Drew Peterson seeks to overturn murder conviction, court grants psychological evaluation

WILL COUNTY - Former Bolingbrook Police Sergeant Drew Peterson was back in court on Monday, attempting to overturn his conviction for the 2004 murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio.

A psychological evaluation for his mental fitness was granted on Monday, and his attorneys will return to court once that evaluation is complete.

The judge’s decision keeps alive Peterson’s legal effort to vacate his 2012 conviction of first-degree murder in the 2004 slaying of Savio, for which he was sentenced to 38 years in prison.

Originally ruled accidental, Savio’s death was reinvestigated after Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, disappeared in 2007. Savio's body was exhumed, and after a second autopsy, her death was classified as a homicide, leading to Peterson's arrest.

Peterson is also a suspect in the disappearance of Stacy, who is presumed dead, but he has not been charged in connection with her disappearance.

Peterson, a former police sergeant in Bolingbrook, has maintained his innocence.

In 2016, Peterson was sentenced to an additional 40 years in prison for attempting to hire someone to kill Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow. Peterson alleges that Glasgow intimidated witnesses in his case, a claim Glasgow has denied.