Drew Peterson's Brother: Suicidal Guilt

Thomas Morphey Appears

Many of us have wondered where Thomas Morphey had gone after his encounter with Drew Peterson on the night of Stacy Peterson's dissappearance October of last year. Well, he showed up at a vigil in honor of Stacy since her disappearance one year ago on October 28, 2007.

Morphey reappeared this past week but could not be located for an interview. His girlfriend, Sheryl Alcox, wouldn't say where he was or why he's back at the couple's Bolingbrook house.

We had heard for a couple of weeks, last year, that there was a missing blue barrel that had been placed, by Drew Peterson, in the back of his SUV, along with another man.

On November 28th, 2007, an article broke from the Chicago Tribune, that gave more detail into what happened that night.

Drew Peterson was scheduled to work at 5 p.m. Oct. 28, 2007, but called in to take a personal or sick day, said Bolingbrook police Lt. Ken Teppel.

A source familiar with the investigation said that at about 7 p.m., Drew Peterson picked up Morphey from a park and the two went to a local coffee shop.

After a short time, Drew Peterson told Morphey he had to go somewhere and left Morphey at the coffee shop with a cell phone, along with instructions that Morphey should not answer if it should ring, the source said. The relative waited for some time, and the phone rang, showing the name "Stacy" on the caller ID, the source said.

A brief time later, Drew Peterson returned to the coffee shop, the source said. Drew Peterson and Morphey then drove to the Petersons' home on Pheasant Chase Court, the source said. Drew Peterson asked Morphey to help him move something from the home into the Petersons' sport-utility vehicle, the source said.

The two men went to an upstairs bedroom and removed a large covered and sealed 4-foot-long rectangular plastic container and placed it in the SUV, the sources familiar with the case said.

They left the home about 10 p.m., and Drew Peterson then dropped Morphey off at his home, at which point Morphey contacted a friend, saying words to the effect of, "I think I just helped Drew dispose of Stacy," the source said.

Morphey allegedly told the friend the plastic container was warm to the touch and may have weighed about 120 pounds, a source said.

Two days later, Morphey was treated at Edward Hospital in Naperville after an apparent suicide attempt. From that time there has been questions about Thomas Morphey's where-a-bouts, until now.

After disappearing for months, former Bolingbrook police Sgt. Drew Peterson's step-brother has resurfaced in Bolingbrook, attending the one-year anniversary vigil for Peterson's missing fourth wife, Stacy.

Thomas Morphey had gone into seclusion last November after sources reported he allegedly helped Drew Peterson load a large, blue barrel into Peterson's SUV on the day 23-year-old Stacy vanished from the couple's Bolingbrook home.

Peterson has been named a suspect in the still-unsolved Oct. 28, 2007, disappearance of his wife but has not been charged in that case.

The day after Stacy Peterson vanished, Morphey was hospitalized for a suspected overdose of sleeping pills, then disappeared from public view. Sources said the 40-year-old Morphey had been placed in protective police custody, but authorities never confirmed those reports.

Morphey reappeared this past week but could not be located for an interview. His girlfriend, Sheryl Alcox, wouldn't say where he was or why he's back at the couple's Bolingbrook house. Previously, she had said he was receiving "therapy."

Morphey could be a key witness for authorities investigating Stacy Peterson's disappearance, but Alcox and a law enforcement source said he hasn't appeared before a special grand jury trying to determine what happened to her.

Illinois State Police Lt. Luis Gutierrez declined to comment about Morphey.

Alcox said she and Morphey already have run into Drew Peterson at a local store, but neither man spoke to the other.

"He didn't come near us that time," Alcox said.