Posted on by facsmiley Abuse Allegations, Drew Peterson, Kathleen Savio, Stacy Peterson

Join Team Missing Stacy Peterson and walk against abuse

Stacy Peterson

UPDATE 9/30/11: There are new developments in Stephen Peterson’s appeal of his firing from Oak Brook Police Department. His attorney now claims that witness testimony was hidden and that Peterson’s dismissal was due to a personal vendetta on the part of ex-Chief Thomas Sheahan.
More in the comments thread.
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On Saturday, the first of October, people will gather all over the country for the beginning of National Domestic Awareness Month. For the third year the Guardian Angels Community Service agency’s domestic violence program, Groundwork, has organized a 5k walk to honor the victims of violence, bring awareness to the community, and to raise funds for their programs.

Team Missing Stacy Peterson will be walking again this year to remind the Chicago area and the nation that the lives of those in violent situations matter. The team hopes to be the voice for a woman who has been silenced, and to show their commitment to all victims by helping the Groundwork program keep their services available. One of the goals of Team Missing Stacy Peterson is to refocus attention onto the victims of intimate partner violence and missing persons and away from the perpetrators who garner the majority of media attention.

Stacy Peterson is the missing fourth wife of former Bolingbrook Sergeant, Drew Peterson, who is currently charged with the murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio. According to Stacy’s sister, Cassandra Cales, “Every time we turn around there’s Drew’s picture in the news again. The media has given him enough attention. Let’s bring it back where it belongs. Let’s get Stacy’s picture back out in the press, after all, she is still missing!”

Stacy Peterson disappeared from her home October 28, 2007, under suspicious circumstances.

The walk teams will meet at 8 am at Hammel Woods, Crumby Recreation Area, Black Road, Shorewood, IL. Opening remarks will be given by Will County State’s Attorney James W. Glasgow and The Honorable Judge Marilee Viola. The walk will begin at 9:15 am.

For information on how to join Team Missing Stacy Peterson or to donate, please vist the Guardian Angel’s Groundwork Events page.

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59 thoughts on “Join Team Missing Stacy Peterson and walk against abuse”

  1. I’ve posted about the walk a couple of times prior to the post above, but at the time I commented there was no team Missing Stacy Peterson, so I recommended joining or donating to the State’s Attorney’s team. Either way, you’ll be contributing to a great cause!

    There are a couple of photos from last year’s 5k walk here:

  2. SHOREWOOD — The third annual walk to honor victims of domestic violence will be Saturday, the start of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

    The family and friends of missing Bolingbrook mother Stacy Peterson, the fourth wife of accused wife-killer Drew Peterson, will participate in the Angels Against Abuse 5K walk at Hammel Woods.

    The walk is a fundraiser for Groundwork, a domestic violence program by Guardian Angels Community Service, and Suzy’s Caring Place transitional housing program.

    Will County State’s Attorney Jim Glasgow and Judge Marilee Viola will give opening remarks, and the walk will begin at 9:15 a.m….

    http://heraldnews.suntimes.com/news/7830365-418/angels-to-walk-against-abuse.html

  3. Off topic but…I just saw the web site that Josh/Steven Powell made claiming it to be the “official” web site for information about Susan Powell. It’s the creepiest thing I’ve ever seen, and I thought I’d seen a lot of strange behavior from Drew Peterson and Joel Brodsky.

    I found it after reading that they had been barred from posting excerpts from Susan Powell’s teenage journals. Susan’s father-in-law, Steven, has been claiming to the press that he had a consensual flirtatious/sexual relationship with Susan and believed that they were in love (Wha?!) but the kicker is that today he was arrested for possessing child pornography after about ten years worth of video was discovered in his home. Susan and her children appear in some of the videos, most of it peeper type footage of neighbors and relatives on the toilet, etc. Susan’s kids have been removed from the home that her husband and father-in-law shared.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/24/steven-powell-not-guilty-plea_n_979031.html

  4. Oh heavens, the Powell case is really getting sick and weird. Her husband and father-in-law have done everything they can possibly do to trash the woman’s reputation, without her being here to defend herself, and now the father-in-law has been arrested for child pornography. Unfortunately, it’s not hard to imagine what her fate was at the hands of these two monsters. At least the young boys are safe for now, away from these two. Hope LE can determine what happened to her once and for all.

  5. Speaking of outrageous behavior on the part of a person-of-interest, Fox news reminds us of the day Drew Peterson walked out of an interview with Shepard Smith. Who can forget the Drew’s mocking smirk suddenly switched off when Smith changed the direction of the conversation from Drew and Joel’s horrendous participation in a “Date with Drew” radio contest, to how his children were dealing with the fact that their mom was missing and the rumor that Drew had been seen with an accomplice moving a blue container from his house.

    15 Classic Fox News Channel Moments: Drew Peterson Walks Out on Interview With Shepard Smith

  6. That Shepard Smith interview with Peterson was all about Peterson controlling it and calling the shots. When that didn’t happen and when Shepard Smith wasn’t the pushover that Peterson wanted him to be, it fizzled.

    Isn’t that what’s happening now with the missing Susan Powell, her husband and father-in-law trying to steer the outgoing information in the direction they want it to go?

    The dirtier these monsters are, the more slanted the interviews become.

  7. Steve Peterson’s hearing was scheduled for today in DuPage Circuit Court regarding his termination from the Oak Brook P.D.

    Whew, what a time he has had in these almost four years. He was married just prior to Stacy’s disappearance. He’s been before the Grand Jury over his father’s wives problems; he took a lot of heat for taking in his father’s guns during the initial days of Stacy’s disappearance; he’s had a child; he’s divorced; he’s back in his father’s house watching over his father’s minor children; and he’s been terminated from his job as an Oak Brook police officer. Can’t get more complicated than that for being one of the children of Drew Peterson.

    Whatever way the court rules, hopefully, it’ll be fair and just for everyone involved.

  8. Here’s the appeal filed back in March, if anyone wants to re-read.

  9. In the original complaint Commissioner Frederick Cappetta stated that, “Officer Peterson’s continuing claim that the weapons and money (given to him by Drew Peterson during the investigation into Stacy Peterson’s disappearance) were irrelevant to the investigation by the Illinois State Police were self-serving, disingenuous, not credible and demonstrates that Officer Peterson lacks the fundamental ability to make sound judgements.”

    Here’s the meat of the complaint:

    4. …Defendant SHEAHAN’S actions in filing and prosecuting the charges were vindictive, retaliatory, unfounded, excessive and part of a pattern of harassment of the Plaintiff.

    …

    8. The procedural rulings, conclusions of law and factual findings of the Defendant, VILLAGE OF OAK BROOK BOARD OF FIRE AND POLICE COMMISSIONERS with regards to guilt are against the weight of the evidence, erroneous, arbitrary and capricious, unfair, contrary to law and contrary to facts.

    9. The punishment imposed upon Plaintiff, STEPHEN PETERSON, by the Defendant, VILLAGE OF OAK BROOK BOARD OF FIRE AND POLICE COMMISSIONERS is contrary to the evidence, excessive, politically motivated, unjust, based upon inadmissible evidence, based upon evidence taken in violation of his constitutional rights and contrary to law, and the punishment exceeds the lawful authority and discretion of the Defendant, VILLAGE OF OAK BROOK BOARD OF FIRE AND POLICE COMMISSIONERS under the law and under the facts and circumstances of the case.

  12. Next court date is set for this coming Monday, October 3rd.

    Proceeding is described as “JUDICIAL REVIEW OF A DECISION OF AN ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCY OTHER THAN A TAX COMMISSION “

  13. This is off topic, but it relates to former Peterson attorney, John Paul Carroll. Carroll is currently being investigated by the ARDC for an incident involving some of his prior clients. Maybe the times are a’changing and juries will make it more and more difficult for defense attorneys to muck up the truth with their wild and insane arguments. I hope so.

    Anyway, he defended an accused cop murderer, which has been in the news. He defended Shawn Gaston, who was handed off to Carroll by Joel Brodsky. I assume that because in the days following his arrest, Brodsky was Gaston’s attorney of record, making statements on his behalf in the media.

    What is so disturbing to me is that this attorney, even though there’s a video recording of his client admitting to the shooting, used b.s. to rile up the jury:

    Earlier Wednesday, Gaston’s attorney suggested to jurors that his client was the victim of a widespread police conspiracy to frame him for the shooting, calling him “a good kid.”

    “They’re not telling the truth,” attorney John Paul Carroll said during closing arguments. “Something is going on here.”.

    This is the “truth”:

    This is not CSI,” Alvarez told jurors in reference to the popular TV series. “This is not some murder mystery movie. This is Chicago. This is Englewood. This is reality.”

    On Tuesday, prosecutors played a 20-minute videotaped statement from Gaston in which he admitted firing from a car “like, four times.” Prosecutors acknowledged that Gaston was not told that a police officer had been shot before he made his admissions.

    The jury convicted him in spite of his lawyer’s “truth.” They didn’t feel confident he knew he was shooting at an officer, Since P.O. Valadez was not in uniform, but they certainly didn’t believe he was a Chicago, Englewood, good kid victim of a police conspiracy. They found him guilty of first degree murder and attempted murder.

    So, even though this garbage was videotaped confessing to his actions, he still was “a victim of a conspiracy” as the defense would have it. Hmmm. The jury got it right.

  14. Did Drew Peterson Kid Get Dirty Deal From Oak Brook Police Chief?

    The union lawyer fighting to get Drew Peterson’s cop son back on the Oak Brook force accused the former police chief of concealing evidence she says could have won his case.

    By Joseph Hosey

    The attorney representing Drew Peterson’s son claims the former Oak Brook police chief hid evidence as part of a vindictive plot to boot the accused wife-killer’s kid from his department.

    In a motion penned by Fraternal Order of Police attorney Tamara Cummings, the lawyer charged that former Chief Thomas Sheahan “intentionally concealed or directed to be concealed the existence of witnesses and witness testimony” that might have helped Peterson’s son Stephen Peterson when he was fighting to keep his job as an Oak Brook cop.

    Not only that, but an affidavit sworn to by Cummings in support of her motion accuses Sheahan of making rancorous remarks about Stephen Peterson, including, “I’ll bankrupt him,” “I’ll step on his air hose,” “I will chop off his (testicles),” and, “He will get his job back in the next few years, but in the interim, he’ll lose his house, his wife will leave him and his dog will be dead.”

    Stephen Peterson was fired from the Oak Brook Police Department in February. He has yet to get his job back, but Sheahan was right about him losing his wife and house. It is not known if his dog has died or if he ever even had one.

    Stephen Peterson’s infamous father, Drew Peterson, cost him his job when he had him stash three of his firearms before the state police could execute a search of Drew Peterson’s Bolingbrook house in October 2007.

    The state police were looking for some sign of Drew Peterson’s missing wife, Stacy Peterson. Stacy remains missing and Drew Peterson has been jailed since May 2009 awaiting trial on charges he killed his previous wife, Kathleen Savio, in March 2004.

    Sheahan went after Stephen Peterson’s job in August 2010 and ultimately succeeded in stripping the Peterson son of his gun and badge.

    But Cummings said she uncovered possible new evidence that might be enough for Stephen Peterson to win his job back.

    While speaking with a Hinsdale attorney who is considering a civil action against Oak Brook on Stephen Peterson’s behalf, Cummings said she learned Sheahan had concealed evidence.

    According to her motion, Sheahan “had a conversation with two lieutenants who he had assigned to investigate the allegations against Officer Peterson,” and learned of several members of the state police who found Stephen Peterson “cooperative, forthcoming and not obstructive.”

    “The chief became angry and directed the lieutenants NOT to document these interviews or the fact that they occurred, and to make no reports and send no emails regarding the interviews,” her affidavit says. “Subsequently, the lieutenants were removed from the investigation and the chief hired a private investigator.”

    Sheahan resigned from the Oak Brook Police Department in April. He could not be reached for comment.

    Cummings said acting Police Chief Steve Larson had “first-hand knowledge” of the concealed evidence. Larson was Sheahan’s deputy police chief. He also retired in April but returned to fill his former boss’ position.

    “Larson failed to come forward with such evidence previously for fear of retaliation by Chief Sheahan,” the motion says.

    Larson’s voicemail on Thursday said he was out of the office and would not be returning phone messages until Monday. He did not respond to questions about the Peterson case or his supposed fear of Sheahan.

    Cummings, who took Stephen Peterson’s case up to DuPage County court in March, believes the new evidence may prove pivotal.

    “That’s a big problem (for Oak Brook) that could make the difference in this case,” she said, adding, “I’ve never had a case where the information was intentionally withheld from me.”

    Calls to the law firm representing Oak Brook in the Peterson matter were directed to attorney Benjamin Schuster. Schuster failed to return calls for comment, but in court papers, he and attorney Peter Friedman accuse Cummings of conducting an “unauthorized phone interview” with Larson, and call for her to be sanctioned by the court.

    Cummings said there was nothing improper about her call to Larson and bristled at the allegations leveled by Oak Brook’s lawyers.

    “I’ve definitely never been accused of unethical conduct before,” she said. “That definitely rubs me the wrong way.”

    http://shorewood-il.patch.com/articles/did-drew-peterson-kid-get-dirty-deal-from-oak-brook-police-chief

  15. “I’ll bankrupt him,” “I’ll step on his air hose,” “I will chop off his (testicles),”

    Damn, all I do is co-admin this blog, and Brodsky threatened to bankrupt me. At least he didn’t have Kris, his troll, post the air hose and testicles stuff, if that was going to be in my future. 🙂

    These lawyers sure do get off on this threatening and suing stuff don’t they?

  16. Now see, who is telling the truth here? It helps to get some score cards to keep track of the muck.

    Stephen Peterson has declined to comment publicly. He has been disciplined for various infractions, dating back to 2005, ranging from running improper police database checks on village employee license plates to driving an Oak Brook squad car and appearing in uniform before a Will County grand jury investigating Stacy’s disappearance.

    The officer’s attorney, Tamara L. Cummings, said Sheahan is unfairly targeting Stephen Peterson due to his father’s criminal matters. Chief Sheahan mistakenly called the officer by the name “Drew,” during a past disciplinary hearing.

    Sheahan previously denied targeting Peterson.

    “No, I like Officer Peterson,” Sheahan testified during an Oct. 16, 2008 hearing before the Oak Brook police and fire commission regarding the database allegations. “I think he’s a good officer. I think he’s made some mistakes, but I think he’s a good officer.”

    http://edit.dailyherald.com/article/20100907/news/309079954/

  17. “I’ll step on his air hose”

    Now that’s funny. Stephen hires a lawyer to look into a civil suit against Sheahan for supposedly making these comments, similar to the ones Brodsky’s troll posted on a blog hurled against me by Brodsky. Hell, should I have hired a civil attorney for the same kind of threats leveled at me? Hahahahaha.

    Rescue will soon be hearing a knock knock on her door. Guess who? Its the process server with a summons. Better get a good lawyer. Wow are they expensive. Soon she will be consulting a bankruptcy lawyer. Too bad libel judgments aren’t discharable. Loosing her home and business. Awh that’s too bad.

    Joel A. BrodskySent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

    They’re all a bunch of clowns.

  18. Those are some pretty strong words from Sheahan, if in fact he said them. That noted, it was no secret that Sheahan wanted Peterson off the force. If you thought you had a dishonest, law-obstructing officer on the force wouldn’t any Chief want his ass gone?

    Whatever Sheahan personally felt about Stephen Peterson, the decision to fire Peterson was made by the board of commissioners based on the facts which were pretty indisputable. The guy obstructed the investigation of his step-mother’s disappearance. He took money from and hid guns for a person-of-interest in the case.

    As for the interviews allegedly carried out but undocumented by those two lieutenants, I guess I don’t understand what the impact would have been on the case? All that I gather is that Peterson was cooperative. Does cooperating with investigators earn you an instant acquittal? Did Stephen make any statements that would have cleared him from the charges and were they different from what he testified to in court?

    If Sheahan truly caused witness testimony to be kept out of the proceedings then that is pretty bad and I agree it should be looked into. But from what I’ve seen there’s nothing that could exonerate Stephen from what he did.

  20. Yeppers, sometimes people marry, I guess, and still carry on sexual relationships with others.

    In the case of Steve Peterson, I don’t imagine what Sheahan said would carry much weight here, since the defense in the Peterson mess has reminded all of us repeatedly that what one says in anger against another is just not reliable, heh? However, in Kathleen’s case, she said Drew was going to kill her and she’s dead. Dead. And he sure as hell looks mighty suspicious as a result of that.

    Sheahan also said he likes young officer Peterson. Said he was a good cop, no? So, doesn’t one cancel out the other?

    In spite of it all, if there’s something sitting in a basement box somewhere that exculpates Steve Peterson from any wrong doing, or goes a long way to help prove he didn’t deserve to lose his job for taking in guns from his father in the midst of the disappearance of his stepmother, or there’s sufficient evidence that Sheahan deliberately scammed everyone in order to cause this mess, then his honor will surely set it all straight now, won’t he?

  21. Stacy Peterson’s Stepdaughter-In-Law Ripped on Missing Mother’s Parenting Skills

    The woman married to Drew Peterson’s Oak Brook cop son told the state police what she thought about the missing mom but did not shed any light on where she went.

    By Joseph Hosey

    Within weeks of Stacy Peterson disappearing, her stepdaughter-in-law told investigators the vanished young woman was “immature” and “not a very good mother,” according to state police reports recently obtained by Patch.

    Teresa Peterson, who was married to accused wife-killer Drew Peterson’s second son, Stephen Peterson, also reportedly told police Stacy Peterson wanted a divorce but was fearful of how her husband would react.

    “Teresa said Stacy told her she was afraid what Drew would do to her if she divorced him,” the state police report says.

    The reports were released as part of the case file for Stephen Peterson’s bid to reclaim his job with the Oak Brook Police Department. Former Oak Brook Police Chief Thomas Sheahan fired Stephen Peterson in February for obstructing the state police in their investigation of his stepmother Stacy’s disappearance in October 2007.

    This obstruction involved Stephen Peterson stashing three of his father’s firearms before the state police got around to executing a search warrant soon after Stacy was reported missing.

    Stephen and Teresa Peterson have since divorced. Stephen Peterson, 32, moved out of their North Aurora home and now lives in his father’s house in Bolingbrook, where he cares for his younger half-siblings.

    The younger children were in need of a guardian on account of Stacy mysteriously disappearing and Drew Peterson going to jail a year and a half later.

    Drew Peterson remains in jail as he waits to be tried on charges he murdered his previous wife, Kathleen Savio, who was found drowned in a dry bathtub in March 2004. He faces no charges in connection with the missing Stacy, but the state police have named him their only suspect in the investigation of what they have termed her “potential homicide.”

    The state police interviewed Teresa Peterson, an agent with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, in reference to Stacy’s whereabouts on Nov. 21, 2007.

    Teresa Peterson, 30 — and three years older than her stepmother-in-law Stacy — reportedly told the state cops of Drew and Stacy Peterson engaging in “only one” domestic dispute in the two and a half years she knew the Peterson family.

    “It involved an incident when Stephen tried to throw Stacy in the swimming pool and she threatened to bite him,” the report says. “When Stephen let her go Stacy then tried to punch Drew in the face.”

    Teresa Peterson also told the state police that Drew and Stacy Peterson had given up on marriage counseling and “she had told Drew to get out of the house.”

    “Drew did not leave and she told him she wanted a divorce,” the report says.

    Teresa Peterson also reportedly told the police that Stacy “told her stories about how she used to sneak into the house … Drew and Kathy (Savio) shared.”

    “At the time, Drew was living in the basement because they were in the process of separating or getting a divorce,” the report says. “Stacy would sneak into the house and sleep with Drew while Kathy was upstairs.”

    Reports on interviews with Stephen Peterson also were included in the court file.

    According to the reports, Stephen Peterson said his father “appeared to be in a state of shock” after discovering Savio’s dead body.

    Stephen Peterson also recalled his younger half-brothers — Savio’s sons Thomas and Kristopher — waking the next morning and learning their mother was dead.

    The report has him relating that the boys “may have cried a little but then were laughing.”

    http://shorewood-il.patch.com/articles/stacy-petersons-stepdaughter-in-law-ripped-on-missing-mothers-parenting-skills

  22. Stephen Peterson also recalled his younger half-brothers — Savio’s sons Thomas and Kristopher — waking the next morning and learning their mother was dead.

    The report has him relating that the boys “may have cried a little but then were laughing.”

    Well, well. I wonder what Tom and Kris think about their big brother appearing to insinuate to the cops that, after their mom’s death, they got over it quite quickly.

    I have no doubt that Anthony and Lacy got over Drew’s arrest and absence from the house as quickly themselves. In fact, I’m sure they’re doing very well . If that sounds aloof, it’s meant to. It sounds insensitive, just as Steve’s comment to the police.

    What a stupid, immature, cold and arrogant thing to have related about their demeanor after those two young boys just lost their mom. He’s as big a jerk as his father ever will be. It makes Eric look more and more like the only man in that family.

    Teresa’s comments about Stacy being immature are one thing, but not a very good mother? Hmm, that holds a lot of weight and goes far. Not. Stacy’s stud muffin husband must not have thought so, since not only did he have two biological children with her, he allowed her to become the adoptive mother of his two boys with Kathleen. In fact, he publicly acknowledged that Stacy was a very good mother, and picture after picture showed how loving she was with her kids

    If Teresa relied on her maturity in her choice of a husband/father, she should have stuck to predicting her future by putting batteries in her crystal ball instead. She may have fared much better.

  23. “Teresa said Stacy told her she was afraid what Drew would do to her if she divorced him,” the state police report says.

    Yeah, most of us realize the implications of this statement.

  24. It’s hard to know what motivated Teresa Peterson to comment negatively about Stacy immediately after her disappearance. No doubt the turn of events was stressful and who knows whether or not she was pressured by her husband and father-in-law to shine a negative light on the missing woman. After all, her security was at risk if it turned out that her new husband was found to be connected to a murder.

    On the other hand, maybe she honestly thought that Stacy wasn’t a very good mom. As a newly wed young woman looking forward to starting a family of her own, perhaps she was just being critical of the parenting of other women in the way that childless people have the luxury of doing.

    Either way…water under the bridge. A lot has happened since November 2007 and soon Stacy will have been missing four years. Unkind words can be forgiven and even forgotten.

    But what happened to Stacy? Where is she?

  25. Stephen’s comment about the boys crying a little and then laughing later is harder to take.

    What bothers me is that it could be accurate. That Drew could have created such a climate of animosity in his household towards Kathleen, that her children only cried “a little” that Steven was aware of. Children have an uncanny gift for acting in ways that will please the adults around them. It’s self-preservation.

    I have to wonder how much more they cried alone, out of view of a bunch of adults who at best simply didn’t share their grief, and at worst had brought about the situation and saw it as beneficial.

  26. An interesting case that ended in conviction. It was largely circumstantial, involved hearsay statements “from the grave”, and Michael Baden also testified.

    A hearing this morning revealed that the hearsay evidence prosecutors seek to use in the murder trial of Christopher Coleman involves statements made by his wife, Sheri Coleman, before she and her two sons were slain.

    …

    The statements at issue may be comments Sheri Coleman made to a friend, that she was afraid of her husband.

    http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/article_171a74c4-cd69-11df-8cc5-0017a4a78c22.html

    Christopher Coleman, a former Marine and pastor’s son was convicted Thursday of strangling his wife and two sons exactly two years earlier in what prosecutors say was his bid to further an affair and keep a job with televangelist Joyce Meyers.

    …

    Coleman told police his family was asleep when he left the house to work out at a gym about five miles away on the morning of the killings, then grew concerned when he could not reach them by telephone. Their bodies were found after he called police.

    Prosecutors presented a largely circumstantial case, eliciting testimony from witnesses who said the emailed threats were created on Coleman’s laptop computer, and that there were similarities between Coleman’s handwriting and writing patterns and the spray-painted graffiti at the crime scene.

    Police also testified that the formula of the paint used by the killer was the same as that found in red paint Coleman bought weeks before the slayings.

    Prosecutors leaned heavily on forensic pathologist Michael Baden’s testimony that the victims perhaps were dead more than two hours before police say Coleman said he left for the gym. Baden said his assessment was based on reports and photos from the case and took into account such things as the rigidity and discoloration of the bodies.

    http://www.kmov.com/news/coleman-trial/Deliberations-underway-in-Chris-Coleman-murder-trial-121325749.html

  27. Oh, wow, I remember when those murders happened. Greta Van Susteren covered that story, I think. I remember hearing that the murderer broke into the house, but the circumstances of the husband’s love affair came out soon after. It didn’t take long for the police to put it all together.

    So sad for the mom and her boys.

  28. Another story to remind you to consider contributing to your local women’s shelter during Domestic Violence Awareness month.

    ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. (WCCO) — Police said a man and his estranged wife are dead after an apparent murder-suicide.

    Officers said it started Monday night when the woman was shot to death in a parking lot along Highway 100 and Cedar Lake Road in St. Louis Park. She has been identified as 51-year-old Stephanie Maxam. The man’s identity has not been released.

    Police said witnesses heard Maxam and her estranged husband arguing in the parking lot around 8 p.m. when the man opened fire…

    …The story hits home at the Harriet Tubman Center, which offers assistance for victims of domestic violence. Experts say they hope tragedies like this are a reminder that one-in-four women is a victim of domestic violence in her lifetime.

    “Domestic violence reports are up, fatalities are actually down. One could look at that and say absolutely, all of the prevention messages on how to get help and how to give help are being heard,” said Jen Polzin, of the Tubman Center.

    Harriet Tubman is in the process of locating one of their centers to a former monastery in Maplewood. In January, there will be beds for 64 victims of domestic violence and their families.

    http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2011/10/04/police-man-shoot-wife-in-st-louis-park-then-shoots-himself/

  30. Interesting profile of a classmate of Drew Peterson’s, now retiring from MANS.

    …Growing up in Romeoville, Tapper idolized his older brother, Brian, who wanted to be a police officer. Brian Tapper later changed his career plans, but Dan Tapper took law enforcement classes at Joliet Junior College.

    “The movie ‘Serpico’ was also a big influence on me and one night we were there for class when this Jesus-looking dude with long hair and an Army jacket comes up — (an in-person) Serpico. I saw later he had a huge gun on his back too,” Tapper remembered. “I asked my friends and they said, ‘That’s Drew Peterson. He’s an undercover narc.’”

    And I thought, ‘I want to be just like that,’” Tapper admitted.

    Today, he expresses mixed emotions about that memory as Peterson sits in Will County Jail awaiting his trial on charges he murdered his third wife. Police believe the former Bolingbrook cop had something to do with the disappearance of his fourth wife, though he has not been charged…

    http://heraldnews.suntimes.com/news/8015618-418/a-mans-man-lieutenant-retires-from-sheriffs-office.html

  31. Body found in field on Bloomington’s west side

    Bloomington police and the McLean County coroner are investigating the death of a woman whose body was found in a field on the city’s west side.
    The badly decomposed body of an adult, white woman was found before 1 p.m. Monday near Valley View Drive and JC Parkway, according to authorities. The body was in some brush near a harvested cornfield, Coroner Beth Kimmerling said.
    “She had been there for quite some time,” Kimmerling said.
    Based on missing-persons police reports, the coroner said she has an idea who the woman may be, but she will wait for dental records and DNA tests to confirm an identity. The person in question is not local, she said.
    There were no obvious signs of trauma, and nothing was found with the body to indicate foul play, Kimmerling said. An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday…

    http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/article_2eb2998a-f37a-11e0-a751-001cc4c002e0.html

    Very sad story but it’s good to know that one family will soon find out where their loved one ended up.

  32. BLOOMINGTON —

    A body found Monday afternoon in a Bloomington field is believed to be that of a Minier woman, McLean County Coroner Beth Kimmerling said Tuesday while seeking help in confirming her identity.

    The woman is presumed to be Jean L. Kelly, 57. She has been missing since early September, Kimmerling said in a news release.

    http://www.pjstar.com/free/x1827973129/Authorities-investigating-decomposing-body-found-in-Boomington-field

    The Baby Lisa Irwin disappearance is just heartbreaking. Seeing pictures of that beautiful child is hard to handle. No circumstance of her disappearance is “good,” but I guess the best to hope for is that she was kidnapped, not harmed, and will be recognized by someone and found by authorities.

    Susan Powell’s disappearance was in the news recently, after her husband’s father was arrested on child pornography charges, and her husband temporarily lost custody of their boys. Nothing’s been published of late about what clues the charred pieces of wood found at a shallow grave site might give. That site was alerted to by cadaver dogs. I guess it is possible that her remains were burned, as in the NIU student’s case, Antinette Keller, where there’s nothing left to identify.

    Locally, Stacy Peterson’s untimely disappearance is nearing four years. Lisa Stebic went missing over four years ago. What in the world happened to these women, who disappeared into thin air and were never heard from again?

    The only way to help determine what happened to these poor souls is to keep them in the forefront, and keep reminding those who will listen that someone knows something that can and should solve the mysteries.

  33. http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/09/30/40201.htm

    Friday, September 30, 2011Last Update: 8:10 PM PT

    Couple Can’t Sue CBS for Consensual Taping

    (CN) – CBS did not intrude upon a couple’s privacy when it videotaped them swimming in a friend’s backyard without their consent, even though it later broadcast the video, a federal judge ruled.
    Robert Webb’s sister-in-law Lisa Stebic disappeared from her house in April 2007. Webb’s brother, Craig Stebic, who was in the process of divorcing his wife, was named as a person of interest by the local police.
    During the following month, reporters from many different news organizations came to the Stebics’ home to report on the continuing search for Lisa Stebic.
    Amy Jacobson, a reporter for Chicago’s NBC station WMAQ, took a personal interest in the matter and established a rapport with the Robert and Jill Webb. She spoke with Craig Stebic in person and visited the Stebic home. Based on Jacobson’s interest in the case, Webb and Stebic jointly invited Jacobson and her children to visit the Stebics’ home on July 6, 2007, the day before a planned community-wide search for Lisa Stebic, to discuss her disappearance.
    The same day, Michael Puccinelli, a CBS reporter assigned to Chicago television station WBBM, arrived hoping to interview a Stebic family member about the community-wide search for Stebic scheduled for the following day. The reporter rang the doorbell, but Robert Webb told him the family did not wish to speak to him.
    Puccinelli then went to a neighbor’s house and obtained permission to videotape the activities in the Stebics’ backyard. The videotape, subsequently aired on a CBS broadcast, showed Craig Stebic, the Webbs and their children, and Jacobson and her children around the swimming pool.
    Jill and Robert Webb filed a lawsuit against CBS alleging intrusion upon seclusion and intentional infliction of emotional distress. In July 2011, CBS filed a motion for summary judgment.
    U.S. District Court Judge Amy St. Eve granted CBS’s motion and dismissed the case in its entirety.
    The court found that the Webbs did not try to keep their activities hidden and could not maintain an expectation of privacy.
    “Although it is undisputed that the Webbs did not consent to having their conduct videotaped on July 6, 2007, uncontested evidence in the record establishes that their activities at the Stebics’ swimming pool and backyard were in plain view, and thus not secluded,” the court found.
    “Further, there is undisputed evidence in the record that the videotape could have been made from the public sidewalk or public street because the Stebics’ backyard was visible to the public from many vantage points,” St. Eve continued.
    The judge also found that CBS’s conduct was not extreme enough to cause the Webbs severe distress. “Even though Puccinelli’s conduct in videotaping Craig Stebic and his guests at the Stebics’ pool was unwelcome, this conduct is not so outrageous that it goes beyond all possible bounds of decency,” the judgment said.
    Additionally, St. Eve ruled that the Webbs could not establish that Puccinelli intended to inflict severe emotional distress upon them. “Facts in the record clearly establish that Puccinelli videotaped the Stebics’ backyard because Craig Stebic was there, not because the Webbs and their children were in the backyard,” she concluded.

  34. Looks like Le Brodsque has a new client – a 17-year old charged with helping to murder a friend’s parents. As usual, he’s happy to supply a quote to the press, even when his client is a minor.

    …Salahat’s lawyer also questioned the fairness of interrogating a 17-year-old who does not realize that he’s a suspect in a murder case.

    “My client doesn’t have a car or driver’s license, but he’s supposedly driving the getaway car? That doesn’t seem logical,” his attorney Joel Brodsky said…

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-palos-murders-20111012,0,4112741.story?page=1&obref=obinsite

  35. “I hope everybody will just wait and see what the physical evidence, what the real forensics show and not what some child said after being locked with very big policemen with guns after being deprived of his statutory rights,” said Joel Brodsky, Mohammad Salahat’s attorney.

    http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=8387377

    Yikes, can you imagine trusting your child’s future to someone like Brodsky, who, if the past is any indication, will use it to get as much camera time as possible? Maybe he could try to arrange a radio dating contest with the young man, or a boxing match with Geraldo Rivera. The marketing opportunities are ripe! 😦

  36. I was reading about three more teens being arrested for the murder of this couple just a day or two ago.

    The three teens, 17-year-old Christopher Wyma, 17-year-old Mohammad Salahat and 19-year-old Ehab Qasem, are each charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the Granats’ deaths. Authorities say they’re friends or classmates of John Granat. They’re slated to appear in bond court Tuesday. It wasn’t immediately clear whether they have attorneys.

    The sheriff’s office said all three have given detailed, videotaped confessions and led investigators to a knife, baseball bats, bloody clothing and cash taken from the victims.

    http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/10/11/general-us-illinois-teens-parents-killed_8727825.html

    Absolutely, these four individuals need big, high media craving attorneys to protect them from “very big policemen with guns.” Someone with name recognition, someone who knows how to make the rounds on tv and radio. Looks like this Salahat got his man…

  37. Cop Charged With Honey Bee Shootings Sues Sheriff, State’s Attorney

    Lynwood Police Officer Brian Dorian filed a federal lawsuit alleging false arrest and conspiracy.

    By Joseph Hosey 5:11pm

    …Dorian was arrested a year and five days ago in connection with a shooting spree on both sides of the Illinois-Indiana border. The gun attacks claimed the life of one man and left another two wounded.

    Dorian spent the Columbus Day weekend in jail but was released after appearing court that Tuesday afternoon. Investigators determined Dorian had been using a computer in his home during the shootings and could not have carried them out the attacks.

    On Thursday, Dorian’s attorney, Gregory Kulis, filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging conspiracy, false arrest, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution.

    The lawsuit claims “a SWAT team unit for the Will County Sheriff’s Department armed with automatic weapons descended upon the home of Lynwood Police Officer Brian Dorian and took him into custody” and that Sheriff “Paul Kaupas and Will County State’s Attorney James W. Glasgow held a sensationalized press conference announcing to the world that they had the ‘Honey Bee Killer.’”

    The suit says Kaupas, Glasgow and Morelli “fabricated evidence and supplied slanderous and defamatory information to the press in order to justify their actions,” and that Dorian “incurred emotional distress, fear, anxiety and monetary expense” as a result of his holiday weekend ordeal…

    …Glasgow’s spokesman, Charles B. Pelkie, distributed a joint statement from the sheriff’s department and the state’s attorney’s office.

    “The lawsuit filed today misrepresents the investigation into the Octobter 2010 shootings in eastern Will County and in Indiana,” the statement said. “The investigation was conducted according to the letter of the law. We are confident a court will find the actions of the parties named as defendants in this lawsuit to be justified after all of the evidence is presented.”

    Updated at 6:18 pm on Oct. 13 with the statement from the sheriff’s department and the state’s attorney’s office.

    http://shorewood-il.patch.com/articles/cop-charged-with-honey-bee-shootings-sues-sheriff-state-s-attorney

  38. Here’s a youtube video of the press conference that was described as “sensationalized” if anyone wants to judge for themselves.

    Since there was a warrant issued by a judge it will be hard to show that Dorain was falsely arrested, unless his attys can show that the evidence shown to the judge was fabricated.

    I remember Dorian’s family, friends and coworkers rallying around him with signs and t-shirts of support. From the moment of his arrest, it seems no one could believe that this guy was capable of such awful crimes and they were quick to speak out on his behalf (compare to the Peterson case. His friends and family couldn’t jump ship fast enough knowing that he was a rat who could very well have killed two wives). Thankfully Dorian only had to spend four days in jail.

    At least the actual killer (Gary Amaya) was soon afterwards shot and killed by that customer at a tanning salon he attempted to rob. If it weren’t for that hero, Jason McDaniel, there could have been two more victims.

  39. FYI, comments made a year ago by Peterson’s defense as to how they could use the erroneous identification and charges to help Drew.

    Pelkie expects Drew Peterson’s attorneys to try to use the case to their advantage, both to sway potential jurors before trial and perhaps during the trial itself.

    “They’ve never been shy about saying outlandish things in the media,” he said, “and we won’t be surprised if they try to use this case somehow in an effort to mislead the public.”

    That effort has already begun.

    “Charging this guy (Dorian) is an incredible abuse of discretion,” said one of Peterson’s attorneys, Joe Lopez. “It’s just a series of missteps by the office and I think the juries are going to look a lot different at their cases from now on.”

    Neither Lopez nor Peterson’s lead attorney, Joel Brodsky, would say how they might use the Dorian case at trial, but Tacopina said there are all sorts of subtle ways to remind jurors that the state’s attorney’s office prosecuting Peterson was once just as sure that another police officer had committed murder.

    Healy suggested Dorian may be more of a burden for prosecutors months and even years from now when people forget exactly what they heard about the case.

    “It’s certainly something that can linger,” he said. “In a year… they might think, ‘God, don’t the investigators have some kind of problem with investigations in Will County?”‘

    https://petersonstory.wordpress.com/2010/10/04/drew-peterson-judge-stephen-white-retires/#comment-65191

    Also, interesting timing on the part of Dorian. Isn’t Glasgow up for re-election in November?

  40. Facs, I think the election is in March.

    I will never understand what the logic is of people who, in their opposition of SA James Glasgow, would hope that an individual would win a multimillion dollar lawsuit at the expense of the County, and in the end, its taxpayers. Is their hatred that deeply seated that they spew their disdain just to jam it to him? He was elected to office. Vote him out if need be, but this vindictive bs is mind boggling.

    Kathleen Savio wrote to and asked the then SA’s office to help her fight off her fears of being murdered at the hands of her ex-husband. It fell on deaf ears. Kathleen Savio was found dead under mysterious circumstances, yet her ex-husband wasn’t properly questioned, the scene itself was so tainted and trampled, no evidence was or could be gleaned from it. Even the lead detective admitted to doing a poor job of handling the investigation from the beginning, as he testified during the hearsay hearing. Jeff Tomczak was the SA at the time.

    Kevin Fox was arrested, interrogated and jailed on charges that he murdered his young daughter, to the point that he was so worn down, he confessed. Evidence was in the hands of LE all along, but was never used to exculpate him or go after the actual killer. Jeff Tomczak was the SA. He was nearing a crucial election, and brought charges against Kevin Fox. We’ve all heard about this case, how Kevin Fox was later exonerated and released under the direction of James Glasgow, and how he and his wife were awarded millions of dollars for his false arrest and detention. There were many reasons why Kevin Fox should have been released a lot sooner than he was, and that evidence wasn’t even processed to clear him. Can’t blame Glasgow for that nuclear meltdown.

    Now there’s Dorian, who, while being arrested and later released when evidence uncovered within days indicatedthat he could not have been the killer, has dreams of winning millions of dollars because, among other things, he was embarrassed by the face time he got in the news media. Claims his situation was sensationalized by the SA’s office. I don’t see the comparison between him and Kevin Fox, but if it makes Glasgow’s detractor’s warm and fuzzy to imagine Dorian being awarded millions for being wrongly arrested and later released, whatever. I guess certain Will County residents, or maybe even some outside of Will County, get all giddy with glee thinking that millions of dollars will be dished out to an individual, with a hefty amount going into the pockets of his attorneys, and it’s all because of an elected county official. Dorian gives a rat’s ass what happens to them, but they sure bust their butts spewing their hate for Glasgow and wishing Dorian success in being awarded millions by a jury. Same for Drew Peterson. I’ve seen comments on various boards saying he’s going to be a millionaire too someday because he’s being screwed by Glasgow. Imagine, wishing for a guy who has a shady and dark past when it comes to his wives become a millionaire because they don’t like the current SA or the way he runs his office. Never mind that their votes can take care of that. Nope.

  41. It is interesting to compare the Kevin Fox case with that of Dorian. I’m not sure we have all the facts of Dorian’s arrest but at this point it would seem that Fox had a much stronger case against the County. A torturous interrogation, a forced confession, 8 months in jail, a delay in processing DNA evidence, a pair of shoes with the initials of the actual killer written on them, but ignored. Dorian sat in jail for all of 4 days and was released with a very public apology as soon as investigators found something that exonerated him.

    Surely, the Fox family deserved the $8.5 million they were awarded in the civil suit. It was abundantly clear that the investigation had been bungled and that Fox had been treated badly. That said, I do feel bad for the citizens of Will County who had to pay the retribution. I’d hate to think that because of the Fox case, every person who is arrested and then exonerated now thinks that they deserve some sort of pay out from the taxpayers of Will County. (Actually I looked this up and according to reports, Will County’s insurance covered up to $9 million of the original $15 million award, which was later reduced to 8.5.)

    The Fox situation was a particularly tragic and spectacular failure of the justice system. In my opinion, the Dorian arrest just doesn’t compare. Like I said, maybe there’s more to his case than we presently know. If there was falsified evidence, I guess he’ll have to prove that in court.

  42. Today is Susan Powell’s 30th birthday. All that can be said is that, hopefully, soon the circumstances of her disappearance will be uncovered so her family will know what happened to her.

  45. The latest Baby Lisa Irwin info:

    On the night her 10-month-old daughter disappeared, Lisa Irwin’s mother drank enough wine at home while relaxing with a neighbor that she has no recollection of whether or not she checked on her daughter or turned off the house lights before she went to bed.

    Did the alcohol cause her to black out? “It’s a possibility,” Deborah Bradley tells PEOPLE.

    http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20537543,00.html

    Mom admits she was drunk when Baby Lisa vanished

    The mother of a baby who went missing from her Kansas City home two weeks ago says she was drunk when the girl disappeared.

    Deborah Bradley told NBC’s “Today” show today that the night her baby, Lisa Irwin, disappeared she had bought wine and consumed “enough to be drunk.”

    http://www.freep.com/article/20111017/NEWS07/111017012/Mom-admits-she-drunk-when-Baby-Lisa-vanished?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE

  46. Hmm. Maybe this moron of a mother doesn’t really know what happened to her baby, but after spending the morning making the rounds on tv and giving interviews, including People Magazine, her attorney gives a sappy news conference defending her and her boyfriend. Tacopina says he has five children of his own, and he’d never represent them if he thought they were guilty of harming Baby Lisa. This after doing research and talking to them extensively; yet, she blabbed without him all over the air and in print. He stood at that press conference and spent most of the time defending himself for taking on their case.

    Anyway, he got off Van Der Sloot in the Natalie Holloway disappearance, and look how that worked out.

    05:18 PM ET

    Baby Lisa’s Parents Now Represented by Former Van Der Sloot Attorney

    An attorney representing the parents of missing 10-month-old Lisa Irwin told reporters Monday that he is confident they will not be arrested in the case.

    “Anything’s possible…but for the life of me, I can’t see that happening,” attorney Joe Tacopina said at an afternoon press conference with Jeremy Irwin and Deborah Bradley standing behind him.

    http://nancygrace.blogs.cnn.com/2011/10/17/police-conduct-new-searches-for-missing-baby-lisa/?hpt=ng_mid

  47. I am not going to judge this woman based on her drinking wine to the point of being drunk. I do not live her life or walk in her shoes. I’ve had friends over for drinks in the evening. We’ve sat on the patio and chatted the night away, time flies by. Everyone does things that in hindsight they might consider to have been stupid, but nothing bad happened so there is no guilt. It is my hope this baby was taken by someone who just thought they needed a child and is treating the child as their own.

  48. Oh, I agree Charmed. My problem with her is that she apparently wasn’t upfront with the cops all along. Maybe it would have helped bring Baby Lisa home sooner. She also has two other boys that were in the house, and from what I understand, they’re not letting the police speak with them. There’s a few inconsistencies. Also, she is on anti-anxiety medication, so that is why she admitted she may have blacked out. The combination of the two was not a good mix.

    I, too, hope that someone snatched the baby, thinking it was an opportunistic time, and she’s alive and will be found.

  49. I don’t know what to believe in this case. I want to believe the parents and in lots of ways they are believable. It’s really rare, but sometimes babies are stolen away because someone wants a baby.

    On the other hand, I hold it against the mom that she wasn’t completely forthcoming about drinking that night and that she lied about the last time she checked on her daughter. By lying that she had seen her in her crib at 10:30 when she actually had last seen her at 6:40 it was disadvantageous to the investigators who are working to find her baby. Mom claims that finding Lisa is her main concern, but lying about the facts casts doubt on that statement.

    I too, wish that the parents would allow the other two children to be questioned again, although I’m sure that it would be against the advice of their counsel. Who knows what a small child might imagine or say out of fear. If I were in their position, I might not allow it either.

    I hope that for the sake of mom, dad, and baby that mom simply made some bad choices out of fear of looking like a bad mom (selfish as it was), and that in the end, little Lisa is recovered alive.

    The alternative is a terrible thing to think about.

  50. You know, I just saw this mom doing an interview, in which she was asked what the other children, the boys, heard the night the baby went missing. She said “they heard something” the night of Lisa’s disappearance but that in 2 weeks, Deborah has “not sat down” and asked them what they heard.

    She has “not sat down” and asked them what they heard??? Are you kidding me? Her baby girl vanished into thin air, and she hasn’t asked, or allowed LE to ask, those boys what they may or may not know? OMG, this woman is amazing. I only hope that this baby was stolen, which means she’s alive, and not this woman’s doing, either accidentally or on purpose. Most mothers would walk on their knees to hell if it meant helping find their child; admitting to not asking her other children, who were also in the house, what they heard just doesn’t sit right, does it?

  51. I can see her fears. I cannot say how I would react. I’m a little more reserve, I probably would have hesitated calling the police and that would set people on edge. My daughter went missing in SAM’s club. I didn’t tell an associate immediately, I searched. An associate approached me and asked if I needed help. My son went missing from our home, again didn’t call the cops. The neighbors and I searched, called friends. He was hiding in a closet and fell asleep. Two hours later he appeared. I agree that the whole story is missing some elements. I know that in cases like these the parents end up being responsible, but there are cases where someone else is involved. I don’t want them to focus on the family and stop looking for that baby. I do sometimes worry that the media puts out too much information. Like with Stacey, I wish they would focus on the fact that she missing and less on Drew’s antics. I don’t think the public needed to know that the mother was drunk, but I do think the police do. Don’t stop looking until you have that baby is found…whatever the outcome.

  52. I’m at the point that, everyday now, I scour the news to see if the baby has been found, hoping that she was snatched and the person or people responsible caught. It’s the only way to think, after seeing pictures and videos of such a beautiful, happy baby. Thinking the mom has something to do with this is not far fetched, since the past days’ events seem to make her look suspicious for a number of reasons. It almost seems as though her bit-by-bit admissions of blacking out and not remembering things is leading up to a “defense” of some kind.

    Maybe it’s a defense of how someone could have come in and taken Lisa without her having the slightest clue that this was happening because of her condition, IDK. Although, it’s very hard to believe that an intruder would sneak into the house via a window, turn on lights, take the baby and three cell phones, and leave with the lights blaring, possibly disturbing and waking two young boys who could have seen this. How strange that sounds.

  54. Wow. How could someone be so incredibly cruel?

    The mother of an Indiana University student missing since June says she was hurt by an anonymous letter complaining about Bloomington being littered with search posters.

    Charlene Spierer says she found the unsigned letter when checking the Bloomington post office box set up to receive tips about what happened to 20-year-old Lauren Spierer.

    Spierer said the unsigned note addressed to her read, “We are sorry about your missing daughter, but don’t you think it’s time to do the right thing by Bloomington and stop littering our town with your posters?”

    In a message posted Thursday on a website dedicated to the search, Spierer responded that “I wish we had never had to hang one single poster for our missing child. . .I apologize for our intrusion. I hope you never have to hang a poster for your missing child.”

    Spierer also wrote that she is grateful for the community’s support during the search. The Greenburgh, N.Y., woman disappeared June 3 after a night out with friends in downtown Bloomington.

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-missing-indiana-students-mom-hurt-by-letter-20111021,0,2816344.story

  56. Cassidy: Is was reported that you and your son went around recently at night and tore down signs in the neighbrohood that were, that you didn’t find too flattering. Is that true?

    Peterson: No, it wasn’t signs. It was streamers the neighbors were sticking up. Particularly one neighbor next door to me was putting up streamers all up and down the street and it was kind of offensive to me and my children so…

    Mancow: What did they say?

    Peterson: They were just streamers they were sticking on the trees…and it really kind of made the neighborhood look kind of tacky.

    https://petersonstory.wordpress.com/2009/04/30/stacy-petersons-sister-confronts-drew-peterson-on-radio-show/

  57. Ah, politics. Bad blood between these two. So, it just has to turn into a pissing contest. Another proud moment for Will County, judging by this circus.

    Tomczak wants to subpoena Glasgow over jail call tapes

    By Jon Seidel

    jseidel@suntimes.com
    Last Modified: Oct 25, 2011 02:16AM

    JOLIET — Former Will County State’s Attorney Jeff Tomczak wants a court’s permission to subpoena his successor, Jim Glasgow, and ask whether recorded jailhouse phone conversations have been turned over to Drew Peterson’s attorney.

    He said he wants the answer because he has been fighting for months to get his hands on recordings of his own client, 24-year-old Cecil Conner of Steger, who was convicted for a drunken-driving crash that killed his girlfriend’s 5-year-old son last year.

    Judge Edward Burmila told prosecutors last month to give Tomczak some recordings, but they’re now asking the Illinois Supreme Court to undo the ruling. Meanwhile, Peterson attorney Joel Brodsky said Glasgow’s office gave him hundreds of recorded conversations after his client was charged with the murder of his third wife in Will County.

    “The state’s attorney obviously had no problem getting a hold of Drew’s records,” Brodsky said.

    Prosecutors have said they didn’t have direct access to Conner’s phone calls because they were in the possession of the Will County sheriff. They disagree with Burmila’s ruling the sheriff is an agent of the state’s attorney, and they’ve said neither they nor the lead detective in Conner’s case ever listened to the tapes.

    In a motion filed Monday, though, Tomczak said the conflicting actions in the Conner and Peterson cases could be evidence of a “willful, wanton” violation of evidence rules by Glasgow.

    Chuck Pelkie, a spokesman for Glasgow’s office, called Tomczak’s motion “pure theatrics.” The two sides are expected back in court Tuesday.

    Tomczak ousted Glasgow from the state’s attorney’s office in 2000 after two terms, then lost the seat back to him in 2004. Glasgow has held the office since.

    Conner’s girlfriend, Kathie LaFond, was driving him home from a party in May 2010 with her son, Michael Langford Jr., in the back seat. A Chicago Heights police officer stopped LaFond’s car and arrested her, though, for driving with a suspended license.

    He then let Conner drive home with the child. Shortly after the stop, Conner drove the car into a tree on Steger Road near Carpenter street, killing the boy.

    His blood alcohol level was later found to be 0.208.

    http://napervillesun.suntimes.com/8394659-417/tomczak-wants-to-subpoena-glasgow-over-jail-call-tapes.html

  58. Legal wrangling continues in fatal DUI even as Supreme Court blocks release of tapes

    By Jon Seidel Sun-Times Media
    October 25, 2011 4:44PM

    Months of wrangling between a Will County defense attorney and prosecutors over the recorded jailhouse phone calls of a Steger man led to an Illinois Supreme Court order Monday temporarily keeping the tapes out of the hands of the man’s lawyer.

    The high court’s order arrived just as a resolution materialized between Jeff Tomczak, attorney for 24-year-old Cecil Conner, and the Will County State’s Attorney’s office. Now the case could be on hold until the Supreme Court decides what to do with Judge Edward Burmila’s ruling that gives the tapes to Tomczak.

    A jury convicted Conner in February for the drunken driving crash that killed 5-year-old Michael Langford Jr. in May 2010. His girlfriend, Kathie LaFond, was driving him home from a party with her son in the back seat when a Chicago Heights police officer stopped them and arrested her for driving with a suspended license.

    The cop then let Conner drive home with the child. Shortly after the stop, Conner drove the car into a tree on Steger Road near Carpenter Street. The boy was killed, and Conner’s blood alcohol level was later found to be 0.208.

    When Conner’s sentencing date arrived, Tomczak announced he’d seek a new trial. Tomczak, a former Will County state’s attorney, said he’d just learned Conner’s phone calls were being recorded at the county jail. He said tapes of the calls should have been turned over ahead of Conner’s trial.

    He won a ruling from Burmila, who ordered prosecutors last month to hand over some of those tapes. Instead, they asked the Supreme Court to intervene and undo Burmila’s ruling.

    Tomczak responded Monday by asking permission to subpoena their boss, Jim Glasgow — Tomczak’s successor in the state’s attorney’s office. Tomczak said he wants to know why Glasgow handed recorded phone conversations of murder suspect Drew Peterson over to Peterson’s attorney but refused to do so in Conner’s case.

    “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander,” Tomczak said.

    Burmila shot down Tomczak’s request but grilled Assistant State’s Attorney Colleen Griffin on the issue of the tapes. Griffin said her office turns over phone recordings whenever they’ve been listened to as part of an investigation. Investigators said they never listened to Conner’s calls.

    Griffin also said Tomczak could get the tapes by simply asking Burmila to subpoena them from the Will County sheriff.

    “Nobody’s trying to keep these tapes away from the defendant,” Griffin said.

    Tomczak said a request for a subpoena would be on the way. But he said he worried it would violate the Supreme Court’s order.

    “I can’t help you there,” Burmila said.

    http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/8410302-418/legal-wrangling-continues-in-fatal-dui-even-as-supreme-court-blocks-release-of-tapes.html

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