Peterson gets 38 years after screaming, 'I did not kill Kathleen'

[City Lights]

Source: Chicago Tribune

Peterson gets 38 years after screaming, 'I did not kill Kathleen'
By Matthew Walberg and Steve Schmadeke Tribune reporters

4:27 p.m. CST, February 21, 2013

Moments after screaming in court, "I did not kill Kathleen," Drew Peterson was sentenced to 38 years in prison for the 2004 murder of his third wife Kathleen Savio.

Peterson had faced as much as 60 years, but Judge Edward Burmila said he gave Peterson some consideration for his years as a police officer and his service in the military. Peterson is 59.

The sentence was handed down after Peterson, who did not testify at his trial, made an emotional appeal to the judge, at times appearing to choke up as he argued that he was convicted by "rumors, gossip, outrageous lies and, most importantly, unreliable hearsay."

"I don't deserve this," he told Burmila. "I don't deserve this."

Peterson, a former Bolingbrook police sergeant, was convicted last fall of drowning Savio in her bathtub.

Peterson began his appeal to the judge today by telling him, "Good day, my name is Drew Peterson. I hope I don't aggravate the situation here, but I have a lot of things to be said." Then he screamed, "I did not kill Kathleen!"

"Yes, you did," a woman said.

Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-drew-peterson-sentence-20130221,0,1883440.story

[chuckstevens]

1. Hey Drew

You're not so cocky and arrogant now, are you? Finally, justice for Kathleen. Now how about some justice for Stacy?

[Kalidurga]

2. Judge Edward Burmila said he gave Peterson some consideration for his years as a police officer

...and his service in the military. Really??? I would have been inclined to double the 60 years for that. A police officer that breaks the law IMO is worse than a gang member who shoots someone over drugs. And someone in the military has also taken a kind of a vow to protect the people in this country so they should also be held to a higher standard than your average person on the street that may or may not have had as many opportunities in life to care about their fellow humans.

[BainsBane]

4. It's probably a life sentence anyway

Given his age. Being a cop in prison will shorten his life expectancy.

[Kalidurga]

5. I realize that, but it really is the principal of the sentence.

Why do people of privilege routinely get lighter sentences. I am sorry but if you are given better tools in life you should be judged more harshly not less harshly than someone that comes from a more brutal background.

[BainsBane]

6. absolutely

While African-Americans are far more likely to get the death penalty.

[Mnemosyne]

15. +1000 - excellent assessment! nt

[Orrex]

24. Oh, come on

He was a cop for how many years? And he only brutally murdered his wife once in all that time

Obviously a case should be made for leniency. Hell, he's practically a hero, with those odds!

[frylock]

9. i agree wholeheartedly..

if someone can have their sentence doubled for killing an officer of the law, the same should apply to figures of authority that abuse their position. these fuckers should be held to a higher standard.

[wickerwoman]

17. Yes, you're right.

Someone whom society has invested in training with certain skills (i.e. use of force) and has placed a level of trust and power in should be held to a higher standard for when they use those skills.

[Owl]

23. I agree also. Reducing this sentence due to previous police/military service is despicable.

[Bossy Monkey]

3. Good thing he narrowed that down. Maybe he should have added, "OR STACY!" n/t

[Thinkingabout]

7. At least he might not be able to kill wife no 4, it was never going to stop.

[liberalhistorian]

21. He DID kill

wife number four; that was Stacy, whose body has never been found. He is nothing but pure slime. Being a police officer, he knew how to get away with a murder and how to make someone disappear cleanly. He almost got away with Kathleen's murder; her death was not ruled a homicide at first.

[Thinkingabout]

29. Sorry you are right, I lost count.

[Ken Burch]

8. Please tell me they won't let him out while he appeals.

[Drale]

27. I doubt it

since he's been sitting in prison since his arrest like 2 years ago.

[frylock]

10. this dick's final statement makes christopher dorner look positively lucid

[LeftInTX]

11. This guy deserved life

He was bad to the core.

[RebelOne]

18. He has a life sentence. He is 59 and received 38 years.

He will die in prison unless he lives to be 97 when his term is up.

[City Lights]

12. "I'm an obnoxious man by nature, truly."

What an understatement! Local teevee news says his rant went on for 40 minutes!

[musette_sf]

13. Good.

Maybe now he'll be motivated to cough up the truth about Stacy.

[KG]

14. deserve's got nothing to do with it...

[awoke_in_2003]

22. At line from the Unforgiven...

Is what went through my head, too.

http://m.

Hmm, bad cop (sheriff) in that one, too.

[Kelvin Mace]

16. I am troubled by the events of this trial

While I believe the man is guilty, I wonder about the propriety of passing a law to specifically allow hearsay evidence when the prosecution can prove the witness was killed to prevent their testimony.

That just seems to open up a hell of a loophole for prosecutors.

[TexasBushwhacker]

30. Well, they are testifying under oath

and it does address the issue of murdering witnesses. But there was also a guy who testified that Drew offered him $25K to find someone to kill Savio.

[Kelvin Mace]

31. The problem is that people testifying, even under oath,

have later been found out to have lied, usually with little consequence. Jail house snitches have the most incentive to lie, as they always have.

For example, in this case, who was the guy who testified about being offered money to kill Savio? What is his background?

While it may seem (and may actually be) a cut and dried issue in this case, it is a very disturbing precedent to have the legislature directly interfere in a criminal investigation and trial by rushing through a law designed specifically to aid the prosecution of one person.

This law stacks the deck yet again against defendants and will be abused to ensure conviction, quite probably of innocent people.

The admissibility of the hearsay testimony hinges on proving a witness was killed to prevent their testimony, but this creates a completely different standard of evidence for that crime, one much lower than the usual requirements (a jury trial, discovery, etc). In this case, if I understand correctly, the court has found that Savio was killed to prevent her testifying, yet her husband has not been charged with the crime, nor has anyone else.

[Zoeisright]

19. I wish there was a hell so that asshole

would burn in it.

[XanaDUer]

20. Wow I thought this was Michael Peterson.

[nolabear]

25. I don't think a person on earth thinks he didn't do it. And this just reinforces that opinion.

Creepy, creepy guy. Referring to your dead wife's body as "fresh evidence" is just...

[Drale]

28. He did that to himself

when he did his little media play. Blago did the same this with his media tour.

[Beacool]

26. The man is a psychopath.

I'm glad that eh won't be around to kill wife number 5.

[AngryAmish]

32. Prick did it but they railroaded him

That hearsay law is pure bullshit.