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Eugene

(62,648 posts)
Thu Sep 21, 2017, 10:02 PM Sep 2017

Illinois high court upholds former cop Peterson's murder conviction

Source: Reuters

#U.S. SEPTEMBER 21, 2017 / 12:35 PM / UPDATED 3 HOURS AGO

Illinois high court upholds former cop Peterson's murder conviction

Reuters Staff
3 MIN READ

(Reuters) - The Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the conviction of former Chicago-area police officer Drew Peterson for murdering his third wife.

Peterson, 63, who was sentenced to 38 years in prison for the 2004 murder of Kathleen Savio, was given an additional 40 years in 2016 after being found guilty of trying to hire a hit man to kill the prosecutor who argued for his conviction at his first trial.

Peterson’s attorneys had urged the state’s highest court to overturn his conviction of Savio’s murder on several technical grounds, including the admission of hearsay statements and the competence of his lawyer for calling as a defense witness Savio’s divorce lawyer, Harry Smith.

The court’s seven justices, however, unanimously rejected all of Peterson’s arguments, upholding an earlier ruling by an appellate court.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-illinois-court-peterson/illinois-high-court-upholds-former-cop-petersons-murder-conviction-idUSKCN1BW2EG
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