JOLIET, Ill. — Drew Peterson introduced himself to would-be jurors
Monday as jury selection began in the former suburban Chicago police officer's
long-delayed murder trial.
Peterson, 58, is charged with killing his third wife, Kathleen Savio, in
2004. Her body was found in a dry bathtub in her home, her hair soaked with
blood. The ex-Bolingbrook police sergeant also is a suspect in the 2007
disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, although he has not been
charged.
Peterson, his trademark mustache shaved off, stood and spoke to some 40
potential jurors as proceedings began Monday.
"Good morning ladies and gentlemen, I'm Mr. Peterson," he said
in a steady voice.
During the trial, jurors are likely to hear statements the women
allegedly made to friends and relatives about threats Peterson made. Such
hearsay is usually barred, but an appellate court ruled jurors can hear the
statements.
The 200-person jury pool has been waiting three years for a trial to get
under way. It was put off because of appellate court battles over the hearsay
statements.
"I've never heard of anything comparable to this — a jury pool
waiting around for so long knowing what case they're going to be in and the
reliance on hearsay," said Gal Pissetzky, a Chicago defense lawyer with no
link to the case.
Publicity in the case is an issue as the judge and attorneys question
jurors. The legal saga surrounding Peterson and whether he used his status as a
police officer to try to get away with murder has attracted national attention.
Rob Lowe portrayed Peterson in a 2011 TV movie, "Drew Peterson:
Untouchable."
The defense raised concerns that some prospective jurors may have
violated orders to avoid all news about Peterson. Some of the half dozen
would-be jurors questioned by the judge Monday acknowledged they have been
unable to completely avoid the television, radio and newspaper coverage of the
case.
One man said that when he hears Peterson's name on the radio he switches
it off or leaves the room. But the man said that just last week he saw
Peterson's photograph splashed across the front page of a suburban Chicago
newspaper.
One woman who was asked what she thinks she's heard about the case
answered, "Something about a bathtub."
Vetting would-be jurors typically takes a few days, but extra time is
sometimes required in high-profile cases to weed out those who come in with
well-formed opinions. Opening statements at Peterson's trial in Joliet are
slated for next Tuesday.
Jurors are likely to hear from a parade of pathologists who will dispute
each other's conclusions about how the 40-year-old Savio died. They will hear
about her death being ruled an accident, her body being exhumed after
23-year-old Stacy Peterson's disappearance and the autopsy after which her
cause of death was changed from accidental to homicide — and the continued
dispute over those findings.
There's apparently no physical evidence, so the hearsay is the heart of
prosecutors' case.
Before jury selection began Monday, Will County Judge Edward Burmila
refused prosecutors' request to give them blanket approval to admit eight key
hearsay statements. Burmila said he will make a final ruling on the
admissibility of each statement only as they come up at trial.
Neither Burmila nor the attorneys spoke in any detail about the
substance of the eight statements.
At a 2010 hearing to determine what hearsay a jury could hear, dozens of
witnesses testified that Savio told them she feared Peterson would kill her and
make it look like an accident.
One question looming over the trial is how much Peterson's personality
will influence the jury. Before his arrest, Peterson was often seen joking
about a "Win A Date With Drew" contest, his missing wife's menstrual
cycle and other topics that were widely seen as inappropriate.
Peterson's lead attorney, Joel Brodsky, has said the three years that
Peterson has been in jail and largely out of the public eye might help him
because the memories of his behavior have faded.
Peterson, jailed since his 2009 arrest, pleaded not guilty. His
attorneys say Savio's death was an accident and that Stacy Peterson — 30 years
younger than Drew Peterson — ran off with another man and is alive. Authorities
have said they believe she is dead, although her body has never been found.