Drew Peterson guilty of seeking contract hit on prosecutor in murder case
Already serving a 38-year prison term after his 2012 conviction for the murder of his third wife, Drew Peterson now faces an additional sentence that could add decades to his time behind bars.
A downstate Illinois jury deliberated for less than an hour on Tuesday before finding the former suburban Chicago police officer guilty of trying to solicit the murder of the prosecutor responsible for Peterson’s murder conviction in the 2004 death of Kathleen Savio.
Currently 62, Peterson would be 93, if he lives that long, when his release is scheduled in the Savio murder case, without additional time, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
Peterson showed no emotion as the verdict was announced, holding his head in one hand.
The case turned on both a fellow inmate’s testimony and recordings that the government said proved Peterson had tried to solicit the murder of Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow, even though no assassination attempt was actually made.
One recorded Nov. 15, 2014, exchange concerned a claimed plan, as it was portrayed to Peterson, to have an uncle of informant Antonio Smith kill Glasgow, the Chicago Tribune reports.
Smith said to Peterson: “I told him what you said, that it’s the green light on, that basically go ahead and kill him. That’s what you wanted, right? … It ain’t no turning back.”
Replied Peterson: “OK, all right. I’m in. From the first time we talked about it, there was no turning back. … If I get some booze in here, we’ll celebrate that night.”
Defense attorney Lucas Liefer scoffed at the significance accorded by prosecutors to the recorded comments made by his client, contending that they were simply prison chatter.
At the outset of his closing arguments, Liefer told jurors he could be the top prosecutor in the jurisdiction in which Peterson’s case was being tried—if only Randolph County’s State’s Attorney Jeremy Walker wasn’t around, the Sun-Times reports.
“Oh my gosh, did I just commit solicitation of murder?” Liefer then asked the jury.
But assistant Illinois attorney general Steve Nate, who prosecuted the murder-solicitation case with Walker, said there was no wiggle room concerning Peterson’s statements.
“He said it, he meant it, and he’s guilty,” Nate told the jury in his closing argument.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Ex-cop Drew Peterson on trial on charges he tried to put a hit on prosecutor in his murder case”
