‘Either Get Me or Don’t’

Even though the evidence against him seems to be mounting, Drew Peterson rejects the idea that he'll be arrested in connection with the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy, and the death of his third wife. "It's hard to imagine you would be [arrested] if you haven't done anything wrong," the former Bolingbrook, Ill., police sergeant told NEWSWEEK in an exclusive interview Thursday. But Peterson is growing impatient with the investigation, which has caused a media sensation around a man who has been married four times, fathering six children—but whose relationships have ended mysteriously and often acrimoniously. "I wish something would happen one way or the other," he said. "Let's get this going. Either get me or don't get me."

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He may soon get his wish—and he seems prepared for the worst, despite his insistence on his innocence. That's why he has arranged for his four youngest children to be taken in by a family member, whom he did not identify, and has set aside money for their care if daddy is taken away in handcuffs. "My children will be provided for," he said.

But Peterson, 53, could not shield his children from the widening investigation into the disappearance of Stacy, 23, who hasn't been heard from since Oct. 28, and the death of Peterson's third wife, Kathleen Savio, 40, who was discovered in a dry bathtub in her home in 2004, her hair bloody and a one-inch gash on the back of her head. Although Savio's death was originally ruled accidental, authorities exhumed her body Nov. 13 to conduct another autopsy. The FBI was brought in this week to help search for Stacy, and results from Savio's new autopsy could be in next week. Peterson told NEWSWEEK that police recently interviewed his 13- and 14-year-old sons by Savio for three hours. Peterson expects his sons' videotaped testimony will be submitted to a grand jury investigating Savio's death and Stacy's disappearance. Peterson also revealed that his son from his first marriage, Stephen, 28, was called before the grand jury on Thursday. Peterson declined to comment about the specifics of his family members' testimony.

But Sharon Bychowski, next-door neighbor of the Petersons, believes the 13-year-old has information that will be helpful to the authorities. A close friend of Stacy's who often watched her kids, Bychowski said she talked to the boy after her disappearance. "I think he heard them fighting. And then he heard them stop fighting," she told NEWSWEEK. "I have no doubt that kid knows something."

Other people may also be in the know. Drew Peterson's stepbrother Thomas Morphey is reported to have come to Peterson's house on Oct. 28 and helped him move a large, heavy, warm blue container from an upstairs bedroom into Peterson's SUV, according to media reports. Morphey later called a friend and said, "I think I just helped Drew dispose of Stacy," according to a report in the Chicago Tribune. Distraught by his realization, Morphey apparently tried to commit suicide two days later. Bolingbrook police confirm an ambulance call to the man's home for a suspected overdose.

Peterson said he was going to visit Morphey in the hospital but didn't seem concerned. Said Bychowski, "[Peterson] said, 'He lost his job. He lost his family. Oh well, go figure'." Bychowski added that police have asked her if she ever saw a large tote owned by the Petersons.