Deadly deception: The Drew Peterson story

Hoda Kotb Correspondent • Profile

His face is instantly recognizable. So is his story -- the brash former cop from a Chicago, Ill. suburb whose fourth wife- Stacy- mysteriously disappeared in 2007.

Hoda Kotb: Did you have anything to do with the disappearance of Stacy?

Drew Peterson: No.

Hoda Kotb: Did -- 

Drew Peterson: Other than maybe I was a bad husband.

Whose third wife-- Kathy  -- was found dead in a bathtub in 2004, a death later ruled a homicide. He's been all over the media.

Dr. Phil: You've got to admit this doesn't look good.

Drew Peterson: No it doesn't look good at all.      

Under a cloud, but living large.  And apparently lucky in love -- again.

Drew Peterson: Do you feel in danger at all with me at all?

Chrissie: No.

Drew Peterson: We're happy.

He was the subject of a book --  and a storm of speculation.  But tonight, Drew Peterson is behind bars .

Sue Doman: I hope I can go to the cemetery and tell my sister finally we got him. And I hope Drew Peterson rots in hell.

Charged with the murder of wife number three-- Kathy Savio --   facing up to 60 years in prison if he's convicted.   His lawyer again this morning defending his client.

Brodsky: Every person who has been found not guilty has started off with an indictment. So an indictment is no indication of guilt whatsoever.

Tonight family and friends take you through the story of the marriage that is at the center of the new murder charges, and the disappearance of the young woman that started it all. You'll hear the results of lie detectors tests Peterson took about both women. And, in a never-before-seen interview, Drew Peterson defends himself in no uncertain terms and denies  -- again -- any involvement in Kathy's death -- or Stacy's disappearance.  

Hoda Kotb: Are you a good con?

Drew Peterson: I believe I can be, yeah. But I'm not conning anybody about this.

Hoda Kotb: How does one know when you're conning and when you're not, if you're good at it?

Drew Peterson: I guess you don't. I guess you don't.

Even so – when we spoke late last year, Peterson sounded like a man who was prepared for the worst.

Drew Peterson: I'm not gonna run anywhere. I'm gonna face it head on and have my legal team fight it.

It wasn't supposed to end this way. Especially not for Drew Peterson.  As a boy, he dreamed of becoming a cop.  And after a stint in the Army -- with the military police -- he made good on his dream. Peterson joined the force in the Chicago suburb of Bolingbrook in the late 1970's.   He went on to become an undercover narcotics officer.  But his work took a toll at home.  By the early 1990's, drew Peterson had been married twice and had two sons.

Hoda Kotb: Why do you keep getting married again?

Drew Peterson: I-- I-- I don't want to be alone.  I want to be with somebody.  I want somebody to love me.

In 1992 -- after wives number one and two -- that new "somebody' was Kathy Savio. Drew met her on a blind date.

Drew Peterson: Another policeman's wife fixed ups up. She was a lot of fun.  We did things we liked.  We went to shows and stuff.

Kathy was in her late twenties, working as an accountant.  She told her sister, Sue Doman, that the Bolingbrook police officer was a great guy.

Hoda Kotb: There's something about a police officer, I think, that makes your average girl feel safe.

Sue Doman: He was funny.  He would joke around, Got along with everybody.  Went out of his way to meet people.  She was very impressed by that.

And when Sue met her sister's new boyfriend she was very impressed too -- which seemed to be just what he wanted.

Sue Doman: He was going out of his way to impress us.

Hoda Kotb: How?

Sue Doman: "Hey how're you doin'?" “Do you need anything?"  You know, "Hey, you know I -- I love your sister."

It wasn't long before he decided to pop the question.

Drew Peterson: I think she was just layin' in bed one day.  And I just crawled in with her and I put a ring on her hand.  And she just came up and she said, "Wow".  And, "wow".

Sue Doman: She called me and she said, "Guess what?  I'm getting married. And I really love him. And he's really good, and he can provide very well for me."

Hoda Kotb: How'd you feel as her sister at that point?

Sue Doman: I was happy for her.  Because she just -- you know, she's my baby sister, I wanted the best for her.

Kathy and Drew were married in 1992. Two sons followed.  By the time the family moved here, both boys were in school. But by then, Drew says, there were strains in the marriage.

Drew Peterson: Our relationship started deteriorating.  She was more -- she was easily agitated and more demanding.

Hoda Kotb: When you say "easily agitated" what do you mean?

Drew Peterson: She would snap quickly.

Sue Doman remembers it differently .  

Sue Doman: He would call her names.

Hoda Kotb: What kind of names?

Sue Doman: He would -- horrible, swearing names. B*tch, whore. "You look like a dog".  She needed to go to Jenny Craig. She needed to do anything to make herself look better 'cause she was lookin' horrible.

Sue says there was violence too -- she says Kathy told her she was beaten. Hospital records show Kathy landed in an emergency room on one occasion -- and the records reflect the story Kathy told her sister.

Sue Doman: He took her head, and -- took her hair, she had long hair and he beat her against a wooden table. He was angry at her.

Hoda Kotb: What kind of injuries did she sustain?

Sue Doman: She had a laceration on her head. She became dazed.  She had black and blue marks all over her.

Drew Peterson: That never happened.

Hoda Kotb: Okay.

Drew Peterson: I say, if you ever had the opportunity to meet Kathy Savio -- she would not be somebody that would sit there and let somebody take and grab her hair and beat it against a wooden table.  Kathleen Savio was a hell cat.  And you didn't mess with her. Ever.

Hoda Kotb: But she did go to the hospital with injuries.

Drew Peterson: I don't know if she did or she didn't.  I think that might have been -- Kathleen was constantly trying to build a case against me for a possible divorce.

In late 2001, Kathy received an anonymous letter that shattered her world. It said her husband was having an affair. She confronted Drew. Her sister Sue happened to call right after.

Sue Doman: I heard yelling.  He said, "Hang up on that b*tch." And he slammed the phone down. She called me back and she said, "I'm on my way to get an order of protection." She said, "Drew threw me against the refrigerator.  He was chasing me with a stick."  And I said "What's -- going on?"  She said, "I got an anonymous letter. Someone from the police department said I was the laughing stock of the town.” He was having an affair. And he said it wasn't true.

But it was true.  And what made it even harder for Kathy to bear was that the new woman in her husband's life was a teenager -- a 17-year-old barely out of high-school.  Kathy decided to file for divorce.  And some months later she filed for something else -- an order of protection from her husband.

Hoda Kotb: There was a quote in it. And the quote from your sister was "He wants me dead."

Sue Doman: Yes.

Hoda Kotb: She feared for her life.

Sue Doman: Yes she did.

Hoda Kotb: She thought that Drew was gonna kill her.

Sue Doman: She knew he was going to.

Hoda Kotb: She knew?

Sue Doman: She knew.

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