Questions are being raised about a two-page handwritten will signed by Savio and Drew Peterson that is dated March 2, 1997. The document was taken into evidence by investigators Dec. 19, court records indicate.
One of the two witnesses who signed the will, Bolingbrook police officer Alex J. Morelli, has appeared before a Will County grand jury hearing evidence about Savio's death. Attempts to reach Morelli and the other witness, Gary L. Marcolina, were unsuccessful.
In a recent interview, Peterson, 53, said there is nothing wrong with the will, which was filed 15 days after Savio, his third wife, was found dead March 1, 2004.
"We just tucked it away, and I found it after she died," Peterson said of the will. "There's nothing sinister and out-of-line about it. Everything was done proper."
At the time she died, Savio, 40, was in a court battle with Peterson over proceeds from the sale of a tavern they had owned. Peterson, she claimed, had kept all the money from that sale.
The will named Peterson's uncle James B. Carroll executor of Savio's estate. Carroll, who could not be reached for comment, went on to award Peterson control of virtually all of Savio's assets -- even though Peterson and Savio had divorced.
"The actions of the Executor were not in the best interest of the Estate or its beneficiaries," wrote Richard J. Kavanagh, the court-appointed administrator for Savio's estate. Kavanagh was involved in the case because no one from Savio's family formally volunteered to represent the estate in court. He called the will a "purported will" in court papers.
"My concern is that this is a handwritten will that just popped up after she died," Kavanagh said this week. "It gives you the sense that it's something that's concocted."
"My concern is that this is a handwritten will that just popped up after she died," Kavanagh said this week. "It gives you the sense that it's something that's concocted."
A judge, however, accepted the will because Marcolina and Morelli testified in court March 23, 2005, that they witnessed Savio and Peterson signing the document, Kavanagh said. Forgery? Lying under oath?
Peterson dismissed Kavanagh's concerns and asserted that the lawyer is angry that he couldn't notch a hefty sum in legal fees off Savio's case.
Schuetzner, the document examiner hired by the Sun-Times, examined Savio's signature on the will and found "a lot of consistency" with Savio's other signatures.
Savio's sister, Doman, was uncertain about Savio's signature on the will. But she was more concerned about other aspects of the document, including that its first page equally divides Savio's assets among her two children and her two stepchildren.
Savio, according to Doman, said a month before her death that she had written a new will that would leave everything to her two young sons, now ages 13 and 15.
"She told me she had a new will. She promised to get me a copy," Doman said. "She was dead before she could get it to me."
Doman added that her family wasn't aware until recently that the will named Carroll, Drew Peterson's uncle, executor of Savio's estate.
Peterson counters the family had an opportunity to get involved in the case.
"If they didn't like it, well, they should have done something. They didn't," Peterson said.
Carroll did not return calls seeking comment. Did the family even know this old will was being probated? There was little communication.
Peterson Inc. Besides Peterson's work as a cop, he and Savio ran two business during their married life: the tavern company, called Blue Lightning Corp., and a printing firm, DA. P.A.G.E. Inc., state records show. Drew Peterson dabbled in real estate. He and two partners bought and flipped two homes in 2001.
In March 2002, both Peterson and Savio filed for divorce. On March 22, 2002, Savio agreed in court to waive any future ownership rights to the house Drew Peterson wanted to buy for himself and Stacy in Bolingbrook. This is misleading. Drew presented the document to a judge, she did not "agree in court". She was not aware it was happening. Probably not even aware that it would be necessary to have such a document.
A power of attorney document, dated about a month after that court appearance, formalized the agreement and included Savio's signature. Peterson used the document to secure a $226,600 mortgage the next day.
Peterson said Savio willingly signed the form even though the couple was separated and getting divorced. Peterson also said he bought the house without any financial help from Savio. Bullshit. One day he is holding her hostage in her own home, cutting holes in sheet rock and bedroom doors to gain access and steal from her, the next she is agreeing to him buying a home with a teenager while they are still married.
The power of attorney document that includes Savio's signature needed to be notarized -- something usually done by a notary public who has no financial interest in the deal. But Peterson himself notarized the document, which makes it difficult to independently verify Savio's signature.
"If it was a forgery, she had ample time to have her and her lawyer object and make an issue of it," said Peterson's lawyer, Joel Brodsky. "Obviously it could have been done better, but I don't know that it's anything untoward." How can she object when it is done behind her back?
Questions about the will and his finances, Peterson said, only show that interest in the death of his third wife and the disappearance of his fourth is winding down.
"This is no big deal," he said. "I think they're running out of things to ask about." Yeah Drew, or they are wrapping it up and getting ready to arrest you...
Sun-Times News Group writers Kara Spak and Natasha Korecki contributed to this report.
Article Online: http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/bolingbrooksun/news/758722,4_1_JO25_PETERSON_S1.article
Kathleens Will: http://www.suntimes.com/images/cds/MP3/peterson-will.pdf
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