Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Christopher Vaughn got separate life sentences for the murders of his wife and three children.
Right before a Will County judge dropped four life sentences on Christopher Vaughn, his grief-stricken mother-in-law wondered aloud why he couldn't have abandoned his wife and three children instead of killing them all. "What a coward," said Susan Phillips, the mother of Vaughn's slain wife, Kimberly Vaughn. "If you do not want your family, divorce is always the first option, or even just walking away," Phillips said from the witness stand during Christopher Vaughn's sentencing hearing Tuesday morning. Christopher Vaughn, 38, wanted to shed his family so he could start a new life in the Yukon wilderness with an unwitting stripper. In June 2007, he packed his 34-year-old wife and their three children—Blake, 8, Cassandra, 11, and Abigayle, …
Monday, November 26, 2012
The Drew Peterson media circus prevented Vaughn from getting a fair trial, his lawyer said, and the wife-killer's attorneys didn't help things either.
First, he killed one wife, then he was named a suspect in the disappearance of another, and now Drew Peterson's very existence has mucked up Christopher Vaughn's murder trial, the Oswego man's lawyer said Monday. Vaughn's lawyer, George Lenard, said the specter of Drew Peterson hanging over the Vaughn case is just one of the reasons his convicted quadruple-killer client needs a new trial. Besides the problem with Peterson, whose own murder trial was taking place in the courtroom next-door to Vaughn's in August and September, Lenard claimed Vaughn's case was corrupted when prosecutors succeeded in "indoctrinating" one of the jurors. Lenard also said a prosecutor insulted him during the closing arguments and he accused the jury of "improper …
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
After the firing of arguably the most effective attorney on Drew Peterson's legal team, lawyer Joel Brodsky attacks Steve Greenberg on Facebook.
Already in the hot seat for his part in blowing the Drew Peterson murder case, lawyer Joel Brodsky lashed out at recently fired co-counsel Steve Greenberg on Facebook. In a post entitled "REGARDING STEVE GREENBERGS (sic) TERMINATION AS ONE OF THE ATTORNEYS FOR DREW PETERSON," Brodsky launches a 404-word rant in which he effectively blames Greenberg for nearly everything that went wrong in the failed defense of convicted wife-killer Drew Peterson. In the event Brodsky has second thoughts about the post, or how truthful parts of it may or may not be, here it is in its entirety: "Steve Greenberg was given a job to for the defense team, which was to bring motions and make objections, as well as cross examine a few witnesses. He failed to bring…
Prison bound Drew Peterson fired arguably the most effective attorney on his defense team.
Less than a week after going down for murder in the most sensational criminal case in the state's history, Drew Peterson fired one of the top attorneys on his legal team. "Apparently I've been fired," said defense attorney Steve Greenberg. "I've been discharged," Greenberg said. "I've been terminated." Greenberg said he got a signed notice from Peterson Tuesday. He also said he received a letter from lead attorney Joel Brodsky warning him not to publicly comment about the case. "I'm not going to comment on incompetence," Greenberg said. Greenberg and co-counsel Joseph "Shark" Lopez appeared to have Peterson's case well in hand, as Judge Edward Burmila consistently thwarted prosecutors' attempts to get evidence and testimony before the jury…
Friday, September 7, 2012
Check out all of Patch's coverage from opening statements to Thursday's verdict.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
The jury spent 8.5 hours Wednesday deliberating. That process continues Thursday.
Updated 2:50 p.m. Drew Peterson has been found guilty of first degree murder in the death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio. Updated 2:40 p.m. A verdict has been reached and will be read around 3 p.m. Updated at 1:15 p.m. The jury asked the judge to tell them what the word "unanimous" means. Judge Edward Burmiila said he received the jury's question at 12:35 p.m. "Just to be clear, judge, what does 'unanimous' mean?" Burmila said the jury asked. Burmila said he was sending back a note telling the jury that 'unanimous' means the agreement of all in regard to the matter at hand, and that when a verdict is reached, each juror must sign his or her name to it. Updated at 12:40 p.m. The jury has sent a question to the judge. The judge will…
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Closing arguments in the Drew Peterson murder trial took up all of Tuesday, so the judge is going to send the jury out to decide the accused wife-killer's guilt or innocence Wednesday morning.
"Everybody in America wants Drew Peterson convicted," one of the ex-cop's lawyers said outside court after closing arguments in the most sensational murder case in Will County's history. And if that's the case, it's bad news for the accused wife-killer, as it won't take the whole world to ship Peterson off to prison, just the 12 men and women on his jury. Sometime after Wednesday morning, the whole world is going to find out if those 12 think the way defense attorney Joseph "Shark" Lopez suspects everyone else does, as that's when Judge Edward Burmila said he will send them out to deliberate over Peterson's guilt or innocence. "Everybody is dying for Drew to lose this case because misery loves company," Lopez said enigmatically. The jury …
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Thomas Peterson, 19, said he has "never seen anyone so sad" as his father after his mother, Drew Peterson's third wife, Kathleen Savio, was found drowned in her dry bathtub in March 2004.
See Drew Peterson news from around the web in our Storify. JOLIET, IL -- Updated 5:20 p.m. Drew Peterson's lawyers rested their case after calling one of the accused wife-killer's sons to the stand. Thomas Peterson, 19, said he has "never seen anyone so sad" as his father after his mother, Drew Peterson's third wife, Kathleen Savio, was found drowned in her dry bathtub in March 2004. Thomas Peterson, a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania, also said his father was "very shaken up about" Savio's death. Thomas Peterson said he "never suspected" his father killed his mother. He also recalled bathing with his mother when he was 6 years old. He said Savio enjoyed hot baths. Sometimes she put her hair up when they bathed together, Thomas …
Monday, August 27, 2012
Drew Peterson's lawyers called their first witnesses in the ex-cop's murder trial.
The judge in the Drew Peterson murder trial rejected a bid by defense attorneys to have the accused wife-killer acquitted without even putting on a case. Peterson lawyer Steve Greenberg argued at length Monday that prosecutors utterly failed to prove Peterson was even in the home of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, when she died, much less that he killed her. "They didn't do it because they can't do it," Greenberg said. "It's like they were trying to nail a clump of Jell-o to a tree and make it stick there," he said. After Judge Edward Burmila denied the ruling, the defense called six witnesses, none of whom was Peterson's son Thomas Peterson. Sun-Times columnist and Drew Peterson "friend" Michele "Michael" Sneed claimed earlier in the day …
The jury's attire is getting even wackier in the Drew Peterson trial
See Drew Peterson news from around the web in our Storify. Updated 4:35 p.m. The first witness called by the defense was Kathleen Savio's best friend and next-door neighbor Mary Pontarelli. Pontarelli was already called by prosecutors to testify. When she testified, Pontarelli insisted Savio's death scene was altered after her body was discovered. Specifically she said a towel was placed on the edge of the tub. She said there were no towels when she first saw the body. Prosecutors wanted Pontarelli to recount the time Peterson threw Savio to the ground and had her arrested for allegedly attacking Drew Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy Peterson. Judge Edward Burmila blocked her testimony. During her testimony for the defense, Pontarelli told …
Samara
3:07 am on Monday, April 15, 2013
JAIL.PRISON Please don't put him in P.C. I hope they throw this monster with the general population I wouldn't want to be him..u know what they do to child killers..for with this public pop, he'd wish an cry for the death penalty . leave him in there to rot. more ›