Verdict reached in Drew Peterson murder-for-hire trial
CHESTER, Ill. -- Jurors on Tuesday found former suburban Chicago police officer Drew Peterson guilty of trying to hire someone to kill the prosecutor who helped to convict him in the killing of his third wife.
The jury started deliberating at about 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, after closing arguments in the trial that started last week. Peterson, 62, is serving a 38-year sentence in ex-wife Kathleen Savio's death and faces up to 60 more years in prison.
On Tuesday, prosecutors said prison recordings of Peterson speaking with a fellow inmate prove he wanted Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow killed.
"It's the defendant's own words that prove him guilty beyond reasonable doubt," said Steve Nate of the Illinois attorney general's office. The office is assisting Randolph County prosecutors.
Peterson's fellow inmate, Antonio "Beast" Smith, wore a wiretap for prosecutors, and jurors heard hours of Smith's recorded conversations with Peterson at Menard Correctional Center in November 2014.
But Peterson's defense lawyer Lucas Liefer told jurors Peterson never explicitly says in the recordings that he wanted Glasgow killed. Liefer called Smith unreliable and asked for a shortened prison term in exchange for help with the Peterson case.
"This case is wrought with inconsistency and incomplete evidence," Liefer said.
Savio's death was initially deemed accidental. Glasgow reopened the case after the 2007 disappearance of Stacy Peterson, Peterson's 23-year-old fourth wife. Peterson was never charged in her disappearance but told the informant he worried that Glasgow would eventually charge him in that case.