Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - DOUBLE- WIFE- KILLER-COP DREW PETERSON’S BEST BUDDY: I’M CERTAIN THIS GUY KILLED HIS WIFE

Episode Date: June 13, 2026

Drew Peterson, the former Illinois police officer convicted of murdering his third wife, Kathleen Savio, and currently serving a 78-year sentence. He is trying to overturn his conviction. So far all his appeals have been denied.  Peterson is  arguing he received ineffective legal counsel and was barred from testifying in his own defense.    Peterson continues to be the prime suspect in the 2007 disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy Ann Peterson. She has never been found.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Two-time wife killer, former police officer, Drew Peterson's best friend, rats him out. Quote, I'm certain this guy killed his wife. I'm Nancy Grace. This is crime stories. I want to thank you for being with us. Not one, but two women dead at the hands of Drew Peterson.

One, an earlier wife, Kathleen Savio, found brutally beaten dead. Her cause of death originally was drowning in a stone-dry bathtub, covered in contusions. Then, fourth wife, Stacy Peterson mysteriously goes missing. Recently unearthed statements by... friend Richard Mims put the nail in the coffin for Drew Peterson quote, I know this guy murdered his wife.

Well, there you go. With friends like this, who needs enemies? Seemingly, Drew Peterson had lots of friends within the police department after one wife is found beaten dead in a dry bathtub and the COD is drowning

really, that she slipped and hit her head up? Oh, okay. And then Stacey Peterson goes missing? What do we know about the case of Drew Peterson? A police officer that married and divorced three times. His fourth wife now missing, seemingly leaving behind her home and her children without a trace. That's odd, isn't it? Still no resolution in the missing person report of Stacey Peterson. With me right now, Drew Peterson's defense lawyer, Joel Brodsky, Cole Case Research Institute director, Cheryl McCollum, New York psychologist, Dr. Chloe Carmichael, and WSB reporter Robin Walensky. Let's just kick it off with Drew Peterson in his own words. Now, Stacey Peterson goes missing.

According to those close to her, she desperately wanted a divorce, and at the time she knew his third wife, Kathleen Savio, was murdered by Drew Peterson. Nobody else knew that. Listen to what Drew Peterson tells Dr. Phil. Well, there have been many allegations that have been made against Drew regarding Stacey. and allegation, accusation, whatever you want to call it. Now, we don't know if Stacey made these claims, but I have a graphic here with some of them. First, Stacey's family says Stacey told Drew

she wanted a divorce shortly before she disappeared. Is that true? No. She told me she wanted a divorce, and I hate saying this, but the reality of it she told me she wanted a divorce once a month. So you're saying it varied with her menstrual cycle? Very much so. And I'm not trying to be disrespectful and being saying that, but that was a reality.

There is an allegation or an accusation that Stacey told a neighbor, if anything happened to her, it was not an accident that Drew had killed her. Do you think that she actually said that to a neighbor? I really have to question the credibility of the neighbor. Because Stacey and I still, even with her difficulties, we still had a very romantic relationship. We still were together a lot. We still spent time cuddling, that type of things. But Drew, if you had a romantic relationship, if you were still intimate and affectionate, and together with one another, how could she disappear and you not dismantle the world looking for her? I don't know. I mean, I don't know. I think I've done all that I can do, and all I have the resources available to do.

But that defies common sense. I mean, if you were in love with this woman, were you in love with her when she disappeared? Yes, very much so. Are you in love with her today? I try to be, but I'm having, I have a lot of anger issues about it now, that she took off like she did. She also said that, and I believe it's the same neighbor, you probably know better than I, that you always called and checked on, Stacey. That you were very attentive and, in fact, it got to the point of being controlling,

but that you were always calling to check up on her. We were always calling each other. So I don't think it was a one-way thing. And I wasn't trying to be controlling. When you have a romantic relationship with somebody, you're calling them all the time. It's also been alleged that Stacey told her sister that she feared for her life.

Do you believe she said that to her sister? Again, I don't know. And if she was trying to set me up for some sort of divorce or anything, that might have been a way to do it. In that you did have a pattern of calling each other all the time, why did you not call her the day she disappeared? I did, but she, there was, she wanted her space. She wanted her space. So that day I gave her her space.

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Stream us on your phone. Listen now at iHeartRadio.ca. Crime stories with Nancy Grace. I said day one, Kathleen Savio was murdered. But no, law enforcement in that area insisted she drowned in a stone-dry bathtub covered with contusions. Wow, she must have been a gymnast. Nadia Komenici to get those kind of bruises all over her body from a, quote, fall in the shower.

Everybody turned the other way until Stacey Peterson went missing. Now we learn Drew Peterson's best buddy, quote, I'm certain this guy killed his wife. Okay, but nobody paid attention. No one. And to this day, Stacey Peterson's body has not been found. What do we know about the case? Listen to what Drew Peterson tells Dr. Phil. Did you ever get physical with her? Did you ever attack her? Did you ever have a physical fight? There was a physical confrontation where I cornered her in the kitchen one time, and she hit me in the head with a frozen steak.

But I've been a retaliator or anything. Because her step sister says that you threw Stacy down the stairs, not. her into the TV and threw her across the room. That never happened. Just never happened. Never happened. Why are these people saying these things? I don't know.

Unless they're trying to add some sort of fuel to the fire. You know what your stepbrother has said. Right. That he says that he helped you move a blue barrel that it was warm to the touch. He told friends that he thought after the fact that he actually helped you move her body. That didn't happen. Was there a blue barrel? No.

Did he come over and help you do anything, move anything, do anything? Never. I was with him the day before, and I was attempting to get him a job at a grocery store. He had just lost his job. And he was so intoxicated or high on something that I had to cancel the interview and we couldn't follow through with it. So he's not a reliable guy? I would say no. Well, the phone records show that you were near the Chicago sanitary,

sanitary and ship channel the day she went missing. Were you there? Yes, I was driving through that area. What were you doing there? I was looking for in a couple spots I thought that she might be. I was looking for my car. Yeah. That she was driving.

You just heard Drew Peterson talking to Dr. Phil, our friend, regarding a lot of points that are not lost on prosecutors. My first point would be Cheryl McCollum, director of the Cold Case Research. Institute every time I would try somebody for murder or for anything for that matter, the defense attorneys would say, oh, she's just mean because she's on a period. I mean, you know, it doesn't matter what you're doing. It's because you're on your period. That's always what men claim. Why is that? Here's what's interesting to me, though. Every time she's on her period, all she asked for

is a divorce. She's not crying, not fighting with him. She just wants to get the hell away from you. So that to me would be a pattern that he's, that he's not. would need to look at that it's not because of her period, she wants away from you. You know, to Robin Willinsky joining me, WSB investigative reporter, Robin Wilensky, the claims that she wanted a divorce are overwhelming. But we also know that at the time she goes missing, she had been boxing up Drew Peterson's possessions to kick him out and stacking them up in the garage, Robin. Yeah, Nancy, she totally wanted out of this marriage. He's got a very, very long history of four wives, all who had their period, all who really wanted away from him. His first wife,

Carol, was married six years. She claimed he was a cheater. They got divorced. Then there was Vicki who said that he was abusing her and threatening her, allegations, of course. And she told police, you know, after Stacey disappeared that Peterson threatened to kill her and make it looked like an accident. And oh, then there was Kathleen who he was married to for 11 years, who mysteriously dies in a dry bath tub. I was there, by the way, the day they dug her up at the cemetery. And then, of course, there's Stacey, who was only 19 and Drew was, what, 49, and she wanted far away from him, period or not. It broke my heart, speaking to Vicki and her daughter, learning about life with Drew.

Peterson, but that's a whole other can of worms. Dr. Chloe Carmichael, New York psychologist, joining me, founder of AnxietyTools.com. Dr. Chloe, isn't it true statistically, when women that have been abused try to leave the relationship or get pregnant, that's the highest incidence of their murders? Yes, Nancy, of course. It's absolutely true because what that does is it provokes anger on the part of the person that they're attempting to leave, which is why I actually think it's very interesting that this gentleman said that he was actually very angry with her. He said that he was angry because

she left, which may have even been what she was planning to do. But of course, we don't know that she left and really neither does he. And so it's very unusual for someone whose spouse is missing to suddenly just say that they're angry with the person for leaving because anger puts more distance between us. And when you genuinely miss your spouse and didn't want them gone, it's actually difficult to even connect with any feelings of anger, even if they're appropriate. Pride Month, Toronto. Pride is an opportunity for you to create your own space, to celebrate your existence.

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We have a ton to celebrate Toronto. Happy Pride. Iheart Radio. Crime stories with Nancy Grace. Will Stacey Peterson's body be found? Law enforcement is convinced they know the area of water where she is hidden. So what's the hold up? Can we get a resolution to this case?

This in light of Drew Peterson's best buddy stating, quote, I'm certain this guy killed his wife. What do we know about Drew Peterson's wives and their deaths? With me right now, you know his name very well, renowned Chicago defense attorney Joel Brodsky. Let's just say this isn't our first time in the boxing ring. Joel Brodsky defending Drew Peterson at trial. No.

His longtime defender, Joel Brodsky, well, now hold a minute. I've seen many a photo of Drew Peterson, and for him to say the only physical incident they ever had, was when she, Stacy, hit him in the head with a frozen steak. How'd she do that? stand on a ladder. He towers over her. Yeah, I mean, he would, that was his position was he never was physically violent with any of his wives. And he would always, his excuse always was that, well, if I as a police officer committed

domestic battery, I'd lose my job, so I would never do that. But, you know, Drew was a, you know, trained, trained SWAT, train Army officer. You know, if he wanted to resort to violence, he could, you know, do it in a way that wouldn't leave marks. was an expert at that, you know, from all the training and the department and the army that he had. You know, I know that there was, with Kathy, I know that there was evidence of some physical altercations. Nothing, you know, where there's. Well, you sure know how to put perfume on the pig? What do you mean by physical altercations with Kathleen Sawyer later found dead, drowned in a dry bathtub?

What do you mean physical altercation? mean he beat her up no they they had a fight uh that was on uh actually was on videotape uh stacey actually taped it uh you know kathy was uh very you know uh very i went vivacious i mean she wouldn't back down from anything so they they went at it but drew was obviously so much physically stronger he pinned her to the ground uh and then the police came and charged them both with with battery kind of cross charges uh but uh you know there was no evidence of him ever, like, breaking bones or causing bloody noses or anything like that. Okay.

Well, wait. Hold on just a moment. Cheryl McCollum, have I lost my mind? I mean, Cheryl, you know that for nine years I volunteered at the Battered Women's Center at night when I was prosecuting. Absolutely. Do you hear Joel Brodsky still defending Drew Peterson? He says, well, there was never a broken bone.

Right. But, oh, yeah, he pinned her to the ground. That was caught on video. Hello? Nancy. It'll be a cold day. In H-E-W-L, my husband pins me to the ground and the police are not called, okay? That ain't going to happen.

Cheryl, what happened? I feel like I went down the rabbit hole. Here's the deal. The devil takes many forms. And the reality is a 19-year-old girl was married to a 49-year-old man. Ew. And that was nothing about but control. And he abused his money with her, his emotions with her, his sex with her.

his sex with her, his physical being with her. There's no doubt that every one of his four wives was abused in some way. Drew was not about to let anybody get his money. Well, yeah. They weren't going to touch to his retirement. Yeah, Drew. Okay, jump in, Joel. Drew was very controlling, very control.

I mean, there's no question. He was very controlling of all his wives. They all said that. He would monitor them electronically, follow them, Wait, whoa, whoa, wait. You mean the GPS tracker I've got on my husband is wrong? Just kidding. Okay. That's not true. Why did I say that? Joel Brosky, what is the defense for Drew Peterson? His wife, Stacey, just goes missing. And another thing that he said, we just heard him tell Dr. Phil, was the brother-in-law, was a drinker. He was this. He was that. That didn't happen. He didn't help him get rid of Stacey's body in a blue cooler. But they were caught on video together. that night driving through a Starbucks. So the night, Stacey goes missing.

So how can he say they weren't together? I've watched the video. Yeah, the video, I don't think that was before he gave that interview before any charges had been brought. So he had never seen the video at that point. He didn't know they had that evidence. Joel, you know what? You should consider professional dancing because you just danced around. I'm going to call Dancing with the Stars.

You need to be there, buddy. Joel, I didn't ask you, did the Starbucks video come to light after his statement to Dr. Phil? You're just saying, yeah, he lied because he didn't know about the video. That's what you're saying. I mean, he obviously lied because he didn't know he had been caught. You know, if he knew about the video, he would have altered the story in some way, I'm sure. Made up a different lie, Joel. How do you stand yourself?

Help me out. I'm trying not to use such direct language. But, yeah, I'm sure he wouldn't have said that if he knew. that there was evidence to the contrary. But, you know, Drew was building, was, you know, making this, trying to tell a consistent story about what happened to Stacey to keep with that his position that she ran away. That was his story from day one, that she ran off with some other guys.

That's true, Joel. He's never wavered in his story. Robin Wollenski, WSB. Let's start at the beginning. We know she married him when she's 19. He's 40-something. What happened? around the time of Stacey's disappearance.

As of right now, today, she has never been seen again. The theory of Drew Peterson and his lawyer with us right now, high-profile lawyer out of Chicago, Joel Broski, is that she took off to be with her boyfriend. So what happened? Tell me the events around her disappearance, Robin. Well, she was very angry. She wanted out of the marriage.

And, you know, the one thing we have not mentioned so far, Nancy, is the fact that she was so, Stacey was super petite, and she could have fit in that barrel very easily. And there were reports at the time when I was out in Bowling Brook that he had access to a small plane. And there was one theory that the Bolingbrook police and detectives were working on at the time, that he had flown the plane and that he could have dropped the barrel into a forest area. And there were many searches at the time looking for that barrel. It had never been found in the forest, never been found in anybody. of water, but she clearly, Nancy, could have fit in that barrel. They had a very tumultuous relationship.

She wanted out, and the next thing you know, she disappeared. She disappeared and has never been seen again. F.Y. Right now, we know that money has run dry. And Stacey's sister has actually launched an effort to raise money on a GoFundMe site to continue the search for Stacey Peterson's body her sister also like me believes that stacey is dead go to go fund me and look for help me bring stacey peterson home help me bring stacey peterson home at go fund me now what we do know now joel broskey his defense lawyer is not going to admit to this former former okay uh is that his brother-in-law apparent from one of his other marriages showed up was called over to Peterson's home that night and helped him carry a very heavy blue cooler out that was warm to the touch.

And to this day, that brother-in-law, who later tried to commit suicide, says he thinks he unwittingly helped dispose of Stacey's body. Her disappearance and or death still unresolved. Will there ever be justice for Stacey Peterson? This as Former Cot Drew Peterson, her then husband Best friend says, I'm certain he killed his wife.

Okay, I am too. Let's find her body and prosecute him. Just a thought. Are you listening? Are you listening, District Attorney? Just a thought. How about getting some justice for Stacey Peterson and her children?

Will there be justice for Stacey Peterson? We wait. justice unfolds. Nancy Grace Crime Stories, signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.