Sister of Peterson’s ex-wife says she was told of death threat

CHICAGO — Six weeks before she was found drowned in her dry bathtub, a “very upset” Kathleen Savio arrived unannounced at her older sister’s Romeoville home to extract a promise.

“You have to promise me you’ll take care of my kids,” Anna Doman testified Tuesday during a pretrial hearing in the murder case against Drew Peterson, Savio’s ex-husband. “Drew said he’s going to kill me.”

During the same January 2004 conversation, Savio also told Doman where she could find a container with documents she had compiled during her divorce.

Both of Savio’s sisters testified that on March 2, 2004, the day after Savio was found dead in her bathtub, the family went to Savio’s Bolingbrook home to look for a will or insurance policy.

Shortly after arriving, Peterson began banging on
the front door and yelling that the family didn’t belong there, the
sisters said. As cooler heads prevailed, the sisters joined Peterson at
the kitchen table where Susan Doman asked if he killed Savio.

Both sisters said he made a “choked” noise before answering that he did not.

“I wouldn’t kill the mother of my children,” Peterson replied, according to Susan Doman.

Peterson took clothing and paperwork from the upstairs bedroom, and $100 from Savio’s purse before leaving, Anna Doman testified.

Anna Doman told the court that Savio said Peterson
once bound her hands and feet, placed her in their basement with the
lights off and threatened to kill her. She also said Savio arrived at a
1999 baby shower with a black eye.

The defense tried to paint the sisters as fortune
hunters, in part because they filed a wrongful death lawsuit in 2008
that seeks more than $300,000 from Peterson. Susan Doman also signed a book and movie deal for her “true-life story,” which the
contract states will portray her and Savio in a “positive manner.”

In a tense exchange with defense attorney George Lenard, Susan Doman,
who would receive at least a third of any profits, denied having purely
financial motives for testifying. She said she wants the book or movie
to help abused women like her sister.

“This is not about money,” she said in a strained
voice. “This is about getting the story out about my sister. I believe
I am my sister’s voice.”

Also Tuesday, Savio’s boyfriend joined a growing
list of witnesses — including two neighbors and a former co-worker —
who have testified Savio said Peterson held a knife to her throat and
threatened to kill her.

Prosecutors want witnesses to be able to testify
about the alleged 2002 incident when the case goes to trial, saying
their participation will give Savio “a voice from the grave.” Will County Judge Stephen White will decide whether 15 hearsay statements are permissible under a new state statute dubbed “Drew’s Law.”

Savio’s death initially was ruled an accidental
drowning. She and Peterson were divorced at the time but had not yet
settled their contentious property issue.

When Peterson’s fourth wife, Stacy, vanished in October 2007, authorities reopened Savio’s case and eventually declared her death a homicide.

Savio’s boyfriend of two years, Steve Maniaci, said he approached Drew Peterson outside Savio’s house on the night her body was found and asked if he
had killed her. Peterson denied any involvement, Maniaci testified.

“It sure worked out well for you, Drew,” Maniaci said.

“She wouldn’t have won anyway,” Peterson replied, according to Maniaci.

Maniaci said he told police about Peterson and
Savio’s tumultuous relationship and the alleged knife incident shortly
after her body was found.

None of that, however, made it into the official police report. The omissions clearly upset Maniaci.

“That report is very short for the amount of time I spent with them,” he said.

—

(c) 2010, Chicago Tribune.

Visit the Chicago Tribune on the Internet at http://www.chicagotribune.com/

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.