West Suburban Bureau

Ex-Pal And Peterson: War Of Words

BOLINGBROOK, Ill. (CBS) ― The man who secretly recorded Drew Peterson for seven months is speaking out in exclusive interview with CBS 2 West Suburban Bureau Chief Mike Puccinelli.

Len Wawczak and his wife, Paula Stark, say Illinois State Police asked them to tape conversations with Drew Peterson. They had been friends with Peterson for more than a decade.

It's something the couple decided to do about two weeks after Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, disappeared without a trace.

"He did not act like the typical husband who should be grieving his wife," Wawczak said.

He said Peterson was acting "guilty."

"That was it," Wawczak said. "Drew looked guilty."

Wawczak's own father was murdered at a gas station years ago, and it was the testimony of a sharp-eyed witness that led to a conviction in that case.

Now, Wawczak hopes conversations he secretly recorded with Drew Peterson will bring similar justice for the families of Drew Peterson's third wife, Kathleen Savio, who was found dead in a dry bathtub and ultimately ruled to have died in a homicide, and Peterson's missing fourth wife, Stacy Peterson.

"The wire used to be stashed in here," Wawzcak said, directing attention to the arm of his couch.

Wawczak said he and his wife recorded conversations with Peterson for as much as 13 hours a day. There was also video, he said.

"It was right here," he said, pointing to an alcove containing a pink stuffed bunny and a Spongebob Squarepants toy. "Naturally, not a camera; it wouldn't look like a camera to him."

But most of the taping was done in Peterson's house in Bolingbrook over a period of seven months. Wawczak estimates that hundreds – maybe even thousands – of hours of conversations were recorded. Wawczak believes the conversations will help put Peterson away for murder.

"I go off what I've been told," Wawczak said. "An arrest is imminent on him."

Peterson's reaction: "If they have tapes, bring it on. I'm sure it's going to clear me."

Wawczak calls Peterson "delusional" and said there are many recorded conversations he can't talk about, but he did say Peterson claimed to be confident that police had no case.

"He said, 'They don't have s*** on me. If they did, I wouldn't be sitting here,'" Wawczak said of Peterson's remarks.

Wawczak said his former friend is cold and callous, and proved that in the way he talked about Savio, who was found dead in a bathtub.

"'I should have had the b**** cremated,'" Wawczak quoted Peterson. '"It would have cost me a lot less, and I wouldn't be going through all this."

Wawczak said Peterson would regularly betray his trust by hitting on his wife behind his back.

"Paula would be like, 'God, he kissed me again,' you know," Wawczak said.

Peterson says Wawczak and Stark bonded with his kids and then abandoned them.

"All of a sudden these people just coldly disappear from their lives," Peterson said. "More people just disappear. And i just thought... Lenny and Paula, that was a cruel thing."

But Wawczak said he went undercover to try and help Peterson's four children.

"I don't think they can afford to have another female brought into their life to get attached to them and have dad get a divorce in a bathroom or in an upstairs bedroom," Wawczak said.

He said what is hardest now is being away from the kids.

"Anthony and Lacy (Peterson) and all of them. They're great kids," Wawczak said as his voice began to break. "I never, never thought I would, and it hurts me now, but you know what? I'd rather go through the pain I'll go through of not being able to see anymore, if it means that they're not going to have to go through the pain again because Drew decides to take a third person."

Peterson attorney Joel Brodsky said the Wawczaks are broke, and disgruntled because the retired Bolingbrook police sergeant would not give them money.

Wawczak said that is not true, and that his family is not in financial trouble.

Drew Peterson also taped an appearance on the CBS Early Show with Brodsky Thursday.

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