A Cop Under a Cloud

 

Email To A Friend

Please fill in the following information and we'll email this link.

Separate multiple addresses with commas

SPONSORED BY
 

Until he became a household name around Chicago, Peterson kept a low profile. A friend of Peterson's for 27 years, Ric Mims says he didn't even know much about Peterson's three previous wives. Mims says he always knew Peterson as a man who played with his younger children, held family barbecues in the backyard, took the young ones to festivals and amusement parks. "They liked to spend a lot of time with their kids," Mims said of Peterson and Stacy. Peterson has two young children with Stacy, two teenage boys from his third marriage and two adult sons from his first.

Peterson, who did not respond to interview requests from NEWSWEEK, was hired as an officer by the Bolingbrook Police Department in 1977. He was lately working the 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. shift, supervising 10 patrol officers. It seems he has had some troubles at work, too. In September he was suspended for eight days for violating department policy on car chases. Officers under his supervision chased two teenagers who drove off the road and crashed at a construction site. "The pursuit never should have happened in the first place," said Teppel, of the Bolingbrook squad. "We don't pursue for property crimes." Peterson also was fired in 1985 for improper conduct while working as a narcotics officer, but the case was later overturned and he was reinstated.

Since the investigation into his missing wife, Peterson has been suspended without pay. He tendered a letter of resignation this week.

Acquaintances say Peterson, a risk-taker, enjoyed riding a black Harley-Davidson motorcycle painted with blue flames and piloting his ultralight airplane. Friends say he also collected rifles. A former colleague, Don Bolger, who worked as a part-time police officer, said Peterson was "very businesslike, very professional" on the job. He is more outgoing off the clock, said Bolger, who was also a neighbor of Peterson's when he was married to Savio.

"He's a jokester," Bolger told NEWSWEEK. "He has an outgoing personality … If you needed a hand with something, he would help you." Peterson had an interest in photography, and snapped the photos for Bolger's 1981 wedding as a gift. Bolger says he would often see Peterson playing with his two kids with Savio, riding bikes and chasing after them.

Despite the cloud of suspicion, Peterson still has his supporters. A former neighbor, Margie Carcerano, said the family liked to rollerblade, go camping and attend their kids' sporting events. "They were both awesome parents," she said of Peterson and Savio. "What I see of him as a father, he is always there. He is always at every activity."

Label

Newsweek Top Stories
NEWSWEEK's 20/10
NEWSWEEK's 20/10

Our decade-in-review project recalls the highs and lows of the last 10 years.

Obama's Promises
Obama's Promises

Is the new president fulfilling his campaign pledges? Or falling short?

The Decade in 7 Minutes
The Decade in 7 Minutes

Video: A fast-paced review of the best and worst moments. Don't blink.

Accidental Celebrities
Accidental Celebrities

From Levi Johnston to Elian Gonzalez, these people never expected to be in the spotlight.

Discuss

Sponsored by

Member Comments

  • Posted By: Teadrinker @ 01/02/2008 11:55:08 PM

    Look up the definition of a narcissist and a sociopath and you will find Drew Pearson. He is a despicable man. Drew Pearson decided to kill two innocent women so he doesn???t have to pay child support or alimony. This is not an unusual story. It happens a lot more in our culture than we are willing to admit.

    Drew Pearson a loving father? That is such a ridiculous notion. Narcissists do not know how to love and they can pretend emotions. Wait until the children get older, he???ll lose interest because he will no longer be able to control them. His children should be taken away from him now. He has shown himself to be a very cold, calculating and dangerous man.

    I hope he gets the death sentence and that something goes wrong while he is dying a painful death. Maybe he???ll think about what he did to these two poor unfortunate women who became his wives. After he dies I hope this is an afterlife so he can rot in hell for eternity.

    I know a little about narcissist and sociopaths. I was married to one and was lucky to get out alive.

    Teadrinker

  • Posted By: John_Middleburg @ 11/20/2007 9:22:27 PM

    How can people call him the family guy? He's nothing but an animal, which produced babies to control the women. Yeah, he spends time with kids, cause kids are fun...and make you feel good and powerful....nature designed kids to be cute and loveable and anyone can spend some time with them.....but hey, if you love your kids, really love them, you do not keep on just reproducing more and more with different women. That is not healthy for anyone at this age, in this set up, not the kids... not their mothers..only ok with a father..who can feel like a king.
    The guy preyed on a helpless 17 year old working child and yeah married her,while she was still clueless and innocent.
    Of course the next logical step, marry her, as soon as possible, so that he has a free house keeper, maid for his other 4 kids and yeah a slave for himself. Next have couple of more kids with her, so that she's helpless. I have seen some very strong women endure the worse, just for the kids..and that is why mother is a mother and no one can replace the love of a mother.
    When she grew older and wiser, and was studying to become a nurse, he realized that he could trick her no longer. She also saw thru this evil old dirtbag. So she decided to leave him. And he brazenly kills her to save the alimony. He got away once, so will he get away the second time? A cop could nto figure out if hsi 3rd wife was killed or an accident? Are we all so dumb to believe this stupid animal in cop's clothing reasoning? Or does this dirt bag thinks that whole of America is one stupid place. No Sir, you are in America, the country with the brightest and most intelligent people of this world. No stupid cop can fool so many of Americans.

    An appeal to the officals and especailly the Cops of Bolingbrook.

    Cops are the most important pillors of society, without cops, society will simply perish..so appeal to cops, take out this dirt bag from the society and throw him in prision, before he taints your good name....society will go down if people loose confiendce in cops.

  • Posted By: publicitychick @ 11/20/2007 9:13:01 PM

    Collectively, the nation grieves for Drew Peterson - he lost another 10 pounds this week. Apparently showing no regard for recommendations from Weight Watchers and other reputable diet organizations, Peterson claims to be dropping pounds much above the two to two-and-a-half pound per week suggested range.

    Peterson, you know, wants to avoid the media spotlight. But he was kind enough to throw the world a bone today by updating reporters on his body mass index and his health ailments. Then he was nice enough to take time out for a photo shoot with People Magazine. Drew's mom was right ??? he is a nice guy!

    ???Please leave me alone,??? Peterson says, with a smile and a laugh. Joking in front of his house with the media he despises, he tells a TV cameraman to lose some weight and lets a photographer know he needs a better camera. When asked about his dead third wife, he describes himself as "a victim in the relationship." Drew has told us before about his weakness for crazy women.

    Then someone asks about Stacy.


    Ugh. That whole pesky missing wife thing. Drew was kind of hoping the reporters would continue talking about him, and his long career as a police officer, and his motorcycle, and his health, and his house, and his favorite color, and how he was known as a practical joker throughout his life, and???

    Um, Drew???about that missing wife? Anything you could tell us that might help law enforcement to find the mother of your children? Any insight into her as a person?

    ???When she was menstruating, hungry or tired, she would ask me about a divorce.???

    Right, I think you mentioned that last week, Drew, when you were 10 pounds heavier and trying to avoid the media circus with Matt Lauer by your side.

Reply

Report Abuse

Enter comments if any for reporting abuse