Drew Peterson accused of plotting to kill prosecutor who put him away
Drew Peterson, the former police officer who was convicted of killing his third wife three years before his fourth went missing, has been charged with plotting to kill the prosecutor who put him away.
According to the Illinois attorney general’s office, Peterson tried to hire a hit man to kill Will County State Attorney James Glasgow, who led the 2012 murder trial. The 61-year-old has been charged with one count of solicitation of murder for hire and one count of solicitation of murder, the attorney general’s office said Monday.
Peterson allegedly tried to arrange the hit on Glasgow between September 2013 and December 2014 from Menard Correctional Center, the maximum-security prison where he is serving a 38-year prison sentence for the 2004 drowning death of Kathleen Savio. The attorney general’s office did not release further details.
Peterson’s attorney, Steve Greenberg, called the idea of Peterson plotting a hit from prison “absurd.”
“Drew would have nothing to gain and everything to lose by doing that,” Greenberg told the Chicago Tribune.
Savio’s 2004 death was originally ruled accidental, but the case was reopened after Peterson’s fourth wife, Stacy, disappeared in 2007.
Peterson is the only suspect in that disappearance, but he hasn’t been charged in that case.
Before Peterson was sentenced, Glasgow said his office was considering moving forward with its investigation of Peterson in Stacy's disappearance.
“After we sentence Drew Peterson, or after he is sentenced on the current case, we’ll be sitting down and reassessing the case we’ve put together with regards to Stacy Peterson,” Glasgow told ABC in 2012.
Peterson made an initial court appearance on the charges Monday, and a preliminary hearing is set for March 3. If convicted, solicitation of murder for hire carries a mandatory prison sentence of 20 to 40 years; solicitation of murder carries a mandatory sentence of 15 to 30 years.
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