On Thursday, after a jury of 12 found former police officer Drew Peterson guilty of first degree murder of his third wife Kathleen Savio, who was found dead in her bathtub in 2004.
The jury's verdict was nothing short of groundbreaking for the state of Illinois since this was the first time an individual was convicted of murder on mainly secondary evidence. The Jury decision relied heavily on prosecutor's hearsay evidence or "Drew's Law," a term coined as a result of the Peterson case.
Now with invigorated confidence, prosecutors plan on going back to the case of Stacy Peterson, Drew's fourth wife, whose disappearance in 2007, led police to the discovery of the body of Savio. The 58-year-officer had been a prime suspect in the disappearance of Stacy, but due to lack of physical evidence, police refrained from pressing any charges. But the guilty verdict of Thursday has encouraged prosecutors to reevaluate Stacy's files in order to possibly build another case based on similar fundamentals as Savio's murder case i.e. hearsay evidence.
Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow told reporters outside the Joliet courthouse, "We are going to aggressively review that case with an eye towards potentially charging it... He was a thug...He would threaten people because he had a gun and a badge. Nobody would take him on, but we took him on and he lost," as reported by the Associated Press.
Stacy's sister Cassandra Cales is confident that Peterson will be tried for her sister's disappearance, telling the Associated Press, "He'll be charged. It'll come."
Peterson will receive his sentencing on November 26, he could be charged with a maximum of 60 years in prison. Peterson is likely to file for appeal according to his lawyer Joel Brodsky.
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 2004.
