Drew Peterson Denied Bid for New Trial; Awaits Sentencing
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Giovanni Rufino/NBC NewsWireUPDATE: Drew Peterson was sentenced Thursday to 38 years in prison for the 2004 murder of Kathleen Savio.
(CHICAGO) — Former Illinois cop Drew Peterson was denied a re-trial Thursday and now faces up to 60 years in prison for killing his wife, Kathleen Savio in 2004.
Peterson’s defense team had requested a re-trial after he was found guilty in September of killing Savio and making it look like an accident.
The re-trial, Peterson’s attorneys claimed, was warranted because his former lead trial counsel, Joel Brodsky, had “single-handedly” lost the trial last fall, according to attorney Steve Greenberg. Greenberg is a former colleague of Brodsky’s, but the two have recently been embroiled in a bitter public feud.
Will County Judge Edward Burmila on Thursday rejected all of the motions for a new trial. Burmila has said he will move on to sentencing immediately if he were to deny Peterson a re-trial.
It is the latest development in the bizarre story of Peterson, a former suburban Chicago police officer. In 2004, Peterson’s third wife, Savio, was found dead in her bathtub, a death that was initially ruled an accident. But when his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, disappeared in 2007, Savio’s body was exhumed and her death ruled a homicide.
Drew Peterson has never been charged in connection with Stacy Peterson’s case.
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