Not long ago Drew Peterson did an interview from his jail cell boastful of his outsized personality and bold shenanigans during the run up to his arrest for killing his third wife, Kathleen Savio.
"There is no book written on how I'm supposed to act," he told Matt Lauer on the Today Show in May. "Would it be better if I hid my head down hunched over and had tears in my eyes?"
But over the last three weeks while witness after witness has taken the stand in an often-shocking hearsay hearing, Peterson appears to have found the behavioral text.
For the most part Peterson is subdued. He speaks only to his lawyers and doesn’t flash that brazen smile that became a calling card of the former Bolingbrook cop.
Peterson arrives at the Joliet courthouse every day in chains and a jumpsuit.
His lawyers provide him with a fresh suit and tie. He changes. His chains are reattached, before he enters the courtroom. Then the chains are removed, again, in a show for the court.
He scans the courtroom every time he comes in, and has been known to stop and stare at Cales family members and friends -- Stacy Peterson's relatives -- in an apparent attempt to intimidate them. But that’s the extent of his showmanship.
It’s a far cry from his behavior just after his arrest.
For weeks he acted out in a what became a media spectacle.
He mulled a chance to appear on a show about a whore house, but that was scrapped.
He agreed to participate in a radio promotion with Mancow Muller called “Win a Date With Drew.” that was shelved.
"Hey, Mancow," Peterson said over the phone when the event was canceled. "I know we can't do the date with Drew. I'm thinking we should do 'Win a conjugal visit with Drew.'"
He told the press that jail was nice because he was “getting three squares a day,” that his handcuffs were “bling,” and that he might start taping them with a camcorder. And on, and on.
After those outlandish statements made the media rounds Will County Judge Stephen White applied a limited gag order to Peterson, barring him from talking to the media.
But that’s not what has been keeping Peterson in check during the hearsay trial, Joe Hosey, who authored a book about Peterson and has been attending the hearing, said to CNN.
Hearing former acquaintances, friends and even family members recount tales of murderous intent may have finally cracked Drew’s jester exterior.
"I think reality has sunk in," Hosey said.
