Nancy Grace must be a very happy person today. Yesterday, Drew Peterson was convicted of the murder of his third wife. The conviction was only possible because of a law that was passed in Illinois which is called "Drew's law." It allows prosecutors to use hearsay evidence from friends and family of the deceased to convict someone. They had to do something. Do you remember back in the day when Drew Peterson used to say that no one could ever convict him of anything? That was right after his fourth wife went missing. Now, if he had done this in Aruba he would still be free, but he did it in Illinois so he is going to jail for a maximum of 60 years when he is sentence in November.
awesome news to start the Friday! :-)
ReplyDeleteDid the happy dance yesterday. The only thing that would have made me happier is if there were cameras in the courtroom and we could have seen his face when they said the word "guilty".
ReplyDeleteGood. That's all I'm going to say because I don't want to litter the comments with the colorful words that want to come out regarding this guy.
ReplyDeleteWill it stick? I know nothing legally but I'm concerned he'll appeal and be released.
ReplyDeleteI wish he would fess up about #4. I feel terrible that her body has not been found.
of course he'll appeal all convicted murderers appeal but hopefully the supreme court will see that he is a serial killer and deny his appeal
DeleteThis creep deserves to be locked away for life, but this new law scares the crap out of me. I don't like hearsay convictions, it's sounds very dangerous.
ReplyDeleteFantastic, this bastard was free too long.
ReplyDeleteUnder the jail, next to the rats, throw away the key. Done.
ReplyDeleteThis guy killed a woman (with his HANDS) he had loved, then went on with his life, probably whistling all the way. Then did it again! The combination of absolute lack of basic humanity with feeling invincible at the same time? Thank GOD they were able to lock this one up somehow.
ReplyDeleteI too hope he would just admit where Stacy is--at LEAST. But I have a feeling he's an endless appeal kind of guy, I dunno.
I guess on the balance of probability he did it, but this could be used to convict innocent people. This was the state where an outgoing governor suspended the death penalty when it was found they killed 12 prisoners on death row and during the same period they had to release 13 prisoners from death row using DNA evidence (most were convicted from one location). I wonder how many innocent people were killed a generation ago when DNA retest was not as wide spread as today.
ReplyDeleteA verdict reached based on hearsay? That is beyond frightening.
ReplyDelete@ChasingHeaven - I am SOOOO with you! We're all happy-dappy with this conviction but what about all the poor kids with a public defender? Like there ain't a shit-ton of them already in prison that we're finding out were wrongly convicted because they didn't have Lindsay's lawyer and they were the wrong color and it was an election year for the DA or Judge or Sheriff or whatever. What then?
ReplyDeleteIsn't the 4th wife Stacy the one that his brother or someone helped him move in a barrel or was that one of the other wives? The guy that helped him move the "heavy" barrel had admitted in hindsight he looks back and questions if there was a body in it.
ReplyDeleteThis new law is far, FAR too dangerous.
yes that one was stacy
DeleteHe should have been executed by a firing squad.
ReplyDeleteNew law must hv alot more to it to keep it from being misused, i hope. Thus guy is sociopath, and wld just keep killing if left alone. What i dont get is all these women who want to get with him! Because u may get killed? Does that make it more exciting?
ReplyDelete@Chasing Heaven--It was Drew Peterson's stepbrother who helped him move the barrel. He came out after the news broke of Stacy going missing about how he suspected it could have been a body. Nothing really came of that, though.
ReplyDeleteI'm from Chicago, and trust me, everyone knows the entire political/government landscape in this entire state is completely f'ed up. However, I can't say anyone is unhappy about his conviction. This reminds me of all the time OJ is doing in California for theft or whatever he had done. Legally, it's wonky, but Drew Peterson is a textbook sociopath and a very dangerous man.
Nevermind, he actually testified against Drew. Not sure how much of that helped the conviction. The hearsay law is very confusing. What is "enough" hearsay to convict someone?
ReplyDeleteI have no doubt in my mind that this guy is guilty and should rot in prison. I hope he wasn't found guilty due to hearsay being allowed. Justice is being served here, but in the future, a lot of people will be wrongly convicted.
ReplyDeleteI recently lived in his town for the past year. It's a lovely town, but you better believe I did not trust one cop after all this.
ReplyDeleteMost people are saying Stacy is buried in one of the cement pillars that support 355 which was constructed around the time she disappeared.
I know people who are friends with his son, who was the validictorian of his class and goes to an ivy league school. Him and his brother are lovely, and I feel the worst for them.
Actually, "Drew's Law" (which I've never heard anyone call it) simply creates a new exception to the hearsay rule. Hearsay is still excludable as evidence, except in cases where the speaker is unable to testify because of the defendant's bad acts. I think it's absolutely bunk and I hope that the appellate courts agree that this law is completely illegitimate and contrary to the Sixth Amendment.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, Drew Peterson is a terrible person and deserves to rot in hell (although I now picture him more as Rob Lowe/Drew Peterson than actual Drew Peterson).
And finally, totally OT, but @Libby, your avatar grosses me out. Is there some sort of story behind it?
Hopefully they will go after him for Stacy as well --her family deserves the closure and justice.
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ReplyDeleteWhy did women keep marrying him? Was he like Jekyll and Hyde, charming at first and then suddenly a monster after marriage?
ReplyDeleteDrew Peterson looks like that Darryl guy on Storage Wars. And that Darryl is also creepy.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if there were no cameras during the Casey Anthony trial we would of had a diffrent verdict. I think it gets people a little crazy being on camera and all want their Perry Mason moment and idiots like Casey Anthony go free becuase of it.
ReplyDeleteBravo to the Judge who had better sense then to turn his courtroom into a 3 ring circus.
@UNKNOWN I've been wondering the same thing for a long time (your last statement).
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, that type of targeted legislation - especially to admit evidence that is customarily excluded under established hearsay standards - is likely not to stand up under appeal. This scumbag will be in jail until a higher court tosses his conviction.
ReplyDeleteWe've got a Drew wanna-be near Toronto.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thestar.com/news/gta/crime/article/1252455--pickering-confinement-room-man-pleads-guilty-after-building-dungeon-in-farmhouse
Robert Edwin White built a dungeon in an abandoned farmhouse with the intention of kidnapping a woman who financially and emotionally assisted his ex-wife with leaving him.
He claimed that he wasn't going to ask for ransom (like this is a good thing). It's pretty obvious that she was not going to get out of there alive...
@Chilie, that is incredibly disturbing. Makes me sick to my stomach in fact.
ReplyDeleteThe judge was very careful on the testimony he allowed. The defense team actually hung themselves by calling the divorce attorney of Kathleen Savio who testified that Stacy Peterson contacted him (two days before she went missing, although the jury didn't know that) to ask if she gave used information about how Drew killed Kathy, could she get a better divorce settlement. The judge told the defense that they may not want to go down this path, but they called him anyway thinking it would show Stacey as a money hungry bitch. oops.
ReplyDeleteOh and my understanding is that the heresy law has already been appealed and upheld up to the Illinois State Court of Appeal. I think it can only be used if the person is deceased and can't testify for themselves. There were only two people that testified in this trial with the heresy, the pastor and the attorney.
ReplyDeleteI think Drew was charming until he tired of you or you tired of him. Then he had to kill ya!!!
ReplyDeleteHow on earth do they think they will get around Crawford on this on? Is Drew's law non-testimonial hearsay?
ReplyDeleteI dunno. Justice Scalia and the current court have been really tough on laws that impinge on confrontation rights. BUT - there have been some recent exceptions. I guess we will see. I'm just not seeing the normal "indicia of reliability" for these statements if they are considered non-testimonial.
He's not going to be very popular in prison. Then again, he will probably get special treatment.
ReplyDeleteI live in a town just down the road from where he lived (Ugh I shiver thinking about that!). Of course we are happy that he has been convicted but we do have some apprehension about the laws that made it possible to convict him. Prosecution is a tricky tightrope to walk sometimes. I truly wish this could have been an unabiguous conviction.
ReplyDeleteDrink in those Rob Lowe-y good looks!
ReplyDeleteA hearsay conviction is nothing to celebrate.
ReplyDeletePhoto of Rachel Korine with husband:
ReplyDeletehttp://ph.news.yahoo.com/photos/u-director-korine-kisses-actress-rachel-korine-during-photo-125748368.html
Google some photos of Stacy...she was so incredibly pretty.
ReplyDeleteGut check: this POS killed wife#3 and #4. The hearsay law makes me very leery. I'm afraid the conviction won't hold and he will NEVER confess to where he buried the remains of Staci. He has been engaged since all of this came to light. Women are drawn to him and I will never understand why.
ReplyDeleteBless those poor children, both sets.
Oh, I believe the oldest son knows more than he is telling. I think they are all afraid of him and hope someone kind is raising them!
@mikey, agree with your concern about being released on technicality. I read a recap of the lone holdout juror and how he came to guilty decision and it kinda scared me. Enty maybe you stayed at Holiday Inn Express last night and could foray into criminal law. Thought this juror's statement was a goldmine to win an appeal. Hope not. This guy needs to rot in prison....
ReplyDelete@Unknown, re: the Rob Lowe comment, are you thinking of Scott Peterson? He was convicted of murdering his wife Laci. Dean Cain played him in the Lifetime move a few years back.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I see a photo of Drew Peterson, it gives me chills. This murderous scumbag asshole is terrifying.