Drew Peterson Arrested Over Third Wife's Murder
Peterson indicted on 2 counts of murder; Kathleen Savio died in '04.
May 7, 2009 — -- Drew Peterson, the ex-cop under investigation for his fourth wife Stacy Peterson's 2007 disappearance, has been jailed on two first-degree murder counts in the 2004 death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, authorities said.
"I've been through hell," Savio's sister, Susan Doman, told ABC News amid Peterson's arrest. "Hopefully, he's gonna get what's coming to him."
Peterson, 55, was being held at the Will County Adult Detention Facility in Joliet, Ill., with bond set at $20 million, and could face 60 years in jail, Will County State's Attorney James W. Glasgow said.
"This is a grave and serious matter, and I think that's reflected in the bond," Glasgow told reporters.
"We are very confident in our case," he added.
Joel Brodsky, an attorney for Peterson, called the $20 million bond "excessive" and said he hoped to get it reduced. He noted that Peterson had passed two privately administered polygraph tests that suggested he did not kill Savio. Another attorney told The Associated Press that Peterson had an alibi for Savio's death.
Savio, 40, was found face-down in an empty bathtub in March 2004, her hair soaked with blood from an apparent head wound.
The death initially was ruled an accident, but was reclassified a homicide in 2008 after her body was exhumed and given a new autopsy following Stacy Peterson's October 2007 disappearance.
That autopsy determined Savio had drowned, Illinois State Police Capt. Carl Dobrich said.
An indictment handed down by a grand jury Thursday morning accused Peterson of "two counts of first-degree murder, one on the theory of intentional killing, the second [for] knowingly doing an act that can cause great bodily harm," said Glasgow, whose office will prosecute the case.
Peterson was arrested "without incident" in a traffic stop by a uniformed state trooper and plainclothes officers near his home in Bolingbrook, Ill., Dobrich said. He added that Peterson's four children were in the process of being removed to government care.
Related Stories
ABC News Live