CHICAGO – The Illinois Supreme Court has upheld the murder conviction of Drew Peterson for the 2004 death of his third ex-wife, Kathleen Savio.
JOLIET, IL – MAY 21: Former Bolllingbrook, Illinois police officer Drew Peterson leaves the Will County Jail in his attorney’s car after posting bail for a felony weapons charge May 21, 2008 in Joliet, Illinois. Peterson is a suspect in his fourth wife’s disappearance and has been questioned about the murder of his third wife. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
On March 1, 2004, Savio was found dead in the bathtub. Investigators ruled her death an accident.
Peterson’s fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, went missing on October 28, 2007 and her disappearance made investigators suspicious about Savio’s death.
In February 2008, Savio’s death was reclassified as a homicide, and just over a year later, Peterson was arrested and charged with murder.
The trial went on for more than a month. On September 6, 2012, a jury found Peterson guilty. He was sentenced to 38 years in prison.
From behind bars, Peterson was also convicted in 2016 of hiring someone to try to kill Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow, the prosecutor in the murder case.
Peterson requested an appeal to his murder conviction on the grounds that hearsay statements were used in the trial, among other things.
On Thursday, the high court unanimously ruled against Peterson’s objections and upheld his conviction.
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