7 Shocking Facts About Drew Peterson: The Convicted Police Officer's Life Behind Bars (2025 Update)

The name Drew Peterson remains synonymous with a shocking betrayal of public trust, transforming a long-serving Bolingbrook police sergeant into one of America's most infamous convicted murderers. As of December 18, 2025, the former law enforcement officer is deep into a decades-long prison sentence, his legal battles and the mystery surrounding his missing fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, continuing to capture national attention.

The case, which involved the suspicious death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, and the subsequent disappearance of Stacy, exposed a dark side to the man who once patrolled the streets of an Illinois suburb. Recent updates indicate Peterson continues to campaign for a new trial, a move that keeps the details of the highly publicized "Hearsay Trial" in the public eye.

Drew Peterson: A Complete Life and Crime Timeline

Drew Walter Peterson's life was marked by a lengthy career in law enforcement and a tumultuous personal life involving four marriages, two of which ended in death or disappearance under highly suspicious circumstances.

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• Full Name: Drew Walter Peterson
• Date of Birth: January 5, 1954
• Place of Birth: Bolingbrook, Illinois, U.S.
• Occupation: Former Police Sergeant (Bolingbrook Police Department)
• First Wife: Carol Brown (Divorced)
• Second Wife: Vicki Connolly (Divorced)
• Third Wife: Kathleen Savio (Married 1992, Found Dead 2004)
• Fourth Wife: Stacy Ann Cales Peterson (Married 2003, Disappeared 2007)
• Children: Four children from his marriages (two with Kathleen Savio, two with Stacy Peterson)
• Criminal Convictions: First-Degree Murder (Kathleen Savio), Solicitation of Murder for Hire (Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow)
• Sentence: 78 Years in Prison (38 years for murder, plus 40 years for solicitation of murder)

The Two Wives: Kathleen Savio's Murder and Stacy Peterson's Disappearance

The core of the Drew Peterson saga revolves around the fates of his third and fourth wives, Kathleen Savio and Stacy Peterson. The sequential tragedies, occurring just three and a half years apart, led authorities to re-examine the original ruling in Savio's death.

The Death of Kathleen Savio

Kathleen Savio, a nurse, was found dead in her dry bathtub on March 1, 2004, shortly before her divorce from Drew Peterson was finalized. The initial ruling by the Will County coroner's inquest was an accidental drowning, which occurred after a fall. However, the circumstances were immediately suspicious to her family and friends, who knew of the violent history and restraining orders during her marriage to Peterson.

The case was officially reopened in 2007, following the disappearance of Stacy Peterson. A second autopsy, performed by a forensic pathologist, reclassified Savio's death as a homicide, citing evidence of a struggle and blunt trauma to the side of her head. This pivotal reclassification led to Peterson's 2009 indictment.

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The Disappearance of Stacy Peterson

Stacy Peterson, 23, vanished on October 28, 2007. Drew Peterson claimed she had called him to say she was leaving him for another man and was running away. However, friends, family, and investigators immediately suspected foul play, noting that Stacy would never abandon her two young children. Stacy's sister, Cassandra Cales, has been a tireless advocate, continuing the search for her sister's remains more than a decade later.

Although Stacy Peterson is presumed dead, her body has never been found. Crucially, Drew Peterson has never been charged with any crime related to her disappearance, though he remains the primary suspect.

Drew Peterson's Conviction and Current Prison Status (2025)

Drew Peterson's trial, often referred to as the "Hearsay Trial," was groundbreaking in its use of testimony about what Kathleen Savio and Stacy Peterson had told others regarding Peterson's threats and violent behavior.

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The Landmark Murder Conviction

In 2012, a jury found Drew Peterson guilty of the first-degree murder of Kathleen Savio. The conviction relied heavily on the controversial Illinois law that allowed the use of hearsay statements from the deceased victims, a legal strategy that was central to the prosecution's case. He was initially sentenced to 38 years in prison.

Peterson and his defense team filed numerous appeals, arguing the hearsay evidence was improperly admitted. The Illinois Supreme Court, however, affirmed the murder conviction in 2017, solidifying the verdict.

The Solicitation of Murder for Hire Charge

While serving his sentence for Savio's murder, Peterson was charged with a second, equally shocking crime: solicitation of murder for hire. In 2016, he was convicted of attempting to hire a fellow inmate to murder Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow, the prosecutor who had successfully put him behind bars. This conviction resulted in an additional 40-year sentence, bringing his total time to an unprecedented 78 years.

Where is Drew Peterson Now?

As of late 2025, Drew Peterson is serving his combined 78-year sentence, which effectively amounts to a life sentence given his age. He was transferred out of the Illinois state prison system and is now incarcerated in a federal prison facility in Indiana. This transfer was reportedly for security and administrative reasons, although the exact details are not publicly disclosed.

Despite the finality of his conviction and the affirmed appeals, Peterson has continued his legal campaign. He has been back in Will County court for hearings on his petition to overturn his murder conviction, a process that included his attorneys being granted a fitness evaluation in late 2025. This ongoing legal effort, led by his defense team, maintains that the former police sergeant is innocent and that the original trial was flawed due to the use of inadmissible evidence.

The case of Drew Peterson remains a chilling example of a trusted authority figure abusing his power. While Kathleen Savio's murder has been solved, the disappearance of Stacy Peterson continues to haunt the community of Bolingbrook, serving as a constant reminder of the unsolved mystery tied to the convicted former police officer.