The murder of Kathleen Savio
Bolingbrook, Will County, Illinois · 2004
Overview
Kathleen Savio, a 40-year-old divorced mother of two who was studying to be a nurse, was found face down in the dry bathtub of her Bolingbrook, Illinois home on March 1, 2004, with a gash on the back of her head. She had divorced Drew Peterson, a Bolingbrook police sergeant, about five months earlier; a hearing to divide their assets, including part of his pension, was weeks away, and in 2002 she had written in an order of protection that she feared he could kill her. A coroner's jury that included a police officer who vouched for Peterson ruled the death an accidental drowning. In October 2007 Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy, 23, vanished and he became the suspect. Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow reopened the Savio case, convened a special grand jury and had her body exhumed in November 2007. A second autopsy found she had drowned after a beating, and on February 21, 2008 her death was reclassified as a homicide. Illinois passed a hearsay law written with the case in mind, and Peterson was indicted and arrested on May 7, 2009. With no physical evidence and no eyewitness, prosecutors relied on what Kathleen had told her sister, a classmate and the authorities, and what Stacy had told her pastor and a divorce lawyer. A jury convicted Peterson of first-degree murder on September 6, 2012; he was sentenced to 38 years, later drew 40 more for trying to have Glasgow killed, and lost his appeal in the Illinois Supreme Court in 2017. Stacy Peterson has never been found.
How it was solved
Nothing new was found at the scene. What changed was who was looking, and why. In 2004 a six-member coroner's jury took thirty to forty-five minutes to call Kathleen Savio's death an accident. One juror said later that a police officer on the panel vouched for Peterson, that the lay jurors could not explain the bruises, and that there was no option of undetermined. On October 28, 2007 Stacy Peterson was last seen. A state police captain called her husband clearly a suspect, and within days Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow reopened the Savio file, convened a special grand jury and petitioned to exhume her body, arguing that the evidence was consistent with the staging of an accident to conceal a homicide and that a one-inch gash would not have knocked her out. Her body was exhumed on November 13, 2007. The forensic pathologist retained by the state's attorney concluded she drowned and that her death was a homicide; a nationally known pathologist examining the body for her family found fresh bruises on both sides of the body and a scalp laceration that could not have come from one fall. Glasgow announced the reclassification on February 21, 2008. Because no physical evidence tied Peterson to the bathroom and nobody saw him there, the case rested on what the two women had said while alive: Kathleen's 2002 order of protection and her statements to her sister and a nursing classmate that Drew had said he would kill her and that she would never get his pension or her children; Stacy's account to her pastor of Drew coming home late, dressed in black and carrying a bag of women's clothes, around the time of the death, and her statement to a divorce lawyer that he had killed Savio. Illinois passed a hearsay law in 2008 to let such statements in. A grand jury indicted Peterson on May 7, 2009. After a 2010 hearing the trial judge admitted five of thirteen statements; in April 2012 an appellate court reversed him and allowed more. At trial a former co-worker testified that Peterson had offered him $25,000 to find someone to kill Savio. Jurors said the sheer number of witnesses convinced them, along with the divorce lawyer the defense itself had called. On September 21, 2017 the Illinois Supreme Court unanimously upheld the use of the hearsay under the doctrine of forfeiture by wrongdoing.
Sources
- Body of police officer's third ex-wife exhumed (November 13, 2007)
“A coroner's jury ruled Savio's death an accident, even though there was no water in the bathtub where the 40-year-old's body was found face-down, her hair soaked in blood from a head wound. Investigators theorized the water had drained.”
- Coroner's juror on Kathleen Savio's death, On the Record transcript (November 13, 2007)
“We did not have at the time the option of determining "undetermined" status. So I think if we did have the option at that time to come to an undetermined decision, I think the majority of us would have chose that option.”
- Death of ex-cop's 3rd wife ruled homicide (February 22, 2008)
“Savio, 40, had filed an order of protection in 2002 after Peterson allegedly knocked her down, ripped off a necklace and left marks on her body. She wrote in the order that she feared Peterson could kill her.”
- New twist in Stacy Peterson case renews fear for her (February 22, 2008)
“When Stacy Peterson went missing, police quickly reopened the Savio case, exhumed her body and performed another autopsy, the results of which were released on Thursday by Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow. The new autopsy determined that Savio’s drowning death was a homicide.”
- Murder indictment issued against Drew Walter Peterson (May 7, 2009)
“Glasgow reopened the case and convened a Special Grand Jury to investigate her murder in November 2007. The Special Grand Jury also is investigating the disappearance of Drew Peterson’s fourth wife, Stacy Peterson.”
- Peterson indicted in 3rd wife's death (May 7, 2009)
“Kathleen Savio was found dead in a dry bath tub in her Bolingbrook home in 2004. Her body was exhumed in November of 2007 and her death was ruled a homicide.”
- The Autopsy That Led to Drew Peterson's Arrest, On the Record transcript (May 8, 2009)
“She had bruises, black and blue marks, on both sides of the body, right side, left side, chest, abdomen, thighs. She had a laceration on the top of the head. That couldn't happen in an accidental fall.”
- Pathologist: Peterson's ex-wife's death was homicide (February 5, 2010)
“The noted forensic pathologist, who says he has conducted over 9,000 autopsies, told the court Friday that Savio's injuries, psychological history, the position of her body when she was found, along with the scene of her death, led him to rule out an accidental drowning or suicide.”
- Opening arguments under way in Drew Peterson murder trial (photo essay, 2010–2012)
“Savio's death was initially ruled an accidental drowning by a coroner's jury that included a police officer who knew Peterson and told the other jurors that Peterson was 'a good man.'”
- Some hearsay allowed in Drew Peterson trial (July 21, 2010)
“The judge in Drew Peterson’s trial has decided to allow five of the 13 hearsay statements prosecutors hoped to use in their case against the ex-Bolingbrook cop.”
- Jury selection gets under way in the Drew Peterson murder trial (July 23, 2012)
“She had been divorced from Peterson for about five months when she died, though a court was still deciding how their marital assets would be divided. Savio was to receive part of Peterson’s pension and other support.”
- Drew Peterson found guilty of murdering third wife (September 6, 2012)
“They had no physical evidence tying Peterson to Savio's death and no witnesses placing him at the scene. They were forced to rely on typically barred hearsay -- statements Savio made to others before she died and that Stacy Peterson made before she vanished.”
- Jury convicts Drew Peterson of 3rd wife's death (September 6, 2012)
“A neighbor came across Savio's body on March 1, 2004, and let out a scream. Others ran up the stairs of her suburban Chicago home to behold the scene: Savio lay face down in her dry bathtub.”
- Drew Peterson sentenced to 38 years for wife's death (February 21, 2013)
“Thursday's ruling came just a couple hours after Judge Edward Burmila denied a motion by defense attorneys to give the former cop a new trial and essentially means Peterson, 59, will spend the rest of his life in custody. The judge gave Peterson four years' credit for the time he has served since his 2009 arrest.”
- Drew Peterson sentenced to 38 years in prison in Kathleen Savio murder (February 21, 2013)
“Saying Peterson showed "no remorse," Judge Burmila handed down the 38 year sentence. He said Peterson will get credit for time served already, but must serve all of it.”
- Drew Peterson gets 40 years in murder-for-hire case (July 29, 2016)
“In May, a jury in Randolph County found Peterson guilty of trying to hire a hit man to kill Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow. The additional sentence makes it nearly certain Peterson will die in jail.”
- Illinois court upholds murder conviction of Drew Peterson (September 21, 2017)
“The high court, in a unanimous decision , found that hearsay testimony from Peterson's dead third wife and missing fourth wife did not violate his constitutional right to confront his accusers because of evidence that Peterson killed them to prevent their testimony.”
- Drew Peterson
“After a number of appeals, on September 21, 2017, the Illinois Supreme Court upheld the conviction.”