By Danya Hooker, dhooker@mysuburbanlife.com

Drew Peterson’s son will soon receive eight of 11 guns seized from his father’s home Nov. 1.

Will County Judge Richard Schoenstedt Thursday ordered police to relinquish the weapons, ending a six-month court battle over who should have possession of the firearms.

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Drew Peterson has officially been charged with a crime, but it has little to do with the investigations into his fourth wife’s disappearance and the death of his third wife.

Shortly after noon Wednesday, Peterson turned himself in to state police after a warrant was issued for his arrest. The charge, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, alleges that Peterson “knowingly possessed a rifle, namely a Colt model Sporter Lightweight…with a barrel less than 16 inches in length,” in violation of state law.

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Drew Peterson turned himself in to police Wednesday after a warrant was issued for his arrest. The warrant was issued for a gun charge which Peterson’s attorney, Joel Brodsky, disputes.

Suburban Life Publications spent Wednesday chronicling the day’s events:

Sorry this is late folks. We’ll get back on the regular schedule this week.

Here’s the a look at some of the week’s developments in the Peterson case. Please note, updates are current through 2 p.m. Sunday. Please check back often for updates. you can also visit the Bolingbrook Reporter online at www.mysuburbanlife.com for the latest breaking news.

• Drew Peterson’s attorney filed an appeal Tuesday, April 22, requesting the court to reverse a Will County judge’s decision to reopen the estate of Peterson’s third wife Kathleen Savio. The judge’s April 17 decision removed Peterson’s uncle, James Carroll, as executor and appointed Savio’s father and sister as administrators of any new assets that come into the estate. Savio’s family had petitioned for the reopening in preparation for a possible wrongful death lawsuit against Peterson. Brodsky argued the two-year statute of limitations on filing such lawsuits has passed and that the Savio’s family’s petition does not meet the legal requirements for reopening an estate.
• On Wednesday, April 23, Brodsky said his client has legally transferred ownership of 11 firearms seized from Peterson’s home to his son Stephen, an Oak Brook police officer. Brodsky said he will file a motion within a couple of weeks asking the court to force state police to give the firearms to Stephen Peterson.
• Peterson and Brodsky appeared on MSNBC’s “Verdict with Dan Abrams” on Thursday, April 24. Peterson denied claims by several people that he was controlling and abusive to his wives and ex-fiancee. He also maintained his belief that Savio’s March 2004 drowning was an accident and that his missing wife Stacy Peterson is alive and with another man.

By Danya Hooker, dhooker@mysuburbanlife.com

Drew Peterson’s attorney, Joel Brodsky, filed an appeal Tuesday against a Will County judge’s decision to reopen the estate of Peterson’s third wife, Kathleen Savio, Brodsky confirmed Wednesday.

Judge Carmen Goodman granted a petition by Savio’s family and ordered the estate reopened April 17. The decision opened the door for Savio’s family to investigate whether there is enough evidence to pursue a wrongful death lawsuit against Peterson.

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Here’s a look at some of the week’s developments in the Peterson case.
Please note, updates are current through 11 a.m. Friday. Please check back often for updates. You can also visit the Bolingbrook Reporter online at mysuburbanlife.com for the latest breaking news.

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Drew Peterson’s right to have control of his property doesn’t outweigh the state’s right to retain possible evidence, a Will County judge said Thursday when he denied Peterson’s request to let his son Stephen hold onto 11 guns seized from Peterson’s home.

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By Danya Hooker, dhooker@mysuburbanlife.com

A Will County judge will decide Thursday whether 11 firearms seized from Drew Peterson’s home in November will stay in the hands of Illinois State Police or be returned to the family.

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By Danya Hooker, dhooker@mysuburbanlife.com

Drew Peterson’s erratic behavior in the days following the disappearance of his 23-year-old wife Stacy was a trained response to stress, the former Bolingbrook sergeant said Friday on ‘Larry King Live.’

“I was being barraged by [media]…I was being questioned by police. I was scared to death,” Peterson said. “And policemen - any policeman will tell you that police deal with stress and despair with humor. They laugh, they make jokes. They’re trained not to show emotions.”

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By Danya Hooker
dhooker@mysuburbanlife.com

Representatives for Drew Peterson want him to take a lie detector test on national television, according to Fox News reports.

TMZ.com originally reported the rumor, claiming the representatives contacted the producers of Fox’s “Moment of Truth,” a game show where contestants are hooked up to lie detector tests to win money. Fox later confirmed the report, saying the representatives had made contact and wanted Peterson to appear on the show.

However, neither report indicated whether the two groups had scheduled a date for Peterson’s appearance on the show.

Peterson’s lawyer Joel Brodsky was not immediately available for comment Tuesday but a woman answering his office phone said Peterson will not be taking a lie detector test.

Peterson, 54, has been named a suspect in the Oct. 28 disappearance of his 23-year-old wife Stacy Peterson. The case has been labeled a possible homicide and forced police to reopen the investigation into Peterson’s third wife Kathleen Savio, who was found drowned in her bathtub in 2004.

Peterson, a former Bolingbrook police sergeant, has said he was not involved in either case. He has not been charged with a crime.

By Danya Hooker
dhooker@mysuburbanlife.com

The contest that was set to match up Drew Peterson with a date on Thursday morning’s Steve Dahl program has been canceled.

The “Win a Date with Drew” segment was supposed to air at 8 a.m. on 104.3 Jack-FM but was later called off by WJMK-FM General Manager Peter Bowen, according to reports by CBS, the radio station’s parent company.

News of the contest caused a public outcry over the station’s attempt to set a date for Peterson, who has been named a suspect in his fourth wife’s Oct. 28 disappearance. Authorities are also investigating the drowning death of his third wife in March 2004.

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A two-sentence text message allegedly sent to Stacy Peterson more than a month before she went missing proves she was having an affair, her husband’s lawyer told media outlets this week.

The writer of the Sept. 20 message refers to Peterson as “my love” and thanks her for a sexual encounter they had the night before, according to reports in the Chicago Tribune.

The revelation bolsters Drew Peterson’s claim that his wife is not missing but simply left him for another man. Peterson, 54, a former Bolingbrook police sergeant, has been named a suspect in his 23-year-old wife’s Oct. 28 disappearance, which investigators are treating as a possible homicide.

The message was found on Stacy Peterson’s cell phone, which she had recently replaced and given to her stepson. Drew Peterson turned the phone over to state police after finding the message, according to media reports.

Authorities reportedly obtained a search warrant Jan. 3 seeking information that might lead to the identity of the sender. The message was sent from a Sprint Nextel Web site, which allows users to send messages without logging in or opening an account.

Sprint Nextel spokesman Dave DeVries was not immediately available for comment Thursday.

Here’s a look at some of the key developments in the Stacy Peterson case over the last week:

• On Jan. 4, it is first reported that the village of Bolingbrook will provide legal counsel to Drew Peterson in his defense against an excessive force lawsuit. The village lawyer said the village is required by law to provide all police officers with lawyers in such cases. The lawsuit claims Peterson and two other officers used excessive force during an arrest. The police department said they have a videotape proving Drew Peterson was not involved in the incident.

• Drew Peterson was reportedly on vacation with his children in Florida until last weekend. On Jan. 6 he received a letter from an anonymous writer who claimed he/she saw Stacy Peterson in mid-November in a Kentucky parking lot. The writer also claimed to have taken a picture of her and contacted a sheriff’s deputy about the incident.

• On Tuesday, the Kentucky sheriff’s office said they had no record any contact between a deputy and a person claiming to have just seen Stacy Peterson.

• Also Tuesday, the Amazing Kreskin, a well-known mentalist announced he would like to meet one-on-one with key people in the investigation. Kreskin said he thinks his abilities might help lead to a break in the case. Illinois State Police said they welcome any information Kreskin can provide. Joel Brodsky, Drew Peterson’s lawyer, said he would be glad to meet with Kreskin but would not let his client meet with him without legal counsel present.

• Despite waning media covering, Illinois State Police assured that the Peterson investigation remains a top priority with up to 80 agents working on the case at any given time.

• Looking ahead, friends and family of Stacy Peterson will hold a birthday vigil on Sunday, Jan. 20, the day the missing woman will turn 24. The event will start at 4 p.m. at Living Water Community Church, 190 Lily Cache Lane, in Bolingbrook.

~Compiled by Danya Hooker, Suburban Life Publications.

By Danya Hooker
dhooker@mysuburbanlife.com

Drew Peterson returned from vacation Sunday to find an anonymous letter claiming his missing wife Stacy is alive and in Kentucky.

“I was in a parking lot and saw your wife with another man,” the letter stated, according to Peterson’s lawyer Joel Brodsky.

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