Drew Peterson To Undergo Mental Health Evaluation In Bid For New Trial

JOLIET, IL — For the first time, 70-year-old former Bolingbrook police sergeant Drew Peterson visited downtown Joliet's new Will County Courthouse on Monday morning, his first court appearance in person in several years concerning his efforts to get a new trial after his first-degree murder conviction in the death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, of Bolingbrook.

Peterson just celebrated his 70th birthday in January, and his whereabouts remain a closely guarded secret within the Illinois Department of Corrections. Several years back, Patch reported that Peterson was staying at the Indiana State Prison in nearby Michigan City; however, court records filed Monday in Will County indicate the Illinois Department of Corrections, not Indiana, is in charge of getting Peterson to and from the Will County Courthouse.

In addition to Peterson's appearance in Courtroom 405 of Judge Dave Carlson, three Will County Public Defenders joined Peterson at the defense table: Jason Strzelecki, Marisa Bond and Samantha Kerins.

During Monday morning's proceedings, Judge Carlson ordered Peterson to undergo a mental health fitness evaluation at the expense of Will County's taxpayers.

According to court records, the Will County Court Services were appointed to conduct the evaluation. The Illinois Department of Corrections was ordered to transport Peterson to the place of the examination.

Will County Court Services, the court order noted, will tender the fitness evaluation of Peterson to the judge within the next 30 days.

Peterson's post-conviction appeal was continued to the March 6 hearing date, when the fitness evaluation will be shared in Courtroom 405.

According to 2021 Peterson's court files:

Peterson and Kathleen Savio were married on May 3, 1992. They lived in Bolingbrook and had two sons. On Sunday evening, Feb. 29, 2004, Peterson tried to return his sons home after the boys' visitation weekend, but Savio could not be reached. The following night, Peterson and a locksmith entered his ex-wife's home and found her dead in the bathtub.

Dr. Bryan Mitchell of the Will County Coroner's Office performed the autopsy, and ruled Savio's death a drowning and the cause was accidental. Peterson was married to Stacy Cales at the time of Savio's death.

On Oct. 28, 2007, Stacy's sister alerted the police she went missing. Peterson subsequently told police that she left because they were having marital problems. Stacy has never been found and although he has never been charged in her disappearance, police have said Peterson is a suspect.

Savio's body was exhumed and Dr. Larry Blum concluded that she died from a homicide. Dr. Michael Baden also performed an autopsy in November 2007, and he agreed her death was a homicide. In 2009, a grand jury indicted Peterson for the first-degree murder of Savio, and in 2012, a Will County jury later found Peterson guilty, and he was sentenced to 38 years in prison.

According to the prosecution, a witness had testified that four months before Savio's death, Peterson offered him $25,000 to help find a man "to take care of his third wife."

Peterson was sentenced to another 40 years in prison for a failed jailhouse plot to kill Will County State's Attorney Jim Glasgow.