Jezebel
Drew Peterson, the despicable police officer and husband of still missing (and probably dead) fourth wife Stacy Peterson, might not be free much longer. The death of Peterson's third wife, Kathleen Savio, has been ruled a homicide. After Stacy (pictured here with her son and her younger sister) mysteriously disappeared without a trace in late October, Kathleen's body was exhumed. And, although the original autopsy performed on her back in March 2004 declared Kathleen's death an accident, upon further investigation, forensic analysts now believe foul play was involved. (Kathleen drowned in a bathtub).
In other depressing news this morning about murder committed within marriage — remember, as many as 25% of American women are victims of domestic abuse — Wisconsin resident Mark Jensen was convicted yesterday of dosing his wife, Julie Jensen, with antifreeze. (These stories are beginning to sound The Gashlycrumb Tinies, Spouse Edition: "K is for Kathleen who drowned in a tub/ J is for Julie, poisoned with love.") And another Midwestern husband murderer, Stephen Grant, was sentenced to 50-80 years in prison yesterday for killing his wife. Early last year, Grant beat his wife Tara to death and then cut her body into 14 pieces in his father's tool-and-die shop. According to UPI, Stephen and Tara's 7-year-old daughter recently drew a picture of her mother's funeral. "[The first picture] showed her father under a rock while [a second picture] said, 'My dad thinks he has power.'" The Grants' two children saw their mother being murdered. They are now in the custody of their mother's sister.
Peterson's 3rd Wife's Death Ruled A Homicide [MSNBC]
Wis. Man Convicted In Antifreeze Poison Case [MSNBC]
50-year Sentence In Dismemberment Killing [UPI]
Earlier: All Stories Tagged 'Drew Peterson'
CDC: 25% Of American Women Are Victims Of Domestic Abuse
Comments
OMG. Not the babies. If you MUST kill your wife, can you at least try not to do it in front of the kids? Sickness.
Oh okay. Just a swift kick to the solar plexus would have sufficed.
Happy Friday Everyone!
If you hate women so much that you have to keep murdering them, maybe the third and fourth marriages were questionable decisions, eh? I hate wifemurderers more than almost all other types of murderers.
omg.
These stories give me shivers.
Like convulsive shivers.
D is for Drew, who burned slowly in Hell.
@zivah: no kidding. the wife murderers are the worst (but all murderers are scum bags). You swore to love, honor and cherish her....
and in front of the kids. Oh poor babies.
I am so sick and tired of this fucking world.
If these were husband murders they could be Agatha Christie books. She liked doing away with both sexes equally.
Stabby Friday! and I'm welling up...
I am glad to see that the late wife of this Peterson sicko (are they always named Peterson? I'm getting him and Scotty boy confused) getting the justice she deserves. Let's hope they uncover what he's no doubt done to the 4th wife, eh?
So often in cases of marital homicide you see leeway being given towards the husband. While every case has its specifics, I don't think going on a radio show to participate in a blind date competition while your missing wife's body has yet to be found is appropriate.
So should women stop marrying men named Peterson?
I can't wait for this shitbag to go to jail.
@BiscuitDoughJones: Thank you. I've never understood this phenomenon. I guess to kill and cut up your wife you have to be extremely fucked in the head, but so fucked in the head you don't know this is bad for your kids to see?
God, I just want to cry for those poor kids. How awful.
@Melistic: He apparently told them "Mommy's [the current wife] is on vacation." While I understand wanting to protect your kids from bad news... something about that just seems all kinds of creepo. The older kids know what happened, and the younger ones don't? That's gonna breed all sorts of problems. Poor babies.
@golddigger: Yeah, lesson learned: Never marry a Peterson.
Sigh.
Honestly, if you have been married 4 times and you have more than one suspicious wife disappearance, shouldnt someone call shenanigans? I mean, nobody is that unlucky.
Jesus! These poor women... these poor traumatized chilren... I'm getting way too down, I may have to stay away until it's time for Fine Lines! Ok not really, but seriously, what the hell are you trying to do to me?
@hello.kitty: I think women should stop marrying, period. Let's go Lysistrata.
That picture sounds so, so sad. Art therapy brings out the most disturbing images from kids. Have you guys ever seen this:
[www.katrinaexhibit.org]
It's amazing how children view tragedy. And so, so heartbreaking.
do.not.want. this makes me want to vomit. i hope that douchebag rots.
Hey Drew!
Karma's a bitch and she buys round trip tickets.
@golddigger: Don't forget Mike Peterson, who also killed a wife named Kathleen (and possibly another woman who died the same way as his wife).
@BiscuitDoughJones: That makes my soul hurt.
i heard somewhere that the peterson guy is going to go on the "moment of truth" show. i imagine it would be like watching a trainwreck.
so sad for the babies. :'(
@hello.kitty: Definitely. Don't marry law enforcement officers either (or have affairs w/ them).
@hortense: I did some of that with my daughter when she was dealing with her father (abusive physically and emotionally and was finally arrested for indecent exposure to a minor, so that helped me prove he shouldn't have visitation. Well, then he got deported so that really did it). The pictures she drew though scared the crap outta me. Kids are so much smarter than we give them credit for. The way they perceive the world... and that these poor babies saw their mother murdered? omg. I just hope they're getting the help they so desperately need.
@blondegrlz: Your comment reminded me; when I was in high school I interned at the county courthouse and got to watch the trial of a woman that killed 3 of her significant others, all fire fighters, with antifreeze. They did a 'Dateline' on her, I think. So I guess she's, uh, reppin' for the sistahs in the spouse murder department?
I hate today and this post makes me want to get back into bed and start over. I'm going back to JLo baby land now....
50-80 years for the dude who cut up his wife in front of his children?! I know jack shit about the legal system but why not a life sentence? Ideas?
it beggars belief that the authorities thought peterson's third wife "drowned"-- umm, with head injuries and no water in the lungs?
did their M.E. go to medical school? or just watch reruns of "Quincy" and hope for the best?
@hortense: E is for Edgar, who will be raped in his cell.
@type_slowly: well, i doubt he'll outlive the sentence. or be up for parole, realistically.
@cannotedit: "d is for drew, who will be devoured by bears". if only.
@hello.kitty: Yes, there was also a "[Blank] Peterson" wifemurder in Durham, North Carolina a few years back.
@hortense: Those pictures are heartbreaking, all the red and black... It's truly incredible what kids see and feel because they don't really know to be angry yet.
@charlotte corday: I am totally unfamiliar with prisons other than what I see in movies, but do the other inmates sometimes gang up against guys like this? I mean, I'd be so thrilled if he went there, and the other guys were so disgusted with him he got raped until his colon was perforated and he died there bleeding on the cold tile floor... (I think I'm imagining this too much...... cut it out muffyn).
@charlotte corday: Hey, now. Reruns of Quincy would teach you that every accident is something to be suspicious of.
I do wonder how something like that slipped by; I suspect it has to do with Pereson being a policeman.
@Muffyn: Shit. I wish I could give your daughter a hug. So sad.
It reminds me of when I worked at the YWCA with the babies & one of them was possibly abused at home, because he would try to aviod your touch and when you did touch him he would flinch. It took him so long to actually trust people. It was so heartbreaking. And he wasn't even 2 yet.
@Muffyn: I think, though I'm not sure, that it's unusual for former cops to be put in with the general population.
Inmates, apparently, don't really care for the police.
@stacyinbean: Another interesting group of pictures is the art collected from the children at the Treblinka concentration camp. A lot of their work was both hopeful and sad. Very beautiful and, again, heartbreaking artwork.
@charlotte corday: Shows that corrupt police are not just in the movies.
I hate when I almost drown on AIR!
holy shit
this makes me sick to my stomach. poor women. i hope shes alive even if its a small chance there is a chance. :(
@Muffyn: i think because peterson's a policeman, they'll have to keep him sectioned with the kiddy fiddlers and other scum. so there's some justice.
@cannotedit: Thanks. She's amazing though and is the sweetest, spunkiest thing ever. I never knew of him abusing her, or it would be me in the spouse murder stories you're reading about, but I was NOT going to find out if it was going to happen. I believe it never did though because she has bounced back so well. And for that I am thankful every day!
I've heard of this really great way to get rid of the wife you no longer want...its called DIVORCE. And the best part, it's legal and doesn't involve anyone being cut into pieces!
someone should really clue these guys into murder-alternatives.
@braak: man, i loved "quincy" as a kid. haven't seen it since. we didn't get very many tv shows where i grew up (in the arse end of asia), but this one had an asian dude as the loyal and clever sidekick! and quincy lived on a boat, and never seemed to want for chicks, even though was old and touched dead people all the time.
@hortense: Thanks for the link. That was really something I needed to see, I think.
@ineffable.me: I think it's really striking, and helps remind people that people are still struggling with Katrina's aftermath. The way the children all draw houses as triangles now, in the shapes of roofs and attics, really gets to me.
@Muffyn: Thank god. Sometimes it hard to be a single parent/divorce becuase you really don't know what going on in the other's household. My cousin is a single mother and I don't trust the father at all. Not that he seems abusive. He just seems dumb sometimes; dumb enough to leave a one year old in the company of some of his insane friends. It sucks becuase she hates having to do everything on her own but she really just doesn't trust him.
@cannotedit: Hugs to your cousin. Being a single parent is really tough. But the good (?) news is that it gets into a rhythm and it gets easier. Sharing visitation with someone you don't trust though has got to be the hardest for a mom. But it gets easier. Just tell her to keep her eyes open and trust her gut.