Drew Peterson, the ex-cop currently serving a 38-year sentence for the 2004 murder of his third wife, was charged on Monday with trying to hire a hit man to kill the state attorney who prosecuted his case. Here’s the Chicago Tribune with the latest:
Peterson is accused of trying to arrange a hit on Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow between September 2013 and December 2014, the release stated. Glasgow successfully prosecuted the retired police sergeant despite a largely circumstantial case built around hearsay statements.
Peterson attorney Steve Greenberg said Monday morning that neither he nor Peterson’s family had been informed of any charges. He called the idea of Peterson trying to retaliate against Glasgow “absurd.” “Drew would have nothing to gain and everything to lose by doing that,” Greenberg said. “And prosecutors say he’s the most careful criminal ever, don’t they?”
Peterson was charged on Monday with one count of solicitation of murder, which carries a mandatory sentence of 15 years, and one count of solicitation of murder for hire, which carries a mandatory sentence of 20 years.
The former suburban Chicago police officer originally faced up to 60 years behind bars for the murder of his wife, Kathleen Savio. The sentencing judge, however, opted against the maximum after taking into consideration Peterson’s time as a police officer and service in the military. Moments before he was sentenced in February 2013, Peterson screamed out in court “I did not kill Kathleen.”
Peterson and Savio were in the middle of a messy divorce when she died. Originally, officials ruled it an accident before changing their minds after exhuming her body in 2007 as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Peterson’s fourth-wife, then-23-year-old Stacy Peterson. Drew Peterson, now 61, remains the only suspect in that case. His story, tabloid-ready from the start, was turned into a made-for-television film by Lifetime, Drew Peterson: Untouchable, which starred Rob Lowe and drew 5.8 million viewers for its 2012 premiere.
