Attorney: Stop Filming Drew Peterson Movie At Once
UPDATED 07/14/11 1:37 p.m.
JOLIET, Ill. (CBS) -- Attorneys for Drew Peterson are telling everybody associated with a movie project on Peterson to cease and desist - or face a lawsuit.
As WBBM Newsradio 780's Steve Miller reports, attorney Walter Makysm has sent a letter to everyone from the star chosen to play Peterson – Rob Lowe – to the cable network behind the project – Lifetime Entertainment.
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The letter says they must stop the project – "Untouchable: The Drew Peterson Story" -- or else face a lawsuit.
Maksym says the makers of the made-for-TV movie have no right to produce the film without Peterson's permission.
"They're the ones who have jumped on this lynch mob bandwagon – you know, this sort of Frankenstein torture mob, and they have not only decided to jump on it and besmirch Mr. Peterson, but they've gone ahead and added insult to injury by making it their business to profit doing it!" Maksym said.
Maksym says he believes it is very likely that the movie makers will not cease and desist, and that he will file an actual lawsuit.
His letter gives a deadline of Friday for Lifetime to halt the project. A&E Television, Disney and other potential defendants are also named in the letter.
When contacted by CBS 2, Lifetime had no comment, but confirmed that production of the movie was still in progress.
Peterson, a former Bolingbrook police sergeant, has been a fixture in the headlines for nearly the past four years. He is now in the Will County Jail awaiting trial in the 2004 death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, whose death was originally ruled an accident after her body was found in a dry bathtub.
Peterson is also suspected in the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson.
Shooting for Peterson made a comment about the movie last month. His criminal defense attorney, Joel Brodsky, said he told Peterson about the movie around the time Lowe was announced as the star.
Peterson said in mid-June: "If I was ever in a movie I was hoping I would be portrayed by Denzel Washington, but I guess Rob Lowe is OK. However, only Al Lewis could portray (Will County) State's Attorney Jim Glasgow."
The movie is now underway in Los Angeles. It reportedly takes Lowe nine hours to transform Lowe into Peterson, who is a decade the actor's senior.
