate prosecutor's office, made the case that Peterson's attorneys showed no evidence of vindictive prosecution and that that they wanted to get their hands on the state's attorney's internal documents so they could try to find one.

Appellate Judge Daniel L. Schmidt pointed out that allowing defendants access to the state's attorney's files without proof of vindictive prosecution might put a strain on the legal system. He also noted that "very few prosecutors are just wild about any of the people they prosecute."

At the same hearing, Abood and Brodsky tried to appeal Schoenstedt's refusal to grant Peterson immunity from prosecution under a federal law that allows police officers to carry and conceal weapons.

Appellate Judge Vicki Wright questioned whether they should be allowed to appeal that decision since, if the dismissal is reversed, the case will have yet to reach its conclusion.

Schmidt, Wright and Judge Mary K. O'Brien took the matter under advisement and will release their ruling at a later date.

Article:
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/...,Peterson-gun-charge-hearing_JO012010.article
 
Prosecutors want Drew recharged with gun crime
January 21, 2010
<snipped>
Drew Peterson's lawyers on Wednesday went before the Illinois Appellate Court to try to stop a felony gun charge from coming back against their client.

Attorneys Joel Brodsky and Andrew Abood argued that Will County Circuit Court Judge Richard Schoenstedt was right to dismiss a felony weapon charge against Peterson in November 2008.

Six months later, Schoenstedt ordered Will County prosecutors to surrender internal documents to Peterson's defense team so they could prepare to argue that he was the victim of a vindictive prosecution.

Assistant State's Attorney John Connor refused to comply with the order, and Schoenstedt dropped the charges against Peterson, which resulted in prosecutors appealing that decision.

On Wednesday, Gary Gnidovec, a lawyer with the appellate prosecutor's office, argued before the three-judge appellate panel that the weapons charge should be reinstated because Peterson's attorneys had shown no evidence of vindictive prosecution.

Appellate Judge Daniel L. Schmidt said allowing defendants access to prosecutors' files without such evidence might put a strain on the legal system.

Article:
http://www.southtownstar.com/news/2003260,012110drewgun.article
 
Stepbrother Testifies Drew Peterson Hinted He'd Kill 4th Wife
Thursday, January 21, 2010
<snipped>
Thomas Morphey told a hushed courtroom Thursday that Drew Peterson suggested he would kill Stacy because she planned to divorce him.

Morphey said that the next day he helped Peterson to move a large blue barrel that was warm to the touch.

Article:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,583527,00.html
 
Former Police Sgt. Drew Peterson's Pre-Murder Trial Hearing Continues
January 21, 2010 10:17 a.m. EST
<snipped>
Savio was found dead in her bathtub on March 1, 2004. Her body was exhumed November 2007 by a special grand jury also probing the disappearance of Stacy Peterson. Prosecutors say Peterson drowned Savio the day before her body was found.

Bolingbrook police Lt. James Coughlin also told the court that Peterson had told him two weeks before the death of Savio that his life would be easier if she were dead.

Peterson was indicted on two counts of first degree murder in May last year in the death of Savio, the mother of two of his six children. Savio's death was first ruled an accident, but the disappearance of Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy, prompted investigators to look into her death.

Peterson has not been charged with the disappearance of Stacy, but police have classified the case as a potential homicide. She was last heard from on the morning of October 28, 2007, when she called a friend she was meeting that day. She was last seen in Bolingbrook wearing a red jogging suit.

Article:
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7017586474
 
Testimony: Do You Love Me Enough to Kill for Me?
Morphey always assumed that Peterson killed Savio, he said.
Updated 12:30 PM CST, Thu, Jan 21, 2010
<snipped>
Prosecutors in the Drew Peterson pre-trial hearsay hearing called today on Peterson's step brother to testify about the former Bolingbrook cop's murderous nature.

Thomas Morphey told the court that Drew asked him to kill his fourth wife Stacy Peterson, but that he declined.

"How much do you love me?," Morphey said Drew asked. " ... enough to kill for me?"

Morphey has gone on record before saying that helped Peterson carry a blue barrel from Petersons bedroom that contained the body of Stacy Peterson about a week after Drew asked Morphey to murder her. He admitted that he suffers from manic depression, and says he was so shaken by the incident, he tried to kill himself with a bottle of anti-depressant pills.

Morphey also listened as States Attorney Jim Glasgow played a wiretap of a phone conversation he had with Drew Peterson during which Peterson tells him not to talk to anybody.

"If the police want to talk to you," Peterson said on the tape. "tell them you want a lawyer."

Morphey has been granted immunity by state's attorneys.

Article:
http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/loca...law-testifies-in-hearsay-hearing82266037.html
 
Witness: Peterson indicated he'd kill his 4th wife
Posted at 10:59 AM on Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010
<snipped>
The stepbrother of a former Illinois police officer accused of killing his third wife told a hushed courtroom Thursday that he believed he might have helped his relative dispose of the body of his fourth wife, who has not been seen for more than two years.

While the Will County hearing is about the death of Savio, Thursday's testimony focused on the day Stacy Peterson disappeared. Prosecutors would not say why Morphey was being asked to testify about Stacy Peterson, but Will County state's attorney's office spokesman Chuck Pelkie said the reasons would become clear in the proceedings.

In a packed but quiet courtroom, Morphey said Peterson suggested when they talked on Oct. 27, 2007, that he intended to kill Stacy because she planned to divorce him, win custody of their children and take Peterson's money.

Peterson brought Morphey back to his Bolingbrook home, went into a master bedroom and rolled out a large blue barrel that Morphey estimated weighed up to 150 pounds.

"He had me grab an end, he grabbed the other end and we proceeded down the stairs," Morphey testified. "It felt warm."

According to his testimony, the two men took the barrel, put it in Peterson's SUV and Peterson drove Morphey home.

"'He said, 'This never happened,'" Morphey testified. "I said, 'I won't tell a soul.'"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A son from Peterson's first marriage to Carol Brown described watching Peterson in 1993 dragging Savio into the house by her hair.

Eric Peterson, who once spent weekends with Savio and Peterson, has been estranged from his father since 1993.

Article:
http://www.fresnobee.com/641/story/1791020.html
 
Drew Peterson's Son Testifies Against His Dad
Drew Peterson Has Pleaded Not Guilty to Killing Kathleen Savio
Jan. 21, 2010
<snipped>
A son from Drew Peterson's first marriage testified against his own father today. Eric Peterson described witnessing a 1993 incident in which his father dragged his third wife, Kathleen Savio, into the house, according to reports from the courthouse.

"She was screaming for help," Eric Peterson, said according to The Associated Press. Peterson also said Savio had been drunk at the time. "He was pulling her down the stairs."

Peterson's stepbrother also testified today, saying he had "always assumed" Peterson was guilty of killing Savio, and believes he may have helped dispose of Stacy Peterson's body.

Morphey said that while he always believed Peterson had murdered Savio, Peterson always denied it to him.

He testified that Peterson had asked Morphey around the time Stacy disappeared if he loved him enough to kill for him, Morphey. He said that he told Peterson that he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he murdered someone.

Morphey also testified about the disappearance of Stacy Peterson three years later, saying he helped Peterson move a large blue barrel that was warm to the touch the day after Peterson confided in him that he thought about killing Stacy because she was considering a divorce.

Article:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/drew-petersons-stepbrother-testifies/story?id=9625025
 
Peterson hearing resumes with stepbrother's testimony
January 21, 2010
<snipped>
The conversation happened the morning of Oct. 27, 2007, the day before Stacy Peterson, Peterson's fourth wife, disappeared. Peterson had picked Morphey up at Morphey's home and the two were traveling in Peterson's Yukon Denali SUV.

Peterson has not been charged in connection with the disappearance. Will County authorities have charged him with murder in the death of his third wife Kathleen Savio in 2004.

Morphey testified in court this morning he said no to Peterson's question, to which Peterson replied, "Can you live with knowing about it?"

"I always assumed that you killed Kathleen," Morphey testified he said.

"No," Peterson answered, according to his stepbrother, "I would never hurt Kathleen. She was a great mother."

Morphey has said he helped Peterson move a blue barrel out of Peterson's home the day that Stacy disappeared. He has said he fears the barrel contained Stacy's body.

Testimony is expected to continue into the afternoon.

Video: Drew Peterson Hearsay Evidence 0:22
http://www.wgntv.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=5fc708fc-2df5-4d23-8eb0-56a1eb4a2453&src=front

Video: Testimony Continues In Peterson Case 2:28
http://www.wgntv.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=75df89d7-4731-4856-9cf5-ba65a904a470&src=front

Video: Peterson Hearing Resumes With Stepbrother's Testimony 3:03
http://www.wgntv.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=a603da7c-ae8b-4974-a493-7e2aece5f37f&src=front

Video: Joel Brodsky Phoner Talks About Drew Peterson 3:01
http://www.wgntv.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=b930af06-f858-4c5d-9d01-e7855d98701a&src=front

Video: Drew Peterson's Evidence Hearing Begins 2:14
http://www.wgntv.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=006f54c2-0347-4c9c-a161-9844760d08a0&src=front

Video: Peterson Hearsay Evidence Discussed In Court 2:11
http://www.wgntv.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=7f6c2420-3a1c-4b8a-a04b-04bdf7e16630&src=front

Video: Witnesses Take Stand In Peterson Case, Terry Sullivan Breaks Down 5:32
http://www.wgntv.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=8a1c54ab-1b54-4009-9292-77340e043a88&src=front

Video: Terry Sullivan Talks Latest In Peterson Hearsay Case 2:07
http://www.wgntv.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=d980c704-8e6f-4cfe-9e36-052af30a4a00&src=front

Video: Peterson Hearsay Evidence To Be Discussed In Court 2:29
http://www.wgntv.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=06a3a9f8-7235-4878-b6bc-d0b5ad6078e2&src=front

Video: Headlines Tuesday Morning 1/19/10 0:50
http://www.wgntv.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=9c7029bb-6e1b-4f2c-93b1-86dbd5a2efeb&src=front

Video: Peterson Hearsay Evidence To Be Discussed In Court 0:21
http://www.wgntv.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=b454d7f2-7d93-4abb-97ed-e27bbaaf3d17&src=front

Article:
http://www.wgntv.com/news/wgntv-drew-peterson-hearing-resumes-today-jan21,0,1301951.story
 
Peterson hearing resumes with stepbrother's testimony
Thursday, January 21, 2010 8:52:22 PM
<snipped>
Morphey said the conversation occurred the morning of Oct. 27, 2007, the day before Stacy Peterson, Peterson's fourth wife, disappeared. Peterson had picked Morphey up at Morphey's home and the two were traveling in Peterson's Yukon Denali SUV.

Prosecutors also played a recording of a conversation between Morphey and Peterson on Nov. 26, 2007, about a month after Stacy was reported missing.

Peterson advises Morphey to tell police he wants a lawyer if they want to question him about Stacy. "Just relax," he tells Morphey, according to the recording.

At one point, Peterson tells Morphey, "Tom, Tom, Tom, don't talk on the phone." At another point he says, "I don't want them turning our lives into a bigger circus than it already is."

At the time, local and national media camped out daily outside Peterson's Bolingbrook home.

Morphey was dressed in a gray suit, his hair cropped close. He looked directly at Peterson when asked by prosecutors if he could identify him. His voice was steady but quiet, and he was asked several times to speak up.

Article:
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/yb/140293053
 
Peterson's stepbrother: Drew asked if I'd kill for him
January 21, 2010
<snipped>
A day before Stacy Peterson vanished, Drew Peterson confided that his fourth wife was seeking a divorce &#8212; then asked a startling question, Thomas Morphey testified Thursday.

&#8220;How much do you love me?&#8221; Peterson asked, according to Morphey, his stepbrother. &#8220;Enough to kill for me?&#8221;

Morphey testified that after his Oct. 27 talk with Peterson, he didn&#8217;t want to go to Peterson&#8217;s home on Oct. 28 because he was afraid of what he might find there.

&#8220;I didn&#8217;t want any part of anything he might have done,&#8221; said Morphey, who acknowledged he spent much of that day drinking beer because he was frightened by what Peterson had said to him the day before.

But Peterson still persuaded him to come over to help him with a chore &#8212; moving a barrel out of the master bedroom and loading it in his Yukon Denali, Morphey testified.

Morphey, now 42, acknowledged he was so upset by his actions that he took an overdose of prescription drugs the next day in a suicide attempt. He said he was contacted by police investigators after being released from the hospital and provided them information about Peterson&#8217;s alleged actions.

Peterson&#8217;s attorneys battered Morphey while cross-examining him, noting that at one point Morphey described the barrel he helped move as standing only knee-high.

They raised other inconsistencies in his testimony as well, including conflicting statements he made afterward to police investigators.

&#8220;Mr. Morphey has serious credibility issues,&#8221; defense attorney Joel Brodsky said outside the courtroom. &#8220;He told so many people so many different stories.&#8221;

Wearing a blue striped shirt and khaki pants, Peterson looked intently at Morphey during most of the nearly four hours his stepbrother spent testifying against him. Morphey seldom glanced at Peterson, who remains jailed while he awaits trial.

Article:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/peterson/2004125,drew-peterson-tom-morphey-trial-012110.article
 
Drew Peterson's stepbrother recounts night he helped Peterson remove blue storage container
Thomas Morphey says he is convinced Stacy Peterson's remains were in container

By Erika Slife and Steve Schmadeke, Tribune reporters

January 21, 2010

*snip

He said Peterson told him he would give him $200 to rent a storage unit under Morphey's name and store a container there.

"I said, 'What about the smell?'" Morphey said. "He said (the container) would be airtight."

Peterson allegedly said Morphey would check on the unit "from time to time to make sure there was no odor." Peterson would return in six months after the "smoke cleared" to take care of it. If something happened to Peterson during that time, Morphey testified, Peterson allegedly told him to "drop it in the canal."

Morphey said that he later called Peterson to tell him he couldn't take part in the plan, but that Peterson still picked him up the next day for help in removing the container.
*snip

*snip

Peterson's adult son Eric also testified Thursday, seeing his father for the first time since moving out of Peterson's Bolingbrook home in 2003, in part out of anger that his father was dating Stacy, a much younger woman.

Eric Drew Peterson testified that while spending the weekend at his father's home in 1993, Peterson dragged Savio — who was screaming and pleading for someone to call police — through the front door by her hair and arm.

Asked whether he still loved his father and whether he thought he had been a good dad, Eric Peterson paused for a long time before twice answering, "no."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...eterson-hearing-20100121,0,4671344,full.story
 
Peterson's Stepbrother: Always Assumed He Killed Savio
Updated: Thursday, 21 Jan 2010, 9:20 PM CST
Published : Thursday, 21 Jan 2010, 7:15 AM CST
<snipped>
Morphey told the judge about a meeting with Peterson on Oct. 27, 2007, where he says Peterson asked him if he loved him enough to kill for him. Morphey answered &#8220;that&#8217;s not something I want to get involved with.&#8221; He said Peterson then asked him &#8220;can you live with knowing about it?&#8221; Morphey said, &#8220;I always assumed you killed Kathleen,&#8221; to which he said Peterson responded &#8220;I would never hurt Kathleen, she was a great mother.&#8221;

During that meeting, which Morphey said happened in Peterson&#8217;s SUV while parked in an industrial park in Bolingbrook, he said Peterson complained that Stacy was cheating on him, that she wanted a divorce and wanted him out of the house in four days.

Morphey quoted Peterson as saying: "She was going to take everything from him, the kids, all the money he had earned, half his pension, which meant he would have to keep working for the rest of his life.&#8221;

Also during the hearing, prosecutors played a secretly recorded phone call made Nov. 29, 2007, in which Peterson is heard telling Morphey that if police try to talk to him, he should tell them he wants to talk to his lawyer.

The defense attacked Morphey's credibility, pointing to numerous inconsistencies in his story, including the size of the blue barrel. They also raised questions about his mental state, and drug use. Morphey testified he is bi-polar.

Morphey has been granted immunity and was whisked away from the courthouse in a dark van to protect him from the media.

*Video Included In Article!

Article:
http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/metro/drew-peterson-hearsay-hearings-resume
 
Drew Peterson Kin Testifies Against Him In Court
Witnesses Claim Peterson Threatened To Kill Third Wife Kathleen Savio
Jan 21, 2010 6:07 pm US/Central
<snipped>
The conversation Morphey was testifying about, however, happened three years after Savio's death, the day before Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, disappeared.

Morphey testified on that day, he was sitting in a car with Drew Peterson in an industrial park in Bolingbrook. On the stand, he claimed he and Peterson had the following conversation:

Peterson: "How much do you love me?"
Morphey: "I said I do."
Peterson: "Enough to kill for me?"
Morphey: "I couldn't live with that."
Peterson: "Could you live with knowing about it?"
Morphey: "I always assumed you killed Kathleen."
Peterson: "No, I would never kill Kathleen, she was a great mother."

Morphey has told investigators he fears he unwittingly helped Peterson load a closed blue barrel containing Stacy Peterson's body into the back of Peterson's Yukon Denali.

On the stand, Morphey said the barrel was 3½ feet tall and came up to his mid-thigh. The defense pounced on earlier statements Morphey made to police in which he said the container came up to his knee.

"You're seeing why the state's case is going to fall apart," Peterson attorney Joel Brodsky told reporters outside the hearing.

Morphy was on the stand for four hours. The other key witness Thursday was Drew Peterson's oldest son, Eric. He testified about a fight he saw back in 1993 where he says he saw his father dragged Kathleen Savio into the home by her hair.

Video: Drew Peterson's Kin Testifies Against Him 1/21/10 6:17PM
http://cbs2chicago.com/video/?id=66745@wbbm.dayport.com

Article:
http://cbs2chicago.com/local/drew.peterson.hearing.2.1439637.html
 
WOW!!


Stepbrother: Drew asked if I'd kill for him

January 22, 2010

By JOE HOSEY jhosey@scn1.com and DAN ROZEK drozek@suntimes.com

*snip

Morphey also said Peterson confided that Stacy was cheating on him with two possible lovers, one of whom he wanted to frame for Stacy's murder.

Peterson asked him to drive Stacy's car to Shorewood, where one of Stacy's men lived, and leave the car there with the keys in the ashtray in an attempt to lead the cops there, Morphey said.

*snip

Morphey said Peterson told him Stacy was demanding a divorce. She wanted Peterson out of the house in four days, was seeking custody of their two children along with the two born to Savio, who she adopted, and had her eyes on quite a bit of her old man's assets.

"She wanted half his pension, which meant he had to work for the rest of his life," Morphey said.

Peterson was also worried that if Stacy had custody of his kids, her brother, convicted sexual predator Yelton Cales, could get at them, Morphey said.

*snip

Eric Peterson and his younger brother, Stephen Peterson, were visiting their father and Savio for the weekend when Drew hauled his wife through the front door by her hair.

"She was being dragged and fighting to stop being dragged," Eric Peterson said, adding that Savio was shouting obscenities at her husband, begging the children to call the police and "screaming for help."

Eric Peterson said his father ordered his sons upstairs and pulled Savio down to the basement. He said the commotion downstairs sounded like a train ran through the house.

One of Savio's sisters and the police later showed up. The next morning, Eric Peterson said, there was no sign of Savio, but the house was strewn with broken glass and overturned furniture.

Eric Peterson said it was apparent that Savio was drunk the night Drew Peterson dragged her around.

Eric Peterson said he has not spoken to his father since January 2003.

"I don't love him or hate him," Eric Peterson said of his father. "It's separate of emotion. It's indifference."

*snip

The last witness called Thursday was retired state police Sgt. Patrick Collins, who headed up the Savio death investigation.

In his 22 years as a detective, Collins said he had never handled a homicide. And the Savio case would not be his first, as he and two other investigators decided about a half hour after showing up at Savio's house that her death was likely accidental.

Collins said Peterson told the state police that he and Savio had an amiable relationship at the time of her death and did not stand to profit from her dying.

*snip

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/...eterson-hearsay-day2-stepbro-JO012110.article
 
Bombshell Testimony in Drew Peterson Case
Stepbrother Describes Helping Him Get Rid of What Stepbrother Says May Have Been Body of Peterson's 4th Wife, Stacy Peterson
JOLIET, Ill., Jan. 22, 2010
<snipped>
The investigation of former Illinois police officer Drew Peterson has always been about both the disappearance of his fourth wife and the death of his third wife.

That was particularly evident when Peterson's stepbrother took the stand at a hearing Thursday regarding the death of the third wife, Kathleen Savio. He spoke for three hours about the day wife No. 4, Stacy Peterson, vanished -- and told of helping Peterson handle a barrel he thinks may have contained Stacey Peterson's body.

CBS News legal analyst Lisa Bloom says, "It has to be to show pattern because, in this hearing, which is really a trial before the trial, the state has to show that Drew Peterson killed Kathleen Savio. And I believe at the trial, they'll be allowed to introduce evidence as to both (wives), to show it was a pattern, that he killed them, according to the state, to prevent them from divorcing him and taking a lot of his money."

Whether the hearsay evidence is admitted could prove pivotal, Bloom adds, explaining to "Early Show" co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez Friday, "That's what it's all about. She allegedly told about 15 people, 'He's threatened me, he held a knife to my throat, he's going to kill me, he's going to get away with it, he's going to make it look like an accident.' (That's) critical evidence for the state. They want to get that evidence in, and that's the basis of this hearing. At the end of this hearing, in about a month, the judge will decide whether those statements can come in or not."

Without them, Bloom observes, prosecutors would have "a significantly weakened case, because I think those statements are the strongest part of the state's case. Without it, there's no forensic evidence linking Drew Peterson to the killing of Kathleen Savio and he's got an alibi: He says he was home with a lot of family members the entire weekend that she was killed."
*Much more info at link!

Video: Third Wife Murdered, Fourth Missing January 22, 2010 4:56 AM
Former police Sergeant Drew Peterson is back in court in the murder trial of his third wife while his fourth wife remains missing. Dean Reynolds reports.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRSbC1uKjGw

Video: Drew Peterson Murder Trial Details January 22, 2010 5:05 AM
Legal analyst Lisa Bloom discussed the murder case of former police Sergeant Drew Peterson's third wife. The prosecution is using the disappearance of his fourth wife as damaging evidence
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vm9fRyiiXK0

Article:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/01/22/earlyshow/main6128553.shtml
 
Cop admits mistakes in Savio case
1:33 p.m. CST, January 22, 2010
<snipped>
Retired Illinois State Police Sgt. Patrick Collins said a crime scene technician considered the death an accident, and that assessment colored his view of what happened because he had never investigated a murder before.

Collins also admitted he broke with normal protocol and allowed Peterson to sit in on an interview with Stacy Peterson, who gave Peterson his principal alibi for his whereabouts in the days before Savio was discovered. :furious:

Police interviewed Stacy Peterson for one hour on March 3, 2004. She said she and her husband had spent the weekend with the children, backing up Peterson's statements made to police a day earlier. She said they had spent Saturday hanging around the house and had gone to the Shedd Aquarium Sunday. The only time Peterson left was Sunday morning to get doughnuts. Savio was found the next day, a Monday. :cry:

Peterson, a Bolingbrook police officer at the time, asked for "professional courtesy" and sat about a foot away from Stacy while she was interviewed, Collins said.

Other shortcomings he admitted to: *Not examining or saving a glass of orange juice in the kitchen or a cup in the microwave; not specifically asking about the position of Savio's body in the bathtub; not asking if the people who had discovered her had touched the body. :furious:

Article:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-peterson-trial,0,7122740.story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Former Cop Admits Mistakes in Savio Death Investigation
The lead investigator in the death of Drew Peterson's third wife testifies at hearsay hearing
Updated 2:06 PM CST, Fri, Jan 22, 2010
<snipped>
"You can second-guess anything," said Retired Illinois State Police Sgt. Patrick Collins. "Looking back now, everything could have been important. But at that particular moment, I was looking for things that were more obvious."

Collins' remarks came in a hearing meant to determine what, if any, "hearsay" evidence prosecutors can use during Peterson's murder trial. Friday was the third day Judge Stephen White heard testimony.

Article:
http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local-beat/peterson-hearsay-hearing-82407342.html
 
Ex-cop speaks at Drew Peterson 'hearsay' hearing
The lead investigator in the death of Drew Peterson's third wife said he never collected any forensics evidence from the home where her body was found in a dry bathtub, telling a pretrial hearing Friday he never considered the possibility she was murdered.
Originally published Friday, January 22, 2010 at 1:10 PM
<snipped>
The lead investigator in the death of Drew Peterson's third wife said he never collected any forensics evidence from the home where her body was found in a dry bathtub, telling a pretrial hearing Friday he never considered the possibility she was murdered.

Retired Illinois State Police Sgt. Patrick Collins, testifying at a hearing to determine what, if any, "hearsay" evidence prosecutors can use during Peterson's murder trial, also said he granted Peterson favors during the investigation because he was a fellow police officer.

Collins said he even allowed Peterson to sit in on questioning of Stacy Peterson as investigators inquired about Drew Peterson's whereabouts the day Savio died - something Collins acknowledged was unusual. He said Drew Peterson even spoke up to answer one question to his then-wife about what he and Stacy had eaten for breakfast that day.

Among the potential evidence crime technicians failed to collect from Savio's home was a glass of orange juice left on a counter and the clothes she had been wearing that day, Collins testified. He also never interviewed members of Savio's family.

He added it never occurred to him that the scene in the bathroom might have been staged. After Stacy Peterson's disappearance, authorities said they did believe Savio's death was a homicide staged to look like an accident.

Both prosecutors and the defense hit Collins with tough questions, with prosecutors trying to show he could have gathered evidence pointing to Peterson's involvement in Savio's death. For their part, the defense appeared to want to demonstrate that the investigation was so shoddy that it would be impossible to discover the identity of any killer now.

Article:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2010865264_apusdrewpeterson.html
 
Cop admits missteps in Peterson's third wife's death
Published: 1/22/2010 8:13 PM
<snipped>
In the early days of the disappearance of Drew Peterson's fourth wife, neighbor Sharon Bychowski said he appeared on her Bolingbrook doorstep acting "kind of crazy," insisting she follow him back home.

A barefoot Bychowski complied.

"I said, 'Oh my God, Drew! Is there something wrong with Stacy?'" she testified Friday in a unique pretrial hearing to determine if certain hearsay statements are reliable enough for a jury to hear at trial. "He said, very dramatically, 'Well, she left me.'"

Bychowski told Will County Circuit Judge Stephen White she was immediately suspicious since she said Stacy, with whom she was close friends, would never leave her kids.

"She would leave him, but not without her kids," said Bychowski, who tearfully described Stacy as "the world's best mother."

So far, 13 witnesses testified in the hearsay hearing.

Bychowski said Drew Peterson told her he last spoke with Stacy that Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007, when she returned his call to say she had left him for another man and took $25,000, some new clothes, as well as the titles to their house and a car.

"If she was going to leave, I would have known," Bychowski said.

The Will County hearing resumes Monday, with the defense's cross examination of Bychowski. Judge White said he won't rule until the hearing's conclusion, likely another two weeks.

Images of the missing and deceased in the Drew Peterson case
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=352113

Images of the Drew Peterson Case
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=352115

Article:
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=353261
 
Sergeant Admits Mistakes in Savio Investigation
Updated: Friday, 22 Jan 2010, 6:43 PM CST
Published : Friday, 22 Jan 2010, 7:43 AM CST
<snipped>
The testimony from retired State Police Sergeant Patrick Collins was part of a pretrial hearing to determine what evidence will be admitted at Peterson&#8217;s murder trial.

Collins testified that he had never conducted a murder investigation before he was assigned to handle the death of Kathleen Savio in 2004. He said he relied heavily on the observations of an evidence technician, who told him her death appeared accidental.

&#8220;Hindsight is 20/20, that&#8217;s all I&#8217;m going to say,&#8221; Collins said as he left court.

&#8220;I think the investigation was done, and ultimately the conclusions that were reached were accurate,&#8221; said Andrew Abood, one of Peterson&#8217;s defense lawyers. When asked why then would prosecutors want to discredit the investigation, Abood said &#8220;Because they have to.&#8221;

Bychowski will return to the witness stand when the hearing resumes Monday morning.

*2-Videos Included In Article!

Article:
http://www.wftv.com/video/22317704/index.html
 
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