Peterson’s Attorney to Ask for Bond Reduction
Posted: Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Chicago, IL—The attorney for Drew Peterson, who’s facing first-degree murder charges in the death of his third wife, and who remains a suspect in his fourth wife’s disappearance, will petition the judge in the case for a reduction of bond.
Peterson, who is a former Bolingbroke, IL police officer, is being held at Will County Adult Detention Facility in Joliet on $20 million bond. Peterson would need to post 10% of that amount in order to go free while he awaits his trial.
His attorney, Joel Brodsky, called the $20 million figure “excessive,” and said that he would like to see it reduced to between $500,000 and $1 million, which would be within the range of bond amounts set for other Will County murder cases. At that level, he says, Peterson might be able to make bond.
Peterson is accused of having drowned his third wife, Kathleen Savio, in 2004. Her body was found in a bathtub, dry but with her hair soaked in blood. Originally ruled as an accidental drowning, her death was later upgraded to homicide. Authorities claimed that the scene had been staged in order to appear accidental.
Salvio’s family claims that she had long feared her husband, and told them that if she died it would not be an accidental death. Peterson’s fourth wife, Stacy, disappeared in October 2007. Police have called this a possible homicide, and although Peterson has not been charged in the case, he remains a suspect.
Peterson was arrested on May 8th at a traffic stop. As he was handcuffed and led to jail, he joked, “I guess I should have returned those library books.”
Currently being held in segregation because he is a former law-enforcement officer, and because his case is so high-profile, he will next appear in court on May 18th.
Brodsky has said that he will most likely ask the judge in the case to move it outside of Will County, where Peterson served as a police officer for over 30 years, in order to attain a fair trial. He may also request that the jury come from a different area of the state, to avoid prejudice.
Peterson, who is 55, has two young children from his marriage to Stacy Peterson, and two children from his marriage to Salvio. Salvio and Peterson’s 16-year-old son, Thomas, has publicly defended his father. All the children are currently in protective custody.
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