JOLIET, Ill., July 18 (UPI) -- Hearings in Illinois will continue into the death of a former police officer's wife after unusual court proceedings and the disappearance of his latest wife.
A surprise move by attorneys for retired Bolingbrook, Ill., police officer Drew Peterson, 50, has allowed probate proceedings to continue into the death of Kathleen Savio, 40. She was Peterson's third wife on March 1, 2004, when she was found dead in a dry bathtub. A coroner's jury ruled she died accidentally but the case was reopened, now with permission from both sides, after Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy, 23, disappeared last October, the Herald News newspaper in Joliet, Ill., reported Friday.
Peterson's attorney, Joel Brodsky, withdrew a motion to halt the case Thursday, even though it could help lead to a wrongful death suit from the estate of Savio. But Brodsky told the Chicago Tribune that if a wrongful death suit proceeds he'll also gain subpoena powers to interview grand jury witnesses in regards to his client, who hasn't been charged in either death.
