In a phone interview from the Will County Jail in Joliet, Ill., recorded Thursday and broadcast Friday, Drew Peterson told TODAY’s Matt Lauer that he’ll “probably be found innocent” of the 2004 murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio.The 55-year-old former Bolingbrook, Ill., police sergeant was also harshly critical of the grand jury system that indicted him.
Police have been investigating both Savio’s death and Stacey Peterson’s disappearance for some 18 months. Lauer asked Peterson if he had any thoughts on why he the indictment was handed down when it was.
“I believe that was the last day of the grand jury and I believe they had to do something. The state's attorney, I believe, was under a lot of pressure from both the media and the Savio family to do something,” he replied.
“Do you have idea what the state's evidence is against you?” Lauer asked.
“No idea. And the grand jury system seriously needs to be revised,” he replied. “I truly believe that if they wanted to they could have indicted you for this incident. What you have is a bunch of lay people that are in there and they have been sitting there for 18 months, and they are uneducated on the points of law, rules of evidence and things like that.”
Lauer asked Peterson if he has any evidence to prove his innocence.
“There’s all kinds of evidence available. We’ll get discovery and we’ll basically piece-by-piece take apart their case,” Peterson replied, adding that he could not elaborate on what that evidence is.
Peterson was arrested after a traffic stop on May 7 after being indicted at the end of the local grand jury’s 18-month term. He is being held on $20 million bail, a sum that his attorney, Joel Brodsky, has called exorbitant and is trying to get reduced.
Peterson told Lauer he expected that he would be arrested when he was.
“I wasn't really that surprised. The news crews were outside which indicated to me that they were getting ready for something,” he said. “So I was trying to get to the bank to make a deposit so my family would have some money in the bank account. And all of a sudden I was swooped down on.”
After his arrest, Peterson quipped to reporters, “I guess I should have returned those library books.” Later, while being transferred in handcuffs and his orange jail clothes, he asked reporters what he thought of his “bling” and his “spiffy” clothes.
In an appearance on TODAY after Peterson’s arrest, Brodsky had explained Peterson’s flippant remarks as his wisecracking way of dealing with stress. Lauer asked Peterson, “Do you understand how it can tend to make you a very unsympathetic character in the eyes of the public?”
“Well, there is no book written on how I'm supposed to act,” Peterson replied. “Would it be better if I hid my head down and tried to hide my face and hunched over and tears in my eyes? I mean, no, that's just not me.”
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