Drew Peterson Wants Conviction Tossed, Heads Back To Will County

JOLIET, IL — Acting as his own counsel, convicted killer Drew Peterson is hoping to overturn his first-degree murder conviction for the 2004 death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, of Bolingbrook. Will County Judge Ed Burmila has scheduled a motion hearing for 9:30 a.m. Jan. 7 in Courtroom 801 at the new Will County Courthouse, Joliet Patch has learned.

In November, Judge Burmila issued the following ruling in Peterson's case: "After having considered the petition, exhibits and applying the law the Court finds that (the) Defendant has presented the 'gist of a constitutional' claim," court records show. "Defendant's request for the appointment of Counsel is reserved."

Nowadays, the 67-year-old former Bolingbrook police sergeant is serving his prison sentence at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City. There, Peterson is known as Indiana Department of Corrections inmate #279193.

On Oct. 19, Peterson's six-page handwritten letter mailed to the Office of Will County Circuit Court Clark seeking post-conviction relief was received and made part of his court file.

"Petitioner claims that he is innocent of this crime," Peterson wrote. "Petitioner was denied of his right to effective assistance of trial counsel. Joel Brodsky was my lead counsel. He lied to me about his experience defending homicide cases. In fact he had none. He put me out to the press and put me on national television. He stated if you have nothing to hide go on television.

"In fact Brodsky put me in harms way not to help me but to increase his fame and increase his practice in law. I had several competent other lawyers working on my case. If they suggested anything that contradicted Brodsky they were met with a harsh response and were threatened to be removed. I wanted to testify on my own behalf. Brodsky said no and threaten (sic) to quit if I did."

The last paragraph of Peterson's petition to Judge Burmila reads: "Trial counsel was not functioning as counsel guaranteed by the 6th Amendment. Trial counsel's deficient performance fell below an objective standard of reasonableness. There is a reasonable probability that the outcome of this trial would have been different had the trial lawyer not been ineffective. PLEASE HELP ME! signed Drew Peterson."

This week, the Will County State's Attorney's Office of Jim Glasgow filed a motion to dismiss Peterson's post-conviction petition. The motion was submitted on behalf of Glasgow by assistant state's attorney Colleen Griffin.

Griffin's filing reminds Judge Burmila that Peterson and Savio were married in 1992, and they had two sons, living in Bolingbrook where Drew Peterson was a Bolingbrook police officer. In 2002, the couple filed for divorce and their marriage was dissolved in October 2003.

On Sunday night, Feb. 29, 2004, Peterson tried to return his sons to Savio's house after a weekend visitation, but she could not be reached, the prosecutors outlined. The following night, Peterson got a locksmith and help from four neighbors to enter the home, and "Kathleen's body was discovered in the bathtub. The Illinois State Police conducted the death investigation. An autopsy performed by Dr. Bryan Mitchell with the Will County Coroner's Office determined that the cause of death was drowning."

At the time of Savio's death, Peterson was married to his fourth wife, Stacy Cales, this week's prosecution motion stated. Stacy was reported missing on Oct. 28, 2007 and "defendant denied that Stacy was missing and told investigators that Stacy had left because they were having marital problems. Soon thereafter, Kathleen's body was exhumed."

This time, forensic pathologists Dr. Larry Blum and Dr. Michael Baden both concluded in separate autopsies that Savio's death was a homicide.

Peterson stood trial in July 2012 and "the State presented evidence that numerous bruises and abrasions on Kathleen's body and a laceration to her scalp were consistent with a struggle and inconsistent with an accidental fall in the bathtub," Griffin's motion stated. "The State also presented evidence that defendant had threatened Kathleen on several occasions, stating that he could kill her and make it look like an accident, and that the defendant had accessed Kathleen's home after he moved out and after Kathleen had changed the locks."

Griffin's motion notes that Peterson's October post-conviction motion listed 13 arguments for why his murder conviction should be overturned.

"Defendant did not ever state that Mr. Brodsky had forbad him to testify, and this issue was not raised anywhere below," Griffin wrote.

She also included the following court trial transcripts to bolster her argument:

Judge: "Mr. Peterson, if you would stand, please. Yesterday, I advised you of the applicability of your protections under the United States Constitution regarding whether or not you chose to testify in this case. I gave you about 24 hours to contemplate that. You have had an opportunity to talk to your attorneys.

"Have you reached a decision as to whether you're going to testify or not?"

Peterson: "I will not testify,sir."

Judge: "You will not, sir?"

Peterson: "That's correct."

Judge: "And that's your decision?"

Peterson: "Yes, sir."

Griffin also addresses Peterson's "fifth claim ... that State's Attorney James Glasgow intimidated witnesses, as demonstrated by the fact that Dr. Blum initially said that he could make a case that the victim's death was an accident, but then Mr. Glasgow spoke with Dr. Blum in the hallway, and Blum changed his mind, and also Sgt. Deel testified favorably for defendant, but Mr. Glasgow threatened his job. This is again, a claim defendant makes in his petition without any support whatsoever."

Back in September 2017, Glasgow held a news conference to talk about the Illinois Supreme Court's unanimous verdict to uphold Peterson's murder conviction.

Glasgow told reporters that day that his office is continuing to vigorously pursue the possibility of bringing additional murder charges against Peterson in connection with the October 2007 disappearance of Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy.

"The investigation regarding Stacy Peterson is not closed by any stretch of the imagination," Glasgow announced more than four years ago. He said that "there are some doors opening" in the case that may lead to an eventual breakthrough. "There is evidence that could potentially reach the level to bring a charge," Glasgow said.