Living in his father’s home, raising his father’s children, Stephen Peterson, the son of convicted murderer Drew Peterson, said he’s spent the better part of a decade cleaning up his dad’s "mess."
In 2012, Drew Peterson was sentenced to 38 years in prison for the 2004 slaying of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, whose death was re-examined after Peterson’s next wife, Stacy, disappeared in 2007. Illinois State Police long ago named Drew Peterson a suspect in Stacy’s disappearance, which remains an active investigation.
In an interview with the Tribune, and on a Lifetime cable network show that aired in January, Stephen revealed that he believes his father, a former Bolingbrook police sergeant, "probably" killed Savio. He further told the Tribune that he’s come to believe his father also killed Stacy.
"Over time, you hear enough (from police). They can’t all be full of s—," Stephen said. "I don’t want to come out and say he did it … but, I’m sure he did it."
Stephen Peterson Chuck Berman / Chicago Tribune
Stephen Peterson leaves the DuPage County Courthouse in Wheaton on Monday, March 18, 2013. A judge upheld the former police officer’s dismissal from the Oak Brook department.
Stephen Peterson leaves the DuPage County Courthouse in Wheaton on Monday, March 18, 2013. A judge upheld the former police officer’s dismissal from the Oak Brook department.
(Chuck Berman / Chicago Tribune)
Peterson, 37, said he doesn’t know details of what might have happened to Stacy, and that his father still maintains his innocence to him. Drew Peterson has not been charged in connection with Stacy’s disappearance.
Since Drew Peterson’s arrest, Stephen lost his job as an Oak Brook police officer for failing to disclose details of interactions he had with his father after Stacy disappeared. His marriage ended, and he moved into the Bolingbrook home Drew and Stacy once shared. He is acting as guardian to Drew and Stacy’s two children, now in middle school, and looked after Drew’s two sons with Savio, who are now young adults.
Drew "kind of put us in a really bad situation I have to clean up now," Stephen Peterson said, sitting at his kitchen table.
Stephen Peterson said he still loves his father and doesn’t like "bashing him." He remembers him as a funny dad and a good provider, but also said Drew tends to only think of himself, even now. "It’s not funny anymore."
Last summer marked the end of Drew Peterson’s pension payments, which Stephen said he had used to support the family after he lost his job in 2011. The day after Stephen Peterson learned that source of support would be cut off, he said he got a call from producers of the Lifetime show, "Monster in my Family."
"The time was right," he said.
Drew Peterson admitted killing missing wife, wanted prosecutor dead, inmate testifies Matthew Walberg
Inmate Antonio Smith said he was playing basketball in the prison yard in October 2013 at Menard Correctional Center when Drew Peterson approached him for a favor.
“He said he needed me to have someone kill James Glasgow,” Smith told jurors Monday at the Randolph County Courthouse.
The solicitation-for-murder…
Inmate Antonio Smith said he was playing basketball in the prison yard in October 2013 at Menard Correctional Center when Drew Peterson approached him for a favor.
“He said he needed me to have someone kill James Glasgow,” Smith told jurors Monday at the Randolph County Courthouse.
The solicitation-for-murder…
(Matthew Walberg)
Though he has declined interviews in the past, Peterson said he needed the $10,000 he received for doing the show, which also featured interviews with relatives of Savio and Stacy Peterson. The show focused on Drew Peterson’s four marriages, his infidelity, Savio’s death and the circumstances surrounding Stacy’s disappearance.
Stacy Peterson’s sister Cassandra Cales did not appear on the show but told the Tribune that Stephen Peterson has refused to let her see Stacy’s children.
"Steve was on (the show) because he just wanted to portray himself as this good guy," Cales said. "He wants people to feel sorry for him."
Peterson doesn’t dispute that he hasn’t let Cales see Drew and Stacy’s children, saying he doesn’t "trust" Cales.
Peterson also told the Tribune he identified with the show’s host, Melissa Moore, the daughter of Keith Jesperson, known as the "Happy Face Killer" for a series of murders in the 1990s. Moore has gone through the same emotions, Peterson said. "The sadness, the anxiety, (asking), ‘Did he do it? Did he not do it?’ … People looking at you sideways."
Convicted killer Drew Peterson, left, is charged with trying to put a hit out on Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow, who sent him away for 38 years. Peterson was sentenced in 2013 for murdering his third wife, Kathleen Savio, who was found dead in 2004.
Peterson said he initially believed his father’s claims that Savio died from an accidental drowning and that Stacy ran off with a boyfriend. He said there was no "a-ha moment," but he eventually started to change his mind about his dad.
On the show, Stephen Peterson didn’t say much about Stacy’s disappearance but spoke of his father’s rocky relationship with Savio.
He recalled hearing his father and Savio argue at night when he was a teenager. The fights would get so bad, he said, that in the morning, the "house would be destroyed."
He also described how his father was known to cheat on his wives with younger women.
Stephen Peterson also said Stacy acted scared after Savio’s death: "You kind of look back and think, maybe she did know something, or maybe something did happen, but at the time we never thought twice about it."
He said he’s no longer mad at his dad and is solely focused on raising his siblings, who he thinks of as his own children. He also has a daughter of his own, who lives with him part time.
Timeline: The Drew Peterson case Tribune Graphics Disappearance, death, a murder-for-hire plot and a made-for-cable movie, the saga of former Bolingbrook police officer Drew Peterson spans over two decades. Here are notable events in the Peterson saga: 1992 Kathleen Savio, Savio family photo Kathleen Savio becomes Drew Peterson’s third wife. The… Disappearance, death, a murder-for-hire plot and a made-for-cable movie, the saga of former Bolingbrook police officer Drew Peterson spans over two decades. Here are notable events in the Peterson saga: 1992 Kathleen Savio, Savio family photo Kathleen Savio becomes Drew Peterson’s third wife. The… (Tribune Graphics)
When he first moved into his father’s house, he didn’t change much, thinking the living arrangement would be temporary, he said.
Eventually he and the kids started to redecorate and paint, he said. Hockey equipment fills corners in various rooms, and framed photos of the smiling children hang on the walls. Stephen Peterson chuckles when looking up at a large portrait on the kitchen wall — a print of "Seinfeld" character George Costanza, lounging on a chaise in a famous scene from the show.
The house now feels more like home, he said.
Though he and his siblings still talk to their father on the phone, Stephen said the family has yet to visit Drew at downstate Menard Correctional Center. On the phone from prison, Stephen said, his father seems to remain in good spirits, still joking, despite another recent criminal conviction. Last year, Drew Peterson, now 63, was found guilty of conspiring from prison to kill the prosecutor who put him behind bars and was sentenced to an additional 40 years. Before that, his father’s legal team told Stephen that Drew’s murder conviction could possibly be overturned on appeal.
"Why would you do that?" Stephen Peterson said of the murder-for-hire scheme. "Why would you even risk that?" Drew told him the allegations "aren’t what they seem," his son said.
More stories: Drew Peterson on trial
See high points from Chicago Tribune coverage of Drew Peterson’s conviction for the murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio; the unsolved disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson; and his trial on charges of attempting to hire a hit man to kill Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow.
See high points from Chicago Tribune coverage of Drew Peterson’s conviction for the murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio; the unsolved disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson; and his trial on charges of attempting to hire a hit man to kill Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow.
Read more stories
Stephen Peterson said Drew’s younger children at first were told their dad was away "helping the police," but now know he’s in prison. Over the years, classmates have confronted the kids, telling them, "’Your dad killed your mom,’" he said. He tells the kids to stay off the internet and to come to him with questions.
Stephen Peterson said he told his dad he planned to tape the Lifetime show, but he’s not sure if Drew watched.
"I’m sure he’ll be upset," he said, "not like his opinion matters now." Still, Stephen said he thinks his dad will understand he needed the money he received from the show.
Now that the pension is gone, Stephen said he plans to look for work, possibly still in law enforcement. Oak Brook police fired Stephen after village officials found that, after Stacy’s disappearance, he stored his father’s guns and checks totaling more than $200,000.
Stephen said his father brought him the guns the day after Stacy went missing, telling him he assumed there would be a search because police would look for her and he didn’t want them damaged.
"He’s your dad and you don’t think twice," Stephen said, adding he didn’t suspect anything at the time. "Why would my dad put me in a bad position?"
kthayer@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @knthayer
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