Drew Peterson Arrested! Being held on 20 Million Bail

Drew Peterson was arrested today for the murder of his 3rd wife, Kathleen Savio.

According to the Herald News, The state police took down Drew Peterson at a busy Bolingbrook intersection Thursday evening only moments after he said goodbye to his son – possibly for the last time as a free man.

Peterson, 55, was charged with murdering his third wife, Kathleen Savio. An indictment for two counts of first degree murder was handed down the same day as his arrest

Not that the heavy charges appeared to have gotten Peterson too down as he was led into District 5 State Police headquarters immediately after his arrest near the intersection of Lily Cache Lane and Weber Road about 5:30 p.m. At least not so down that he could not crack another joke.

"I should have returned those library books," Peterson said as he shook his head.

Well, it's about time!

Entire ariticle HERE

Drew Peterson: Kathleen Savio's Death Ruled a Homicide!

This news is just in. Kathleen Savio's death has been reclassified as a homicide.

MyFoxChicago is reporting:
Will County States Attorney James Glasgow announced today that his office has received the final report on the autopsy performed on the remains of Kathleen S. Savio on Nov. 13, 2007.

Dr. Larry W. Blum, the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy, concludes in his report that the actual cause of Kathleen Savio's death was drowning and that the legal manner of death was homicide. Dr. Blum's report was delivered to the Will County Coroners Office on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008 and immediately forwarded to the Will County States Attorneys Office and the Illinois State Police.

Fox is also reporting that a Grand Jury has been investigating the disappearance of Drew Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy, as well as the death of Kathleen Savio since November, 2007.

Donchais says, "The fact that this scumbag is still walking the streets just boggles the mind." Now that the cororner's office is finally calling Kathleen's death murder, how long is it going to take to get Peterson arrested? Come on grand jury! This should be the last piece of evidence you need to hand down an indictment.

Busy News Day: Hilton, Holloway, Peterson, Wesley and Britney

Well there certainly is no "shortage" of news in the last few days.

Gary Hilton cops a plea deal.
Gary Hilton took a guilty plea in the death of Georgia hiker Meredith Emerson.

11alive.com reports:
The guilty plea came just three hours after a 23-member grand jury in Dawson County handed down a true bill indictment of murder against Hilton.

Emerson's parents openly sobbed after Hilton was given a life sentence in the kidnapping and bludgeoning death of their daughter. This plea agreement means Hilton gets to keep his life, for now. There are still other unsolved murder cases that LE believes were committed by Hilton.

Natalee Holloway: Is the Case Solved?
Dutch television crime reporter Peter R. de Vries is reporting on his website that he has solved the case of the disappearance of Natalee Holloway over two years ago in Aruba. de Vries will reveal the confession on Dutch television Sunday, February 3rd. ABC has obtained the broadcast rights and will air it in the US the following day, Monday February 4th.

Radionetherlands.com is reporting:
Prosecuting authorities in Aruba have reopened the case of Natalee Holloway and are again investigating the role played by Dutch citizen Joran van der Sloot.

Steve Huff's True Crime Weblog has an update that MsNBC is reporting that Joran van der Sloot has been rearrested, but I can not find an online source to verify that. Steve has written extensively on this case and he has quite a few readers who follow his reports. There are some interesting comments by Huff's readers on his latest Holloway entry that I recommend.

Last minute insert update! CNN.Crime is reporting that prosecutors are requesting that Joran van der Sloot be rearrested, based on new evidence.

Drew Peterson: Salvio Family Gets Ready to Sue
When you hear the word scumbag, just think Drew Peterson and you have a perfect description. I heard reports a few days ago, that Peterson wants to divorce his fourth wife Stacy. It appears that he will have to wait an entire year before he's able to actually get that divorce. Let's hope Stacy is found soon and Peterson is denied that opportunity because LE would then be able to charge him with her murder. In other Peterson news, the family of Peterson's third wife, Kathleen Savio plan to sue Peterson.

Here is what upi.com is reporting:
Two of Kathleen Savio's siblings, preparing to sue her former ex-police officer husband Drew Peterson in Illinois, petitioned to reopen their sister's estate.

The late Savio's brother, Henry, and her sister, Anna Marie Doman, are planning to initiate a wrongful death case in Joliet, Ill., against Peterson, a petition filed in Will County civil court states.
Aw. It couldn't happen to a nicer guy! I hope that this wrongful death suit can go forward, and that the Savio family is not stymied in their efforts in the same way that Lana Clarkson's family has been in their wrongful death suit against Phil Spector.

And the day would not be complete without a little "celebrity" news too!

Wesley Snipes verdicts are in!
The jury in the Wesley Snipes gave him a "pass" ~otherwise known as not guilty~ on the more serious tax fraud charges but convicted him on three charges of failing to file and/or pay taxes. He could face up to three years in prison.

NYTimes.com reports:

Mr. Snipes had become an unlikely public face for the tax-denier movement, whose members maintain that Americans are not obligated to pay income taxes and that the government extracts taxes from its citizens illegally.

Two co-defendants — Eddie Ray Kahn, a promoter of tax denial, and Douglas Rosile, a disbarred accountant — were convicted on separate felony counts.

“The verdict shows that promoters face serious jail time” but clients who follow their advice will face a lesser but still-serious risk, said JJ MacNab, a Maryland insurance analyst who attended the trial and is writing a book about tax deniers.

Wesley, I recommend you consider getting competent legal advice before you hire your next accounting and tax preparation firm. MISSWASABI reminds me that "Wesley will have to pay up." I bet his legal fees cost him more than if he had just paid his taxes to begin with.

Britney, Britney, Britney.
Can we stop being surprised about the latest Britney news now? Under a 5150 hold at UCLA's Psych ward, TMZ.com is now reporting that Britney went ballistic when she learned that a judge had appointed her father as conservator of her estate.

From TMZ:
In a heavy British accent, a ballistic Brit screamed (about her parents), "I'm so sick of all of this they can have the God Damn house and stick it up their f**king asses. Actually, no they can't."

Brit, who sounded drugged up, was furious that her dad became a conservator of her estate. She was screaming at the top of her lungs, at times impossible to understand. At one point she screamed, "Nobody's taking my house. Who is my family?"

Holy cow. I can only sympathize with the nurses and doctors who have to work the upcoming shifts on "Britney watch."

Moment of Truth: Will Drew Peterson be a contestant?

Just when you think that there is no way that Drew Peterson's behavior could sink any lower, it does. TMZ.com is reporting that Drew Peterson has asked to be a contestant on the new FOX show, Moment of Truth. Unforkin' believeable. Drew Peterson is a suspect in the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson.

From the TMZ.com article:

"Moment of Truth" to Catch a Killer?

A well-placed source tells TMZ that reps for suspected wife killer Drew Peterson have contacted the producers of the new show "Moment of Truth" asking to hookup their client to a lie detector test on national television.

Peterson's fourth wife Stacey has been missing and presumed dead since last October. Peterson's third wife, Kathleen Savio, was found dead in a bathtub in March 2004. At the time, her death was ruled accidental, but since Stacey's disappearance, Savio's body was exhumed for forensic examination and officials determined her death to be a "homicide staged to look like an accident."

Stacey's family has continually asked Drew to submit to a lie detector test -- which he has repeatedly refused to do, until now.

Peterson denies any involvement in Stacey's disappearance, insisting she left him for another man.

A FOX spokesperson had no comment.

NY Daily News.com article on the same story.

Peterson, you might as well confess already, since your behavior is right in line with you being guilty.

Win a Date with Drew; how easily Stacy is forgotten

Just when you think Drew Peterson's behavior in front of the press can't get worse, it does. I don't know who's worse: Drew Peterson or his attorney, Joel Brodsky.

During a spontaneous call in to Steve Dahl's Chicago radio show, Peterson's attorney made the suggestion that a "Win a Date With Drew" contest be staged. Thankfully, Dahl nixed the idea, as the Chicago Tribune.com reports:

"It was a spontaneous on-air bit and never officially set up," Dahl said by e-mail Wednesday night. "After I got off the air and thought it through, it just didn't seem like something I wanted to do."

Peterson's interaction with the press has been as far away as you can get from a spouse who is actively out looking for his missing wife, Stacy. His behavior is as bad as that other famous Peterson, convicted double murder, Scott Peterson.

It's been three months now since she was reported missing by her sister Cassandra, at 1am on Monday, October 29th, 2007. (That's right; Drew was not the one who reported Stacy missing.) It was around 10am on Sunday, October 28th, that someone other than Drew Peterson spoke with Stacy.

MsNBC Dateline timeline of events

Latest CNN.Crime Coverage

Has Stacy Peterson been found?

A woman's body was discovered in Lake Michigan today. Authorities had trouble getting the body out of the water because of the frozen conditions. All we know at this point is that it's a death investigation. From the sound of some of the reports it may be a more recent incident and not Stacy.

Chicago Sun Times

Chicago Tribune Video of Recovery

OJ Says He's "Not Guilty" and Looking for that Blue Barrel

OJ makes his plea.

OJ pled "not guilty" to all counts against him in a Las Vegas courthouse today. Judge Jackie Glass set a trial date of April 7th, 2008. Here is CNN's coverage of the hearing. Judge Glass, who looks like she can give one heck of a smackdown, ~loved the GMAFB look on her face while one defense attorney was spewing~ informed both parties that all motions must be filed by February 1st, 2008. Like my friend Intrepid said, "You just know she's wanting to pull the lever that will open up the trap door under the defense table that leads to the sewers under Vegas." This is going to be one hell of a trial. My friend donchais said, "You've gotta love this judge. She's the female equivalent of Judge Fidler."

Where is Peterson's Blue Barrel?

It appears Drew Peterson's stepbrother, Thomas Morphey, was the individual that a neighbor saw helping Peterson load a large blue barrel into the back of his Danali truck the same day that his wife Stacey was reported missing on October 28th. Two days later, Morphey was rushed to the hospital for what appears to be a suicide attempt. According to the Chicago Tribune:

The distraught man contacted a friend, saying words to the effect, "I think I just helped Drew dispose of Stacey." The relative allegedly told the friend the plastic container was warm to the touch, and may have weighed about 120 pounds, a source said.
(snip)
Another source familiar with the investigation said on Wednesday, Drew Peterson's 14-year-old-son is expected to appear before a special grand jury looking into not only Stacey Peterson's disappearance, but the 2004 death of Drew Peterson's third wife, Kathleen Savio, who was found dead in her bathtub.

All Headline News Story.