
As the Drew Peterson trial nears the end of it’s third week, there has been a steady barrage of testimony from witnesses who either felt they were intimidated by Peterson or sensed something might be wrong but did not voice their opinion to authorities.
There has even been testimony from Kathleen Savio’s sister and friends of Savio who have testified that she was fearful of her husband and that he threatened her.
It is a case that is based on circumstantial and hearsay evidence, with no physical evidence to tie the former Bolingbrook Police Sergeant to the murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio.
The prosecution asserts that Drew Peterson killed Savio and staged the crime scene to make it look like an accident. They allege that she was placed in a choke hold and then drowned.
Drew Peterson may be guilty in the court of public opinion and many believe he is responsible for Savio’s death and for the disappearance of his fourth wife Stacy Peterson, however he is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
The prosecution is diligently laying their foundation and, although there have been some missteps along the way, yesterday and today’s testimony was pivotal for them.
Dr Larry Blum, a forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on Savio after her body was exhumed, was on the stand yesterday and today.
Yesterday he testified the he visited the crime scene and actually climbed in to the bathtub where Savio’s body was found. The prosecution was not supposed to ask about that and the jury was told to disregard that testimony.
What was very interesting was his professional opinion that based on the angle of her foot, he did not believe that her death resulted from an accidental drowning.
His testimony continued today and he said that he “couldn’t see” how a death by accidental drowning could result in the fresh wounds that was found on her head as well as the bruises on the front of her body, He described the bruises as deep, almost to the bone. (Savio’s boyfriend has testified previously that when he saw her naked, she did not have bruises)
When asked if he had a conclusion as to how Kathleen Savio died, he answered with one word, – – “Homicide”
He as questioned by the defense on cross examination and admitted that Dr. Bryan Mitchell, who conducted the first autopsy on Savio was well a respected forensic pathologist who concluded that Savio’s cause of death was an accidental drowning.
The defense was also able to elicit from Blum that there could be other scenarios that he was not aware of that could have caused the deep bruising to Savio and effectively pointed out that there was no DNA under Savio’s fingernails.
The Chicago Tribune noted in their Drew Peterson trial update that before the jurors came back into court after lunch, Judge Burmila mentioned that his remark yesterday received a lot of media attention and said, “I didn’t want any of my family or my friends to worry — I’m not going to do that”
Not to worry, I think everyone knew he was joking.
Check back for more Drew Peterson updates.