didnt know where to put this;
Peterson grand jury resumes with two witnesses
Nephew, divorce lawyer called to testify
January 22, 2009
By JOE HOSEY
jhosey@scn1.comJOLIET — The parade of witnesses before the grand jury investigating the murder of Drew Peterson’s third wife and the disappearance of his fourth resumed Thursday with his former divorce lawyer and an old in-law summoned to testify.
The grand jury, which convened more than a year ago, last met since before Thanksgiving. On its first day back in action, Alexander Beck, who represented Peterson in his unresolved divorce from slain third wife Kathleen Savio, was called. So was Charlie Doman, Savio’s nephew and a former employee of Peterson.
Doman worked in Suds Pub, a Montgomery bar Peterson had owned, as a maintenance man and disc jockey.
Doman and his attorney, Tamara Holder, declined to comment on what transpired during his grand jury appearance. Beck referred questions to his attorney, Matthew Bertani.
“Mr. Beck respects the sanctity of the grand jury and the gravity of these proceedings,” Bertani said. “He will not comment on them publicly.”
Beck apparently could not say much to the grand jury either.
“He will not, and cannot, according to the Supreme Court rules, reveal any confidences arising out of his representation of Mr. Peterson many years ago,” Bertani said.
Homicide, disappearance
Peterson and Savio were in the midst of a contentious divorce when she was found dead in her own dry bathtub in March 2004. The state police found no sign of foul play during their investigation of Savio’s death, but when Peterson’s next wife, Stacy Peterson, vanished in October 2007, they reclassified Savio’s death to a homicide. The state police are still trying to figure out who killed her.
State police also are trying to determine what happened to Stacy Peterson. They have labeled her disappearance a “potential homicide” and named Drew Peterson their sole suspect.
Peterson, who has since taken up with a 24-year-old mother of two, did not think he had anything to worry about regarding Beck or Doman testifying “unless they’re making something up, which is always my big fear,” he said.
Still investigating
While the grand jury proceedings have been dormant for weeks, the investigations of Savio’s death and Stacy’s disappearance have been anything but, said Charles B. Pelkie, a spokesman for the state’s attorney’s office.
“This by no means indicates a lack of activity in the case,” Pelkie said.
“Things are moving forward. Things are full-steam right now and they have been for several months.”