JOLIET, Ill. (WKOW) -- A jury has convicted former suburban Chicago police officer Drew Peterson of murdering his third wife.
Jurors returned with a guilty verdict against Drew Peterson on Thursday in the 2004 death of Kathleen Savio.
The 58-year-old Peterson faces a maximum 60-year prison term.
Savio's body was found in her bathtub in 2004. Authorities initially ruled the 40-year-old died accidentally. Her death was reclassified after Peterson's 23-year-old fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, vanished in 2007.
Authorities presume Stacy Peterson is dead, though her body has never been found. Drew Peterson is a suspect but has not been charged in her disappearance.
As authorities investigated what happened to the women, Drew Peterson gained a national reputation as unsavory and tactless, often cracking off-color jokes about the case.
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JOLIET, Ill. (AP) -- An official says jurors in the Drew Peterson murder trial have reached a verdict.
Will County Sheriff's Office spokesman Ken Kaupas confirmed the jury had reached a decision in the former suburban Chicago police officer's case on Thursday afternoon. It's not immediately clear what the verdict is.
Lawyers and others are assembling in the courtroom.
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JOLIET, Ill. (WKOW)-- Jurors are heading into a second day of deliberations at Drew Peterson's murder trial.
The jurors gathering again Thursday in Joliet have given no clear sign on whether they are close to a verdict in the former Illinois police officer's case. The 58-year-old pleaded not guilty to murdering his third wife, Kathleen Savio in 2005. He was charged only after the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, in 2007.
The deliberating jurors asked Wednesday to see a variety of evidence, including transcripts of witnesses who presented hearsay evidence. Hearsay is normally barred at trials. But Illinois adopted legislation allowing it in rare circumstances.
