Crime & Safety

Peterson Jury Picked, Trial Set to Start

Seven men and five women have been chosen as jurors for the trial set to start Tuesday.

The final five jurors and four alternate jurors were picked for Drew Peterson's much anticipated murder trial, and opening statements are expected to be heard Tuesday.

Attorney Joel Brodsky said he will be the one handling opening statements for the defense and revealed his plan to tell "the story of Drew Peterson, from beginning to end."

And when Brodsky is done with that story, said defense attorney Steve Greenberg, the jury will be convinced that Peterson did not murder his third wife, Kathleen Savio, by hitting her in the head and drowning her in a bathtub.

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"There's going to be no question she slipped in the tub and Drew was home when it happened," said Greenberg, who also scoffed at the idea that fresh bruises were discovered on Savio after her body was dug up and re-examined almost four years after her death. Greenberg suggested the bruises may have been caused by gophers bumping into her as they burrowed through her grave.

Greenberg also predicted that Brodsky's opening statement will resemble the Gettysburg Address "or some of the other great classics."

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The jury that gets to hear Brodsky's Gettysburg Address Monday will be comprised of seven men and five women. but one was excused because he had already booked a prepaid vacation in August.

He was replaced by a Plainfield man who works as a research technician and enjoys photography in his spare time.

The other four jurors selected were:

  • A divorced secretary whose "passion" is writing poetry and who was the editor of her college newspaper
  • A married Plainfield man working as a consultant to the concrete company he owned and then sold, and who said he studied "baseball" when he attended Joliet Junior College
  • A New Jersey native living in Naperville who said her boss "wrinkled her nose and said, 'OK'" when she informed her she was a potential juror for the Peterson murder trial
  • An unemployed Romeoville man who enjoys exercising and reading science fiction

Of the four alternates, there are three men and one woman.

One woman bounced from the jury pool said there was no way she could vote guilty because it would mean sending someone to prison, and she "knows what happens there."

"I work in a prison," the woman said. "I couldn't send someone to prison."

The woman conceded that she would be willing to case a vote for "not guilty."

After she left the courtroom, Greenberg said, "We're going to go ahead and accept the juror." Brodsky later argued to put her on the jury, but failed to sway Judge Edward Burmila.

Tuesday's jury selection was delayed when Peterson discovered he had been supplied with the wrong dress pants. Defense attorney Joseph "Shark" Lopez pointed out the noticeably plumper Peterson has put on weight during his three-plus years in the county jail.

"Drew obviously couldn't fit into his pants," Lopez said. "Maybe too many Cheetos."


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