Florida Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog
Drew Peterson, a former Chicago-area police sergeant is being charged with murder for the death of his third wife Kathleen Savio, who was found dead in her home on March 1, 2004, just weeks before their divorce settlement was to be finalized.
Savio’s death was not ruled as a homicide until February 2008, after Stacy Peterson, Peterson’s fourth wife, went missing in October 2007. It was during the search for Stacy Peterson that investigators began to reinvestigate Savio’s death, which was previously concluded to be a drowning.
Peterson, 58, has pleaded not guilty to two charges of first degree murder, one by intentionally killing her and the other by engaging in behavior that led to her death.
The prosecution is convinced that jurors will use their common sense to find Peterson guilty and the defense contends Savio fell accidentally, hit her head and drowned. The defense further contends that every year many people die of bathtub mishaps and the prosecution has failed to prove that a homicide even took place.
Judge Edward Burmila told the jury to return Wednesday morning when he will give them their instructions and they will begin to deliberate.