Drew Peterson trial update murder trial day 16 week 4 recap

Drew Peterson trial update

(Photo: bittenandbound.com)

Today marks the end of the fourth week of the Drew Peterson trial with the prosecution calling the lasting of their witnesses and Person’s defense team will begin calling their witnesses starting Monday.

The trial was running 4 days a week with the judge taking care of his regular court calendar on Monday’s however due to the oftentimes slow pace of the trial, the trial will now run on Monday through Friday.

Drew Peterson trial update Jeff Ruby arrested

Yesterday, famed restauranteur Jeff Ruby was booted out of the court room for mouthing an expletive at Drew Peterson and barred from returning to the court.

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Last night, Ruby was arrested.  He says he was staying at Harrahs in Joliet and his room key didn’t work so he was going to get a new room key when he was arrested.

Jeff Ruby calls Peterson’s legal team “Shameless”

According to the Chicago Tribune, he told Johnathon Brandmeier on WGN radio that he believes authorities rigged his key so he would have to go back to the lobby where he was arrested.

He was charged with a misdemeanor count of contempt and released within an hour after his arrest.

Ruby, known for being outspoken, refused to serve OJ Simpson after he was found innocent.  He also recently took out an ad in a newspaper blasting Peterson’s defense team.

Drew Peterson trial update more witnesses testify

Norman Ray Clark III from Sprint Nextel took the stand today.  He testified that Drew and Stacy Peterson used the Direct Connect feature regularly to talk with each other.

Direct Connect is technology that functions similar to a walkie-talkie. You simply push a button, hear a chirp and are instantly connected.

Clark’s testimony is important because if Drew and Stacy Peterson used this feature regularly, the Direct Connect calls are not shown on their cell bill like regular cell phone calls even though they would have had conversations.

When Stacy Peterson’s Pastor testified yesterday, he said that Stacy Peterson, who is still missing and presumed dead, told him about waking up and not finding her husband in bed with her after they had gone to sleep together and after checking the house and not finding him, she called him.

Phone records do not show any phone calls made by Stacy Peterson to Drew Peterson near the time of Kathleen Savio’s death, so the prosecution wants to show that  if the phone calls were via Direct Connect, that would be a valid reason why.

The prosecution contents that Drew Peterson murdered his third wife Kathleen Savio and staged the crime scene to make it look like it was an accidental death.  They also believe that Peterson placed Savio in a choke hold.

In  a case that has no physical evidence tying Drew Peterson to the crime scene, prosecutors must rely heavily on witnesses testimony of what they believe actually happened to Savio.

Key parts of the prosecutions theory rely on “testimony from the grave statements that either Kathleen Savio or Stacy Peterson made to others, also known as “hearsay”.

With that in mind, the prosecution wants to be able to present information about Drew Peterson’s training in submission and restraint techniques.

Judge Burmila would not allow all of this to presented to the jury because he noted that there is no physical evidence placing Peterson at the crime scene so how could they what he did there.

He would allow evidence to be presented though that shows Peterson received training as an evidence technician and therefore had knowledge of what crime scene investigators look for.

Brian Hafner of the Bolingbrook Police Department testified and detailed the training that was noted in Drew Peterson’s personnel file including training in evidence handling and crime scene investigation. Peterson also was an evidence technician for the police department in January of 1984.

Hafner did not know if Drew Peterson ever processed evidence from a crime scene.

Cassandra Cales, Stacy Peterson’s sister was slated to testify to confirm her sister’s phone number but both sides agreed to a stipulation so she did not have to testify.

Kathleen Savio’s divorce attorney Harry Smith did not testify today either but might do so on Monday and was told to be available.

Joe Lopez, one of Peterson’s attorneys confirmed to reporters that they were prepared to start their defense Monday.

Their defense’s witnesses will include three doctors as well as several police officers who investigated Savio’s death and expect their defense will take two or three day.

The trial is expected to resume Monday morning so please visit again for more Drew Peterson trial updates.

Related articles

• Judge blocks testimony on Drew Peterson’s stranglehold training as officer
• Drew Peterson Choked Wife, Friend Says
• Drew Peterson avoids being confronted by former sister-in-law

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