Last Updated on February 27, 2026
Drew Peterson is a retired police sergeant who was convicted of the 2003 murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio.
She was killed two months after their divorce was finalised.
Drew Peterson’s spouse, his fourth wife, Stacy Ann Peterson, went missing in 2007.
Stacy is presumed dead by many, and her body has never been found.
Drew Peterson is currently being held at Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, Indiana.
Kathleen Savio
Drew and Kathleen married in May 1992.
They had two sons together, and divorce proceedings began in February 2002.
Their divorce was finalised in October 2003.
During the next two years, complaints of abuse, threats and a protection order were filed.
On 1st March 2004, her body was discovered in an empty bathtub.
A coroner’s jury concluded that the death was accidental.
However, the decision was corrupted by a police officer.
The officer knew Drew and convinced the jury that Drew would not have killed his wife.
Stacy Ann Peterson
Stacy Ann Peterson went missing on Sunday, 28th October.
She was reported as missing by her sister, Cassandra Cales, on Monday, 29th October.
Stacy Peterson was reported missing by her family after she failed to turn up at her sister Cassandra’s home.
She is still considered a missing person to this day.
Drew Peterson’s children were initially in the care of his oldest son following the disappearance of Stacy.
Despite initially supporting his father, Drew Peterson’s son said it was likely that he killed both Kathleen and Stacy.
Joel Brodsky, Peterson’s defence attorney, wants to release information related to her disappearance.
This information, however, is subject to attorney client priviledge.
He also has a court order against him not to disclose the information.
Book Cold as Ice: A True Story of Murder, Disappearance, and the Multiple Lives of Drew Peterson (AD*) covers the case in detail.
Investigation
The investigation into the death of Kathleen Savio came as a result of the disappearance of Stacy Ann.
Drew claims that she called him to tell him that she had left him for another man.
Her family insisted she would never have abandoned the children.
A search found no trace of her anywhere.
Authorities were suspicious of Drew’s lack of concern for Stacy.
Witnesses saw Drew and another man carrying a large barrel out of the house shortly after her disappearance.
This was corroborated by friend Rick, who had bought the barrels with him.
Cassandra had noticed that one from their garage had also disappeared.
The barrel was carried by Drew and Thomas Morphey, Drew’s stepbrother.
He attempted suicide two days later, as he was fearful that he had helped dispose of Stacy’s body.
Police spoke to Peterson’s second wife, Vicki Connolly.
She told them that he had threatened to kill her and make it look like an accident.
Vicki claimed that he was abusive during their 10-year marriage.
After the disappearance of Stacy, Kathleen Savio was exhumed, and a second autopsy was carried out.
The autopsy revealed that she died of drowning, following a struggle.
She was found to have bruises and small grazes all over her body and a larger gash in her scalp.
As a result, her death was reclassified as a homicide.
Fatal Vows: The Tragic Wives of Sergeant Drew Pearson (AD*) covers more of his marriages.
Drew Peterson Arrest
Drew Peterson was arrested for the murder of Kathleen Savio on 7th May 2009.
He was denied bail as the prosecution argued he would pose a danger if released.
They also believed that he may flee the area.
Trial and Sentence
On the first hearing, Judge White ruled there could not be a jury trial due to the unreliability of the hearsay evidence.
In a sealed ruling, he ruled that prosecutors had proved to him that Drew Peterson had killed both Stacy and Kathleen.
However, he did not think they had convinced him beyond a reasonable doubt.
This was due to the hearsay statements being disregarded due to reliability.
The Illinois state legislature added a new law to allow the court to accept the statements.
This allowed most to be admitted, and a further appeal led to all being admitted into evidence.
Drew Peterson was found guilty of the murder of Kathleen Savio in September 2012.
He was sentenced to 38 years in prison in February 2013.
Peterson has made a number of appeals that have been denied.
Drew was found guilty of solicitation of murder and solicitation of murder for hire in 2016.
This was after he attempted to put a hit on the lead prosecutor in his murder trial.
He was sentenced to 40 more years in prison.
Appeals
Drew Peterson has made several appeals at the state level.
He has argued that he had ineffective counsel, and this led to his imprisonment.
In a 2017 appeal, he claimed that the hearsay evidence violated his constitutional rights.
The Supreme Court declined to hear his case in January 2019.
In September 2019, he filed a motion in the Federal Court.
Peterson’s latest appeal was launched in December 2019.
He blames his defence lawyer for calling his divorce lawyer to the stand for his imprisonment.
This was also declined, ending his appeals process.
In 2021, he filed a Petition for Post Conviction Relief.
Media
Drew relished the media attention following the investigation into Stacy’s disappearance.
He would often joke about his wife’s disappearance.
Drew appeared on Larry King and gave interviews on local radio stations.
In 2008, he got engaged to Christina Raines, who later called it off.
She realised the engagement was a media stunt to keep him in the limelight.
Lifetime released a TV movie, Drew Peterson: Untouchable (AD*), about the Peterson case in 2012.
It’s actually got quite the famous cast with Rob Lowe as Drew Peterson and Kaley Cuoco as Stacy Peterson.
The Drew Peterson movie is worth a watch, a rare gem.
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