Drew Peterson's Son Named Valedictorian At Bolingbrook High
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Thomas Drew Peterson, the son of former Bolingbrook police officer and accused murderer Drew Peterson, will graduate at the top of his class from Bolingbrook High School this June.
Peterson, 18, will deliver the valedictory address during graduation ceremonies on June 5th. About 800 students are in his senior class.
"Drew couldn't be happier. When he shared this incredible news with me his chest swelled with pride," says Joel Brodsky, Drew Peterson's lead defense attorney. "I have never seen him look better. He clearly is incredibly proud of his son."
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Drew Peterson is accused of killing his third wife, Kathleen Savio, and implicated in the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson. Savio is Tommy Peterson's mother.
Tommy "has always been number one in the class," said Bolingbrook High School Principal Jim Mitchem. Despite his mom's death and the accusations against his father, "Tommy has always been very well-rounded through all of this," Mitchem said.
Kathleen Savio's 2004 bathtub death was originally classified as an accidental drowning. But after a 2007 exhumation it was reclassified as a homicide.
Peterson was arrested in May, 2009 and charged with Savio's death, He is being held on $20 million bond and is awaiting trial.
In January, Tommy Peterson signed a document releasing his father from all financial claims arising from the death of his mother. His aunt and grandfather have filed a wrongful death suit on Thomas Peterson's behalf.
"Because I know my father is innocent, I am releasing him from the lawsuit brought by Henry J. Savio and Anna Doman on my behalf while I was a minor," the son wrote in the letter.
"Nobody is pulling the wool over my eyes. I know to an absolute 1000% moral certainty that my father Drew Peterson is innocent in the death of my mother Kathleen Savio," he wrote. "Do not forget I was with my father the entire weekend that my mother died."
