A former attorney for Drew Peterson has released letters he said were sent from an inmate claiming that Peterson was entrapped into committing a murder-for-hire plot.
Joel Brodsky, who once represented Peterson during his murder trial, said he received two letters on Feb. 20 from an inmate at the Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet [Inmate A], who says the former Bolingbrook police officer was set up when he was charged with trying to hire a hit man to kill Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow, the lead prosecutor in his trial.
In the letters, Inmate A claims to have never met or interacted with Peterson, but to have been part of a scheme with a fellow inmate [Inmate B], who he said was once a close friend of Peterson at the Menard Correctional Center where he is serving a 38-year sentence for killing his third wife, Kathleen Savio.
“[Inmate B] stated that it all began when someone began mistreating Mr. Peterson, and he stood up to defend him,” the letter read. “[Inmate B] said that after that they became ‘really good friends.’”
The letters claim Inmate B told Inmate A that Peterson confided in him, telling Inmate B he dumped the body of his fourth wife Stacy Peterson, who disappeared in 2007, in Lake Michigan. They also say Inmate B and Peterson talked about his trial, and at one point Inmate B told Peterson “he knew people that could ‘take care’ of Mr. Glasgow if that’s what he wanted.”
Inmate A claims Peterson at first laughed off the idea, but later considered it.
“Before the subject became an actual plan, Inmate B was transferred to Pontiac C.C.,” the letter read.
After learning about Inmate B’s information, Inmate A said the pair wrote to Glasgow about an alleged murder-for-hire plot, and the two were interviewed by officials.
“I interviewed with the FBI about what I know about the situation. I’m promised my trial transcripts and money to keep my mouth shut. FBI also confirms my transfer to Stateville,” he said.
- Read the full letter here
Once both inmates were transferred to Stateville, Inmate A said Inmate B told him he would be transferred to Menard Correctional Center once again “to get the recorded evidence against Mr. Peterson.”
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“I was then placed in a segregation cell no pen/paper, no phone, and no visits,” he said. “I stood in that cell from Oct. 21st (2014) to the 27th. By the time I was let out [Inmate B] had already been transferred to Menard to build the case against Mr. Peterson.”
Inmate A claims he tried to contact Peterson’s attorney Steve Greenberg, but said Greenberg ignored his letters and calls. Greenberg, who sits on a panel for Peterson’s appeal to reverse the 2012 conviction, declined to comment on the latest twist.
Earlier this month, Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Randolph County State’s Attorney Jeremy Walker filed a two-count criminal information against 61-year-old Peterson, charging him with one count of solicitation of murder for hire and one count of solicitation of murder, both Class X felonies.
“[Inmate A] has been forthright in saying that he was initially part of the discussions regarding setting Mr. Peterson up, along with his then cellmate [Inmate B], but that he switched sides after he was discarded by his cellmate/snitch and the prosecutors who were scheming to set Mr. Peterson up,” Brodsky said in a statement.
Walker declined comment, saying he “will let it play out in court.” Madigan’s office has not yet responded to NBCChicago’s request for comment.
“[Inmate A] is not asking for anything in return for assisting Mr. Peterson, nor has he ever asked for anything in exchange for helping out Peterson,” Brodsky said.
