On Tuesday, as the Drew Peterson murder trial continues, where 58-year-old Peterson, is alleged to have killed his third wife Kathleen Savio, who was found dead in her bathtub, Peterson attorneys continue to argue that the evidence is insufficient to incriminate the former police officer of murdering his wife.
Will County Deputy Coroner Matt VanOver, investigating officer, testified in the court on Tuesday that "There were no obvious signs of struggle or foul play in the bathtub. I don't know how else she could have drowned...If a person would have fallen in that bathtub, I'm of the opinion that those bottles around the edge of that bathtub would have gone flying... It's a fairly small tub, and if a person would have fell, it's unlikely they would have come to rest that way," as reported by the Chicago Tribune.
However, another investigating officer, Illinois state police trooper Robert Deel, testified that he did not see any signs of foul play and "was not thinking that it was a homicide at that time," (www.chicagotribune.com).
In another testimony by Diana Grandel, 40, who claimed to be Peterson's lover told the court that she received love-letters from Peterson that were "incriminating to him," as reported by ABC News. She said that her initial intention was to try and help Peterson, because she believed "This just is not him, it couldn't have happened this way," but said that his letters to her, where he wrote about Stacy Peterson, his fourth wife who went missing, changed her opinion of him, she told the court "After he offered to give me Stacy's clothing when my home burned down, I had a change of heart... I don't believe it (his innocence) for a second," (www.abcnews.go.com)
Joel Brodsky, Peterson's attorney 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."
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, 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.
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.
