Peterson: My Life in Jail

Drew Peterson's pursuit of publicity hasn't stopped, even though he's currently living in solitary confinement in the Will County Jail.

In a hand-written letter sent to Sun-Times columnist Michael Sneed, Peterson says he sleeps "on a lawnchair mattress on a cement slab," and his only human contact, besides his lawyers, is with guards and an inmate worker who brings him "meals, clean clothes and linen passed through a chuckhole."

Peterson has been held since his May, 2009 arrest on charges he murdered his third wife, Kathleen Savio. He's also suspected in the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson.

Sneed writes that the letter was passed to her through a confidential source, and the Sun-Times is careful to point out its sensitivity to the pain the Savio family must be going through as they seek justice in Kathleen's death.

In the edited version of Peterson's 10-page letter, the former Bolingbrook cop goes into detail about his arrest as well as his time in jail.

Peterson said he was surprised by his arrest, found parts of it insulting, and when officers pulled him over, he told one to "shoot me asshole."

As he was being booked and processed at the jail, Peterson said, "I realized what was happening to me and I remember this feeling of anger coming over me being mad that the people responsible to putting me there were getting away with it knowing that I have done nothing wrong."

Peterson says his jail cell is often "raided" by officers, who strip search him.

"I'm here to tell you I have been looked at naked here more than I care to remember. If you are modest at all this is the place to avoid," he writes.

He also says he's kept in good health, commending the jail medical staff's professionalism.

"I've been treated for everything from heartburn to high blood pressure," Peterson said.

The Sun-Times published only about half the letter, and will publish a second installment in Monday's paper.

Copyright CHIST - SunTimes
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