Local News

Peterson's Attorney: First Savio Autopsy Was Right

Autopsy Ruled Drew Peterson's 3rd Wife Died In A Homicide

BOLINGBROOK, Ill. (CBS) ― An autopsy report says Drew Peterson's third wife, Kathleen Savio, was the victim of a homicide, but through his attorney, Peterson insists the first autopsy report that ruled her death an accident is correct.

Drew Peterson was holed up inside his Bolingbrook home Friday evening. The former Bolingbrook Police sergeant wasn't talking on camera about the latest autopsy.

CBS 2 asked Peterson if he was expecting Savio's drowning to be declared a homicide.

"I wasn't at all. This is out of left field, I can't believe it," Peterson said.

He also took issue with previous media reports saying: "everything said so far has been twisted, turned or misquoted." Peterson went on to say, "I'm not in any way taunting the police or anyone. Everyone's gotta do what they gotta do. I'm standing by ready to defend anything that should arise."

The investigation into Savio's death was reopened last year, after Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, disappeared. She has not been seen since Oct. 28, 2007.

Peterson has already been called a suspect in Stacy's death, but he has not been charged in any crime. Illinois State Police have said she is likely dead in a homicide, but Peterson says she left him for another man.

Drew Peterson answered his door at his Bolingbrook home Friday morning only to say that he has no comment, referring questions to his attorney, Joel Brodsky.

Brodsky said Friday that Peterson believes autopsy report on Savio immediately after her death in March 2004 is correct. That autopsy said she died in an accidental drowning.

"What we have here are two conflicting findings by Will County authorities," Brodsky said on CBS' The Early Show. "The one four years ago said an accident, and the one we have now says it's a homicide, but there's still nothing that points to Drew."

"He's still very upbeat and still very confident. He knows that he didn't do anything wrong. He knows that he was not involved in Kathleen's death, and he's still confident that the first autopsy, which was the one closest in time to Kathy's death is more accurate, and will eventually be shown to be the correct finding."

Brodsky said the new autopsy that reveals Savio was the victim of a homicide proves nothing.

"Suspicious doesn't mean anything but suspicious," Brodsky said. "It's not guilt and suspicions are often proved incorrect."

Savio was found dead in a dry bathtub, her hair soaked with blood from a gash on her head. Despite the ruling that her death was accidental, her family was always suspicious, especially because she died while finalizing her divorce from Peterson.

Peterson, 54, has denied any involvement in either case and has not been charged with wrongdoing. He was a sergeant and 29-year veteran in the Bolingbrook, Ill., police department when he resigned after coming under suspicion in Stacy Peterson's disappearance.

On Thursday, Peterson did offer comment. He told the (Joliet) Herald-News the ruling in Savio's death shocked him. "You're kidding me. Unbelievable. That's hard to believe," he told the newspaper.

But Savio's family had a much different reaction.

"We want to know who killed my Aunt; who killed my Aunt Kitty, who took her away from me, and who took her away from her two little boys," said Savio's niece, Melissa Doman.

Savio's family members say they have always suspected her death was no accident.

"What I was surprised about was three and a half years ago, when I was told my aunt drowned accidentally," said Doman.

The recent ruling was welcomed by Savio's family.

"The best word I've been able to find so far is relief," Doman said.

Savio's family never believed her death was an accident.

"The old administration, putting it nicely, completely dropped the ball before and after she died," Doman said.

Savio's body was exhumed Nov. 13, 2007 and a new autopsy was performed that day.

In the second autopsy, pathologist Larry Blum concludes there is compelling evidence that "the cause of the death of Kathleen Savio was drowning, and further, the manner of death was a homicide."

At the coroner's inquest after Savio's death, an Illinois State Police officer testified about the death, saying: "during our investigation, we didn't find anything – no forced entry into the home. We didn't find anything unusual in the home."

Savio's family members said Peterson knew how to pick locks and had gotten in before. They site a letter written by Savio to a prosecutor in 2002. It says: "Mr. Peterson got into my home with a garage door opener programmed for himself. I was unaware of his presence and was very afraid for my life."

Savio wrote that she was so shocked by Petersons presence, she dropped a load of laundry she was carrying at the time.

Stacy Peterson's family spokeswoman, Pamela Bosco, responded to the results with the comment, "We realize that Kathleen and Stacy had one common denominator and that was Drew Peterson."

Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow said Thursday that the case has been investigated as a homicide since being reopened last November, and, he said, "We now have a scientific basis to formally and publicly classify it as such."

CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli, Rafael Romo, CBS News and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

---