Updates on the Kathleen Savio Case

Lavanda Dolce · ADMINISTRATOR/SITE CREATOR Joined: 09 Mar 2008 Posts: 4237

Peterson 'unusual' just after wife vanished, court told
Ex-Bolingbrook cop referred to Stacy Peterson in the past tense, investigator testifies

By Erika Slife and Steve Schmadeke, Tribune reporters

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-0128-drew-peterson-hearing-20100127,0,1766037.story

On the day his wife was reported missing, Drew Peterson referred to her in the past tense, would not let state police search their home or cars for evidence and repeatedly bragged about his sex life, an Illinois State Police special agent testified Wednesday in Will County court.

"I thought it was very unusual and awkward," said special agent Patrick Callaghan, who was asked to recount his initial interviews with Peterson in the days after Stacy Peterson's Oct. 28, 2007, disappearance. "I think that it was his attempt to ease the situation."

Callaghan's testimony came during the second week of a pretrial hearing on whether certain hearsay statements can be heard in the murder trial against Drew Peterson, 56. Though he is charged with killing his third wife, Kathleen Savio, much of the testimony so far has involved the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy.

Peterson, a former Bolingbrook police sergeant, is the sole suspect in Stacy's disappearance but has not been charged. Judge Stephen White said the Rev. Neil Schori, a pastor whose testimony is expected to connect both cases, will take the stand Friday.

On Wednesday, Callaghan testified that during the first interview with Peterson on Oct. 29, hours after Stacy's sister had reported her missing to police, Peterson said Stacy had called him the night before to say she was leaving with another man and had dropped her car, a Pontiac Grand Prix, at nearby Clow Airport.

Callaghan said he asked Peterson how he got the car back home, a question that "caught him off guard."

Peterson paused for a couple of seconds, Callaghan said, then answered, "Can you believe that?" Peterson said Stacy told him she had left the keys on the floorboard and the doors unlocked.

Peterson wouldn't allow police to search either of his two vehicles, only opening the trunk of the Grand Prix, Callaghan said. He also refused to allow a search of his home, only permitting a crime-scene investigator to walk through — with Peterson at his side — to confirm Stacy wasn't there, Callaghan said.

Phone records show Peterson had conversations with his stepbrother Thomas Morphey in the weeks before Stacy disappeared, Callaghan said. But Peterson told police on Nov. 1 that he hadn't spoken with Morphey in two weeks. Morphey has testified he helped Peterson move a barrel he believes contained Stacy's body on Oct. 28.

Callaghan said Peterson repeatedly referred to his wife in the past tense, such as "she was a good mom," or "she was a hot 23-year-old." He admitted that he was possessive of his much-younger wife, Callaghan said.

Callaghan said Peterson told the officers that he and Stacy were having marital problems, but that their fights coincided with Stacy's menstrual cycle, and that they would always make up and "have great sex" afterward.

He said Peterson brought up, unasked, the couple's sex life three or four times during the interview, something he found "awkward."

In 2002, then-Will County Assistant State's Attorney Elizabeth Fragale received an impassioned letter from Savio asking for help and alleging Peterson had attacked her. Fragale left the state's attorney's office in 2004, the same year Savio was found dead, and was prosecuting two domestic battery charges filed against Savio.

Fragale testified Wednesday that Peterson repeatedly sought to have Savio "prosecuted to the full extent" — once coming to her office in uniform unannounced — and said she got the impression Peterson wanted to use the charges as leverage in his divorce battle.

A woman who testified she had a 9-month affair with Peterson while he was married to Savio said he told her in 1998 that he didn't want to get divorced because his wife would take half his pension.

Susan McCauley, who at the time was a bartender at Peterson's Montgomery pub, said Peterson told her that he and a friend were on a "street death squad," adding, "if you ever needed anyone taken care of."

Peterson, wearing a plaid suit in court, laughed when McCauley testified that the only gift she received during the affair was a "very cheap necklace."
_________________
"The most important question to ask about any work is "how does this serve the world?"" ~ by Marianne Williamson

Lavanda Dolce · ADMINISTRATOR/SITE CREATOR Joined: 09 Mar 2008 Posts: 4237

VIDEO FROM TODAY:

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/national/peterson-trial-doctor-lover1264648475740
_________________
"The most important question to ask about any work is "how does this serve the world?"" ~ by Marianne Williamson

Noway · Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 4:17 pm Post subject:

From Twitter
(I combined several Tweets into one for easier reading)

joehosey
A man Drew Peterson worked with at a cable company testified that Drew Peterson offered him $25,000 to find someone to kill his third wife Kathleen Savio. Jeffrey Pachter, 35, of Braidwood said Peterson wanted him to find someone from the Hill neighborhood on Joliet's east side to kill Savio. "He asked me because of the area that I worked if I knew anyone who could have his ex-wife taken care of," Pachter said.

about 1 hour ago from txt

Noway · Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 4:18 pm Post subject:

chicagonewsnow
Peterson's Sister-in-law Takes Stand: The sister of Drew Peterson's fourth wife took the stand today in his pre-trial hearing http://bit.ly/aZMDab
about 1 hour ago from twitterfeed

grandam · Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 8:55 pm Post subject:

Lawyer: Wife Mulled Extorting Ill. Murder Suspect

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: February 8, 2010
Filed at 4:51 p.m. ET

JOLIET, Ill. (AP) — Days before a former suburban Chicago police officer’s fourth wife vanished in 2007, she told a divorce attorney that her husband thought she suspected he had killed his previous wife and suggested extorting money from him to keep quiet, the lawyer testified Monday.

The dramatic details provided by Harry Smith were the first in more than three weeks of testimony that recounted Stacy Peterson talking directly about Drew Peterson’s alleged involvement in the 2004 death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio.

Stacy Peterson told the lawyer that her husband was angry because he believed she had told a person named ”Tom” that he killed Savio, Smith testified.

Smith, a divorce attorney for Savio, did not further identify Tom, but it is the name of one of Savio and Peterson’s sons and of Thomas Morphey, a friend of Drew Peterson who testified that he helped the former Bolingbrook police sergeant move a blue barrel he believed contained Stacy Peterson’s remains.

The hearing will determine what hearsay evidence will be allowed at Peterson’s upcoming murder trial. Savio’s body was found in her bathtub in 2004 and her death was ruled an accident. But after Stacy Peterson went missing in 2007, Savio’s body was exhumed and her death reclassified as a homicide.

Drew Peterson denied wrongdoing in Savio’s death. He remains the only suspect in Stacy Peterson’s disappearance but has not been charged.

On Monday, Smith did not say that Stacy Peterson said her husband had killed Savio, only that Drew Peterson believed that she had told someone he had.

Smith said that Stacy Peterson had called him for her own divorce, but he told her he could not represent her because he thought it was a conflict of interest.

He is also the first witness to suggest Stacy Peterson had a plan to squeeze money out of her husband.

”She asked, ‘Could we get more money out of Drew if we threatened to tell the police he killed Kathy?”’ said Smith. He told her that plan might be dangerous, but Stacy Peterson said her husband would never try to hurt her and that she had too much dirt on him at the police department.

”She wasn’t concerned about her safety,” Smith said.

Smith’s testimony also suggested a motive for why Peterson might have wanted Savio dead — money.

In detailed testimony Smith said things were not going well for Drew Peterson and he knew it in the later stages of his contentious divorce from Savio.

He testified that shortly before Savio was found dead, a judge had told him and Peterson’s attorney that she was about to recommend that Savio be allowed to keep the couple’s Bolingbrook home, receive a share of his police pension, receive child support and some money from the sale of a bar the couple had owned.

”He was not happy, he was angry,” said Smith recalling how he watched Drew Peterson’s lawyer explain to him what the judge had told him.

As other witnesses have testified, Smith said Savio repeatedly told him that Peterson had threatened to kill her and make it look like an accident.

And like other witnesses, he also testified that Savio had told him about how Peterson, wearing all black clothing, surprised her in her house and threatened her with a knife.

He said Savio told him on several occasions, ”If I die, Drew did it.”

Smith acknowledged that he thought Savio was paranoid and did not take such talk seriously, until he heard she had died.

He said he quickly called the Illinois State Police with his suspicions. He’s at least the third witness to testify to doing so in the days after Savio’s death.

Like the others, he said Illinois State Police never called him back.

Illinois State Police have admitted to not conducting a thorough investigation, failing to collect a single fingerprint or even seal the house because authorities believed her death was an accident

grandam · Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 8:58 pm Post subject:

This is the current list of witnesses at hearsay hearing, from justice cafe.

Proceedings began January 19, 2010. About 60 witnesses are expected to be called to these public hearings. Judge White has banned all electronic devices (cell phones, laptops, etc.) from the courtroom so names and spellings may not be 100% accurate.

Testified January 19, 2010

Starbucks employees(X2)
Issam Karam — former co-worker of Kathleen’s
Lisa Mordente — former boss
Kyle Toutges — Stacy’s Uncle
James Coughlin — Bolingbrook police officer
Sprint Nextel official
Alexander Beck — Peterson’s divorce attorney
Kenneth Simpson — Bolingbrook police detective
Testified January 21, 2010

Tom Morphey — step-brother of Drew Peterson
Eric Peterson — estranged son of Drew Peterson
Patrick Collins — Retired ISP Sgt.and Lead Savio death investigator
Testified January 22, 2010

Patrick Collins — Retired ISP Sgt.and Lead Savio death
Sharon Bychowski — Next door neighbor and friend of Stacy’s
Testified January 25, 2010

Sharon Bychowski — Next door neighbor and friend of Stacy’s
Nick Gatto — Manager Meijer Supermarket
Jacquelyn Torrez — Bolingbrook resident
Hector Torrez — Bolingbrook resident
Penny ? — Drove Tom home from band practice
Testified January 26, 2010

Neil Schori — Stacy’s pastor and counselor
Candace Aiken — Stacy’s Aunt
Donna Badalamenti — Candace Aiken’s friend
Testified January 27, 2010

Dr. Vinod Motiani — Kathleen Savio’s general physician
Patrick Callaghan — ISP Special Agent who investigated Stacy’s disappearance
Susan McCauley — Worked at Drew and Kathleen’s bar – had affair with Drew
Elizabeth Fragale — Former assistant states attorney
Richard Treese — Bolingbrook police officer
Testified January 28, 2010

Cassandra Cales — Stacy’s sister
Jeffrey Pachter — Former co-worker of Drew’s
Keith Rossetto — Former boyfriend of Stacy’s
Testified January 29, 2010

Pastor Neil Schori — Stacy’s pastor and counselor
Scott Rossetto — Friend of Stacy’s
Dominic Defrancisco — Neighbor of Kathleen at the time of her death
Christopher Wolzen — works at Larry’s Lock Service
Dr. Gene Neri — Kathleen’s psychologist/neurologist
Testified February 1, 2010

Nick Pontarelli — teen neighbor of Kathleen’s
Thomas Pontarelli — neighbor of Kathleen’s
Mary Pontarelli — neighbor of Kathleen’s
Robert Akin — locksmith who opened Kathleen’s door
Louis Oleszkiewicz — Paramedic who attempted to resuscitate Kathleen
Testified February 2, 2010

Steve Maniaci — Kathleen’s boyfriend
Jacqueline Mitchem — neighbor of Drew and Stacy’s
Susan Doman — Sister of Kathleen Savio
Anna Doman — Sister of Kathleen Savio
Testified February 3, 2010

Anna Doman — Sister of Kathleen Savio
Kristin Anderson — Family rented Kathleen’s basement
Brian Hafner — Bolingbrook Police Officer
Testified February 4, 2010

Bryan Falat — ISP Master Sgt.
Irene Lalagos — Stacy’s fortune teller and friend of Betty Morphey
Bob Deel — ISP Officer
Testified February 5, 2010

Mary Parks — Kathleen’s classmate
Larry Blum — Doctor who performed autopsy on Kathleen in 2007
Testified February 8, 2010

Harry Smith — Kathleen’s divorce attorney who was later consulted by Stacy
Also testified

James Carroll — Drew’s Uncle and the executor of Kathleen’s will

grandam · Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 2:15 pm Post subject:

Ex-Peterson co-worker says he was asked to kill Savio
February 9, 2010 11:31 AM | No Comments

A former co-worker of Drew Peterson testified today he had been approached by an intermediary with an offer to kill Kathleen Savio.

William Green said that cable contractor co-worker Jeff Pachter told him in July 2003 that “Drew would like me to ask you if you would kill his wife.”

He said Pachter told him that Peterson said he wanted it to look like an accident and that Peterson wanted to be out of town when it happened.
Green said he didn’t take the offer seriously.

Peterson moonlighted at the cable firm at the same time he was employed by the Bolingbrook Police Department.

Earlier, Pachter testified that Peterson offered $25,000 to help find a hit man to kill Savio. Pachter said he regarded it as a joke. He said he never followed through.

Green said today he didn’t remember how much he had been offered. He also suggested he had been approached because of the Heavy Metal T-shirts he wore.

Today marked the 15th day of an evidentiary hearing being held in a Will County courtroom to decide which, if any, of 15 hearsay statements prosecutors may introduce as evidence at Peterson’s upcoming murder trial for Savio’s slaying. When Savio’s body was found in an empty bathtub in March 2004, her death was originally ruled accidental. But after Peterson’s fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, disappeared in October 2007, authorities reexamined Savio’s death and ruled it a homicide.

Green testified that he didn’t even know that Savio had died until he read news coverage following Stacy Peterson’s disappearance.

At that point, he said, he called Lombard police and told them about the offer to kill Savio.

–Steve Schmadeke

grandam · Posted: Sat Mar 13, 2010 11:54 am Post subject:

Pathologist in Drew Peterson case dies
Judge to issue sealed hearsay ruling next week
By Christy Gutowski | Daily Herald StaffContact writer Drew Peterso
Associated Press

The forensic pathologist who conducted the initial autopsy on Drew Peterson's third wife, whose 2004 drowning was ruled accidental, died this week - three months before the start of the former Bolingbrook sergeant's trial on charges he murdered Kathleen Savio.

Dr. Bryan R. Mitchell died Wednesday after a battle with cancer. He was 44.

Meanwhile, in a sealed written ruling, Will County Judge Stephen White is expected to tell lawyers next week whether more than one dozen hearsay statements prosecutors want to use as evidence against Peterson are reliable enough to be admitted during his upcoming trial.

In a written statement, Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow on Friday called Mitchell a "consummate professional" whose work aided in the prosecution of many murder cases in the past decade. Mitchell conducted high-profile autopsies in several jurisdictions, including Kane County.

But it was his March 2, 2004, autopsy on Kathleen Savio that garnered the most attention.

In his report, Mitchell wrote a 1-inch gash on the scalp of the 40-year-old Bolingbrook woman, who drowned in her bathtub, may have been caused by a slip or fall. He also noted her hair was soaked with blood and she had several small abrasions on her body.

A Will County coroner's jury later declared the death "accidental," after an Illinois State Police official testified there was no sign of foul play, though Savio was in the midst of a bitter divorce battle with Peterson and often accused him of being abusive and threatening.

Authorities exhumed Savio's body in November 2007 after Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy, 23, vanished. The pathologists who conducted the second and third autopsies ruled Savio's death a homicide.

At a recent pretrial hearing, Dr. Larry Blum testified that in 30 years of conducting more than 9,230 autopsies, he'd never seen an otherwise healthy adult who was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs die such an accidental death.

Blum gathered more samples, performed more tests - including a standard rape kit not done in the first autopsy - and examined the bathtub where Savio died. He said the position of Savio's body in the tub made it "highly, highly unlikely" she drowned accidentally. Blum also found that Savio's body was in the tub when her head wound was inflicted, based on the flow of the blood.

Still, Blum said: "Dr. Mitchell did a fine autopsy. We weren't out to discredit him."

The defense team, led by attorney Joel Brodsky, planned to call Mitchell during the recent hearsay hearing, but the pathologist was being treated at the Mayo Clinic.

Jury selection in Peterson's trial begins June 14. Prosecutors are barred from using Mitchell's grand jury testimony, since he was not subject to cross examination during the closed-door proceeding, but they are allowed to introduce his autopsy report - which the defense team argues bolsters its case.

"We actually welcome the introduction of Dr. Mitchell's autopsy report into evidence because he found the cut on the back of her head was consistent with a slip and fall," Brodsky said. "Obviously, (Mitchell's death) presents an issue. Juries like to hear from witnesses. But the report is black and white."

Judge White's written ruling regarding the hearsay statements will become public after jury selection is complete, he said. Peterson, 56, maintains his innocence in Savio's death. He has not been charged with any wrongdoing in Stacy's 2007 disappearance