The Drew Dumpster: Stacy Peterson Search to Resume, Drew Peterson Cleans House for Media

The tawdry tale of former Bolingbrook cop and crime suspect Drew Peterson and his missing fourth wife Stacy Peterson blooms anew with spring. As for third wife Kathleen Savio, found dead and "drowned" in a dry bathtub, no arrest has yet been made in what officials now consider to be a homicide.

Let's review, shall we? Four wives, the second says she's still terrified of Peterson. Third wife, Savio, dead, after multiple calls for help to Peterson's own police department and a poignant but ignored letter to a prosecutor. She left behind more than a million dollars in assets,which fell into Drew Peterson's custody, along with their two children.

Although it took Illinois authorities years and the pressure of the public spotlight, Fox News reporter Greta Van Susteren, and the intervention of famed forensics expert Dr. Michael Baden to decide Savio had been killed, her family knew her death was no accident. After we read the coroner's initial report and accounts of Savio's death, we here at Peanut headquarters knew it was no accident.

In fact, back in November 2007, shortly after Stacy Peterson disappeared, we told you how easily someone who knows how can make a murder look like an accidental drowning. Given Savio's pleas for protection from an abusive husband, letting her death slide as an "accident," as claimed by Peterson, is an appalling act.

Peterson has a history of abuse claims.Former fiancee Kyle Piry chimed in during the inital investigation into the disappearance of Stacy Peterson. She recounted Peterson's stalking, using his badge to ticket and bully her, along with physical abuse and threats.

When fourth wife Stacy Peterson went missing, her story echoed the fears and experiences of Piry and former wives. Before Stacy vanished, she told her pastor that Peterson killed Savio. Fox News and Dr. Baden got involved. Savio's family asked Baden to do a second autopsy.

After Savio was exhumed, Baden's autopsy showed that Savio had been beaten and killed. Her drowning had been faked. Finally, the local coroner agreed and Savio's death moved from the accidental death category into murder.

First on the scene of her death? The man she feared the most, the man who had literally broken into her home and held her captive: Bolingbrook cop Drew Peterson and one of his best friends. Amazingly, several people who had angered Peterson have turned up dead, and even more amazingly, he's been the first at the scene. Not so amazingly, he controlled the death scenes.

After Stacy Peterson's disappearance hit the national media, there were reports of a mysterious blue barrel the right size for moving a body, a helper in moving that barrel who then attempted suicide, and revelations about Stacy's desire for a divorce. Above all else, however, is Peterson's love of the media spotlight.

From People magazine to joint appearances with his new best friend, lawyer Joel Brodksy (who also has spouse abuse problems in his past), Peterson's been busy. Recently, he's been working the media circuit, giving various reporters "exclusive" interviews in his home, showing him hard at work being Mom, loading the dishwasher, making lunches--well, everything except doing the Donna Reed twirl with pearls.

Peterson, who earlier had bragged about women being so attractive to him that they drive by his house and leave him notes, obviously now has been tutored in being "Mr. Mom." His sarcasm, laughter at Stacy's disappearance--who he insists just left her children and "ran off" with another mean--and open contempt for women, the authorities, Stacy's family, Stavio's family, neighbors, and, apparently, anyone not part of the Drew Fan Club, inadvertently revealed the real Drew Peterson.

Peterson told both Stacy and Kathleen that he was a cop, and he could kill them and get away with it. He knew how, he said. The Peterson case,reaching over decades and culminating in Stacy's disappearance, even had Dr. Phil weighing in.

Dr. Phil said he was "troubled" by Peterson's story and his demeanor. So are millions of other people.

Now hastily retired--to avoid yet another investigation--Peterson remains convinced that what he says goes. Brodsky, his apparent twin-separated-at-birth, has been working his own media circuit. One of the reasons he took the case, Brodsky said, is to get more publicity for his talent.

Of all Peterson's matches to date, Brodsky is the best one. For awhile, the twosome made the media rounds with identical beards, dressed alike, and acting alike. In between TV appearances, Brodsky found time to file the motions to get Peterson's cars --seized during the investigation--returned.

But so far, it's a "no go" on the request to have Peterson's guns returned to the custody of an elder son, with Peterson's right-to-carry card returned to Peterson. Question: if the guns were returned, along with Peterson's card, how long would it take for Peterson to have a gun back in his possession?

Actually, he's had one all along. He allegedly hid one from Illinois state police officers searching his home.





You know, guns. Like the one he almost "accidentally" killed Stacy with before. Seems she went downstairs to get him a soda and the 30-year-veteran cop "accidentally" discharged his firearm through the floor, in Stacy's direction.





Not that death by "accident" is strange when Peterson is around. He was originally fired from the same police department for identifying an undercover officer to a known killer. He got his job back.

Decades later, Stacy Peterson's family resumes the search for her, with some volunteers receiving training from Illinois investigators. Savio's family still waits.

And so do both justice and common sense.