This Day In History

Dec 21 1970
President Nixon meets with prescription drug addict Elvis Presley at the White House to discuss The King's becoming a special drug enforcement agent. He presents Nixon with a pistol, and receives a special DEA badge in return.

Dec 21 1978
John Wayne Gacy arrested in Des Plaines, IL after remains of some of the 33 men and boys he had killed are discovered on his land.

Dec 21 1988
Pan Am flight 103 detonates over Lockerbie Scotland, by means of a remote control radio bomb. All 259 aboard are killed as well as 11 on the ground struck by falling detritus. The PFLP faction of the PLO was responsible, assisted by Libyan sponsorship.

Dec 21 2012
The Mayan "long count" calendar is based on great cycles of 5125 years, the current cycle ending on this day in 2012. Endings of cycles are punctuated by cataclysmic singularities on a deluge scale, so be prepared. This is the end of time!

Chris Coleman Updates

Remember that douche, Chris Coleman? Strangled to death is wife and kids? Yeah, there's some updates in this case as well to report!

The house he murdered his family in is now on the auction block... Big surprise: No bids!! They should tear it down and put a garden in place.

No Bids On Coleman Family House
COLUMBIA, IL — The infamous Coleman house in Columbia, Illinois was put up for auction on Tuesday at the courthouse in Waterloo, Illinois. No bids were made. The home is still owned by the bank.

Sheri Coleman and her two sons were murdered inside in 2009. A Chicago law firm is handling the sale for Wells Fargo. The mortgage is more than $229,000. Grisly spray painted messages still mark the walls.

Some neighbors want the home torn down to build a park in memory of Sheri and her boys. Chris Coleman, the husband and father in the case, remains behind bars awaiting trial on murder charges.

New search warrants issued for Coleman murders
Oct 27, 2010 COLUMBIA, Ill. -- Police obtained fresh search warrants last week for cell phone data as they press their case against murder defendant Christopher Coleman.

Associate Judge Stephen Rice signed off on the warrants on Oct. 20, which enable investigators to access "PIN" messages, a form of text messages specific to Blackberry phones, from the mobile devices of Coleman, his wife, Sheri, and his mistress, Tara Lintz.

The warrants apply to all PIN logs from May 4, 2009, a day before the murders, to Oct. 13, 2010.

The documents don't indicate what information, if any, was gleaned from the message logs. Police have declined to discuss the case.

Chris Coleman, a former security chief for international televangelist Joyce Meyer, is accused of killing wife and two sons on May 5, 2009 at their home in Columbia, Ill. Police allege that he was trying to escape his marriage without a divorce, to be with Lintz, a girlfriend in Florida. He has pleaded not guilty.

The new search warrants indicate police are attempting to re-create a timeline of the minutes leading up to the discovery of the bodies.

Police arrived at the Coleman home in Columbia to check on the family's welfare after Christopher Coleman called a police officer from a gym. He had said he was alarmed that he couldn't reach his family and asked the officer to check his home, police said.

At the time of the call, police said Coleman reported that he was crossing the Jefferson Barracks Bridge into Illinois, which is a few minutes from his home.

Police arrived at the home and discovered Charles Manson-style messages spray painted on the home's walls. They found the dead bodies in the upstairs bedrooms. Coleman arrived about 13 minutes after he told police he was crossing the bridge, according to the documents.

Police purchased eight Blackberry devices to recreate the calls to determine if Coleman "took a longer route home to ensure that members from the Columbia Police Department" discovered the bodies.

Coleman is expected to stand trial in March 2011 in Waterloo.

Judge weighs hearsay evidence in Coleman trial
December 8, 2010 -Any right Christopher Coleman has to cross-examine his murdered wife about statements she had made about him to friends was forfeited when he killed her, prosecutors said in court documents filed Tuesday.

Prosecutors released new details concerning the case as part of a motion to use such statements as evidence in his upcoming first-degree murder trial.

Coleman, the former security chief for the Joyce Meyer Ministries, is charged with strangling his wife, Sheri, and two preteen sons, Garett and Gavin, in their home in Columbia, Ill.

Monroe County State's Attorney Kris Reitz said Sheri Coleman told friends that her husband beat her up, and texted at least two of them, saying: "Chris wants a divorce. He said me and my kids are in the way of his job. He told me he's leaving me for his job! But if Joyce (Meyer) finds out she will fire him. It got so bad I told Joyce. He was [angry] to say the least but that was the breaking point. She forced him into counseling."

Coleman's defense attorneys are trying to block such material as inadmissible hearsay, in part because Coleman would have no way to confront his accuser, Sheri Coleman. Hearsay rules restrict what a witness can tell a jury about what someone else said.

Police allege that Coleman was trying to escape his marriage without a divorce, to be with a girlfriend in Florida. They say he staged the May 5, 2009, crime scene to look like the work of a deranged enemy of the ministry, and previously reported getting threatening letters and e-mails that he secretly generated.

He has pleaded not guilty.

As part of his motion to support the testimony, Reitz filed an outline of the evidence that provided some new information, such as:

• Tara Lintz, the girlfriend, told police she listened on a speaker phone as Coleman told his wife he didn't love her and wanted a divorce. Police said Lintz reportedly overheard Coleman's conversations with his wife a "handful of times" in the months before the murders.

• Robert A. Leonard, a forensic linguist and professor at Hofstra University, linked Coleman's language patterns to threats directed at the family and placed in their mailbox in the months before the killings.

• Robert LaPlante, a family friend, told police that Coleman had showed him a DVR surveillance recorder in the basement on the Friday before the murders — one that was missing from the crime scene. LaPlante said a faceplate that police found on the Jefferson Barracks Bridge "looked like" the one on the missing Coleman recorder. Coleman's route to a gym the morning of the murders would have taken him over that bridge.

• Marc Rogers, a cyber forensics professor at Purdue University, determined that two threatening e-mails sent to the Coleman family came from Coleman's personal laptop computer, and that the sender had signed in using Coleman's personal ID.

Jury selection is set to begin Feb. 15, Circuit Judge Milton Wharton expects to rule on the hearsay motion later this week.

Special Education Teacher Dies at Hotel Halloween Party

October 31, 2010 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- A woman who fell several stories died instantly at a Halloween party at Chicago's Palmer House Hilton over the weekend, authorities said.

The woman, identified as 23-year-old Megan Duskey, was a Chicago Public Schools teacher.

Duskey graduated from Northern Illinois University last year.

She was enjoying a night out with girlfriends Saturday when, police say, she attempted to slide down a staircase banister and fell.

"Everybody's like, 'Oh, a girl just fell off the balcony.' Everybody kind of freaked out," said Justin Fullmer, who also attended the hotel party.

The accident happened at approximately 10:30 p.m., about 30 minutes after the south suburban Crete woman and her friends arrived at the Palmer House for the celebration.

Investigators say it appears Duskey was attempting to slide down a banister on the hotel's mezzanine level when she lost her balance and fell at least two stories down to the basement level.

"It seems like it was an area where not a lot of people could go to, very secluded or something like that. No one really knew where this girl had fell," party guest Ben Clements said. "It was quite shocking. We were wondering what was going on. Like I said earlier, we were trying to find, I tried to find, the nearest security guard, kind of ask him, you know, 'What's going on? Why is everybody evacuating the place?' He really didn't have any answers."

Hotel officials did not comment.

According to authorities, Duskey died instantly. Police add foul play did not appear to be a factor, but alcohol may have played a role.

Duskey and her friends reportedly had gone to the luxury establishment for the Haunted Hotel Ball.

"I worked it last year for the company that hosts it. We increased capacity by 800 people. So, it was 2,000. Last year, it was 1,300, but it wasn't crowded at all," said Barbara Twarowska, the party's VIP hostess.

Dressed in 1920s gangster garb, Mickey Hoffman also attended the sold-out event, which drew approximately 2,000 people. Hoffman was shocked when the party suddenly stopped.

"All the lights turned on first. We had no idea what was going on," Hoffman said.

Megan Duskey became an early childhood education and early childhood special education teacher at a Far South Side school shortly after graduating from NIU in 2009.

Friends say she loved sports.

Duskey's family released the following statement:

"Megan's passing is a tragic loss to her family and friends. She was a caring, energetic person who was full of life and eager to help others and make a difference in the world."

"We all had fun. It seemed like it was just an unfortunate event," Clements said.

Some party guests told ABC7 Chicago the Halloween event at the hotel was shut down by the fire marshal and that another partygoer was stabbed. The Chicago Fire Department and the Chicago Police Department did not confirm either claim.

Grief counselors are likely to be present Monday at the elementary school where Megan Duskey taught to help students, staff and parents deal with the death.

Authorities Raid Wrong House for Drugs, Guns

Oh man, that sucks...... But is pretty damned funny.

Elderly couple say strongest drug in house is aspirin

CHICAGO —While her husband slept, 84-year-old Anna Jakymek was just turning out the light in the bedroom when she heard loud noises coming from the rear and front doors about 11:30 p.m. Thursday.

At first she thought her 89-year-old husband fell out of bed, but realizing something else was happening she went out to look in the front room.

"I see maybe 20 guys come in and see the door knocked open," she said.

What she saw were members of the Cook County Sheriff's Police Gang Crimes Narcotic Unit. They were executing a search warrant at their Southwest Side home on the 5600 block of South Kilbourn Avenue. Right house, wrong people.The search warrant indicated the home might have crystal meth, cocaine, guns and money.

"They show me a sheet with a woman and man who complained we have that. We don't," she said. "They broke two doors and a garage window. Then they say, 'C'mon, c'mon--go, go, go, stay by your husband. He said someone complained we had all these drugs."

Son Andrew said the most potent drug in the home was aspirin.

"They don't smoke, drink or even watch TV. They believe in America," he said.

He added that his father, Andrij suffers from Alzheimers and has terminal cancer.

"He won't even take pain medicine," he said.

The former Ukrainian residents have lived in the house since 1967, according to their son. He said his father was a retired tailor and his mother had been an elevator operator into her late 70's for Peoples Gas.

He said his mother called him after the raid at the request of the leading sergeant on the scene. When he got there, he said he was told they raided the wrong home.

"When I arrived the officer explained they had misinformation, but said his job was over, and he was leaving. They left a copy of the warrant, but he absolved himself of any responsibility for the raid or the damage," Jakymec said.

He estimated it might cost up to $3000 to fix the broken doors, locks and windows.

"Everything was violently opened. Cabinets were ripped open, clothes and sheets were everywhere, and pieces of wood where the doors were rammed were all over the place," he said.

"My parents are refugees from the Soviet Union. They are naturalized citizens. They have relatives there who were abused for political reasons. You might expect it there, but not here," Jakymec said.

The warrant indicated police were looking for a 23-year-old man, described as Hispanic who lived in the ranch home.

Anna added, "I didn't believe it was the police. They broke everything. I told them they should have rung the bell."

Cook County authorities said they were looking into it.

Severe Weather Rakes Midwest; 5 Dead

(CNN) -- Five people were killed in Ohio as severe thunderstorms and tornadoes raked the Midwest on Saturday and early Sunday, authorities said.

The deaths came in Wood County, Ohio, when a tornado touched down there overnight, state Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Kelli Blackwell told CNN. Wood County is about 30 miles south of Toledo.

A 4-year-old child was among the deaths in Millbury, Ohio, Blackwell said. A man was also found dead in the street in Millbury, and two adults died in a van in Lake Township, about five miles from Millbury. Blackwell said she did not have details on the fifth fatality.

In Michigan, 11 people were injured when a storm struck Monroe County, Michigan, and damage to the exterior wall of the Fermi 2 Nuclear Power Plant prompted an automatic shutdown, said Dan Smith, spokesman for the county's emergency management division. The plant will remain closed until crews have assessed the damage, he said.

Ten people were taken to hospitals by ambulance, and one was flown, after the storm struck about 3 a.m. Sunday, Smith said. Field crews were assessing the number of homes and businesses damaged in Dundee Village and Dundee Township, he said.

Up to 500 people staying at a water park resort were evacuated safely to a middle school, Smith said.

Several other communities in Illinois were hard-hit by severe weather. The town of Streator, Illinois, looks "like a war zone," Mayor Jimmie Lansford said. A total of 50 people were triaged, and 17 were transferred to hospitals and later released, Lansford said.

Thirty homes sustained major damage, and several others had minor damage, Lansford said. Animal rescue officials were set to begin searching through the rubble.

Officials are not sure whether the damage was caused by a tornado, pending confirmation by the National Weather Service, he said. "All we know is, it cut a path from the west side of town all the way through to the east side of town."

Many trees and power lines were downed, he said, and "a couple of businesses sustained some damage but we don't know to what extent."

"If it would have been two blocks farther north, St. Mary's Hospital would have been right in the path and it would have been devastating," Lansford said. "It could have been a lot worse."

A tornado touched down in Elmwood, Illinois, Saturday night, according to the Peoria County Sheriff's Office. Pictures from CNN affiliate WMBD showed a twisted gas station awning and streets covered with debris, branches and broken glass. The tornado ripped through downtown Elmwood, tearing the second stories off buildings in some cases, WMBD said.

Footage of storm damage across several states showed buildings with roofs ripped off, other structures reduced to rubble and overturned school buses and RVs.

The severe weather may continue Sunday, forecasters said, as there is a moderate risk of severe storms and tornadoes over areas of the northeastern United States. A tornado watch, meaning conditions are favorable for tornadoes, was issued until 8 p.m. Sunday for an area stretching from New Hampshire and Vermont southward to Virginia. The watch includes the cities of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington.

Stacy Peterson Search Fruitless

Chicagoist- Calling it a search based on "a jailhouse tip," authorities conducted a search for the remains of Stacy Peterson near a farm in Peoria yesterday afternoon.

But after a full day of searching, the investigation has, so far, come up empty-handed. David Alwan, on who's property the search was conducted, told the Tribune, "They had pretty solid leads with specific coordinates."

Authorities do not consider Alwan connected to the case. Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Tom Burek told the press, "I don't want to stand here and tell you this is the magical lead that's going to solve the case. ... Like any lead we hope that it has a positive outcome. ... I don't want to allude to (the idea that) we're looking for a body. We're looking for evidence of a crime based on this lead that we have."

Will County Sheriff's spokesman Pat Barry said his office was unaware of such a tip and that Drew Peterson has been held in solitary confinement. Peterson's attorney Joel Brodsky called it a publicity stunt aimed at hurting Peterson's image ahead of his trial for the murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, scheduled to start in early July: "They're trying to dirty up the defendant with an irrelevant search.

It's a despicable tactic." By yesterday evening, after 12 hours of searching, Sgt. Burek said, “We’ve exhausted the digging portion [of the search] with the anthropologist," and announced they had no plans to pick up the search today. Burek did note, though, that they would return to the area soon: "We are pursuing some other avenues in reference to this lead and we will be back in this area."

Volunteers Search Pond For Sign of Stacy Peterson

(BOLINGBROOK, Ill.) (WLS) -- Volunteers searched a southwest suburban Bolingbrook pond last Wednesday in hopes of finding clues to the disappearance of Stacy Peterson.

Wednesday's effort was organized by Stacy's sister, Cassandra Cales. Police were not involved in the search near Weber Road and Boughton.

Nothing was found.

Stacy Peterson disappeared in October 2007. Authorities are calling her husband Drew Peterson a suspect.

Drew Peterson is being held on $20 million bond in the death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio. That case is set to go on trial in June.

Peterson Defense Gets 3 New Lawyers

April 29, 2010 (WLS) -- Drew Peterson has three new attorneys as he prepares for his murder trial.

Chicago defense attorneys Steven Greenberg, Ralph Meczyk and Darryl Goldberg are joining Peterson's defense team, which includes Joel Brodsky, his partner Reem Odeh and Chicago defense attorney Joseph Lopez.

Peterson is charged with murdering his third wife Kathleen Savio in 2004. The trial is scheduled to begin in June.

Coleman Murder Trial: Jurors Outside of Monroe County Will Hear Case

WATERLOO -- The trial of Christopher Coleman will take place in Monroe County, but the jurors will be brought to the courthouse in Waterloo from another county.

That was the crux of a court order issued Tuesday by 20th Judicial Circuit Judge Milton Wharton in response to a request by defense attorney John O'Gara for a change of venue because of massive pretrial publicity. The order did not specify which county would be used to supply jurors.

Coleman, 33, is accused of the strangulations of his wife Sheri Coleman, 31, and their sons Garett, 11 and Gavin, 9, in their Columbia home in May. Police reports state that Christopher Coleman killed his family so he could marry a Florida waitress who was a high school friend of his wife.

In March, O'Gara and Monroe County State's Attorney Kris Reitz argued the merits of a change of venue during a hearing where Wharton presided. O'Gara said intense media coverage, including inflammatory and sometimes erroneous newspaper and broadcast reports, both locally and nationally, made it all but impossible to select jurors in Monroe County who had not already made up their minds about Coleman.

O'Gara had commissioned a survey showing that most residents of Monroe County believe Coleman is guilty.

Wharton wrote in his ruling: "This court must give strong consideration to the inherent difficulties in conducting a trial of this nature in a close-knife community where even if the jurors are sequestered, there remains an enhanced possibility of a breach of Illinois Supreme Court Rule 436(b), which even if inadvertent and/or unintentional, could result in a mistrial or compromise of a jury verdict resulting in a reversal during the appeals process."

Reitz had argued that while it might be difficult, impartial jurors could be found. He also stated that the people of Monroe County deserve to have the trial held in the jurisdiction where the murders occurred.

Wharton agreed the proceedings should be held in Monroe County. He wrote that county residents should "be given an opportunity to exhibit their capability of providing a peaceful and orderly trial forum and to have access to the proceedings."

When Coleman initially was charged, onlookers gathered outside the courthouse and shouted taunts at him such as "baby killer," "murderer" and "they finally got you."

Wharton wrote in his order: "My personal observations of the sparseness of spectators, inside and outside of the courthouse, on pretrial hearing dates indicates to me that the preliminary heated interest in this matter may have, to some degree, waned. I have not observed a repeat of previously reported individual public expressions of animus directed toward the defendant."

The judge's order continues: "It is the opinion of this court that there has been no showing, relative to locality of the trial, that there exists reasonable grounds to believe that a community passion or prejudice appears to exist in Monroe County, which would give rise to a reasonable apprehension that defendant's safety might be threatened, a jury's performance of its duties might be impeded, a 'circus-like atmosphere' might develop, or that the defendant cannot receive a fair trial. If subsequent events are to prove otherwise, there should be ample warning early in trial proceedings and opportunity for the court to chance course, before the attachment of jeopardy."

Wharton stated in his order that he'll decide later on the county from which the jurors will be chosen.

Coleman was linked to the crimes through evidence gathered by the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis. He did not confess to the killings, which he blames on an unknown assailant or assailants who sent threatening messages to him through the Internet and wrote vulgar and violent messages in red spray paint inside the house.

Police, however, according to the search-warrant documents, have linked the e-mailed threats to a computer at Joyce Meyer Ministries, where Coleman worked as head of security for the famed televangelist. He was asked to resign after evidence surfaced that he was having an affair with Tara Lintz, the waitress at a Florida dog-racing track. She has told reporters she will not comment.

Recent documents that surfaced in Monroe County Circuit Court include police reports that allege Coleman told Lintz that he would have surgery to reverse a vasectomy so he could have children with her.

Hearsay Hearing for Drew Peterson Comes to an End

JOLIET, Ill. -- A hearing for Drew Peterson ended Friday night with the same question it began with a month ago: Is there enough evidence to convince a judge that the former police officer may have killed his third and fourth wives to keep them from testifying before a jury?

In dramatic closing statements after the last of more than 70 witnesses testified, prosecutors portrayed Peterson as a cold-blooded killer who took the lives of Kathleen Savio in 2004 and Stacy Peterson three years later to keep them from getting his money.

"They are killed so they can't take the witness stand in a divorce proceeding," said Will County Assistant State's Attorney John Connor.

But defense attorneys said the case against Peterson is built on lies.

Savio's death was a tragic accident, they said, and Stacy Peterson may have vanished in 2007, but she's not dead.

"For someone to say five, six, seven, eight, nine times that she's dead doesn't mean she's dead," defense attorney George Lenard said. "The reason she is not here with Mr. Peterson is that she left, and she left with another man."

The former Bolingbrook police sergeant is charged with Savio's death, but no charges have been filed in Stacy Peterson's disappearance. Friday's closing statements marked the first time they said outright they believe he killed Stacy Peterson.

The unprecedented hearing is easily the most extensive use of a state law allowing a judge to admit hearsay evidence in first-degree murder cases if prosecutors can prove a defendant may have killed a witness to prevent him or her from testifying. The law was passed after authorities named Peterson a suspect in the 2007 disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy, then exhumed Savio's body and reopened her death investigation.

The statements that prosecutors want Judge Stephen White to admit as testimony are those in which the women allegedly expressed to friends and family that they were afraid Peterson would kill them.

Prosecutors want friends and relatives of Savio to be allowed to testify about a threat she described, in which Peterson reportedly held a knife to her throat and allegedly told her he could kill her and make it look like an accident. They also want the judge to allow a friend of Stacy Peterson to testify Peterson had told her he killed Savio.

Defense attorneys argued that many of the statements shouldn't be admitted. For example, they pointed to statements Savio gave police after the alleged knife incident in which Savio never said Peterson had a knife.

"She describes things the way she wants in order to make people feel sorry for her," said Andrew Abood, saying Savio wasn't a credible witness.

White also must consider testimony from three pathologists. They all agreed Savio drowned, but two - including Dr. Michael Baden, a former New York City chief medical examiner who testified Friday - contended Savio's death was a homicide. The other pathologist backed the original finding that her death was an accident.

Throughout the hearing, it became clear the hearsay evidence is critical for prosecutors. They presented no physical evidence linking Drew Peterson to Savio's death, and Stacy Peterson remains missing.

Abood characterized the weakness of the case against Peterson this way: "They (prosecutors) want to come in here and say it's a staged crime scene because they have no evidence."

But prosecutors said the only explanation for the deaths of both women is that Peterson killed them. Both, they said, posed a threat to Drew Peterson. They said he was worried his property settlement with Savio would wipe him out financially, and that Stacy Peterson's planned divorce from him would do the same.

What happened, Connor said, is exactly what Savio and Stacy Peterson feared would happen, as friends and family described.

"Mr. Peterson's wives are two-for-two in predicting their own murders," he said.

White did not say when he would rule on the hearsay, but he did say he would order the ruling sealed until a jury is selected. He explained that he didn't want his decision to influence potential jurors.

Drew Peterson Adds Joliet Lawyer to His Defense Team

Associated Press- Another attorney has joined the criminal defense team for Drew Peterson, who is accused of killing his third wife, Kathleen Savio.

George Lenard, of the Chicago suburb of Joliet, has practiced law for more than two decades.

Peterson attorney Joel Brodsky says Lenard has been consulting with the defense team for months and brings experience.

Peterson is being held on 20 million bail in Will County on charges that he killed his third wife, Kathleen Savio, in 2004.

Peterson’s fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, has been missing since October 2007.

Peterson has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Coleman Hearing Postponed

WATERLOO, Ill. (KMOX) -- It'll be at least early February before we find out if Joyce Meyer Ministries will be added as a defendant in the civil lawsuit against Chris Coleman.

A judge today continued the case because one of Sheri Coleman's family's attorneys is recovering from heart surgery, and the other is in court in Chicago today.

Ministry attorney Michael King claims the family's attorneys are trying to delay the decision, because they don't have any evidence that the ministry could have prevented the murders of Sheri and her two sons.

The family contends the Ministry should have known the alleged murderer, Chris Coleman, was having an affair with a woman in Florida and had sent threats from his office computer. Coleman worked in security at the Ministry.

The judge will set the next hearing date in early February.

Peterson Judge Questions Possible Jurors

(JOLIET, Ill.) (WLS) -- Judge Stephen White is asking hundreds of prospective jurors to fill out questionnaires in the Drew Peterson case, although no trial date has been set.

The judge began the process after Peterson's attorneys asked the judge to move the trial from Will County because of publicity surrounding the case.
Peterson has been charged in the murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, Kathleen Savio who was found dead in 2004.

Although White is considering moving this trial out of the county, he says he will not make a decision until October. In the meantime, jurors in Will County are being prepared for a possible trial.

Peterson arrived to the court in custody, Friday, for a hearing to determine whether or not to change venue for his trial. He addressed the jury, saying, "Good day folks, how are you?"

Peterson's attorneys argued the publicity and Drew's career as a police officer will make it difficult to find impartial jurors.

"If we can't pick a fair jury in Will County, than it's the government's job to find a county were we can find impartial jurors. They'll have to go out and do whatever work needs to be done to be able to do that," Peterson's attorney Joel Brodsky said.

"Ultimately we'll have to review the questionnaires and have to question the jurors at the time of jury selection," Peterson's attorney Andrew Abood said.

Prospective jurors received questionnaires asking whether they know Drew Peterson, any of the attorneys or any of the witnesses to be called in the case. Judge White also warned the jurors they must not read any newspaper accounts or information about this case.

The Will County State's Attorney would not comment on camera, but in court he argued that it is possible to seat an impartial jury, it is premature to make such a ruling and to wait and see what they find from these questionnaires. He also accused the defense attorneys for making this case so public and allowing the publicity to continue.

Although he did not comment on camera, defense attorneys spoke with the media three times Friday.

Earlier this week, Peterson talked with reporters about his three months in jail. He said fighting boredom is his biggest challenge, saying he hates reading and watches a lot of TV. Peterson also said he does not want his kids to visit him in jail but talks with them twice a week by telephone.

Earlier this week, Peterson's attorneys also filed a 29-page motion to have the new Illinois hearsay law - nicknamed "Drew's Law" - declared unconstitutional. The judge said he would rule on the law's constitutionality Oct. 2. Defense attorneys say the state statute cannot be used against Peterson because it was passed four years after the events he is accused of.

"The criminal law cannot relate back. It cannot change the rules of evidence in the middle of the game, so to speak," said Joel Brodsky, Peterson's attorney.

The former Bolingbrook police officer was arrested in May and charged with killing Savio. Her family members claim she once told them Peterson would kill her. She wrote a letter to prosecutors making that same allegation.

The hearsay law makes it easier to use such hearsay statements during a trial. While Peterson's attorney says it's unconstitutional, prosecutors say their case does not hinge on it. They say they have a mountain of evidence against Peterson.

Private Autopsy: Ex-cop's Third Wife Fought Killer

(CNN) -- The private forensic pathologist who conducted an autopsy on Drew Peterson's third wife affirmed the official findings that ruled the death a homicide, a copy of the autopsy report shows.

The report, obtained by CNN legal analyst Lisa Bloom, was written by noted pathologist Dr. Michael Baden. He conducted a third autopsy on the body of Kathleen Savio at the request of Savio's family in November 2007.

Peterson, a former Bolingbrook, Illinois, police sergeant, pleaded not guilty May 22 to a charge of first-degree murder in Savio's 2004 death.

The initial autopsy report concluded that she died as the result of an accidental drowning.

Savio was found in the bathtub in her home with a bloody gash on the back of her head; at the time she and Peterson were going through a bitter divorce.

But investigators took another look at the case after Peterson was named as a suspect in the October 28, 2007, disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson.

Savio's body was exhumed on November 13, 2007, and state pathologist Dr. Larry Blum performed a second autopsy. Three days later, Baden conducted another autopsy on behalf of Savio's family.

Baden's report cited Blum's findings of a 1-inch blunt-force laceration on the back of her head, five scraping abrasions and six blunt-force black-and-blue bruises on her extremities, abdomen and buttock.

Baden also noted that even though the body was partially decomposed, "bruises and contusions caused by blunt force injuries shortly before death" were still visible on the right breast, the upper right thigh and the abdomen.

The severity of those injuries, Baden said in his report, indicated a struggle. See a timeline of the case »

"It is my opinion, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, that the drowning of Ms. Savio ... should be properly classified as a homicide," the pathologist concluded.

The Will County, Illinois, prosecutor announced in February 2008 that the findings of the second autopsy, conducted by Blum, provided the basis to classify the case as a homicide.

Peterson has denied any wrongdoing in the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy, who was 23 when she was last seen.

The former police sergeant remains in jail, awaiting trial on the first-degree murder charge in Savio's death.

Mokena Slaying: Teen Pleads Not Guilty in Half-Sister's Death

Chicago Tribune - A Mokena teenager accused of killing his 4-year-old half-sister pleaded not guilty Monday in a Will County courtroom.

Keith Randulich, 18, is charged in the May 22 death of his half sister, Sabrina Clement.

In a statement allegedly given to police, Randulich, who remains in jail in lieu of $10 million bail, said he took the girl to the basement in their home, then cut her throat with a steak knife and stabbed her. Family members were at the hearing Monday but declined to comment.

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No Abuse in Murder Case?

JOLIET -- Though Keith Randulich told police he slit his 4-year-old half sister's throat after failing to get a gun he could use to kill someone he believed was molesting the girl, authorities say there was no sign Sabrina Clement was the victim of sexual abuse.

Will County Coroner Patrick O'Neil, whose office performed an autopsy on Sabrina, said Monday there was no evidence she was molested.

"As part of the autopsy protocol, especially when under these particular circumstances, that was looked at very closely, and there's no evidence of any abuse along those lines," O'Neil said.

His office gathered evidence for a sexual assault kit, which the coroner gave to Mokena police for testing.

Randulich, 18, 19433 York Drive, pleaded innocent Monday in Will County Court to two counts of first-degree murder. He wore glasses and sat shackled with several other Will County Jail inmates after Judge Richard Schoenstedt called his case. Randulich remains in jail on $10 million bail.

Half Brother Admits Slitting 4-Year-Old Sister's Throat

Chicago Sun-Times: Four-year-old Sabrina Clement had to die, her 18-year-old half brother told police, because he couldn't get a gun to kill the person he believed was abusing the little girl, according to court documents filed recently.

"It was me," Keith Randulich told police in a soft voice when they showed up to the family's Mokena home on May 22 and found him covered in blood, according to a search warrant affidavit Mokena police filed on June 9.

Randulich also told police later that night that he wanted to kill a person he thought had been molesting Sabrina for two years.

He got a firearm owners I.D. card and asked his mother on May 22 to buy him a gun, according to the affidavit.

When she refused, she and her son argued, so she left her 16-year-old in charge of the little girl while she and her husband went to her 14-year-old son's school, it continued.

Randulich said that person was too big to kill without a gun, according to the affidavit.

So while his 16-year-old brother was upstairs playing a wrestling video game, Randulich decided to slit his sister's neck because he thought "it would be quick."

He called 911, saying he "murdered his sister with a knife."

Aside from physical evidence taken from the home, police also recovered video games, a bunch of heavy metal CDs, clown masks and a book titled "Children At Risk: What You Need to Know to Protect Your Children."

Randulich is awaiting trial in the Will County Adult Detention Facility in lieu of $10 million bail. His attorney could not be reached Wednesday for comment.

His case returns to court on Monday.

Champion Mountain Biker Jailed in Huge Pot Bust

WTEN- Missy Giove, a retired world champion downhill mountain biker, is facing charges of conspiracy with intent to distribute hundreds of pounds of marijuana.

She and two others are in custody, following an investigation began in Illinois and ended in the Saratoga County town of Wilton.

Altogether, the Drug Enforcement Agency seized more than $1,000,000 in cash and close to 400 pounds of marijuana. The drugs alone have a street value of about $250,000.

Before her retirement in 2003, Giove, nicknamed "The Missile", was one of the most successful downhill mountain bikers in the world. Now, she faces an uphill battle against federal prosecutors and drug conspiracy charges.

Court documents detail how police tracked down Giove, who is from Virginia, in Wilton earlier this week.

Giove landed at the Albany International Airport Tuesday morning, days after another woman was arrested during a traffic stop in Illinois. That woman was driving a truck and trailer with more than 200 pounds of marijuana on its way to the Albany area.

Law enforcement picked the delivery up from there.

Back at the airport, police watched Giove get into a taxi, go to a nearby Hilton hotel and pick up the truck and trailer from a police informant. They say the trailer belonged to Giove.

Giove then drove to Wilton, where she dropped off the informant at a book store.

According to police, Giove then went across the street to a Hannaford parking lot to meet with Eric Canori, a Wilton resident, and the two drove to his house. Authorities add that some of the contents from the trailer were unloaded there and then Giove drove off.

Police finally stopped her in Saratoga Lake, found marijuana in the trailer and she was arrested

A police search of Canori's house yielded the $1,000,000 in cash and more than 150 pounds of marijuana.

'Super Marijuana' Becoming A Problem

CHICAGO - A strain of highly-potent marijuana is hitting the Chicago suburbs and causing concern for local lawmakers. Now they're calling for stricter laws against trafficking.

Tetrahydrocannabinol, known as THC, is the main ingredient in marijuana that gives you a high. It used to measure 4 percent in pot found on the streets in the 90s. But now, pot can be as much as 20 percent THC.

One congressman said with the increased potency, he would lobby to see increased fines because the new marijuana could sell for $600 an ounce. This new 'super marijuana' is much higher in THC. It produce a more intense and longer-lasting high. It also sells for more on the street, and on the street, it's commonly known as "koosh."

"Koosh is a modified marijuana that delivers up to ten times the THC level of the marijuana we may have seen in the 1960s and 70s," Congressman Mark Kirk said.

Congressman Kirk is proposing federal legislation to make dealing it on a higher level like with cocaine.

Congressman Kirk went on to explain that the high potency marijuana act of 2009 "would increase the penalties just for drug dealers and people making sure they know that the penalties are as high for this new potent marijuana as it is for other high potency drugs."

To give you an example, current legislation calls for fines of $250,000 for an individual and up to five years in prison. Under Mark Kirk's proposed legislation, it would go up to $1 million for an individual and up to 25 years in prison.

Pathologist reports Chris Coleman's Family Died Hours Before He Left For the Gym

WATERLOO -- On the night before his family was strangled, Chris Coleman told his Florida girlfriend that his wife would receive divorce papers the next day, according to testimony Wednesday morning in Monroe County Court.

And renowned forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden put the time of death for murder victims Sheri Coleman and her sons Gavin, 9, and Garett, 11, at between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. -- well before the time her husband Chris Coleman said he left for a gym workout.

Images from a surveillance camera mounted right across the street from the Coleman home at the house of Columbia Police Detective Justin Barlow, one of the investigators on the triple murder, showed Coleman leaving at 5:43 a.m. on May 5.

"The expert said that it was not possible for them to be alive at 5:45 a.m.," said Columbia Police Chief Joe Edwards, the only witness to testify at Coleman's preliminary hearing on Wednesday morning.

Coleman, 32, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the ligature strangulations of his wife and sons. Coleman remains in the Monroe County Jail without bail.

Chris Coleman told police in a lengthy interview following the murders that he and his wife had a good marriage, but encountered marital problems in 2008 and received marriage counseling, Edwards testified.

Chris Coleman later admitted to police that he was engaged in an affair with one of his wife's friends, identified in court documents as Tara Lintz of St. Petersburg, Fla. Lintz and Coleman had at least one credit card in both their names that was used to pay for airfare for Lintz to accompany him on trips for Joyce Meyer Ministries.

Lintz and Coleman exchanged conversations about "body parts" that" his wife would not be very happy about," Coleman told police during the interview. The couple began a relationship on Nov. 5 and planned to be married in January 2010. Lintz was looking for work and a home to share with Chris Coleman in the St. Louis area, Edwards testified.

The couple was also planning to take a cruise together in August.

Edwards also testified that the first alleged threat to the Coleman family reported by Chris Coleman came on Nov. 14 to his work e-mail at Joyce Meyer Ministries, where he worked as a security supervisor. Detectives later discovered the e-mail was created on Coleman's Meyer Ministries-issued laptop and sent through the laptop's air card.

Other type-written, hand-delivered threats directed at the Coleman family were delivered to their mailbox at their home on Robert Drive in Columbia on Jan. 2 and April 27 with the message, "Your worst nightmare is about to happen."

Evidence gathered by the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis included routine documents written by Chris Coleman that had the same misspelling of the word "opportunity" that was noted in an anonymous threatening letter left in the Coleman family's mailbox.

During a phone conversation the night before the murders, Lintz told police that Coleman told her that his wife would receive divorce papers the next day -- the day that the bodies of her and the boys were found.

Edwards testified Joyce Meyer Ministries did not employ people who get divorced, but Meyer spokesman Roby Walker had earlier told reporters that policy wasn't in place.

Lintz also told police that she and Chris Coleman exchanged sexual graphic videos and messages, Edwards said.

On May 5, Barlow, who lived across the street from Coleman, received a call from Chris Coleman on his cell phone, asking him to check on his family because he couldn't reach them, Edwards said.

Barlow called for an additional officer, Jason Donjon, then got dressed and walked across the street, Edwards said. They discovered the open basement window and crawled through.

They found threatening messages spray painted in the house in red paint.

Barlow discovered Garett first, Edwards said. His bed had red spray paint on it. Donjon discovered Sheri. Edwards said the sheet that covered Gavin was spray painted with an obscenity.

Emergency medical personnel were called to the scene and Chris Coleman was loaded into the ambulance with the chaplain for the Columbia police.

The chaplain reported seeing an abrasion on Chris Coleman's forearm and asked how it happened, but Edwards said he told the chaplain he didn't know. He later told his father, Ronald Coleman, minister of Grace Church Ministries in Chester, that he got the injury punching a gurney after learning of his family's deaths.

The chaplain left when Chris Coleman's relatives and co-workers began to arrive, Edwards said.

Police also noted the video surveillance cameras inside the Coleman's home were operational, but Edwards said the digital video recorder used to save the images was missing. Police discovered a "face plate" to a Digital Video Recorder in the westbound lane of Interstate 255 near the base of the Jefferson Barracks Bridge -- the same route Chris Coleman would have taken to get to the south St. Louis County gym the morning of the murders.

After hearing the evidence, Monroe County Circuit Judge Dennis Doyle found there was probable cause for Chris Coleman to stand trial.

Father and son team William Margulis and Art Margulis, Coleman's attorneys, entered a not guilty plea on Chris Coleman's behalf and waived the reading of the charge.

William Margulis asked the trial be delayed to allow his father and him to pursue certification through the Illinois Capital Litigation Bar. That certification would allow them to continue to represent Coleman, if State's Attorney Kris Reitz decides to pursue the death penalty. Reitz has 120 days to declare whether he will seek capital punishment if Coleman is convicted.

Doyle ordered Coleman to stand trial and set the next hearing in the case for Aug. 26.

Ronald and Connie Coleman, Chris Coleman's parents, attended the hearing, but didn't talk to reporters.

Mario Weiss, Sheri's brother and Garett and Gavin's uncle, attended the hearing, along with Sheri's godfather Joe Miglio, hearing the details of their deaths.

"It was extremely emotional. I felt a thousand different emotions," Weiss said after the hearing. "I didn't want to disrespect the judge by vomiting in court."

Police seeking babysitter suspected of kidnapping 5-month-old in Madison

BND.Com- The Madison Police Department is asking the public for assistance in finding a 17-year-old babysitter suspected of kidnapping a 5-month-old boy.

Police on Monday secured a $500,000 aggravated kidnapping warrant from the Madison County State's Attorney's Office for the arrest of Danielle Medina, who is believed to have taken Cortez L. Rose on Saturday, according to Madison Police Chief Steven Shelby.

Officers are also trying to make contact with Medina's boyfriend, Aries Moses, 22, because they believe he has information on her whereabouts.

"We're asking for public assistance because that's the only thing that can help us right now," Shelby said. "People can keep their eyes and ears open near public transportation, hotels or anything like that."

Shelby said police believe Medina may be in the O'Fallon and East St. Louis area, where her boyfriend lives, or on her way to New York, where she resided before moving to the metro-east.

Medina is wanted on an outstanding felony robbery and grand larceny warrant in New York where she has previously been convicted of child endangerment, Shelby said.

Details of the conviction were not immediately available, but police said she fled the charge in New York.

Police in New York are also looking for Medina's boyfriend, Moses, who also is wanted for felony robbery and grand larceny and had fled the state.

Medina has been staying with Moses in East St. Louis after she came to the metro-east about two months ago. She then moved to the residence in Madison for the babysitting job through an acquaintance on Friday, Shelby said.

Moses is not a suspect in the kidnapping, but police wish to talk to him.

"We've been told by some of the family members that he's not going to cooperate," Shelby said. "He's trying to hide from us. We'd just like to speak with him. We know he didn't take the child, but we just think that he might know where the child is and (Medina's) whereabouts."

Cortez's mother, Makeela King, 16, told police that she left her son at home, at 1545 Fifth St. in Madison, with Medina while she shopped for clothes for her son in East St. Louis on Saturday. When King returned home at about 2 p.m., Medina and Cortez were gone.

"When they came back, there was some confusion because the godparents were supposed to have picked up the child," Shelby said.

The family reported Cortez missing at about 1 p.m. on Sunday, and police then issued a S.A.R.A.A. (St. Louis Regional Abduction Alert). An AMBER alert was not issued because Medina does not have a vehicle, Shelby said.

Medina was last seen near a Granite City bus stop at 19th and Edison streets before 5 p.m. Saturday, Shelby said. Granite City police officers made contact with Medina at the time, but she used the alias "Gillyard," and they did not know she was wanted for kidnapping.

Police describe Medina as an African-American woman who is 5 feet tall and weighs 120 pounds. She has a black pony tail with orange and black weave for bangs. She was last seen wearing a long, brown shirt and black leggings, and carrying a large, gray purse. Medina may be pushing the baby in a large, brown and tan stroller.

Cortez is 22 inches long and weighs 20 pounds. He was last seen wearing a red T-shirt and a diaper. He has a birth mark on his right arm near his shoulder and one on his right ankle.

Anyone who has seen Cortez or Medina is asked to call their local police department or the Madison Police Department at 876-4300.

Shelby said he mostly wants the baby to be returned safely.

"We're not even too much concerned with the criminal aspect right now, we just want her to drop the child off at a hospital or a police station, and we'd be happy with that," Shelby said. "I don't know how many diapers she had, how much food she took with her, don't know if she has a place to stay, roof over her head..."