Results tagged “drewpeterson”

• A hearing on whether or not to allow hearsay statements in to the murder trial of Drew Peterson has been set for January 19.
• Speaking of Peterson, a tree and plaque honoring missing fourth wife Stacy was stolen.
• Separating fact from fiction on H1N1.

Drew Peterson's trial is staying put. Earlier today, a judge rejected Peterson's motion to move his murder trial out of Will County. Attorneys had said Peterson couldn't get a fair trial because of the extensive media coverage surrounding the case. Peterson is charged with the murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio. [Tribune]

Stacy Peterson's sister, Cassandra Cales, is calling for volunteers to help in a new search for the missing fourth wife of Drew Peterson. Details as to where the search will take place will be handed out tomorrow morning at 10 am at the Ikea store in Bolingbrook. [WBBM]

• The Chicago Park District has made the controversial decision to rename the site of "The Ft. Dearborn Massacre" (located at at 18th Street and Calumet Ave.) to "Battle of Ft. Dearborn Park."
• Will County Judge Stephen White today delayed a change of venue hearing on Drew Peterson's case until October 2nd and began preparing the jury pool.
• The Spire is looking even less likely than before.

• The Brookfield Zoo has a new elephant.
• Two men were hospitalized in separate mugging incidents early this morning in the Roscoe Village neighborhood; police haven't commented if these are connected to the recent spate of muggings in Lincoln Park.
• A CTA worker has died of Legionnaire's Disease after apparently contracting it from being splashed by stagnant water while washing a train car. WBBM has more.

It looks like Drew Peterson won't be going on trial next month after all. Due to stand trial for the murder of Kathleen Savio, his third wife, on August 24, Peterson's lawyers informed presiding Judge Stephen White that Peterson has waived his right to a speedy trial. The move to indefinitely delay the start of the trial is so the defense can review over 40,000 pages of evidence. The next big day in court for Peterson is August 14 when his lawyers will try to have the case moved out of Will County and when they will challenge the constitutionality of the recently passed controversial hearsay law, which plays a big role in the prosecution's case against Peterson. [Chicago Breaking News]

Some legal wrangling went down this week in the case against Drew Peterson, set to stand trial for the murder of wife #3, Kathleen Savio. Among the more notables moves made, Judge Stephen White asked prosecutors to cut their witness list down from a mind-boggling 805 to 50. One battle prosecutors did win was an attempt by Peterson's defense team to make the large amount of discovery evidence "easier to navigate." John Connor, the chief of the major crime unit for the state's attorney, claimed, "I think what the counsel is asking us to do is give them CliffsNotes on this," and said all the information the defense was seeking was available in the evidence. Another issue raised by Peterson's attorney - whether three key state witnesses received compensation for their testimony - will be reviewed and ruled on by Judge White at a July 10 hearing. [Sun-Times]

While Drew Peterson remains jailed on charges of killing third wife Kathleen Savio, WGN AM has gone forward with a mock trial and will air the mock closing arguments this Sunday beginning at 11 a.m. According to WGN:

An Illinois Appellate Court refused a request by Drew Peterson's attorneys to lower his bail from $20 million. As it stands, Peterson would have to pony up $2 million to be released. Head attorney Joel Brodsky said, "We're disappointed in the ruling from the Illinois Third District Appellate Court, but we accept the court’s ruling. However, we are also confident that as the weakness of the state’s case is exposed over the following weeks and months we will have another opportunity to ask for a reduction in bond." [Sun-Times]

• Playboy Enterprises, Inc. has named Scott Flanders, president and chief executive of Freedom Communications Inc., as their new CEO.
• A new judge has been assigned to the Drew Peterson case.
• You can no longer sue a bowling alley if you fall in rented bowling shoes.

• Amid the latest controversy for Sen. Roland Burris comes word his counterpart, Sen. Dick Durbin, will not support Burris in the 2010 election.
• A judge ruled that residents near Grant Park who oppose the new Children's Museum were given proper notice of the new plans.
• Strange story out of Gary where four bodies were found in a vacant funeral home that was recently sold at a tax sale.

• A pilot for American Airlines was arrested yesterday for showing up drunk for his London-to-Chicago flight.
• It looks like there will be a new judge in the Drew Peterson case, though who that new judge will be is not yet known.
• For sale: Parking space at Naperville Metra stop. $8,900 OBO.

Drew Peterson formally entered a plea of "not guilty" this morning on two charges of first-degree murder related to the death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio. Meanwhile, the Will County prosecutors are asking for a new judge to hear the case.

Never one to go more than a few days without telling the media what he thinks, Drew Peterson gave a jailhouse interview with NBC's Today Show that, once again, proclaimed his innocence.

• Stop us if you've heard this one before: so the CTA is threatening fare hikes and service cuts...
• The City Council today voted to ban baby bottles and sip cups using the chemical BPA.
• Gov. Quinn is standing by his budget and insisting there's no more room for cuts.

• Juan Rivera was found guilty for a third time in the 1992 rape and murder of Holly Staker despite the fact DNA evidence did not match Rivera.
• Always one with the classy wisecracks, upon being led - shackled - into court today, Drew Peterson told reporters, "Look at this bling...Three squares a day and this spiffy outfit. How can I complain?’’ Peterson's arraignment was set for Monday, May 18.
• Lawyers representing ex-governor Rod Blagojevich have agreed to take the reduced, court-appointed fee of $110 an hour.

When the news of Drew Peterson's arrest hit yesterday evening, there was actually some surprise but not many details other than that it was in connection with the 2004 death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio. At a press conference last night held by Will County State's Atty. James Glasgow and Illinois State Police Capt. Carl Dobrich, it was announced that Peterson has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with Savio's death - per Glasgow: "one on the theory of intentionally killing and the other knowingly doing an act that caused great bodily harm" - and is being held on $20 million bail. With so much info out there (we recommend the Tribune, Sun-Times, and NBC 5 for more info), we'll just hit some highlights.

Media outlets all over the city are reporting that State Police have taken Drew Peterson into custody. Reports say state police arrested Peterson at his home around 5:30 p.m. this afternoon. CBS 2 reports that it's in connection with the death of Wife #3 Kathleen Savio.

A few days ago, I blew my stack about the possibility of D-Pete appearing on the HBO show "Cathouse." Well, it now seems as if D-Pete won't be allowed on the show, but he could wind up employed at the ranch anyway. Said Moonlite Bunny Ranch owner Dennis Hof, "HBO called me and said they decided they didn't want him on the show. So it's off the table." So what will D-Pete be doing out there? If he wants it, according to Hof, the head of security position is open to him. Right. Because what a brothel employing 500 prostitutes needs is a head of security that's being investigated for one wife's murder and another's disappearance.

It was just last week when we learned former governor Rod Blagojevich actually met a PR opportunity he could refuse: appearing on the HBO show Cathouse, which focuses on Las Vegas's famed Moonlite Bunny Ranch brothel. At the time, Blago spokesman Glenn Selig said, "They did offer it to him but we're not taking it seriously." Now, Bunny Ranch owner Dennis Hof told WBBM 780 he might set his focus on landing Drew Peterson instead. Said Hof: "You know, I think I might as well just stay in that Chicago area. I think I'm going to go after Drew Peterson. He doesn't have an old lady now; at least they can't find her. He might as well be on my show and have some fun with the girls."

It's been an interesting couple of days in the case of Stacy Peterson's disappearance. While D-Pete, who has never met a camera he doesn't love, showed up on national television again last week in the wake of a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of deceased murdered third wife Kathleen Savio, there are some new happenings in the case of missing fourth wife Stacy. News came from NBC 5 yesterday that police and Coast Guard officials were searching a canal for possible evidence. D-Pete attorney Joel Brodsky dismissed the actions, saying, "They did it all last summer. They're doing it again, so I don't think it's of any significance." Pam Bosco, spokeswoman for Stacy's family, was more optimistic, saying, "I think what we can take from that is that they're still considering this a very important investigation, and that it's very active. We believe she can be found yet, and so we want to put all our efforts into doing our searches. Yet we believe that eventually we will find Stacy."

While they seem no closer than before to getting criminal charges brought against Drew Peterson, the family of Drew's deceased murdered third wife, Kathleen Savio, are planning to bring a wrongful death suit against Peterson. According to NBC 5:

The 15-page lawsuit, to be filed in Will County Circuit Court, carefully lays out a case the family says shows that Peterson was responsible for the death of his third wife.

Continue reading "Savios Suing D-Pete for Wrongful Death"

Sharon Bychowski, next door neighbor of Drew Peterson, is claiming that Peterson went around in the middle of the night with one of his kids and cut down purple and white ribbons Bychowski and other volunteers had put around all the trees on their street as a memorial to Peterson's missing wife, Stacy. Peterson first cut the ribbons off the trees in the parkway in front of his own house on Saturday afternoon, which neighbors replaced. This routine went on a couple of more times until Peterson placed a call to the Bolingbrook police, claiming the ribbons violate village ordinance (they don't).

Yesterday we shared the story of Drew Peterson's stepbrother, Thomas Morphey, who detailed to the Herald News his version of what happened in the fall of 2007 and how he believes he helped Peterson dispose of the body of missing wife Stacy. Like clockwork, Peterson's lawyer, Joel Brodsky, has responded to the allegations. Referencing Morphey's history of alcohol and drug abuse, as well as a suicide attempt, Brodsky said:

Thomas Morphey, step-brother of Drew Peterson, has finally gone public with his account of the events of October 28, 2007 in which he believes he helped Peterson dispose of the body of missing wife Stacy. Morphey was so troubled by what he did, he attempted suicide by overdosing on anti-anxiety and anti-depression pills; he survived. Now he's talked with the Herald News about his experience that October and why he believes Drew killed Stacy.

• Former FBI agent Vo Duong "Ben" Tran is now the main suspect in a 2002 North Side double homicide.
• Linda Pithyou, 29, a teacher at Lawrence Hall Services, has been accused of having sex with one of her teen students.
• John Morphey, the brother of Tom Morphey - the lone witness in the case of Stacy Peterson's disappearance - is speaking to the press on his brother's behalf and, guess what, he thinks Drew killed her.

Dear Christina,

• Former priest Donald McGuire was sentenced to 25 years for having sex with a minor.
• Aquan Lewis, the 10-year-old boy who was found hanging from a hook in a school bathroom and later died, was laid to rest today.
• The 3rd District Appellate Court has upheld a ruling that Drew Peterson is not the suitable person to gain control of the estate of his murdered third wife, Kathleen Savio.

• Today's "totally not a surprise" headline: "O'Hare remains worst for on-time departures."
• In the wake of job and budget cuts, the ER at the University of Chicago Medical Center is about to get a little more selective in who it takes in.
• The man who killed himself after a police chase in L.A. last night has been identified as former Chicagoan Mustafa "Moe" Mustafa.

Not content to just go away, Drew Peterson keeps talking, this time to CBS 2. It was the same old, same old from Bolingbrook's Most Notorious Ex-Husband™, who maintained his innocence, insisted his engagement to Christina Raines was genuine, and bad-mouthed the two men who have publicly claimed that D-Pete killed Stacy Peterson. Of course, there's no beating this quote from the interview when asked if he thinks he'll serve jail time: "Innocent people go to jail all the time. And guilty people get set free, so I don't know." Next up for Drew: a book entitled If I Did It.