Peterson Charged With Trying To Hire Hitman To Kill Prosecutor
CHICAGO (CBS) -- In prison for killing his third wife, Drew Peterson has been charged with trying to hire a hitman to kill the prosecutor who put him there.
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan confirmed Peterson has been charged with trying to put a hit on Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow, who led the prosecution team in Peterson's 2012 murder trial.
Peterson, 61, has been charged with one count of solicitation of murder for hire, and one count of solicitation of murder. Madigan said Peterson made an initial court appearance on Monday, and was informed of the charges against him. He was due for a preliminary hearing on March 3 in Randolph County.
"The charges allege that, between September 2013 and December 2014, the defendant solicited an individual to carry out a murder for hire plot against Will County State's Attorney Jim Glasgow," Madigan said.
Madigan said her office is involved in the latest case against Peterson, because Randolph County prosecutors requested her assistance, and Will County prosecutors have an obvious conflict of interest in the case.
Monday afternoon, Glasgow released a statement saying, " I have absolute faith in law enforcement and our criminal justice system to handle this case appropriately. I want to thank Attorney General Madigan and State's Attorney Walker and their legal teams for their work on this case.
It is unfortunate that prosecutors sometimes must deal with allegations of this nature. However, in no way will a threat to my personal safety deter me from the important work I perform as the State's Attorney on behalf of the citizens of Will County."
Peterson is serving a 38-year prison sentence at Menard Correctional Center in Randolph County. In September 2012, a Will County jury convicted Peterson of killing his third wife, Kathleen Savio, who drowned in a bathtub in March 2004 while the couple was in the midst of a divorce.
Initially, Savio's death was ruled accidental, but the case was reopened after his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, disappeared in 2007. A new autopsy ruled Savio's drowning to be a homicide.
Peterson has been named a suspect in Stacy's disappearance, but she has never been found, and no charges have been filed.
Peterson's defense attorney, Steve Greenberg, told the Chicago Tribune the murder for hire allegations are "absurd," because Peterson would have nothing to gain.
Former defense attorney Joel Brodsky, however, said if the allegations against Peterson are true, "it is a result of his frustration at not being well represented by Attorney Steve Greenberg."
"If Mr. Peterson believed in his appeal, he wouldn't commit such an act, if he did what he is alleged to have done. When I represented Drew, we may have done things that were controversial, but we always discussed everything and there was a reason for everything we did," Brodsky said in an email. "If the current allegations against Mr. Peterson are true, in my opinion, the actions are a result of Attorney Steve Greenberg's failure to control his client, and his failure to keep his client informed and focused on his legal options, his appeal, and other post-conviction remedies."
The earliest Peterson would be eligible for parole on his murder conviction would be 2047, when he would be 93 years old.