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[Angel Who Cares]

Witness: Peterson denied killing Savio
February 2, 2010
<snipped>
Kathleen Savio's boyfriend at the time of her death testified this morning that on the night her body was found Drew Peterson denied both killing her and having any motive to do so.

Steve Maniaci said he arrived at Savio's house after police found her body the night of March 1, 2004, and saw Peterson standing outside. He said he told Peterson, "I sure hope you didn't have anything to do with this," to which Peterson responded, "I didn't."

Later, Maniaci said, he said to Peterson, "It sure worked out well for you Drew." To that, Peterson responded, "She would have lost anyway," referring, Maniaci testified, to the divorce property settlement between Peterson and Savio.

The night Savio's body was found, Maniaci said he told police about a hole in Savio's garage that she said Peterson used to enter her house as well as other incidents between Savio and Peterson. But none of what he said found its way into the police report on Savio's death, he said.

Video: Savio's Boyfriend Takes The Stand 0:31
http://www.wgntv.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=3dc77a42-d894-4cc8-ad3d-20bb0d46c110&src=front

Video: Drew Peterson Trial Update 1:54
http://www.wgntv.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=dd5d2b5f-e929-4e50-8427-3d9f8a6c24e5&src=front

Video: Neighbor Says Savio Terrified Of Drew Peterson 2:29
http://www.wgntv.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=3227e2c0-241a-4860-81dc-8a5e7059ec3a&src=front

Video: Peterson Hearing More Than Halfway Over 1:54
http://www.wgntv.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=6ff66595-50e3-438d-a9ff-796da8b179db&src=front

Video: Peterson Pre-Trial Hearing Enters Third Week 1:43
http://www.wgntv.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=58975301-5fc5-4ffb-8e99-921542a02c43&src=front

Video: Minister Testifies In Peterson Hearsay Trial 0:51
http://www.wgntv.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=ec4356f7-62a0-4ac3-9011-8c6e5299426e&src=front

Video: Ex-Pastor Says Stacy Discussed Drew's Strange Behavior 2:25
http://www.wgntv.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=f9ac6f9c-0d74-4569-878c-6aebab201f3d&src=front

Video: Drew Peterson Hearing 2:54
http://www.wgntv.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=ce27526b-6a94-47f3-b4c7-9dd04d5642d8&src=front

Article:
http://www.wgntv.com/news/wgntv-peterson-denies-killing-savio-feb2,0,1591704.story

 

[Angel Who Cares]

Drew Peterson Bragged He Could Make Murder Look Like Accident
Posted February 2nd, 2010
<snipped>
Peterson's aunt testified on Tuesday that Peterson had bragged that he could kill someone and 'make it look like an accident.' Candace Aikin testified that her nephew had made the boast in front of her, Stacy Peterson and others at a family gathering in January, 2007.

Peterson is charged with first degree murder in the case of third wife Kathleen Savio. Kathleen Savio was found dead in a dry bathtub in her home in 2004.

Stacy Peterson disappeared without a trace on October 27, 2008. Husband Drew Peterson, a former Bolingbrook, Illinois police officer has been the focus of the investigation into Stacy's mysterious disappearance.

Article:
http://www.huliq.com/9516/91127/drew-peterson-bragged-he-could-make-murder-look-accident

 

[Angel Who Cares]

Murder Suspect's Wife Told Sister He Terrified Her
3rd Wife So Feared Peterson Would Kill Her, She Told Her Sister, 'Take Care Of My Boys'
Feb. 03, 2010
<snipped>
Anna Doman said her sister, Kathleen Savio, visited her home six weeks before she was found dead in her bathtub in 2004 and pleaded for help. "She said, 'You have to promise me, you have to promise me to take care of my boys . . . Drew said he'd kill me,'" Doman testified.

Savio once talked about how Peterson had bound her hands and feet, then told her he could kill her and that nobody would know he did it, Doman said.

Doman testified that Savio said she had put important documents in her garage and asked Anna Doman to rush to the house to retrieve them should Savio die. "She said, 'Everything you need is in here,'" Doman recalled. Doman said she did retrieve the documents after her sister died, but she did not discuss their contents during the hearing.

Doman said Savio's family members suspected Peterson immediately. She said her sister, Sue Doman, confronted Peterson with those suspicions. "Suzy looked at Drew and said, 'Why did you kill my sister?'" Anna Doman said.

Steve Maniaci testified that Illinois State Police investigators assured him they would consider her death a homicide until proven otherwise, but when prosecutors recently allowed him to look at the 2004 police report from that night - it included none of his concerns.

Maniaci testified on Tuesday, for example, that two nights before her body was found, he saw no bruises on her elbow, finger or buttocks like the bruises clearly visible on photographs shot of Savio after her death. Asked if he had seen scratches on her arms two nights before, Maniaci, barely able to look at the photographs, answered quietly, "No." Shown a photograph of Savio in the bathtub with her hair down, Maniaci also said she always put her long hair up when she took at bath.
*Much More At Link!

Article:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/02/02/ap/national/main6167323.shtml

 

[Angel Who Cares]

Boyfriend says Savio was afraid of Drew Peterson
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
<snipped>
Kathleen Savio's boyfriend at the time of her death testified at Drew Peterson's pre-trial hearing Tuesday in Joliet.

Steve Maniaci says that he told police hours after Savio's body was found in her bathtub that Peterson might be involved. He also testified that Savio told him she was afraid of Peterson and feared he could kill her and make it look like an accident.

Video: Peterson neighbor takes stand in hearsay hearing 3:12
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/video?id=7251474

Video: Minister Takes Stand In Peterson Hearing 2:09
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/video?id=7247211

Article:
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=7253417

 

[Angel Who Cares]

Sister's testimony expected at Peterson hearing
Tuesday, Feb. 02, 2010
<snipped>
Kathleen Savio's sister has been detailing for a judge why she believes former Bolingbrook police sergeant Drew Peterson killed Savio.

In testimony at a pretrial hearing Tuesday afternoon that was expected to continue Wednesday, Anna Doman testified that Savio repeatedly said Peterson, her ex-husband, would kill her and make her death look like an accident.

Article:
http://www.bnd.com/326/story/1114581.html

 

[Angel Who Cares]

Savio feared Drew, witnesses testify
February 3, 2010
<snipped>
The boyfriend and sisters of Drew Peterson's third wife all told how she feared for her life and predicted he would kill her. Their testimony echoed that of a good number of the other 42 witnesses, saying Peterson's third wife, Kathleen Savio, correctly guessed she would die under suspicious circumstances.

Savio's boyfriend
On Tuesday, Savio's boyfriend, Steven Maniaci of Addison, recalled Savio telling him Peterson battered her during their marriage, and that he threatened to kill her after they split up. Maniaci also told how Peterson cut his way through a garage wall into Savio's living room, disabled a deadbolt on her bedroom door and broke into her house to pin her to the floor.

Sister signed book deal
Savio's sisters, Susan and Anna Doman, also took the witness stand Tuesday and told how Savio expected Peterson to kill her and disguise her death as an accident.

One of Peterson's lawyers, George Lenard, revealed that Susan Doman had signed a contract for a book and movie project with media consultant Larry Garrison and writer Stephanie Good. The contract allows the story of Savio's death and the Peterson prosecution &#8212; through Susan Doman's perspective &#8212; to be fictionalized as long as it casts her and Savio in a favorable light.
(*Note: Recognize the name anyone? Larry Garrison=Jose Baez's PR guy early on in Casey Anthony's case!! IIRC!)

Lenard said the contract called for Susan Doman, Garrison and Good to split the profits equally, and for Susan Doman to be paid at least $30,000 if the book was made into a movie.

'Like a crazy man'
Savio's other sister, Anna Doman, not only claimed Peterson battered Savio and threatened to kill her, but that he bound her hands and feet and threw her down a flight of stairs.

Anna Doman also said that the day after Savio was found dead, her family gathered in her home to look for her insurance policy and will when Peterson started "banging on the door like a crazy man &#8212; scared us to death." Once inside, Peterson said he needed to retrieve his son's property from upstairs. He then went to the garage where Anna Doman said she could hear him say, "Alex Morelli, I got it." Morelli was another officer on the Bolingbrook police force.
*More at link!

Article:
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/...rson-hearing-Savio-boyfriend-JO020210.article

 

[Angel Who Cares]

Kathleen Savio's sister testifies that Savio said Drew Peterson had threatened to kill her
Anna Doman says Savio made her promise to look after her kids if something happened
February 2, 2010
<snipped>
"'You have to promise me you'll take care of my kids,'" Anna Doman testified Tuesday during a pretrial hearing in the murder case against Drew Peterson, Savio's ex-husband. "'Drew said he's going to kill me.'" During the same January 2004 conversation, Savio also told Doman where she could find a container with documents she'd compiled during her divorce. Both of Savio's sisters testified that on March 2, 2004, the day after Savio was found dead in her bathtub, the family went to Savio's Bolingbrook home to look for a will or insurance policy.

Shortly after arriving, Peterson began banging on the front door and yelling that the family didn't belong there, the sisters said. As cooler heads prevailed, the sisters joined Peterson at the kitchen table, where Susan Doman asked if he killed Savio. Both sisters said he made a "choked" noise before answering that he did not.

Peterson took clothing and paperwork from the upstairs bedroom and $100 from Savio's purse before leaving, Anna Doman testified.

Savio's boyfriend of two years, Steve Maniaci, said he told police about Peterson and Savio's tumultuous relationship and the knife incident shortly after her body was found. None of that, however, made it into the official police report. The omissions clearly upset Maniaci. "That report is very short for the amount of time I spent with them," he said.
*More info at link!

Article:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-0203-drew-peterson-hearing-20100202,0,4789883.story

 

[Angel Who Cares]

Neighbor Testifies in Peterson Hearing
Updated: Monday, 01 Feb 2010, 9:57 PM CST
Published : Monday, 01 Feb 2010, 1:00 PM CST
<snipped>
Mary Pontarelli says she and another neighbor were the first two people inside the Savio home on March 1, 2004. Pontarelli lives next door and says Drew Peterson asked her to help on a well-being check. She also told the judge she noticed that Savio had a cut on the back of her head, it had been bleeding, and that her hair was damp.

"I thought it was strange that I didn't see any towel, and there was nothing on the ground like a towel or a carpet," Pontarelli said. "I didn't see any clothes. Where were her clothes that she took off when she got in the tub?"

A Bolingbrook firefighter and paramedic, who responded to the Savio home that night, testified that he did not see any towel either. Louis Oleszkiewicz testified that despite an evidence photo, taken after he left, which showed a towel hanging over the tub, that towel was not there when he checked Savio's body for a pulse.

&#8220;They don't have any evidence of a staged crime scene. All they have done is review this in kind of a hindsight manner and say &#8216;we want this to be a homicide,&#8217; and they're trying to fit the case, theory, their theory to the case, instead of allowing the facts to determine the theory," said Andrew Abood, one of Peterson's attorneys.

*Video Included In Article!

Article:
http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/metro/neighbor-testifies-peterson-hearing

 

[Angel Who Cares]

Savio Feared Drew, Boyfriend Tells Court
Updated: Tuesday, 02 Feb 2010, 5:31 PM CST
Published : Tuesday, 02 Feb 2010, 5:31 PM CST
<snipped>
Kathleen Savio's boyfriend Steve Maniaci told the state police the morning after Savio was found dead that she lived in fear of her ex-husband Drew Peterson and that Peterson had broken into her home.

Jacqueline Mitchem, a neighbor of Drew Peterson and fourth wife Stacy, said Peterson appeared distracted and preoccupied the afternoon of Sunday, Feb. 29, 2004.

It was the only time she saw Peterson behave that way. It was the night after prosecutor's allege Peterson killed Savio. Mitchem said the state police never spoke to her or any of Drew and Stacy's other neighbors after Savio was found dead. Savio's sister, Susan, is scheduled to testify this afternoon.

Article:
http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/metro/savio-boyfriend-testifies

 

[Angel Who Cares]

Teen neighbor testifies at Peterson hearsay hearing
Monday, February 1, 2010
<snipped>
Nick Pontarelli testified Monday that Savio told him Peterson once put a knife to her throat, broke into her suburban Chicago house and planted recording devices. Pontarelli says Savio was afraid of Peterson.

More than 30 witnesses have testified about Savio's 2004 death and the 2007 disappearance of Stacy Peterson, the former Bolingbrook police sergeant's fourth wife.

Article:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/peterson/2022945,drew-peterson-hearing-neighbor-020110.article

 

[Angel Who Cares]

Peterson witness had doubts
Testifies usual bathroom items weren't at scene of Savio's death
Febuary 2, 2010
<snipped>
Thomas Pontarelli, a neighbor of Kathleen Savio's, said he was struck by what wasn't in Savio's bathroom when he looked down at her body. "I said 'Look around, where's her clothes? Where's her towel?'," Pontarelli testified he said to Peterson and others who were there. He said he noticed there was no soap scum in the bathtub. Pontarelli and his 19-year-old son, Nick Pontarelli, testified as a hearing to decide what hearsay evidence would be permitted at Peterson's murder trial entered its third week.

Hearsay usually isn't admissible in court. Illinois judges can allow it in murder trials if prosecutors prove a defendant may have killed a witness to prevent him or her from testifying. There's little available forensic evidence in Savio's case, so prosecutors are expected to rely on statements Savio allegedly made to others saying she feared Peterson could kill her.

Article:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/peterson/2024128,CST-NWS-drew02.article

 

[Angel Who Cares]

Video: Bo Dietl on the Drew Peterson Trial 2/1/10 2:55
Beau Dietl and Associates Founder Bo Dietl on the latest details from the trial of former Illinois police officer Drew Peterson.
http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/3996540

 

[Angel Who Cares]

Drew Peterson, you have the right to remain silent
February 3, 2010 11:10 a.m. EST
<snipped>
Drew Peterson may be fighting to keep what his missing wife and slain ex-wife allegedly said about him out of his murder trial, but he's always had plenty to say about the case.

In court, Peterson has kept a low profile as some 40 witnesses have testified during pretrial hearings.

But in the past, the former police sergeant from Bolingbrook, Illinois, has spoken many of times to CNN's "Larry King Live," NBC's "Today Show," Fox News, the "Dr. Phil" show and local media outlets.

Joe Hosey, author of "Fatal Vows: The Tragic Wives of Sergeant Drew Peterson," has been attending the pretrial hearings that began last month. Peterson has been speaking only to his attorneys. He's not smiling and laughing like before.

"I think reality has sunk in," Hosey said.

Peterson is finally exercising his right to remain silent.
More at link!

Article:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/02/03/illinois.drew.peterson.quotes/

 

[Texas Mist]

Witness: Peterson's ex-wife slept with knife

Feb 3, 5:43 PM EST

JOLIET, Ill. (AP) -- A friend of Drew Peterson's ex-wife testified Wednesday that she was so afraid of her ex-husband that she installed a deadbolt lock on her bedroom door and slept with a knife under her mattress.

Kristin Anderson, who stayed with her family at Kathleen Savio's home for two months in 2003 while her own home was being built, said Savio told her Peterson had dressed in his SWAT uniform, held a knife to her throat on her staircase and threatened to kill her.

"She was so convinced that that's what he was going to do - that he was going to follow through with his threat," said Anderson.

Anderson's testimony came during a hearing to determine what hearsay evidence, if any, will be allowed at Peterson's upcoming murder trial.



more here

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/03/AR2010020302655.html

 

[ohiogirl]

JOLIET &#8212; Prosecutors suggested Drew Peterson used his martial arts training to hold down his third wife while he drowned her in a tub.

Brian Hafner, a Bolingbrook police lieutenant who instructs officers in hand-to-hand combat and even trained Peterson when he was on the force, testified Wednesday that third wife Kathleen Savio's body appeared as if it had been placed in a special restraining hold.

More at link.

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/...27907,Peterson-Savio-hearsay-JO020310.article

 

[fran]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100204/ap_on_re_us/us_drew_peterson_14

Ill. trooper describes Drew Peterson investigation

JOLIET, Ill. – An Illinois State Police trooper involved in the original investigation of the 2004 death of Drew Peterson's ex-wife testified Thursday that he quickly suspected it was a homicide, even though the lead investigator initially believed it was an accident.

..................................snip.....................................

Falat testified that he told the lead investigator that Drew and Stacy Peterson should be questioned again because of what he saw as holes in their accounts of what happened and evasive answers.

"In my opinion it was obvious Stacy was hiding something," Falat said. "(And) she was not telling the truth."

He added that their accounts seemed "eerily similar" and "the two stories seemed like they were scripted."

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<more at link>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

[Angel Who Cares]

Witness: Peterson's ex slept with knife
Published: 2/3/2010 9:46 AM | Updated: 2/3/20 3:00 PM
<snipped>
One of Kathleen Savio's friends says Savio was so afraid that her ex-husband Drew Peterson would kill her that she had a deadbolt lock put on her bedroom door and kept a kitchen knife under her mattress.

Kristin Anderson lived in Savio's house for two months in late 2003. Anderson testified Wednesday at a pretrial hearing to determine what hearsay evidence will be allowed when Peterson stands trial in Savio's 2004 death.

Anderson testified that Savio described Peterson -- dressed all in black -- once putting a knife to her throat and threatening to kill her. Earlier witnesses described the same alleged attack.

Anderson says she called investigators after Savio's death, but they didn't call her back.

Article:
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=356392&src=2

 

[Angel Who Cares]

Kathleen Savio kept knife under bed for protection from Drew: testimony
February 3, 2010
<snipped>
A Bolingbrook police officer testified Wednesday that the position of Savio&#8217;s body in the bathtub after her March 1, 2004, death didn&#8217;t appear to be consistent with a &#8220;slip and fall&#8221; accidental drowning.

&#8220;It didn&#8217;t look that way to me,&#8221; said Lt. Brian Hafner, who noted that the twisted position of one of Savio&#8217;s arm in the tub could have resulted from a restraining technique commonly used by Bolingbrook police officers.

Anderson testified that Savio told her about keeping a knife under her mattress in the fall of 2003 while her family briefly rented the basement of Savio&#8217;s Bolingbrook home. It was one of a string of precautions Savio took in an effort to protect herself from Peterson as they battled through a bitter divorce, Anderson testified.

Those precautions &#8212; which included Savio changing locks on her outer doors and installing a deadbolt lock on her bedroom door &#8212; followed a confrontation when Peterson allegedly sneaked into her home and threatened her with a knife.

Anderson, 46, said she, her husband and children grew close with the 40-year-old Savio while they shared the home. Savio referred to her family as her &#8220;guardian angels,&#8221; Anderson said. &#8220;While we were living there, Drew stayed away,&#8221; Anderson said.

Article:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/peterson/2027859,drew-peterson-savio-knife-020410.article

 

[Angel Who Cares]

Ill. trooper describes Drew Peterson investigation
Wednesday, Feb. 03, 2010
<snipped>
Master Sgt. Bryan Falat described an investigation in which Peterson's colleagues at the Bolingbrook police department came and went from the home where Kathleen Savio's body was found in a dry bathtub and in which Peterson was allowed to be with his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, as she was questioned.

Falat said he told the lead investigator that Drew and Stacy Peterson should be questioned again because of what he saw as holes in their accounts of what happened and evasive answers.

"In my opinion it was obvious Stacy was hiding something," Falat said. "(And) she was not telling the truth." He added that their accounts seemed "eerily similar" and "the two stories seemed like they were scripted."

Falat is the first investigator to testify that he was suspicious of Drew Peterson in 2004.

Falat testified Thursday that he started telling Collins even as they were leaving Savio's house that night about his concerns with the way Collins was handling the investigation. Falat said, for example, that Peterson should not have been questioned at the Bolingbrook police department as Peterson requested.

Falat also took issue with Collins' decision to allow Peterson to be present when investigators interviewed Stacy Peterson. He said Stacy Peterson hesitated at times and appeared to look to her husband for advice. His testimony also suggested that others at what he saw as a potential crime scene were not concerned about being careful not to disturb what might be evidence.

An Illinois State Police crime scene technician also testified, saying that besides taking photographs and walking around the inside and outside of Savio's house he collected no evidence and did not look for fingerprints - even as he insisted that he did not conclude the death was an accident until later.

Psychic Irene Lalagos testified that Stacy Peterson said Drew Peterson told her that he could kill her and hide her body in a place where no one would ever find it. Lalagos said she read cards for Stacy Peterson once in 2006 and once in 2007.
*Much more at link!

Article:
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/photos/story/1000044.html

 

[Angel Who Cares]

Savio body consistent with police hold
February 4, 2010
<snipped>
Brian Hafner, a Bolingbrook police lieutenant who instructs officers in hand-to-hand combat and even trained Peterson when he was on the force, testified Wednesday that third wife Kathleen Savio's body appeared as if it had been placed in a special restraining hold.

"The position of the hand in the photograph I have seen is consistent with (being in) an arm bar," Hafner said on Day 11 of the crucial hearing to determine what hearsay evidence will be allowed during Peterson's upcoming murder trial.

"The position of the hand in the photograph I have seen is consistent with (being in) an arm bar," Hafner said on Day 11 of the crucial hearing to determine what hearsay evidence will be allowed during Peterson's upcoming murder trial.

And it looks like Savio was put in just such a hold, Hafner testified. Savio's position was not indicative of her having slipped in the tub and hit her head, he said.

"It didn't look like it to me," Hafner said.
*More at link!

Article:
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/...27907,Peterson-Savio-hearsay-JO020310.article