Peterson griping about lawyer again
Two months ago, a jury convicted former Bolingbrook Police Sgt. Drew Peterson. Again.
And now, Peterson is apparently complaining about his lawyer. Again.
A downstate jury convicted Peterson in May of trying to have Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow killed. He faces sentencing Friday, and records show he has written a letter to Randolph County Judge Richard A. Brown.
A copy of the letter was not available Wednesday, but a source familiar with the matter said Peterson wrote to the judge complaining about Lucas Liefer, Peterson’s downstate defense attorney.
Liefer did not return a call Wednesday from the SunTimes.
Peterson, who is already serving a 38-year prison sentence for the murder of his third wife, famously pinned the blame for his 2012 mur- der conviction on Joel Brodsky, the leader of his defense team during that trial. Peterson complained that Brodsky botched the defense by calling a divorce attorney to the stand who gave bombshell testimony against Peterson.
Now Peterson’s latest criminal case may be headed down a similar path.
Liefer began representing Peterson immediately after the former cop was charged in downstate Randolph County with offering $10,000 to a Satan’s Disciple known as “Beast” to have Glasgow killed. The plot was hatched at downstate Menard Correctional Center.
Liefer bucked the mediaobsessed legal strategy Peterson had long relied upon during his days in Bolingbrook, telling reporters he didn’t “want this case being tried before we get to a jury” and avoiding calls from reporters ahead of the trial.
The defense attorney kicked off his closing argument in May by mocking the case against Peterson, telling jurors he could be Randolph County’s top prosecutor if only the current state’s attorney — Jeremy Walker — were out of the way.
“Oh my gosh, did I just commit solicitation of murder?” Liefer asked facetiously.
Afterward, it took jurors barely an hour to find Peterson guilty. Now he faces a minimum 20-year sentence that won’t begin until he is done serving time for the murder of Kathleen Savio. Walker has said he will seek a sentence near the maximum of 60 years during Peterson’s sentencing hearing.
Peterson might have never seen a prison cell had his fourth wife, Stacy, not vanished in 2007. Her disappearance set in motion the events that led to Peterson’s 2012 conviction for Savio’s murder.
No one has ever been charged in connection with Stacy Peterson’s apparent demise. Her husband remains the prime suspect.