Peterson’s attorney wants recordings tossed in murder-for-hire case

The lawyer representing Drew Peterson in a murder-for-hire case will argue later this month that recordings of conversations should be barred from the trial.

Peterson, an ex-Bolingbrook police sergeant, is charged with soliciting a prison inmate at Menard Correctional Center in Chester to kill Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow, who prosecuted Peterson, 60, in 2012 for the murder of Peterson’s ex-wife, Kathleen Savio.

Lucas Liefer, Peterson’s attorney, has filed a motion raising concerns about the way the eavesdropping orders were obtained, including the authorization form signed by Glasgow, the target of the alleged murder-for-hire plot; the judge meeting with the informants nearly three months before the application for the eavesdrop was filed; and documents missing from the sealed eavesdrop file.

“The State’s actions of impropriety on almost every level in pursuing the eavesdropping order offends society’s sense of fair play and decency,” Leifer wrote. “The conduct of the state’s attorney, chief deputy and chief judge shocks the conscious to the extent that justice can no longer be served in this proceeding.”

“Defendants can make any allegation they wish,” said Randolph County State’s Attorney Jeremy Walker. “We will be happy to prove the veracity of those recordings in court.”

“We have these rules that these kinds of eavesdrops should be conducted in a certain way because we are trying to protect people’s rights to privacy,” Liefer said. “The steps along the way were all screwed up.”

Liefer and Walker will argue the motion in the latest case on Sept. 29 before Randolph County Judge Richard Brown.

Liefer contends Glasgow should have asked for a special prosecutor when he found out he was the target of the alleged murder-for-hire plot.

“He was not thinking from an unbiased position,” Liefer said.

Liefer also pointed out that Chief Judge Richard Schoenstedt, who signed the eavesdrop order and an extension, went to Stateville Correctional Center on Oct. 3 to meet with the informant – 20 days before an application was made to record the conversation between Peterson and the informant, who is not identified in court papers.

Liefer contended that Schoenstedt was actively participating in the investigation by interviewing the informant and, therefore, lacked impartiality to decide whether the application was lawful.

Peterson’s fourth wife, Stacy, disappeared in 2007. Her body has not been found. Peterson has not been charged in connection with her disappearance.

Drew Peterson is still incarcerated at Menard Correctional, where he is serving a 38-year prison sentence in connection with Savio’s murder.

This story was originally published September 17, 2015 at 9:45 AM with the headline "Peterson’s attorney wants recordings tossed in murder-for-hire case."