On Thursday, Judge Edward Burmila dismissed a petition for mistrial in the Drew Peterson case, Peterson is being charged with first-degree murder of wife # 3 Kathleen Savio. Despite the confidence of Joel Brodsky, Peterson's attorney, who told reporters last month that the case was bound to be a mistrial, Judge Brumila disagreed.
In an interview a few weeks ago, Brodsky told ABC News, "I don't know why they are prosecuting this. I am serious. This case should never have been brought...If they can prosecute Drew Peterson on this garbage, rumor, back fence gossip, then nobody's safe," he told ABC News.
But Thursday the judge said "the court believes that the defendant's ability to receive a fair trial is not extinguished at this time," according to USA Today.
On Wednesday-the second day of the Drew Peterson trial, in which the 58-year-old Peterson is charged with first-degree of his third wife Kathleen Savio, defense lawyer Joel Brodsky paints the picture of Savio as a woman who was "bossy, lied, had a furious temper and went to therapy," according to ABC News.
Savio, was discovered dead in her bathtub in 2004, to which Brodsky told jurors, "This was a household accident...Kathy slipped and fell in a household accident, case closed," according Huffington Post.
But prosecutor James Glasgow insisted ""The evidence shows this wasn't an accident," according to ABC News.
Peterson was a former sergeant in the Bolingbrook Police Department in Illinois. In 2007 he became the chief suspect for the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson. The Search for Stacy led the police to discover the body of Kathleen Savio, who was found in her dried bathtub in 2003. Peterson instantly became the prime suspect in her murder. Police believe that Peterson had something to do with the disappearance of his fourth wife as well. The Peterson mystery swept the nation, who were immediately hooked this real-life murder mystery. The media reveled in it, so much so that LifeTime TV made a movie based on the incident called "Untouchable" starring Robert Lowe.
Later the same day, neighbors of Savio, Thomas Pontarelli and his wife Mary Pontarelli took to stands describing to the court how they saw the body of Savio in the bathtub.
The case has finally made to court after a jury of seven women and five men were selected last month, despite Peterson's attorney predicting the case will not make to court because of lack of evidence.
He told ABC's Good Morning America, "We have always said, and this has never changed: They simply don't have any evidence. They have conjecture, rumor, speculation, hearsay, but they don't have any evidence. Even a predisposition jury is going to want to hear evidence, and they don't have any."
The jury selection was a meticulous process, given the huge popularity of the event. Judge Edward Burmila addressed the potential jurors warning them, "This is not CSI. This is not a John Grisham novel. It's not a movie you've seen in a theater or a show you've seen on TV," as reported on the Boston Herald website.
