Examples of hearsay statements from Peterson trial

[September 07, 2012]  JOLIET (AP) -- Prosecutors relied on normally barred secondhand hearsay statements to convict former Illinois police officer Drew Peterson of killing his third wife, Kathleen Savio. Illinois passed a law in 2008, dubbed "Drew's Law," making the evidence admissible at trials in rare circumstances. Witnesses at Peterson's first-degree murder trial testified about what Savio told them before she died in 2004 and what his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, said before she vanished in 2007.

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"'I could kill you and make it look like an accident.'"

--The words of Drew Peterson to Savio as he put a knife to her throat, according to Savio friend Kristin Anderson.

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"She said that Drew told her he was going to kill her, she was not going to make it to the divorce settlement, she would not get his pension or his children."

--Anna Doman testifying about what Savio, her sister, told her six weeks before she was found dead.

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"'Why don't you just die?'"

--The words of Drew Peterson after he broke into Savio's house, grabbed her by the throat and pinned her down a year before she was found dead, according to Savio friend, Mary Parks.

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"Kathy told me that her husband ... had told her that he could kill her and make her disappear."

--Mary Parks testifying about what Savio said Drew Peterson told her.

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"She wanted to know if the fact that he killed Kathy (Savio) could be used against him."

--Divorce attorney Harry Smith testifying about a conversation with Stacy Peterson days before she disappeared in 2007. She told him she was convinced Drew Peterson killed Savio three years earlier.

[Associated Press]

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