JOLIET, Ill., Feb. 6 (UPI) -- An Illinois pathologist testified Friday that former police officer Drew Peterson's third wife was the victim of a homicide.
Dr. Larry Blum said he did not believe Kathleen Savio was the victim of an accidental drowning in a bathtub and that injuries to the front, back and sides of her body could not have been caused accidentally, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Blum testified at a hearing to determine whether prosecutors can introduce hearsay evidence at Peterson's trial. The 56-year-old former Bolingbrook police officer is charged with Savio's murder.
Savio's death was ruled an accident immediately after her body was found in 2004 in a bathtub in her home in Bolingbrook. After Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy, disappeared in 2007, Savio's body was exhumed, and Blum performed a second autopsy.
Blum said his review of other bathtub drownings suggested Savio's death "falls so far out of the pattern for accidental."
At the time of her death, Savio and Peterson were in the midst of a divorce.
Mary Parks, who took nursing classes with Savio, testified Savio told her Peterson tried to throttle her.
Parks said Savio reported Peterson asked her a question: "Why don't you just die?"
