Former Bolingbrook police sergeant Drew Peterson arrives at the Will County Courthouse in Joliet, Ill., Friday, May 8, 2009, for his arraignment on charges of first-degree murder in the 2004 death of his former wife Kathleen Savio. (M. Spender Green/AP)
Reporting Regine Schlesinger
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JOLIET, Ill. (CBS) — Drew Peterson’s future now rests with twelve of his fellow Will County citizens who will decide whether he’s guilty of murder.
As WBBM Newsradio’s Regine Schlesinger reports, the jury of seven men and five women chosen last week consists of nine whites, two African-Americans and one Hispanic.
LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Regine Schlesinger reports
Among them are a poet, a letter carrier, a motorcycle enthusiast, a research technician whose favorite TV show is “Criminal Minds,” and a woman who says she reads the National Enquirer, but doesn’t believe everything in it.
Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow, who is personally prosecuting the case, will try to persuade the jury that Peterson, a former Bolingbrook police sergeant, murdered his third wife, Kathleen Savio, during a bitter divorce in 2004.
The defense says there is not a shred of real evidence that Peterson killed Savio.
Savio’s body was found in a dry bathtub in March 2004.
Initially, Savio’s death was ruled an accidental drowning, but her body was exhumed after Stacy Peterson, Drew Peterson’s third wife, vanished in October 2007. After a new autopsy, officials concluded that Savio’s death was a homicide.
Stacy Peterson is believed to be dead by prosecutors and Illinois State Police, and Drew Peterson has been named a person of interest in her disappearance. But he has not been charged in that case.
The defense has listed Stacy Peterson as a defense witness in the case, indicating a belief that she is still alive — even though her whereabouts is unknown.
Peterson was arrested and charged with Savio’s murder in May 2009. He was supposed to go on trial in July 2010, but the trial was delayed as prosecutors and defense attorneys wrangled over evidence that can be allowed in court.
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