Drew Peterson, Swaggering Cop, Convicted of Murdering Third Wife

NYP via AP ^ | September 6, 2012 | AP Staff

[lbryce]

JOLIET, Ill. — Drew Peterson, the swaggering former suburban Chicago police officer who generated a media storm after his much-younger fourth wife vanished in 2007, was convicted Thursday of murdering his third wife in a case based mainly on secondhand hearsay statements from the two women.

Peterson, 58, sat stoically looking straight ahead and did not react as the verdict was read, but several of Savio's family members gasped before hugging each other as they cried quietly in the courtroom. Illinois has no death penalty, and Peterson now faces a maximum 60-year prison term when sentenced on Nov. 26.

The trial was the first of its kind in Illinois history, with prosecutors building their case largely on secondhand hearsay thanks to a new law, dubbed "Drew's Law," tailored to Peterson's case. That hearsay, prosecutors had said, would let his third and fourth wives "speak from their graves" through family and friends to convict Peterson.

Hearsay is any information reported by a witness that is not based on the witness' direct knowledge. Its use at the trial could also be grounds for an appeal from Peterson.

[lbryce]

Drew Peterson had him fooled and might have gotten away with it but he just couldn't stop killing. Killing his third wife was the fatal mistake this swaggering cop made that helped get him convicted. He's now also up for prosecution in other deaths he may have committed, as in his first and second wives.

[mkjessup]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2927530/posts?page=11#11

[SoFloFreeper]

See ya, Scumbag.

[lbryce]

Thanks for the heads up. I went by the title search, come up empty so I went with it.

[cherry]

I’m amazed they convicted him.....he’s a filthy pig and he has control of all the children all these years....evil...just plain evil....bet he’ll keep his cop pension.....

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

He didn’t kill wives 1 and 2. He fooled around on 1 and was abusive to 2. Wife 4 disappeared.

[JerseyDvl]

Do you know if cops go to regular state prison or do they go to federal prison for their own protection?

[boop]

I just want to make sure he keeps his 72K per year pension. To lose that over a mere murder conviction would be a tragedy.

[norton]

What ever you believe about Drew Pearson (he's certainly not someone I'd want to have a beer with - one out of a pretty long list); but conviction on a hearsay case, conducted under rules tailored to this guy, this case, and years of publicity, is a precedent that will turn ‘round and bite a lot of innocent people.

[bgill]

Throw him in general population and let the inmates know who he is.

[mkjessup]

Thanks for the heads up. I went by the title search, come up empty so I went with it.

Oh I wasn't playing FR posting cop my FRiend, I was just linking to my comments on the same subject IN another thread (I just didn't want to copy and paste what was a fairly good sized comment of mine). This is a big story and it's going to get posted more than a few times, no doubt about that.

[mkjessup]

You are correct. Based on my own comments in the link at post #2, I would say we’re thinking along the same lines.

[Deo volente]

Peterson’s stepbrother, Thomas Morphey, who has a history of drug and alcohol addiction, attempted suicide two days after allegedly helping Drew carry a large blue plastic container from Peterson’s Bolingbrook home to his sport utility vehicle, fearing he may have helped dispose of the body of Stacy Peterson.

Neighbors reported seeing Peterson and another man hauling a 55-gallon barrel, large enough to hold a person, out of the house shortly after Stacy’s disappearance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drew_Peterson

[cherry]

what would you do instead?....he has what 2 missing wives?...and IIRC, his ex Mil is missing as well...

just what would you do?.....