SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The Illinois Supreme Court has upheld the murder conviction of former police officer Drew Peterson in the death of his third wife.
The high court ruled unanimously in an opinion released Thursday. It said that the use of hearsay testimony in Peterson’s 2012 trial for the death of Kathleen Savio did not violate Peterson’s cross-examination rights.
Savio’s body was found in a bathtub in 2004. The death was initially ruled accidental, but the case was reopened after the 2007 disappearance of Peterson’s fourth wife, Stacy Peterson.
Statements Stacy Peterson allegedly made to her pastor and others were used against Drew Peterson in the Savio case.
The 63-year-old Peterson was convicted last year of plotting to kill the prosecutor in the Savio case.
