Did Police Officers Protect Drew Peterson?

Nov. 16, 2007 — -- Drew Peterson spoke out again Thursday night to "America's Most Wanted," saying he is angry at his missing fourth wife, Stacy, whose disappearance has generated a media frenzy and mounting suspicion that he is involved.

"I hope she exposes herself to be alive and well," Peterson said on the TV show.

Peterson maintains he had nothing to do with Stacy's disappearance or third wife Kathleen Savio's death. But police have named Peterson as a suspect in Stacy's death and this week they also exhumed the body of Savio to conduct a new autopsy.

Peterson has said that Stacy ran off with another man. He also said, "It would take a lot of talking for me to take her back."

Still, the suspended police sergeant from Bolingbrook, Ill., a Chicago suburb, has a trail of abuse allegations that span more than a decade. As those allegations come to light, it raises questions about whether his fellow police officers helped protect him?

Third Wife Appealed for Help From Police

During Peterson's marriage to Savio, police responded to at least five domestic violence calls at their home.

"Drew grabbed her and put a knife to her throat and he threatened to kill her," Savio's sister Sue Doman told "Good Morning America" Thursday. "She told me that she feared for her life."

Her sister says Savio felt unprotected and afraid. She kept notes about what happened, filed for an order of protection against her husband and even sent letters to a local prosecutor complaining about the police.

"There have been several times throughout my marriage with this man where I ended up at the emergency room," she wrote in one letter. "And I have reported this only to have the police leave my home without filing any reports."

In another note, she wrote, "He knows how to manipulate the system, and his next step is to take my children away, or kill me instead."

Officers on the force who worked with Peterson denied a request from ABC News for an interview.

Diane Wetendorf, who runs a nationwide program to help spouses of abusive police officers, says this frustration is not unique.

"Police officers rely on each other for their safety. There is a lot of solidarity there and there is a code of silence," Wetendorf said.

Friends of Stacy say she believed asking for police protection was not an option.

"She didn't think leaving him was even possible option for her," said her friend Sharon Bychowski. "She knew there would be consequences for her, for her family."