It
has the titillating factor that can be amusing for a story or two. But as it
drones on and on throughout the years, it gets monotonous. How many times can
we write stories meant to imply that Peterson is a less-than-model example of a
human being?
IF
YOU WANT me to be honest, a part of me would like to think that Peterson is
telling the truth with regards to Wife Number Four – Stacy. Who has been
missing for so many years and has always been presumed by law enforcement
officials to be a murder victim whose body has yet to turn up.
Peterson
has always claimed his wife ran off, possibly with a bunch of his money, and
that she’s having a good laugh at his expense in some isolated part of the
world.
I’d
like it if that were true because it would be something that would serve
Peterson right for what appears to be his overly-boorish behavior. Besides, do
we really prefer the idea of someone being dead (if not forgotten) all these
years?
Peterson,
of course, is the guy who ultimately got convicted of criminal charges for the
death of Wife Number Three; whose demise initially was thought to be
accidental.
BUT
ALL THE scrutiny tied to the investigation of the disappearance of Stacey
Peterson caused the death of Kathleen Savio to be reinvestigated – and a
coroner to change his mind about “accidental.”
Which
is why Peterson is now in the maximum-security prison located in the Southern
Illinois community of Chester for such a lengthy term that he’s not likely to
get out of prison alive.
Which
also is why the additional charges being filed against him are more about being
punitive than anything else. Prosecutors in Southern Illinois, with help from
the Illinois attorney general’s office, say that Peterson tried to arrange to
have Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow killed as retribution for his
first trial.
Officials
say they have tape recordings of conversations Peterson had with other people –
whose identity they are going out of their way to hide.
AND
THAT IS why Peterson was in court again on Tuesday – for a case management
conference before a judge in Randolph County, Ill., according to the Associated
Press. Which means attorneys for all sides will try to hash out the specifics
and see how ready they are to actually go to trial.
That
may be the only positive thing about this new case – Peterson has said he wants
to go by the letter of the law with regards to rules concerning his right to a
speedy trial.
Perhaps
he thinks he can catch prosecutors in some sort of legal glitch and they will
have to dismiss the case altogether.
Although
news reports from Randolph County show prosecutors who are confident enough to
say they will be ready to go to trial by mid-July, and the judge on Tuesday scheduled July 6 as the date that jury selection can begin.
CONSIDERING
HOW MANY criminal cases can easily stretch into years (it took nearly three for
Peterson’s first criminal trial to begin), that would truly be miraculous.
It
would also be a positive for society at-large. Because the sooner this case is
resolved (and prosecutors possibly get a judge to add up to 60 years in prison
to Peterson’s existing 38-year sentence), the less trivia our airwaves will be polluted
with.
And
the quicker it will be that we can quit making tacky jokes about how the part
of “Drew Peterson” would be played in a sequel to “Untouchable” (a Lifetime
movie) by the Rob Lowe who still gets cable TV.
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