Here’s a few quick updates regarding the wiretaps.
Media vans are once again lining the streets of Pheasant Chase Court in Bolingbrook. Drew Peterson’s neighbor, Sharon Bychowski, said Lenny Wawczak and Paula Stark contacted her prior to going public about the secret wiretapping. They told her “their heart was in the right place” and asked for Find Stacy Peterson T-shirts and yard signs. The couple is staying at another location to ensure their safety, Bychowski said.
Also, Illinois State Police Sgt. Tom Burek declined to comment on the allegations.
Just received this e-mail from Drew Peterson’s publicist Glenn Selig.
ThePublicityAgency.com July 23, 2008
The following is a statement from Joel A. Brodsky, criminal defense attorney for Drew Peterson, on this morning’s published report in the Chicago Sun-Times that former friends of Peterson wore a wiretap and secretly recorded conversations with Peterson for authorities.
“The obvious questions are: Why would Paula Stark and Len Wawczak be sharing their story with the media? And if they were acting on behalf of authorities would the police allow these supposed undercover agents to reveal anything Drew said which would incriminate him?”
“To answer the second question first, if Drew had made any incriminating statement to Wawczak and Stark when they were supposedly undercover agents, today’s news would include their arrest for obstruction of justice. The police would never allow the disclosure of any such information in an ongoing investigation. The fact is that Drew never made any of the statements Wawczak and Stark attribute to him, period”.
“Secondly, the reason Wawczak and Stark and talking now can be attributed to the fact that they are about to be evicted from their home, and they are in a dire economic situation. A month ago they tried to borrow money from Drew and he refused. It seems obvious that they want to sell their story and they used a reporter to get the word out.”
“If there truly are tapes Wawczak and Stark secretly recorded for authorities as they claim, Drew hopes the tapes are released soon because he knows that they will prove he is innocent.”
Here’s some information from a press release from the members of the non-profit group Friends of Stacy Peterson.
Another fund raiser to aid the search efforts is scheduled for 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. May 10 at Ditka’s Sports Dome, 730 N. Bolingbrook Drive, Bolingbrook. Anyone interested in helping to plan the event can call Carol Penning at (630) 300-4207. All proceeds will go toward upcoming searches.
Speaking of upcoming search efforts, members of the Search Team will be holding a press conference in front of Bolingbrook’s Village Hall, 375 W. Briarcliff Rd., on Wednesday March 26. Information on the Saturday March 29 training and additional searches will be made available.
Here’s a quick update about what’s going on behind the scenes since there hasn’t been much breaking news lately.
We just learned some of the details of a new fund raiser being planned May 17 at Ditka Dome in Bolingbrook. Carol Penning, Bolingbrook’s village clerk and one of Stacy’s close friends, is organizing the event and has asked anyone who is interested in helping her to call her at 630-300-4207. Details should be released in the next couple weeks. All money will go toward search efforts.
We also got word that Stacy’s friends and family are organizing searches for a few areas this weekend now that winter has loosened its icy grip for a bit. No confirmation yet on when and where but we’ll let you know if we do. In the same vein, Illinois State Police are saying they are continuing their own searches and have been conducting them throughout the winter as information comes in and points them in certain areas. Sgt. Tom Burek didn’t elaborate on what information they’ve gotten or what areas they’ve searched but said the investigation is still moving forward full steam.
We spent this past Saturday with the family of John Spira, a missing man from St. Charles, on the one-year anniversary of his disappearance. Spira’s family has recently joined with loved ones of other local missing persons, including Stacy Peterson, Scott Arcaro, Bradley Olsen and Lisa Stebic. Kerry Simmons, Stacy’s step-sister was at the party in Spira’s honor. Visit www.mysuburbanlife.com/stcharles to view the story and see a clip of Kerry speaking about the united front the families have forged.
We’ve noticed that people have a lot of questions regarding reports of a brawl at Tailgaters over the weekend. After tracking down a few leads it’s safe to say that we still are not sure exactly what happened and that is probably why many news organizations chose to not run the story. The reports vary widely; everything from Drew Peterson threw the man through the window to Drew Peterson wasn’t even there that night. Neither of those are correct.
Here’s a run down of the facts we do know:
Now that developments in the Peterson case are no longer daily front page news, we here at the Bolingbrook Reporter and Suburban Life Publications have a little more time to focus on the nuances of this case. Over the last week, the staff here has been compiling a list of frequently asked questions and questions still unanswered. As we track down the answers to our own queries, we’d like to give you, our readers, a chance to let us know what questions you’d like answers to. As questions come in, we’ll take them and find the appropriate family members, experts and authorities. Then, we’ll post the question and the answer on the blog.
So, if something in this case has you puzzled, perplexed or just plain baffled, post a comment with your question or send it to me, Danya Hooker, at dhooker@mysuburbanlife.com. Be sure to include if and how you’d like to be identified when I post the question and its answer.
Here’s a few things the Bolingbrook Reporter and Suburban Life Publications have been working on while the media frenzy surrounding the Stacy Peterson case subsides.
• A lot of people have been asking whether the Amazing Kreskin is, in fact, going to join the search for Stacy Peterson.
We just got a call today that might help answer that question. One of Kreskin’s agents said Kreskin is ready and willing to come to Chicago, even within the next couple of weeks, but is waiting for someone involved in the case to agree to meet with him.
Kreskin offered his assistance earlier this month and so far Illinois State Police have said they would not meet with him. Stacy Peterson family spokeswoman Pam Bosco said the family would not be able to assist him in any way without the help of state police. Drew Peterson’s lawyer Joel Brodsky told us he would meet with Kreskin but would not allow his client to meet Kreskin unless legal counsel was present.
In the interest of not seeming biased, the agent said Kreskin would not directly contact anybody involved in the case. Instead, he would wait for a comment to the media, a phone call or any other sign that would indicate he would be able to speak with someone if he comes to Chicago.
• On Saturday, we met with David Turvey, a 19-year-old film student from Bolingbrook who is doing a documentary on the Peterson case. Turvey lives a couple of blocks from Drew and Stacy Peterson’s home and has gathered about 40 hours of fascinating footage, including interviews with Peterson’s friends and family, investigators, and journalists. Here’s a video clip from the interview.
Check back soon for a full feature profile on Turvey.
• Friends and family of Stacy Peterson are preparing for a candlelight vigil on Sunday, Jan. 20, in honor of the missing mother’s 24th birthday. The event starts at 4 p.m. and will be held in the church atrium of Living Water Community Church, 190 Lily Cache Lane, Bolingbrook. There will be a brief service at the beginning, which will include a prayer, music, slideshow and speeches by friends and family.
Welcome to the first installment of the Bolingbrook Reporter’s and Suburban Life Publications’ new regular blog post: The Reporter’s Notebook.
The idea behind this reporter’s notebook is simple: As news comes in, we’ll update you on what’s going on behind the scenes in the investigations of Stacy Peterson’s disappearance and Kathleen Savio’s death and the larger scope of the Peterson case. This is also a way for us to take you “behind the scenes” and let you, the reader, see what we’re working on and how we’re gathering information during the many twists and turns of this case.
As always, you can find the latest news from your community at mysuburbanlife.com or for the latest on the Peterson case, visit here.
To start off, we’ve posted a video from findstacypeterson.com that contains the last voice message Peterson left for her father at 12:37 p.m. Oct. 17. Stacy’s sister, Cassandra Cales, added some visuals to go with the audio.
As you’ve probably noticed, the news coverage of this case is slowing down but there’s still a lot of activity going on with the investigations.
On Thursday, we got word that lawyers on both sides of a lawsuit claiming Drew Peterson used excessive force and broke an arrestee’s thumb were supposed to meet Friday morning to view a videotape that police say proves Peterson was not involved. After a good deal of time waiting with no sign of plaintiff Timothy Brownlee or his lawyer, we decided to pack up and head back to the office. It’s still unclear whether we missed them or there was a miscommunication.
Regardless, Brownlee’s lawyer told us earlier this week that he expected to view the tape by the end of the month. If the police are right about the tape, Peterson could soon have one less thing to worry about.
Also, we’re working on setting up a new forum page for all of you to share your thoughts, so check back soon.
That’s it for now. In the meantime, feel free to e-mail me, Danya Hooker, at dhooker@mysuburbanlife.com with questions, requests, tips, story ideas or anything else that happens to be on your mind … within the limits of this case, of course.
