Drew Peterson told his third wife Kathleen Savio he would kill her six months before she was found dead in a bathtub, Savio's sister testified in Peterson's murder trial today.
Anna Doman said on the stand today that her younger sister, Kathleen, had talked to her about threats Peterson made in which he warned Savio he would kill her, according to ABC News affiliate WLS. When asked whether Doman ever told anyone about Savio's statements, she said that she had not.
"No one would listen," she said. "No one would listen. I tried."
Peterson, 58, was arrested for the murder of Savio, his third wife, in 2007, after investigators exhumed her body and reexamined it as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy Peterson. A new forensic report ruled that Savio's death was a homicide, not an accident as originally thought.
Doman, the prosecution's third witness, said today that on the night Peterson found Savio dead in the bathtub, he called Doman and said, "Kitty is dead. She drowned in the tub," and told Doman not to bother coming over to the house. Doman and other family members went anyway.
The next day, Doman searched Savio's house for a briefcase with important documents, a will, and a life insurance policy that Savio had told her about before her death. She admitted that she did not turn over some of the documents to police until 2008 after Stacy Peterson disappeared.
While she was searching, Peterson banged on the door and entered the home, grabbing papers and clothing from the master bedroom and around the house, Doman said.
Peterson also took $100 out of Savio's purse and said, "This belongs to the boys," referring to their two sons, Doman testified.
According to Doman, Peterson told her that he didn't want the kids to see the blood.
Doman said she asked Peterson, "Why is there blood if she drowned?" and said Peterson didn't respond.
The testimony by Doman was a central piece of the prosecution's case against Peterson. Ahead of the trial, Judge Edward Burmila had not ruled whether he would allow Doman to testify about the hearsay statements Savio said to her.
Burmila is also expected to decide whether to allow hearsay from Stacy Peterson, in the form of statements she made to her minister about Peterson coming home to their house with women's clothing around the time of Savio's death.
Stacy Peterson has never been found.
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