Grand Jury Resumes Inquiry Into Drew's Former Wives

The Will County grand jury investigating thttp://crimesearchersonline.com/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=Grand-Jury-Resumes-Inquiry-Into-Drews-Former-Wives.html&Itemid=59he murder of Drew Peterson's third wife and the disappearance of his fourth reconvened Thursday, with his former divorce lawyer and a former employee summoned to testify.

The grand jury was impaneled more than a year ago and last met in November. Appearing before it Thursday were attorney Alexander Beck, who represented Peterson in his divorce from third wife Kathleen Savio, and Charlie Doman, Savio's nephew, who worked in a Montgomery bar Peterson owned as a maintenance man and disc jockey.

Doman and his attorney, Tamara Holder, declined to comment on what transpired during his grand jury appearance. Beck referred questions to his attorney, Matthew Bertani.

"Mr. Beck respects the sanctity of the grand jury and the gravity of these proceedings," Bertani said. "He will not comment on them publicly."

Beck apparently could not say much to the grand jury either.

"He will not and cannot, according to the (Illinois) Supreme Court rules, reveal a ny confidence s arising out of his representation of Mr. Peterson many years ago," Bertani said.

Peterson and Savio were in the midst of a contentious divorce when she was found dead in her bathtub in March 2004. Illinois State Police found no sign of foul play during their investigation of Savio's death, which originally was ruled accidental.

But when Peterson's next wife, Stacy, vanished in October 2007, the investigation into Savio's death was reopened and reclassified as a homicide. It remains under investigation.

State police also are trying to determine what happened to Stacy Peterson. They have labeled her disappearance a "potential homicide" and named Drew Peterson as the sole suspect.

Peterson, 54, a former Bolingbrook police sergeant who's now living with a 24-year-old mother of two in his Bolingbrook house, has denied involvement in either incident. He said Thursday that he has nothing to worry about regarding Beck or Doman testifying "unless they're making something up, which is always my big fear."

Charles Pelkie, spokesman for the state's attorney's office, said the grand jury's hiatus "by no means indicates a lack of activity" in the investigations.

"Things are moving forward. Things are full steam right now, and they have been for several months," he said.