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 …
Monday, November 5, 2012
A helicopter, police dogs, state cops and federal agents were searching for missing mom Stacy Peterson in Hammel Woods Monday.
Federal agents and state cops searched through Hammel Woods forest preserve in Shorewood Monday looking for signs of missing mom Stacy Peterson. READ MORE: A state police source confirmed that the operation—which included at least one helicopter and police dogs—was part of the search effort for the Bolingbrook mother, who disappeared in October 2007. Weeks after Stacy vanished, state police officials named her husband, Drew Peterson, 58, as the sole suspect in the investigation the then-23-year-old's disappearance. Peterson has never been charged with harming Stacy, but was convicted in September of murdering his previous wife, Kathleen Savio. Savio, the third of Peterson's four wives, was found drowned in her dry bathtub in March 2004. …
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
A Pennsylvania man famous for filing bizarre lawsuits is now part of the Drew Peterson case.
OUTSIDE CHICAGO -- Former federal prisoner Jonathan Lee Riches has sued Bill Belichick, George W. Bush, Steve Jobs and Perez Hilton, and now he's filed a motion in the Drew Peterson case claiming he was the convicted wife-killer's lover. "Drew Peterson and I were in a sexual relationship in the 1990's and Drew forced me to commit identity theft to finance his sexual lifestyle," Riches wrote to the court in a "motion for the right to be heard under the victims rights act." Riches claims he used a stolen credit card to "buy Drew Peterson a sex outfit from adam & eve of officer friendly and Drew forced me to wear it for him while we watched the 1980's police academy series and Drew used to call me hightower and Drew and I went to dance …
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…
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Tragedies fill headlines as Americans set new records.
Roe Conn hit the nail on the head when he said Monday the events of this week are the very best and worst that America has to offer. He was referring specifically to the flawless Mars landing within the same 24 hours as the horrific Sikh temple shooting outside Milwaukee. When we expand that lens a little wider, we also see the incredible accomplishments happening now in London. At age 16, Gabby Douglas became the first African-American gymnast to earn all-around gold. Michael Phelps is now the most decorated Olympian of all time. Kayla Harrison overcame horrific sexual abuses by her childhood coach to be the first American to earn gold in judo. Then, as we hold our breath, we remember the June 20 tragedy in the Aurora, CO, movie theatre. …
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Lifetime debuted "Drew Peterson: Untouchable" last night. What did you think?
Now's not the time to awkwardly deny you watch Lifetime movies, not when the channel's most recent flick was about Bolingbrook's own, Drew Peterson. Lifetime debuted "Drew Peterson: Untouchable" last night. The film stars Rob Lowe as Peterson, the disgraced ex-Bolingbrook cop who is accused of killing his third wife, Kathleen Savio, in March 2004. The movie has been in the works for nearly a year and is based off of Shorewood Patch Editor Joseph Hosey's book Fatal Vows: The Tragic Wives of Drew Peterson. Patch movie critic Dave Wilson said the movie "remains true to the real-life saga, which is a relief." He goes on: After all, you can’t get much weirder than what we can only imagine really happened to Drew’s third and fourth wives. Rob …
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
If nothing else, Rob Lowe's lip fit right in with reality.
In an earlier review, I proclaimed that the 2011 film We Bought a Zoo was the most hirsute film since the hairy 1995 classic Braveheart. But sorry, Matt Damon and company, Drew Peterson: Untouchable just beat you out for the shaggiest film of the last 10 years. Everyone here, from Drew Peterson (played by a capable Rob Lowe) to the minister that marries Drew and Stacy Peterson (Kaley Cuoco), sports a lip full of fur. I even saw some fuzz above the mouth of the Petersons’ female next-door neighbor (who is never mentioned by name here). But the mustaches add to the realism. Look around, Will County: From Westfield Louis Joliet Mall to Pilcher Park and every empty barber shop in between, we’re the mustache capital of the free world and this …
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 ›