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.

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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

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.

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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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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."

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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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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.

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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.

"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.

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.

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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.

"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.

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.

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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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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.

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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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A pastor provided dramatic testimony in the Drew Peterson trial on Thursday, telling the court that the former Illinois police officer coached his fourth wife to lie about the death of his third wife.

Rev. Neil Schori testified that in a conversation in August 2007, Stacy Peterson told him what she saw the night Kathleen Savio died.

He said the former suburban Chicago police officer's fourth wife once tearfully recounted to him how her husband mysteriously disappeared from their home around the time of his third wife's death, then later coached her about how to lie to investigators.

"She was very scared," Schori said about Stacy Peterson.

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He testified that the slender, blond 23-year-old pulled her legs up and hugged her knees nervously as she told him Drew Peterson warned her police would approach her to interview her and coached her for hours about how she should lie to them.

Related story: Man arrested after mouthing expletive to Peterson

See the original report  |  More from NBCChicago.com

She did lie to investigators, he said, after Savio's body was found in a dry bathtub at her home just blocks from the Petersons' house. Schori didn't go into detail about the lies, but they apparently involved Peterson's whereabouts.

Earlier in the trial, witnesses testified that investigators let Drew Peterson, of Bolingbrook, Ill., sit in on an interview with Stacy Peterson. He sat next to his visibly shaken wife, his arm around her shoulder and hand on her knee, and corrected at least one of her answers, according to those witnesses.

Defense attorney Joe Lopez blasted Schori for not coming forward sooner, or stopping Stacy from going home.

"She told you she lived with a murderer and you let her go back to the house?" Lopez said.

Prosecutors say they could be in a position to rest their case against Drew Peterson shortly after court resumes Friday morning.

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The announcement came Thursday afternoon following a decision to not call Kathleen Savio's divorce attorney and after Judge Edward Burmila barred testimony from a crime scene investigator.

Divorce attorney Harry Smith was expected to testify about conversations he had with Drew Peterson's ex-wife before her 2004 drowning death. But calling Smith was a big gamble the prosecution ultimately decided not to take.

Back in June, Burmila said Smith must testify about "inculpatory" statements, leading the defense to believe Savio lied under oath.

"This is a home run for us," attorney Joe Lopez said at the time. "If this pans out it looks to us like she lied under oath and if that's so we will be free to argue she is a perjurer and a liar."

Prosecutors wanted state's attorney investigator Dave Margliano to tell jurors about a pair of receipts found in Peterson's home they say show the defendant was seeking an alibi for the weekend Savio died. Burmila ultimately barred that testimony.

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Prosecutors have no physical evidence and are trying to build a compelling circumstantial case — one that will lead jurors to conclude Peterson must have killed Savio.

Her death was initially ruled an accident but was reclassified a homicide after Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, went missing in 2007. Peterson is a suspect in her disappearance but hasn't been charged.

Peterson has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in Savio's death. If convicted, he faces a maximum prison sentence of 60 years.

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Drew Peterson's trial for the murder of his third wife encountered yet another interruption Tuesday as the fourth week of testimony got under way in Joliet, Ill.

Dr. Mary Case, a pathologist at St. Louis University and an expert in head trauma, was testifying for the prosecution that she had reviewed depositions and opinion letters from doctors involved in three autopsies of Peterson's wife, Kathleen Savio, NBCChicago.com reported.

When Case mentioned the names of the doctors, Will County Judge Edward Burmila took issue because many of the doctors will not be called to testify, NBCChicago.com reported. The session was recessed while prosecutors reviewed case law.

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The recess was the latest bump in the road for a trial that has already been put on hold three times.

Questioning resumed Tuesday before a lunch break.

Speaking to reporters outside court Tuesday morning, defense attorney Joel Brodsky called Case an expert in a "field of one," NBCChicago.com reported.

Peterson is accused of killing Savio, whose body was found in 2004 in a dry bathtub, her hair soaked in blood and a gash on the back of her head.

Drew Peterson has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in Savio's death. If convicted, he would face a maximum 60-year prison sentence.

Others on the state's witness list for Tuesday included llinois State Police investigator Bryan Falat, Rev. Neil Schori and Savio's divorce attorney, Harry Smith. Jurors may also hear from Drew Peterson's former co-worker, Jeff Pachter, who claims Peterson offered him $25,000 to hire a hitman to kill Savio.

Watch US News crime videos on NBCNews.com 

Schori is the pastor of Peterson’s fourth wife, Stacy, who allegedly told the clergyman she saw Drew Peterson dressed in all-black and carrying a bag of women's clothes not long after Savio was found dead in her Bolingbrook, Ill., home.

Stacy Peterson, then 23, disappeared in 2007, leading authorities to reopen the investigation into Savio's death. Drew Peterson, a former Bolingbrook police sergeant, denies he had anything to do with the disappearance of Stacy Peterson, long maintaining that his wife ran off with another man. He has not been charged in the disappearance. 

Related: Colleague: Drew Peterson said life better if 3rd wife dead

Burmila has said prosecutors can't mention that Stacy Peterson went missing and that authorities presume she is dead.

Burmila on Friday ended week three of the trial by booting a prosecution witness Scott Rossetto from the stand after just a few minutes.

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Rossetto was expected to tell jurors how he met Stacy Peterson and about the alibi Drew Peterson supposedly gave Stacy the night Savio died.

But after a date discrepancy and other issues, Burmilla called Rossetto "facially unreliable" and barred his testimony.

Friday's testimony also included a doctor who'd treated Savio for "cervical vertigo."

Dr. Gene Neri described the condition and said it wasn't the cause of her death, noting that patients with cervical vertigo are typically more cautious and less likely to fall.

Some reports suggested Savio died from drowning after a fall. A second autopsy reclassified the death as homicide.

Judge Burmila has put stopped Peterson's trial several times so he could consider whether the prosecution's inadvertently tainted jurors by introducing improper evidence.

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Updated 4:55 p.m. ET: JOLIET, Ill. - A judge on ruled on Tuesday that testimony from a man claiming to have been offered $25,000 by former Chicago area policeman Drew Peterson to kill his third wife would not be allowed.

Peterson is charged with the murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, who was found dead in a dry bathtub in 2004. Her death initially was ruled an accident. But when Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, disappeared in 2007, suspicions were raised and Savio's death was ruled a homicide. Stacy Peterson has never been found and is presumed dead.

Prosecutor James Glasgow began his opening statement on Tuesday by telling the jury that Jeffrey Pachter, a man Peterson worked with at a cable television installation company, has said under oath that Peterson offered him $25,000 to find a hit man to kill Savio.

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Defense attorney Steve Greenberg immediately called for a mistrial. Judge Edward Burmila cleared the jury out of the courtroom and allowed Greenberg to make his case for a mistrial.

Burmila rejected the mistrial motion, but ruled that the prosecution could not use anything from Pachter during the trial.

The ruling was a blow to the prosecution because there is little physical evidence to link Peterson to Savio's death and prosecutors hoped to use the testimony of family and associates as evidence of Peterson's guilt.

The judge also admonished defense lawyer Joel Brodsky for launching into a story of Peterson's early life rather than focusing on the facts of the case.

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Brodsky then focused on Savio's character, calling her a liar who had a nasty temper and had attacked Drew Peterson. 

Peterson betrayed no emotion during the morning session of the trial's first day.

The opening statements were interrupted numerous times with objections from both sides.

In its opening statement, the prosecution insisted that the scene where Savio's body was found was "staged." 

“Kathleen Savio’s cold, lifeless body was found in her bathtub ... and it was staged to look like an accident,” state attorney James Glasgow told the court, The Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Glasgow objected 25 times during Brodsky's opening statement, who began recounting his client's service as a police officer and an officer in the Army.

Brodsky characterized Savio as “crazy” and told jurors that she made up lies to fit her purpose. He also went into the prosecution's lack of physical evidence.

The prosecutor's first witness, Savio’s close friend and neighbor, Mary Pontarelli, testified she and another neighbor, Steven Carcerano, entered Savio’s house after a locksmith picked the front door and discovered her body lying inside the bathtub. 

Pontarelli sobbed on the stand as she was shown a picture of Savio's body in the bathtub.

Watch the most-viewed videos on NBCNews.com

She told jurors that Savio, 40, had bruises on her wrists and buttocks and blood coming from her mouth.

Prosecutors say Peterson killed Savio because he feared their pending divorce settlement would wipe him out financially. And they believe he killed Stacy, in part, because she knew about Savio's death. 

Peterson started dating Stacy Coles in 2001 -- two years before his marriage with Savio dissolved.

After learning that Peterson took Stacy on a vacation to Mexico in January 2001, Savio had requested an order of protection.

"She files (the petition) with lies, stupid, ridiculous statements," Brodsky told jurors, the Tribune reported.

Glasgow painted Peterson as growing increasingly violent, upping his threats as Savio told him she would take his pension and other assets after their divorce, reported The Tribune.

When a judge ordered him to pay Savio's divorce attorney $15,000 in 2003, Peterson "snuck into the victim's home, grabbed Kathy Savio by the throat and said, 'Why don't you just die? I could kill you and no one would know,'" Glasgow said.

The two filed for divorce in 2003. Peterson had moved out of the home he shared with Savio, and Savio by that point had dropped the order of protection, which Brodsky told jurors suggested she was lying about Peterson being violent.

From the archives: Watch 2007 Dateline NBC video of Drew Peterson discussing Stacy 

"Never again do you hear of Kathy getting an order of protection," Brodsky said, according to The Tribune. "She knew how to get one - but all this stuff about (Peterson's) threats, breaking into her house, Kathy never got another order of protection. You have to ask yourself why."

The real-life drama inspired a TV movie and a national spotlight was put on the case, with speculation about whether Peterson used his law-enforcement expertise in a bid to get away with the murder of Savio and to make Stacy Peterson disappear.

Peterson, a former police sergeant in the Chicago suburb of Bolingbrook, was charged with first-degree murder in Savio's death only after Stacy Peterson went missing. He is a suspect in her disappearance but hasn't been charged.

Jurors in the case include a part-time poet, a letter carrier and a research technician whose favorite TV show is "Criminal Minds."

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Almost five years after the disappearance of his fourth wife, former Illinois police officer Drew Peterson will go on trial Tuesday for the murder of his third wife.

A jury of seven men and five women will hear opening arguments in the long-delayed trial on whether Peterson, 58, killed his then-wife Kathleen Savio in 2004 and made it look like an accident.

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Savio, 40, was found dead in a dry bathtub on March 1, 2004. Officials ruled the death an accidental drowning until Savio’s body was exhumed as part of their investigation. They eventually changed the cause of her death from an accident to homicide and charged Peterson with murder.

 

Jury selection in the high-profile case was completed last week.

"You will hear the story of Drew Peterson from beginning to end," lead defense attorney Joel Brodsky told reporters last week. "We will show that the state's theory is implausible at best."  

Peterson, who was a sergeant in the Bolingbrook, Ill., police department, was in the middle of a bitter divorce from Savio and had already begun seeing Stacy Peterson at the time of Savio’s death. Prosecutors argue Peterson killed Savio because he feared their divorce settlement would wipe him out financially, the Associated Press reported. Prosecutors are expected to call their first witnesses Tuesday .

Stacy Peterson vanished in 2007. Her body has never been found, but authorities believe she is dead and have named Peterson a suspect. He contends the 23-year-old mother of two ran off with another man, which Stacy’s family vehemently disputes.

The jury is likely to hear statements that Savio and Stacy Peterson allegedly made to friends and relatives about threats from Peterson -- hearsay testimony that is usually barred in court proceedings. 

Peterson, who has been in jail since he was charged with Savio's murder in 2009, denies wrongdoing in both Savio's murder and Stacy Peterson's disappearance. 

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