FOXNews.com: As Murder Trial Begins, Peterson Claims 'Accident'

FOXNews.com FOX News Channel - We Report. You Decide. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

As Murder Trial Begins, Peterson Claims 'Accident' Jul 31st 2012, 15:17 Outside the courtroom where Drew Peterson was about to go on trial for the murder of his third wife, the former suburban Chicago police officer's lawyer said his client had been framed for an "accident."   Defense attorney Steve Greenberg told reporters Tuesday that there is no physical evidence linking Peterson to the 2004 death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, whose body was found slumped forward in a dry bathtub, her hair soaked in blood. An Illinois court will hear opening arguments Tuesday morning in the case against Peterson, 58, who is charged with murdering Savio. Her death was ruled accidental until police began investigating the 2007 disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson. Peterson claims Stacy, a 23-year-old mother of two, ran off with another man, but authorities have named him a suspect in her disappearance. They believe Stacy Peterson is dead, but her remains have never been found. The real-life drama inspired a TV movie and a national spotlight was put on the case, with speculation about whether Peterson used his law-enforcement expertise in a bid to get away with the murder of Savio, 40, and to make Stacy Peterson disappear in 2007. Tuesday's openings in Joliet pit the dry but dogged James Glasgow, Will County's state's attorney, against flamboyant defense lawyer Joel Brodsky, both of whom have staked at least part of their reputations on the final result. Peterson's attorney says he will tell jurors, who include a part-time poet, a letter carrier and a research technician whose favorite TV show is "Criminal Minds," the life story of his client and Savio. Peterson, a former police sergeant in the Chicago suburb of Bolingbrook, was charged with first-degree murder in Savio's death only after Stacy Peterson went missing. He is a suspect in her disappearance but hasn't been charged. "I'll tell a story from the beginning to the end so they can understand what's going on," Brodsky said about his planned Tuesday opening. "Until now, everything has been told just in slices." The defense has described Savio's death as a tragic accident, and they have said Stacy Peterson, whose body has never been found, may have run off with another man. Glasgow may face the greater challenge. A botched initial investigation into Savio's death left prosecutors with scant to no physical evidence, forcing them to rely heavily on hearsay evidence -- statements not heard directly by a witness -- which is normally barred at trials. Glasgow has said previously that Savio and Stacy Peterson will effectively speak to jurors through witnesses who can describe how Drew Peterson allegedly told his wives he could murder them and make it look like an accident. But Judge Edward Burmila has said he would decide what hearsay statements to admit only as testimony proceeds, so Glasgow will have to decide whether to risk mentioning statements to jurors that the judge might later prohibit. "The last thing you want to do is make an opening about what jurors will hear, telling them the case hinges on what they'll hear -- and then they don't hear it," Chicago-based attorney Michael Helfand said. By presenting what they regard as overwhelming hearsay and circumstantial evidence, Zellner said prosecutors will want to show jurors the only possible explanation for Savio's death is that Peterson killed her. In the case of Stacy Peterson, Burmila has warned prosecutors they can't tell jurors Drew Peterson is responsible for her disappearance or refer to authorities' belief that she is dead. Attorneys on both sides will have to find the right terminology in talking about the missing fourth wife, said Brodsky, who added that the sides might be able to use the awkward phrase "she is no longer available." Prosecutors say Peterson killed Savio because he feared their pending divorce settlement would wipe him out financially. And they believe he killed Stacy, in part, because she knew about Savio's death. Stacy's family, meanwhile, says they are convinced of Peterson's guilt and confident they will see him tried for her murder. "He has not been charged because we don't have a body," Stacy Peterson's aunt, Candace Aikin, told FoxNews.com last week. "But I believe that things are progressing with the investigation in a good way." Fox News' Marla Cichowski, Cristina Corbin and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions