Stepbrother Says He Thinks He Helped Drew Peterson Dispose of Wife's Body

Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Foxnews.com


Drew Peterson's step-brother fears that he had a hand in the murder of the former Illinois police sergeant's fourth wife, Stacy Peterson — telling a Chicago-area newspaper that he helped Drew Peterson dispose of a blue barrel that may have contained Stacy's remains.
.
Stacy Peterson disappeared in October 2007. Her husband has been the focus of a police and grand jury investigation, but he never has been charged.
.
Thomas Morphey, the stepbrother, told the Herald News that he thinks Stacy, 23, was in the blue barrel that he helped remove from the Peterson's home in Bolingbrook, Ill., and put into a car.
.
Beforehand, Morphey told the Herald News, Peterson, 55, had come to his home to take him to a nearby store where Peterson supposedly had set up an interview for him. But instead, the two went to a park, where a conversation led him to believe Peterson was planning to murder Stacy's boyfriend, Morphey said.
.
Click here for photos.
.
“We went to that park to discuss Stacy cheating on him, and he had to take care of the problem,” Morphey told the newspaper. "I didn’t think for a minute he was going to try to kill her.”
.
Peterson started questioning Morphey's love for him and asked if he would kill for him. When Morphey said no, Drew Peterson allegedly asked, "Could you live with knowing about it?"
.
Morphey told the newspaper that he responded, "Yeah, I guess," adding that he always figured Peterson had killed his third wife, Kathleen Savio.
.
Savio's death in a bathtub was ruled a homicide after initially being deemed accidental. Savio's body was exhumed and re-examined after Stacy Peterson vanished.
.
Morphey told the Herald News that the night after meeting Peterson in the park, he met up with Peterson, who enlisted his help with the blue barrel.
.
Tom Morphey was offered immunity by police to tell them what happened that night, but has yet to tell it to a grand jury, he said.

.
Peterson insists Morphey is lying. "He’s hallucinating," he told the newspaper.


*************************************************************************

These are some notes I took at the time Stacy disappeared, but never posted. A thrown together timeline from the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times and the Herald News.

Stacy Peterson Timeline

October 28, 2007 Sunday

After allegedly helping Drew Peterson haul a large container that was warm to the touch from a bedroom, Tom Morphey, step-brother to the Drew Peterson, former Bolingbrook police sergeant, told a friend Oct. 28 that he was afraid he had just helped Peterson dispose of the body of his wife, Stacy Peterson, a source close to the investigation said.
.
Morphey was so distraught that he was hospitalized two days later after an apparent suicide attempt on Oct 30, two sources close to the case said. He has not been charged with a crime nor named as a suspect.
.
Stacy Peterson, 23, was reported missing by her sister, Cassandra Cales, about 4 a.m. Oct. 29, after she failed to show up to help Cales paint a home the previous day.
.
Drew Peterson later said his wife called him about 9 p.m. Oct.28 and told him that she had left him for someone else. He has steadfastly denied any involvement in his wife's disappearance. In a Nov. 7 appearance before a Will County grand jury investigating the case, he exercised his 5th Amendment right.
.
Illinois State Police Capt. Carl Dobrich identified Drew Peterson as a suspect in Stacy Peterson's disappearance, and though it is still classified as a missing person case, authorities’ say it is moving toward a homicide investigation.
.
On Tuesday, October 30, 2007, sources close to the investigation revealed a detailed account of the alleged activities of Drew Peterson and his relative on the day of Stacy Peterson's disappearance. Drew Peterson's attorney, Joel Brodsky, dismissed the information as nothing more than rumors.
.
Drew Peterson was scheduled to work at 5 p.m. Oct. 28 but called in to take a personal or sick day, said Bolingbrook police Lt. Ken Teppel.

A source familiar with the investigation said that at about 7 p.m., on Sunday, October 28, Drew Peterson picked up his step brother Thomas Morphey from a park and the two went to a local Starbucks.
.
After a short time, Drew Peterson told the Morphey he had to go somewhere and left Tom at the coffee shop with a cell phone, along with instructions that he should not answer if it should ring, the source said.
.
Morphey waited for some time, and the phone rang, showing the name "Stacy" on the caller ID, the source said. A brief time later, Drew Peterson returned to the coffee shop, the source said. Drew Peterson and the relative then drove to the Peterson's home on Pheasant Chase Court, the source said.
.
Drew Peterson asked the his step-brother to help him move a blue barrel from upstairs to the Peterson's sport-utility vehicle, the source said. The two men went to an upstairs bedroom and removed a large covered and sealed 4-foot-long plastic container and placed it in the SUV, the sources familiar with the case said.
.
They left the home about 10 p.m., and Drew Peterson then dropped the Morphey off at his home, at which point the distraught man contacted a friend (*see below), saying words to the effect of, "I think I just helped Drew dispose of Stacy," the source said.
.
Morphey allegedly told the friend the plastic container was warm to the touch and may have weighed about 120 pounds, a source said. NOTE: STACY WASN'T REPORTED MISSING UNTIL THE NEXT DAY, by her sister Cassandra at 4:00 a.m., after getting a run-around from Drew about where Stacy was.
.
Tom was taken home at about 10:00 p.m. It was about a quarter of a mile away.
.
Cassandra went to house at 11:00 p.m. to drop off fund raiser money. Stacy’s car gone. Son says Drew and Stacy had big fight, Drew is out looking for her.
.
11:30 Cassy calls Drew who is out of breath and she hears scrapping noises. He says he is at home. She is in neighborhood and knows he is not home, and both vehicles are gone.
.
2:00 both cars back in drive. Drew asks her where her sister is.
.
2:30 Cassy goes to police
.
4:00 a.m. Cassy is sent to another police station and reports Stacy missing.
.
Two days later, on Tuesday, Morphey was treated at Edward Hospital in Naperville after an apparent suicide attempt, sources said. He stayed in "seclusion" for 6 to 9 months after Stacy "went missing."
.
Drew Peterson allegedly visited his relative at the hospital Oct. 30, and later that day, state police investigators -- who were informed of the relative's statements by the man's friend -- contacted the relative at the hospital, one source said.
.
On Nov. 7, the Tom Morphey was contacted outside his home by a Chicago Tribune reporter. He confirmed he was interviewed by authorities regarding Stacy Peterson's disappearance but then declined further comment.
.
Less than 30 seconds later, state police investigators got out of a car in the relative's driveway and ordered the reporter to leave.
.
The Will County state's attorney's office declined to comment on the relative's alleged involvement with Drew Peterson, saying it would not discuss any aspect of the investigation.

"Nobody helped me with anything in such a manner," Drew Peterson told WGN-TV, a local Chicago station. "There's no container -- no blue barrel," said Brodsky, in reference to reports in other media that a neighbor saw a man help load a blue barrel into the back of the Petersons' SUV.
.
"That's all part of the growing swirl of rumors that seem to have engulfed this case."Referring to the step-brother, Brodsky said, "This man, from what I'm hearing, has some serious psychological issues. Once again, I don't even know if he said it. This could be one of a growing number of rumors swirling around this case."
.
Brodsky declined to say whether Drew Peterson has provided him with a complete timeline about his whereabouts on the day of his wife's disappearance, citing attorney-client privilege. He did say Drew Peterson has given statements to the Illinois State Police, "which I guarantee did account for his whereabouts for that day."

*****
* Morphey talks to his friend Walter Martineck, 40, of Bolingbrook, who told the Tribune that on Oct. 29, Drew Peterson's relative tried to get rid of the money he said was payment for helping Drew Peterson remove the plastic tub. Tom Morphey wanted to give it to Martineck, he said. Martineck said he went to the state police with his friend's story.
.
In an interview, Martineck expanded on a prior Tribune report detailing Tom Morphey's alleged activities the night Stacy Peterson disappeared. Martineck said he was at home Oct. 28 watching the World Series. "He called me and said, 'I gotta talk to you,'" Martineck said.
.
"It was late, around 10 o'clock. I remember it was the 7th inning. I told him, 'OK, come to the garage door.'"Moments later, Tom walked up the driveway and into the garage, he said. "He was real frantic," Martineck said. "I could tell he'd been drinking a little. He put his hands on my shoulders and says, 'You can't tell no one. I know she was in there,'" Martineck said.
.
Morphey said when Drew Peterson returned, the two men went to the Petersons' home and removed a large plastic tote that was covered and sealed, Martineck said. As he spoke, Morphey became more and more distraught, Martineck said."He goes, 'I know she was in there,'" Martineck said. "I asked him how he knew that, and he said, 'Because it was warm,'" Martineck said.
.
The following day, Martineck said Tom tried to give him the money he said was payment for helping Drew Peterson. "I told him, no, I don't want that," Martineck said. He said he didn't know how much money it was. Hours later, Tom allegedly tried to commit suicide, and Martineck said he went to the state police with his friend's story.
.
Sooo, where all these people hallucinating, Drew? In your world, I suppose they are.