Tom Gianni / AP

In this courtroom sketch, Drew Peterson, left, sits before Will County Judge Edward Burmila as his defense team sought to convince the judge to grant him a new trial at the Will County Courthouse in Joliet, Ill., on Wednesday, Feb. 20. On Thursday, a new trial was denied and Peterson was sentenced for 38 years.

Former Bolingbrook police sergeant Drew Peterson rocked an Illinois courtroom on Thursday when he screamed out his innocence before a judge sentenced him to 38 years in prison for the 2004 drowning death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio.

"I did not kill Kathleen!" the normally cool Peterson shouted into a courtroom microphone from the witness stand.

Without missing a beat, his dead wife's sister, Susan Doman, shouted back, "Yes, you did! You liar!" before the judge ordered sheriff's deputies to remove her from the courtroom.

"I wasn't going to take the devil. I wasn't going to let him say that," Doman later told reporters.

In the long statement on his innocence, Peterson blamed Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow for what he described as an obsessive investigation. In tears at times, Peterson told the court he was being sentenced to the Department of Corrections to die.

"I think the only thing left to make this case more true to form would be cruel and unusual punishment," he said. "I don't think anybody would care, because nobody cares. I can't believe I spent 32 years protecting the constitution that allowed this to happen to me."

Also on NBCChicago.com: Full coverage of the Drew Peterson murder trial

He took issue with a law passed by the Illinois General Assembly in in July 2009 that allowed hearsay to be admitted as evidence in cases where prosecutors believe the victim was killed specifically to prevent them from testifying. The law was dubbed the "Drew Peterson Law."

"Hearsay is a scary thing," Peterson told the court. "It requires no proof of truth. Anything can be said and no one is accountable."

He said the statements made against him were from "women trying to better position themselves in a divorce. ... Everybody lies in a divorce."

Still, he said he loved his ex-wife.

"She was a good mom," he said, tearing up. "She did not deserve to die. But she died in an accident."

Glasgow thought little of Peterson's statement but said the emotional outburst exposed the real Drew Peterson -- the one capable of murder.

"We all got an opportunity to see a psychopath," said Glasgow.  "When he got up on the stand and that shrill, kind of feminine screech that he didn't kill Kathy, that's the guy that killed Kathy. You got a glimpse into his soul."

Peterson was found guilty in September of murdering Savio. Her death was initially ruled an accident, after neighbors found the 40-year-old aspiring nurse's body in a dry bathtub at home. It was Stacy Peterson's 2007 disappearance that prompted authorities to take another look at Savio's death and eventually reclassify it as a homicide. Drew Peterson is also a suspect in the disappearance of Stacy Peterson -- who was 23-years-old when she vanished -- but he hasn't been charged in her case.

Thursday's ruling came just a couple hours after Judge Edward Burmila denied a motion by defense attorneys to give the former cop a new trial and essentially means Peterson, 59, will spend the rest of his life in custody. The judge gave Peterson four years' credit for the time he has served since his 2009 arrest.

Illinois does not have a death penalty.

"I pray that during the last minutes of his life, he is able to clearly see her and she is watching his descension into hell," Savio's brother, Henry, told the judge.

Peterson's attorneys vowed to wage an appeal.

Also on NBCChicago.com: Sentencing up next in Jackson family saga

"We all have some very viable issues. We're putting our big boy pants on, we're going to go with these issues, and we're going to be back here. We're confident of that,' said attorney John Heiderscheidt.

In two days of testimony, Peterson's current legal team argued for a new trial alleging the former lead attorney, Joel Brodsky, botched the first trial by calling divorce attorney Harry Smith to the stand.

Smith testified that Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, told him her husband killed Savio and that he warned Stacy she had to tell someone. Several jurors said that bombshell testimony led them to convict Peterson.

During the sentencing hearing Savio's sister, Anna Marie Savio-Doman, asked the judge to give her sister "justice, once and for all."

"One of the hardest things for me is knowing the pain and fear that Kathleen must have suffered at the time of her murder," Doman said. "The horror and betrayal she must have felt when she realized that someone she had trusted and loved more than anything was actually killing her."

Henry Savio said Peterson terrorized his sister, brutalized her and drowned her.

"I will be mending my family, including my family's relationship with Kitty's children, while he is rotting in jail for the rest of his life," he said. "While he is in jail, I hope that Kitty is what he sees every night before he sleeps and I hope that she is haunting him in his dreams."

"He took Kathleen's future and now she has taken his."

NBC Chicago's Kim Vatis, Lauren Jiggetts, Lauren Petty, Courtney Copenhagen, Lisa Balde and BJ Lutz contributed to this reported. Additional reporting by The Associated Press.

This story was originally published on Thu Feb 21, 2013 2:51 PM EST

Paul Beaty / AP file

Joel Brodsky, left, and Steven Greenberg, attorneys for Drew Peterson, conferred outside the Will County Courthouse in Joliet, Ill., in more cooperative times during Peterson's murder trial Sept. 6, 2012.

Drew Peterson, the ex-cop convicted of killing his third wife and whose fourth wife mysteriously disappeared, was in an Illinois courtroom Tuesday hoping for a new trial, but the proceedings were overshadowed by a vicious spat among members of the legal team that lost his murder trial last year.

The hearing recessed late Tuesday afternoon and was to resume Wednesday morning. If the judge rejects the request for a new trial, Peterson, 59, a retired Bolingbrook, Ill., police sergeant, could be sentenced immediately for the murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, who died in 2004.

Peterson — who first became famous after his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, vanished in 2007 — could face up to 60 years in prison for his conviction in September.

Peterson's current lawyers argue that their former colleague Joel Brodsky — Peterson's lead trial counsel — botched his defense, justifying a new trial. Before the hearing Tuesday in Will County, Brodsky vigorously disputed that contention.

"I fought for five years defending Drew Peterson, very skillfully so," Brodsky told reporters.

Brodsky in particular disputed Peterson lawyer Steve Greenberg's  argument that it was his decision alone to call Stacy Peterson's divorce attorney during the trial. The attorney, Harry Smith, testified that Stacy Peterson told him that Drew Peterson killed Savio and that he warned his client that she had to tell someone. 

"Not only did they support (calling Smith, but) they realized it was the only move we could make, and I even have emails from Greenberg not only approving Smith being called, but actually suggesting a question or two that I ask him," Brodsky said.

The enmity between the lawyers is so deep that Brodsky withdrew Tuesday from representing Peterson in a in a wrongful death civil suit filed by Savio's sisters. After the retrial hearing, a second judge will hear that suit.

The lawyers' dispute threatened to overshadow the possibility that Peterson himself could be called to the stand, NBC 5 of Chicago reported. And even Greenberg acknowledged that it was a thin reed on which to base a decision to overturn Peterson's conviction.

"We're definitely facing an uphill battle today," Greenberg said. 

NBC Chicago: Drew Peterson returns to court to request new trial

"But I'm confident," he added. "I know the law is on our side. I know the facts are on our side. ... Some people say it's a cold day in you-know-what when things happen. Well, it's cold today, so maybe it will happen."

Follow M. Alex Johnson on Twitter and Facebook.

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This story was originally published on Tue Feb 19, 2013 8:16 PM EST

In law enforcement, as in most every other profession, there are good ones and bad ones, but what most people seem to remember are the really bad ones.

Manuel Pardo, a former Florida police officer turned serial killer who was executed Tuesday, was one of the latter, officials say. He shot nine people to death in the late 1980s, claiming he was a ”soldier” ridding the streets of the wicked.

Most of Pardo's victims were reportedly involved with drugs, and Pardo claimed he was doing society a favor by ridding the streets of low-lifes who “have no right to live.” Authorities say he was a cold-blooded serial killer; one retired detective described him as “Ted Bundy-esque," while a retired prosecutor called him “very cold.”

Michael Tabman, a former Fairfax County, Va., police officer and former FBI agent, said law enforcement agencies have better screening tools these days to weed out potential problem applicants, "but we haven't perfected predicting behavior."

'Death Row Romeo' faces execution in Florida

He said people attracted to police work often have personalities that are "machismo-oriented" and "comfortable with a lot of authority," among other traits.

"A lot of that is a type of personality that in a perfect storm … can morph into anti-social behavior," said Tabman, an author who also blogs about crime and security. 

Herewith are some other notorious cases involving cops gone bad:

M. Spencer Green / AP file

Former Bolingbrook, Ill., police Sgt. Drew Peterson arrives at the Will County Courthouse in Joliet, Ill., for his arraignment on charges of first-degree murder on May 8, 2009.

Drew Peterson
The former Bolingbrook, Ill., police sergeant was convicted in September of murdering his third wife, Kathleen Savio, who was found dead in her bathtub in 2004. Authorities presume his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, who vanished in 2007, is also dead; Peterson is a suspect but has never been charged in that case.

Before his 2009 arrest, according to media reports, Peterson seemed to taunt authorities, joking on talk shows and even suggesting a "Win a Date With Drew" contest.

After his conviction, Savio’s family members said justice was finally served. "Game over, Drew," Stacy Peterson's sister, Cassandra Cales, said. "He can wipe the smirk off his face. It's time to pay." 

Via KTLA / AP file

A frame from a video shot by George Holliday from his apartment in a suburb of Los Angeles shows a group of police officers beating Rodney King as other officers watch on March 31, 1991.

Rodney King beating
It was perhaps the most famous of all homemade videos – the 1991 clip of Los Angeles police officers beating black motorist Rodney King following a car chase.

A year later, a California jury acquitted three officers and deadlocked on charges for a fourth. The verdict sparked violent race riots in Los Angeles, and by the time order was restored, more than 50 people had died.

A federal jury later convicted two of the police officers, Stacey Koon and Laurence Powell, of a federal charge of violating King’s civil rights and sentenced them to 30 months in prison.

King died in June at age 47.

Katrina bridge shootings
In the chaos after Hurricane Katrina, six unarmed civilians were shot – two of them fatally – on the Danziger Bridge in New Orleans on Sept. 4, 2005. One of the dead, Ronald Madison, was a 40-year-old mentally disabled man who was shot in the back. Police claimed they opened fire because they thought people were shooting at them from the base of the bridge.

Getty Images file

Cars pass over the Danziger Bridge July 14, 2010 in New Orleans.

In August 2011, four former New Orleans police officers -- Kenneth Bowen, Robert Gisevius, Anthony Villavaso and Robert Faulcon – were convicted of civil-rights violations and firearms and other charges in the shootings. A fifth former officer, Arthur "Archie" Kaufman, who was assigned to investigate the shootings, was convicted of helping to orchestrate a cover-up.

“The officers who shot innocent people on the bridge and then went to great lengths to cover up their own crimes have finally been held accountable for their actions,” Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s civil rights division, said when the men were sentenced to long prison terms in April.

Reuters file

Former New York City police officer Justin Volpe in 1997.

Abner Louima beating
Louima, a Haitian immigrant, was brutally beaten and sodomized with the handle of a toilet plunger in the bathroom of the 70th Precinct station house in Brooklyn, N.Y., after being arrested outside a night club in August 1997.

One cop, Justin Volpe, was sentenced in 1999 to 30 years in prison for what the judge called an “unusually heinous” crime and a “barbarous misuse of power.” Another, Charles Schwartz, who was initially accused of holding Louima down, pleaded guilty to perjury and was given a five-year sentence. Two other officers who were indicted for allegedly trying to cover up the assault had their convictions reversed due to insufficient evidence.

Chicago Sun-Times / AP

Former Chicago police officer Jon Burge, convicted of lying about the torture of suspects, walks to his attorneys' office following the first day of his sentencing hearing at the federal building in Chicago on Jan. 20, 2011.

Louima sued New York City and its main police union and won a $8.75 million settlement.

Watch US News crime videos on NBCNews.com
 
Jon Burge
Burge was a former Chicago Police Department detective and commander who, along with the “Midnight Crew” of officers under his command, allegedly beat and tortured criminal suspects in the 1970s and '80s in order to gain confessions. Victims said they were burned with cigarette butts, smothered with plastic bags, shocked in the genitals and forced to play Russian roulette with a .44-caliber gun.

Although Burge was protected by the statute of limitations on the claims of abuse, he was convicted of lying about the torture. He was sentenced in January 2011 to 4 ½ years in prison.

The city agreed to pay more than $7 million to settle two torture lawsuits involving Burge.

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Getty Images

Ousted defense attorney for Drew Peterson, Steve Greenberg, speaks to the media outside the Will County courthouse July 31, 2012 in Joliet, Ill.

Drew Peterson has fired one of the member of his defense team who argued against calling Kathleen Savio’s divorce lawyer as a defense witness, testimony that jurors later said convinced them to render a guilty verdict.

Peterson notified attorney Steve Greenberg of his firing Tuesday. Greenberg told NBCChicago.com he was shocked to learn he’d been fired days after jurors disclosed that divorce lawyer Harry Smith’s testimony tipped the scales in the prosecution’s favor.

Despite Greenberg's and the rest of the defense team’s objections, it was Peterson's lead attorney, Joel Brodsky, who ultimately called Smith to the stand.

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Smith told jurors that Peterson’s fourth wife, Stacy, asked him if she could get more money in a divorce if she threatened to tell police about her husband’s role in Savio’s death.

"For some reason, Drew blindly follows Joel Brodsky, which is just shocking because I think it's Brodsky's strategy that got him indicted and, frankly, Brodsky's strategy that got him convicted," Greenberg told NBCChicago.com.

Greenberg had argued with Brodsky against several motions during the prosecution’s case to limit what Smith could tell jurors under state questioning, the Chicago Tribune reported.

“I’ve filed 74 (expletive) motions to keep him out and now you’re going to undo all of it," Greenberg told Brodsky, which was overheard during the trial, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Greenberg also said he also would have never allowed Peterson and Brodsky to go on a big media blitz, giving radio and television interviews back in 2007.

Watch the most-viewed videos on NBCNews.com

“I think Mr. Peterson was represented by five wonderful lawyers out of six," Greenberg told the Chicago Tribune. “His loyalty to the sixth is disconcerting.”

Brodsky said Greenberg was fired for poor performance, saying he was often unprepared in court.

"He's been terminated for his failure to perform and failure to accomplish the task for which he was hired," Brodsky told the Tribune.

Brodsky also called Greenberg "unprofessional" for going public.

Peterson was convicted earlier this month of first-degree murder in the drowning death of Savio, his third wife. Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, disappeared in October 2007.

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By the end of the first day of deliberations in the Drew Peterson murder trial, juror Ron Supalo says, there was just a single panelist preventing the group from making a unanimous decision -- him.

"I wanted to sleep on it," he said. "I had to rethink everything I wanted to ask today in my mind and then research it the best I could."

Supalo said he didn't get much sleep, and when he returned to the courthouse Thursday morning he spent the first part of the day reviewing his courtroom notes and discussing with the other jurors the approximately 10 nagging questions he had.

Read more about the case at NBCChicago.com

With no physical evidence tying Peterson to the death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, prosecutors had to rely on hearsay and circumstantial evidence. Such testimony isn't usually admissible in court, but Illinois legislators in 2008 passed a law -- dubbed "Drew's Law" -- which allows it in rare circumstances.

Supalo said the jurors took three votes on Wednesday. Seven believed Peterson was guilty on the first vote; eight in the second vote; and 11 in the third.

Ultimately, he said, it was the hearsay testimonies by Rev. Neil Schori and attorney Harry Smith that cleared the picture for him.

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"Those two were the big ones, just like everybody else," he said. "I couldn't come up with any reason, in my mind, to not put [Peterson] at the scene beyond a reasonable doubt."

Schori testified that Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, told him her husband had killed Savio and then coached her to lie about it. Smith told jurors that Stacy Peterson asked during a phone conversation if "the fact that he killed Kathy could be used against him."

Stacy Peterson disappeared days after that phone call.

Related content:
Savio family: 'Stacy, you are now next for justice'
So what happened to Stacy Peterson?

Supalo said he has a lot of mixed emotions about the guilty verdict he and the other panelists handed down. Still, he said it's a decision he feels he can live with.

"In some ways I'm glad it's over. ... In some ways, I'm going to miss seeing the other jurors. I mean, we got to be pretty good friends," he said.

And when it came to the jurors and their color-coordinated and matching clothes, Supalo said he initially wanted nothing to do with that.

"I did not want to do anything which might send any kind of statement, whatever the color was, I would go out of my way to be as far away from it as I could," he said.

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AFP - Getty Images file

Stacy Ann Peterson

Though Drew Peterson was tried and convicted of murdering Kathleen Savio, the former police sergeant's missing fourth wife had a constant presence during the trial.

"They tried keeping her out of that courtroom, and eventually two profound statements were made by her, and that's what did it," said Pamela Bosco, a spokeswoman for the family of Stacy Peterson, who vanished in October 2007. "They sealed his fate."

Prosecutors suspect Drew Peterson killed sandy-haired Stacy Peterson because she could finger him for Savio's death, but her body has never been found and no charges have ever been filed.

Stacy Peterson told friends and family that she woke up Feb. 29, 2004, in the middle of the night to find her husband gone. Kathleen Savio's body was found March 1, 2004, in the bathtub of her home, blocks from the Petersons' Bolingbrook, Ill., home. Stacy Peterson later told friends and family her husband asked her to lie about seeing him return home with women's clothing that did not belong to her.

Judge Edward Burmila barred any mention of Stacy Peterson's disappearance during the trial, but jurors heard from her through the testimonies of Rev. Neil Schori and attorney Harry Smith.

Read more about the case at NBCChicago.com 

Schori said Stacy Peterson told him Drew Peterson disappeared from their home around the time of Savio's death. Smith testified that Stacy Peterson called him days before her disappearance and "wanted to know if, in my opinion, the fact that he killed Kathy could be used against him."

Illinois State Police declared Drew Peterson a suspect in Stacy Peterson's disappearance on Nov. 9, 2007, the same day they formally launched an investigation into Savio's 2004 drowning death and a judge signed an order to exhume Savio's body.

Drew Peterson contends his fourth wife ran off with another man and is still alive.

Savio family: 'Stacy, you are now next for justice'

"Stacy's case is next, no matter what," Bosco told reporters Thursday after a seven-man, five-woman jury found Peterson guilty in Savio's death. "We still have to pay the price for Stacy. I still believe that's around the corner."

Stacy Peterson's sister, Cassandra Cales, said the family is in constant contact with police and hopes someone will come forward with new information. "This is the first step," Cales said.

James Glasgow, Will County state’s attorney, told reporters outside the Joliet courthouse that prosecutors plan to review the evidence in Stacy's disappearance and "aggressively" seek to charge Peterson if possible.

See previous NBC News stories on the case

"Obviously the longer any person is gone, the easier it is to prove that they haven't just simply run away and that they are deceased," Glasgow said. "October 28 of 2007 is way in our rear-view mirror now, so we're going to look at that case and assess it as it stands today. If we feel confident that we can go forward, we will be doing so."

Savio learned in 2001 that Drew Peterson was having an affair with Stacy Cales, a 17-year-old hotel clerk at the time.

Drew Peterson and Savio were granted a divorce on Oct. 13, 2003, and he married in Stacy on Oct. 18 when he was 49 and she was 19. They had two children, Anthony and Lacy.

Stacy Peterson was reported missing Oct. 29, 2007, a day after she failed to show up at a relative's home.

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Stacy's family said they never will give up hope.

"I love you and I miss you," Cales said when asked what she wanted to tell her missing sister, "and I'm never going to give up hope in finding you."

"We miss you," Bosco said, choking back tears. "This man has to pay for Stacy."

NBC News' Jim Gold contributed to this report.

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M. Spencer Green / AP

Marcia Savio, stepmother of Kathleen Savio, cries outside the Will County Courthouse in Joliet, Ill., on Thursday after former Bolingbrook police officer Drew Peterson was found guilty of murder. At right is Kathleen Savio's half-brother Nicholas Savio.

With tears falling and arms raised in vindication, Kathleen Savio's stepmother called Drew Peterson's guilty verdict justice for her daughter after years of waiting.

"Finally, somebody heard Kathleen's cries!" Marcia Savio yelled to cheers from a crowd of onlookers. "Twelve people did the right thing, thank God. She won today. It's her victory."

After 14 hours of deliberation, a seven-man, five-woman Will County jury found Peterson guilty of murdering his third wife in a bathtub in 2004. As the verdict came down, gasps were heard throughout the courtroom, and Savio's family immediately hugged each other, shedding tears of joy.

Check NBCChicago.com for more on Drew Peterson case

"This is better than the White Sox winning the World Series," Savio's brother, Nick Savio, told reporters after the verdict came down.

In a statement read through tears, Nick Savio said his sister received justice after a "very long time." He said he hopes and prays Savio's children never forget her.

The Chicago Tribune via AP file

Kathleen Savio is shown in an undated photo provided by the Will County State's Attorney.

"Although we cannot have Kathleen back, we hope she can now rest in peace and that she knows she has had her day and justice has finally been served," he said.

"Stacy, you are now next for justice," he cried, referring to Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, who went missing in 2007.

AFP - Getty Images file

Stacy Peterson is seen in an undated photo provied by the Illinois State Police.

Savio's father, Henry, told reporters he never thought this day would come but now that it has, "I know it would make her happy as well if she was here."

Drew Peterson found guilty of killing third wife, Kathleen Savio

Through the tears of joy, an edge of anger emerged from Savio's family toward Peterson and his attorneys.

"I don't see you laughing now," Nick Savio said of Peterson, "so why don't you go with your clown defense team who made fun of this whole trial and go have a cigar with them while you're rotting in jail."

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JOLIET, Ill. — A jury on Thursday found Drew Peterson guilty of first-degree murder in the 2004 drowning death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio.

There were loud gasps in the courtroom as the verdict was delivered.

Peterson, a former Chicago-area police sergeant, sat stoically and did not react, and then was cuffed and led away from the courtroom.

When Savio was found dead in a bathtub, the death was initially ruled accidental. The 2007 disappearance of Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, raised suspicions.

Read more about the case at NBCChicago.com

Little physical evidence linked Peterson to Savio's death, and the prosecution's case relied heavily on testimony from people who said Peterson threatened Savio, tried to hire a hit man and warned he could make her death look like an accident.

A seven-man, five-woman Will County jury spent about 14 hours deliberating over whether to convict Peterson on a case based solely on hearsay and circumstantial evidence. In the end, the words of Savio’s friends, family and close relations were enough to convince them of his guilt.

Outside the courthouse, people cheered, NBC station WMAQ of Chicago reported.

Former police sergeant Drew Peterson in booking photograph released by the Will County Sheriff's Office on May 8, 2009.

"This is better than the White Sox winning the World Series," Savio's brother, Nick Savio, said through tears outside the courthouse.

"We got the bastard," Savio’s brother-in-law, Mitch Doman, said as he left the courtroom, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Peterson "will never be able to hurt another woman again," Pam Bosco, spokeswoman for the family of Stacy Peterson, said outside the courtroom, the Sun-Times reported.

Bosco said the verdict is partial justice for Stacy Peterson because statements she made before vanishing were heard in the courtroom through testimony of other witnesses at the trial.

AFP - Getty Images file

Drew Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy Ann Peterson, who has been missing since 2007. It was her mysterious disappearance that prompted state prosecutors to pursue charges against Drew Peterson in the death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio. A jury convicted him of first-degree murder on Thursday.

Hearsay, or a statement not based on the direct knowledge of a witness, isn't usually admissible in court, but Illinois passed a law in 2008, dubbed "Drew's Law," that allowed it in rare circumstances.

Related content:

Savio family: 'Stacy, you are now next for justice'

So what happened to Stacy Peterson?

Peterson and Savio were divorced a year before her death. Prosecutors argued that his motive for killing her was fear that a pending settlement in the split would wipe him out financially.

Throughout five weeks of testimony, jurors heard of Savio's purported conversations with family and friends about threats Peterson allegedly made against her. In one, Savio said Peterson once held her captive at knife-point in her own home. In another, she said her husband told her he could kill her and make it look like an accident. Another witness said Savio was so fearful of Peterson that she slept with a knife beneath her bed.

Jurors also heard the purported words of Stacy Peterson through the testimony of divorce attorney, Harry Smith, who spoke to her by phone just days before she vanished.

Her body has not been found and no charges have been filed in connection with her disappearance.

M. Spencer Green / AP

Marcia Savio, step-mother of Kathleen Savio cries outside the Will County Courthouse after word that Drew Peterson was found guilty of murdering his third wife Kathleen Savio. She is accompanied by Kathleen Savio's half-brother Nicholas Savio.

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Judge Edward Burmila barred any mention of Stacy's disappearance during the trial and it was unclear what the jury, which was ordered to avoid media coverage of the case for nearly two years, knew about her or the fact that she's still not surfaced.

It's not immediately clear how much credence jurors gave to the forensic testimony given by a bevy of pathologists. State witnesses were adamant Savio's death was a homicide. Defense witnesses said precisely the opposite.

Peterson now faces a maximum 60 years in prison when he's sentenced Nov. 26. It's not immediately clear if Burmila will take into account the nearly three years Peterson has already spent in jail awaiting trial.

See previous NBC News stories on the case

Whatever the sentence, it could be cut drastically shorter if appeals promised by his defense team are upheld by a higher court. The trial was threatened three times by a mistrial after prosecutorial missteps, errors Peterson's legal team will no doubt attempt to exploit.

Speaking to reporters after the trial, Defense Attorney Joel Brodsky promised an appeal.

"Believe me, there's several world-class appellate lawyers that are just waiting to get their teeth into this case," he said.

State's Attorney James Glasgow also spoke to reporters, saying that prosecutors would "aggresively review" the disappearance of Stacy Peterson and potentially pursue additional charges against Peterson.

A legal analyst on NBC Chicago said that the prosecutors would, at a minimum, likely use the fourth wife's disappearance in its argument for more jail time at Drew Peterson's sentencing hearing scheduled for Nov. 26.

During the trial, jurors displayed unity by color-coordinating or otherwise matching their attire. It was business attire on one day; sports jerseys on another. Bewildered court observers searched for meaning in the choices.

After the trial, Peterson jurors did not immediately speak to the public, but issued a statement read by Will County Sheriff's Department spokesman Ken Kaupas saying they believe they took their responsibility with "solemnity" and "diligence" and "we have reached a decision that was just."

NBC News staff and Reuters contributed to this report by BJ Lutz of NBCChicago.com.

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M. Spencer Green / AP

Joel Brodsky, attorney for former Bolingbrook police officer Drew Peterson, wipes his brow before entering court for jury instructions on Wednesday in Joliet, Ill.

A day after the prosecution and defense presented closing arguments, the jury in the first-degree murder trial of Drew Peterson began deliberations Wednesday.

Peterson, a former Bolingbrook, Ill., police sergeant, is charged in the 2004 drowning death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio. The prosecution alleges that Peterson, 58, murdered Savio and staged her death to look like an accident. The defense on Tuesday argued that no one asked Peterson if he killed his wife because everyone could see it was an accident, NBCChicago.com reported.

Related: Prosecution hammers Drew Peterson in closing arguments

After hearing five weeks of evidence, the jury began deliberations at 10:37 a.m. ET Wednesday. Judge Edward Burmila read 15 minutes of instructions to the jurors, saying that they should start with the presumption that Peterson is innocent and only convict him if they find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, The Associated Press reported.

"The defendant is not required to prove his innocence," Burmila told jurors.

The jurors made several requests in the first few hours, NBCChicago.com reported. They requested Peterson’s phone records from the weekend Savio died and autopsy photos of Savio’s body. They also wanted a letter written by Savio that described her fear that Peterson would kill her, but the judge only allowed them access to a heavily-redacted version. The jurors’ request for a transcript of the testimony from Rev. Neil Schori and attorney Harry Smith was denied by the judge, and instead the transcript was read back to them by a court reporter.

The seven-man, five-woman jury is faced with considering a few propositions, according to NBCChicago.com: That the defendant performed the acts that caused the death of Savio, and that when the defendant did so, he intended to kill or do great bodily harm to Savio. Or they must consider whether Peterson knew that his acts created a strong probability of death or great bodily harm to Savio.

If any one of these propositions are found to be not proven beyond reasonable doubt, the judge said the jury should find Peterson not guilty.

Peterson could spend up to 60 years in prison, if convicted.

"He's emotionally and mentally prepared for whatever happens," his lead attorney, Joel Brodsy, told reporters after closing arguments Tuesday.

The Associated Press, as well as NBCChicago.com’s BJ Lutz, Glenn Marshall and Lisa Balde contributed to this report.

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Updated at 8:12 p.m. ET: Prosecutors on Tuesday asked the jury in the first-degree murder trial against Drew Peterson to focus on the witnesses who said the former police officers threatened his third wife -- and was therefore capable of killing her. Defense attorneys, meanwhile, stressed the lack of evidence. 

Prosecutor Chris Koch several times implored jurors to use their everyday experiences and keep their common sense in mind.

"It is clear that this man murdered Kathleen Savio," Koch told the jurors before reminding them of significant points they've heard throughout the last five weeks of testimony.

Peterson, a former Bolingbrook police sergeant, is charged in the 2004 drowning death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio. Prosecutors allege Peterson killed his wife and staged it to look like an accident.

The judge released the jurors Tuesday afternoon, the Chicago Tribune reported, saying he hadn't expected arguments to last so long. Deliberations will begin Wednesday morning.

Also at NBCChicago.com: Strike looms as students return to school

Koch told jurors that Peterson had the intent and motive to kill Savio.

"You are not going to make it to the divorce settlement. You're not going to get the pensions, you're not going to get the kids," he told jurors of a statement Peterson allegedly made.

Pathology experts, Koch said, showed that the injuries Savio sustained -- 14 separate wounds -- could not have happened in a single fall in a bathtub that measures just 40 inches from the back to the drain.

"It's not possible," he said.

Jurors were reminded that Savio told several people that she feared her husband would kill her, and they were reminded of testimony from a police officer who said Peterson tried to hire him to find a hit man.

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"Taking all of that information together and drawing reasonable inferences from them ... we have proved to you" that Peterson killed Savio. "We are asking you to find him guilty."

Attorney Joe Lopez, speaking on behalf of the defense, appealed to jurors patriotism.

"You don't have to like Mr. Peterson. But you have to like that flag. You have to like America," he said, pounding the podium.

He attacked assertions that the initial investigation into Savio's was botched and pointed out that no one asked Peterson if he killed his wife because everyone could see it was an accident.

"Look at the gash in the back of her head. It's as big as the Grand Canyon. You could stick your fist in there," he said, drawing gasps from those gathered in an overflow courtroom.

Jurors were expected to receive the case Tuesday afternoon. Members of the public, an official said, began showing up outside the courthouse at about 1 p.m. CT Monday in hopes of getting one of the few available spectator seats.

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Prosecutors have no physical evidence tying Peterson to the death and have waged a case based on hearsay testimony and circumstantial evidence. Peterson's attorneys say there's no proof Savio's death was a homicide, let alone that Peterson had anything to do with it.

"It's like the game of Clue, where they say, 'Colonel Mustard did it with the candlestick in the dining room.' Have you heard that? No," defense attorney Steve Greenberg said last week.

Prosecutors entered the courthouse Tuesday morning without addressing the media.

Each team has been given one hour and 45 minutes to state their case before the seven-man, five-woman jury that has already sat through five weeks of testimony.

Reuters contributed to this report.

NBC Chicago has reporters in the Will County Courthouse for the trial. During proceedings, follow along with our Drew Peterson Trial Live Blog or follow @bjlutz on Twitter

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Updated at 7:30 p.m. ET: The defense at the trial of Drew Peterson, accused of killing his third wife, rested Wednesday after the former Illinois police officer stood in a Joliet, Ill., courtroom and told the judge he had chosen not to testify.

The statement came after Peterson’s older son, Thomas, 19, testified that he never believed his father killed his mother, Kathleen Savio.

See more on this story on NBCChicago.com

Drew Peterson has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder of Savio, found dead in her bathtub in 2004. Savio’s death was initially ruled an accident but was re-examined and reclassified a homicide after Peterson’s fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, disappeared in 2007.

Thomas Peterson was 11 when Savio died. At the time, he and his brother were staying with Drew and Stacy Peterson at their home just blocks from Savio's house.

"I believe that my dad is innocent," he said.

"Are you here to support your father?" defense attorney Joel Brodsky asked.

"Yes, sir," he said.

Thomas Peterson told jurors he saw no change in his father's demeanor around the day his mother died, saying Drew Peterson was his usual jovial self.

"There was nothing out of the ordinary," Thomas Peterson said. "I would remember if there was."

He said that when his father broke the news about their mother's death to them, he seemed genuinely distraught.

"I have never seen someone so shaken," Thomas Peterson told jurors. "It was troubling to see."

The teen, a valedictorian of his Bolingbrook, Ill., high school class and a current student at the University of Pennsylvania, last year withdrew himself from the wrongful death suit filed on his behalf by his aunt and grandfather. His younger brother, Kristopher Peterson, followed suit when he turned 18 years old earlier this month.

Related: Judge denies request for acquittal in Drew Peterson murder trial

Thomas Peterson's testimony came after some key medical testimony from two pathologists who said Savio's injuries were consistent with an accidental death. Dr. Jeffrey Jentzen said he thinks Savio died by an accidental drowning after slipping and falling in her tub.

"As I mentioned before, this is a classic injury caused by a fall, especially in an area where there are numerous areas for the body to strike," said Jentzen, who up until 2008 was the chief medical examiner in Milwaukee.

Related: Drew Peterson trial stalls as judge challenges pathologist's testimony

His testimony was in contrast to that offered last week by Dr. Larry Blum, who performed the second autopsy on Savio's body. As a witness for the prosecution, Blum said someone falling in the tub would have spread their extremities in an attempt to break their fall. Additionally, he said the tub's edges were not pronounced enough to cause the two-inch, straight-line wound on her head.

Peterson's attorneys disputed Blum's testimony.

"It was an accident," said attorney Steve Greenberg. "It's always been an accident, it's still an accident, it'll be an accident when we do the closing arguments, it'll still be an accident when the jury comes back."

Related: Former colleague testifies Drew Peterson said life better if 3rd wife dead

Prosecutors said their list of rebuttal witnesses include Dr. Larry Blum and Dr. Michael Baden.

Closing arguments could follow Thursday, and the jury would be expected to start deliberating. With the Labor Day weekend ahead, it's not clear what the judge will decide in terms of timing and days off.

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