12/05/2007

Roundup: Did Drew Peterson Kill Stacy Peterson? 20 Things We Know Today

Did Drew Peterson kill Stacy Peterson? Here's 20 Things We Know Today:

1. Last night, police executed their 3d search warrant, seizing Drew Peterson's vehicles - a GMC Denali and a Pontiac Grand Prix.

2. Peterson's lawyer tells the media that the warrant is searching for items that "may have been utilized in commission of the offense of first-degree murder or the concealment of a homicidal death...." and for 'trace elements of several materials, including blue plastic.'

3. FoxNews is reporting that the nearby canal area has been closed off for 24 hours, starting on Tuesday, December 4th, to free the area for divers to search.

4. Drew Peterson has not been named as a suspect in Stacy Peterson's death according to the Associated Press. Then again, some reports say that he has been named a suspect - like CBSNews.Com.

5. A neighbor reported to FoxNews that they saw Drew Peterson and another man loading a barrel "big enough to put someone in" into Peterson's SUV. He described the barrel as blue and with a 35 to 55 gallon capacity.

6. Two Illinois truckers claim that two men, one believed to be Drew Peterson, came up to them at a Bolingbrook truck stop on October 29th, at around 3:30 am. They were asked to transport a package to an undisclosed location, where the two middle-aged men would then purportedly pick up the package. The truckers declined the invitation. Drew Peterson denies any knowledge of this through his attorney, who says this story just doesn't make good sense.

7. A nonprofit search group has been asked by authorities to search for a blue barrel.

8. Thomas Morphey, Drew Peterson's stepbrother tried to commit suicide last month. Morphey's sister reported last Friday that her brother is recovering, that Thomas helped Drew Peterson load a large container into the Denali, and that he fears he may have innocently helped with the disposal of Stacy's body. She says that Thomas will be assisting authorities.

9. Peterson's lawyer denies that Drew Peterson used police databases to search for information about family and friends - including a man with whom Stacy traded 'sexually suggestive text messages.'

10. Body language experts opine that Drew Peterson doesn't behave like a man whose wife has left him for another man.

11. The man exchanging the "suggestive text messages" has come forward: he is Scott Rossetto, whose brother briefly dated Stacy in 2001. He denies that he was having an affair with Stacy, that the emails were solely a flirtation, but that a husband could misconstrue them.

12. Neither Drew Peterson nor members of his family have joined in the search for Stacy Peterson.

13. Drew Peterson began a relationship with Stacy Peterson while he was still married to his third wife, Kathleen Savio.

14. Kathleen Savio died within a year of Drew's divorcing her and marrying Stacy. She was discovered in a waterless bathtub, hair wet and fingers wrinkled, with severe head trauma. The death was ruled accidental.

15. A grand jury presides over both the missing persons investigation of Stacy and the potential homicide investigation of Kathleen.

16. Letters have been sent to both the Peterson family and Stacy's family claiming to have seen a pregnant Stacy with a man. Sightings have been in Florida and in Illinois.

17. Drew Peterson was 30 years older than his bride on their wedding day, and held their 1 year old son in his arms at the ceremony (photo here).

18. Drew met Stacy when she worked as a night desk clerk at a hotel that he routinely checked out as part of his job as a night commander on the Bollingbrook Police Department.

19. Stacy's sister reports that Stacy called her on Friday (she disappeared on Sunday) to say that "if anything happens to me, I fear for my life," because Stacy had decided to divorce Drew.

20. Stacy's daughter with Drew is 2 years old. Her name is Lacy. Lacy Peterson.

For more information: www.findstacypeterson.com.