A Trilogy of Murders
When I realized the other day that I have now followed three high-profile murder cases where the defendants were all men named Peterson and all found guilty of murdering their wives, I suddenly became curious… wondering if maybe there was some dark significance attached to that name. However all my research came up with was, that Peterson (spelled in several different ways) is the 63rd most popular surname in the United States, means ‘son of Peter,’ and is derived from the Greek ‘petros’ or stone.
For years (starting with the O.J. Simpson case,) I’ve watched murder trials play out live on Court TV. I admit to having a deep fascination for what makes or drives a human being to take the life of another person, and equally what kind of person becomes a criminal lawyer. There are those who prosecute and fight for justice, and those on the opposing side who defend the monstrous acts perpetrated by their clients. Obviously everyone has the constitutional right to be defended, but I’m curious about the ability of some defense lawyers to be able to sleep at night, knowing what they know.
The first Peterson I became aware of was Scott Peterson, a handsome young fertilizer salesman from Modesto California whose pretty 27 year-old very pregnant wife Laci went missing on Christmas Eve 2002. Excited about her baby’s imminent birth and ostensibly happily married, her sudden disappearance had all the ingredients of becoming a big news story…and it certainly did.
Scott Peterson initially played the grieving husband and father-to-be to the hilt …until a young blonde (who turned out to be his mistress) saw the media coverage and bravely came forward to the Police.
It was months before the decomposed decapitated body of Laci Peterson washed up on the San Francisco Bay shore, soon followed by the body of their unborn son named Connor.
Thankfully Scott Peterson now resides on San Quentin’s Death Row.
The second fascinating Peterson murder trial took place in a wealthy suburb of Durham North Carolina. The defendant Michael Peterson was a best selling author, the victim his second wife Kathleen, whose blood spattered body was found lying at the bottom of the back stairs in their mansion. When this Peterson’s lurid past eventually came to light, it included the unusual death of his previous girlfriend in Germany, also found dead at the bottom of a staircase. Her body was exhumed, found to have blunt trauma to the head, and the cause of death was subsequently changed from accidental to homicide. Kathleen Peterson had just discovered that her husband was having a sexual dalliance with a male prostitute, and it’s believed that by confronting him, she lost her life.
Although found guilty of 1st degree murder and imprisoned for the last ten years, Michael Peterson has amazingly won the right to a new trail.
Recently the third Peterson, (Drew Peterson) was finally found guilty of the murder of his third wife Kathleen Sovio, found dead in her bathtub on the eve of their divorce in 2003. It was ruled an accident at the time. However, after his 19 year-old fourth wife Stacy went missing in 2007, authorities decided to exhume Kathleen’s body. They soon discovered (as the family had suspected all along) that she had been brutally murdered.
The Drew Peterson (an arrogant four times married ex-cop, with a penchant for young girls and Harley Davidson’s) murder case had huge media coverage, but the trial unfortunately was not televised.
I believe there are still many more horrors to come when the body of his young fourth wife Stacy Peterson is eventually discovered. Meanwhile Drew Peterson will be serving the rest of his wretched life behind bars where he belongs.
I find it both bizarre and fascinating that Michael and Drew Peterson, had murdered wives named Kathleen, and in each case police exhumed bodies of other murdered women, to help prove their guilt.urder
When I realized the other day that I have now followed three high-profile murder cases where the defendants were all men named Peterson and all found guilty of murdering their wives, I suddenly became curious… wondering if maybe there was some dark significance attached to that name. However all my research came up with was, that Peterson (spelled in several different ways) is the 63rd most popular surname in the United States, means ‘son of Peter,’ and is derived from the Greek ‘petros’ or stone.
For years (starting with the O.J. Simpson case,) I’ve watched murder trials play out live on Court TV. I admit to having a deep fascination for what makes or drives a human being to take the life of another person, and equally what kind of person becomes a criminal lawyer. There are those who prosecute and fight for justice, and those on the opposing side who defend the monstrous acts perpetrated by their clients. Obviously everyone has the constitutional right to be defended, but I’m curious about the ability of some defense lawyers to be able to sleep at night, knowing what they know.
The first Peterson I became aware of was Scott Peterson, a handsome young fertilizer salesman from Modesto California whose pretty 27 year-old very pregnant wife Laci went missing on Christmas Eve 2002. Excited about her baby’s imminent birth and ostensibly happily married, her sudden disappearance had all the ingredients of becoming a big news story…and it certainly did.
Scott Peterson initially played the grieving husband and father-to-be to the hilt …until a young blonde (who turned out to be his mistress) saw the media coverage and bravely came forward to the Police.
It was months before the decomposed decapitated body of Laci Peterson washed up on the San Francisco Bay shore, soon followed by the body of their unborn son named Connor.
Thankfully Scott Peterson now resides on San Quentin’s Death Row.
The second fascinating Peterson murder trial took place in a wealthy suburb of Durham North Carolina. The defendant Michael Peterson was a best selling author, the victim his second wife Kathleen, whose blood spattered body was found lying at the bottom of the back stairs in their mansion. When this Peterson’s lurid past eventually came to light, it included the unusual death of his previous girlfriend in Germany, also found dead at the bottom of a staircase. Her body was exhumed, found to have blunt trauma to the head, and the cause of death was subsequently changed from accidental to homicide. Kathleen Peterson had just discovered that her husband was having a sexual dalliance with a male prostitute, and it’s believed that by confronting him, she lost her life.
Although found guilty of 1st degree murder and imprisoned for the last ten years, Michael Peterson has amazingly won the right to a new trail.
Recently the third Peterson, (Drew Peterson) was finally found guilty of the murder of his third wife Kathleen Sovio, found dead in her bathtub on the eve of their divorce in 2003. It was ruled an accident at the time. However, after his 19 year-old fourth wife Stacy went missing in 2007, authorities decided to exhume Kathleen’s body. They soon discovered (as the family had suspected all along) that she had been brutally murdered.
The Drew Peterson (an arrogant four times married ex-cop, with a penchant for young girls and Harley Davidson’s) murder case had huge media coverage, but the trial unfortunately was not televised.
I believe there are still many more horrors to come when the body of his young fourth wife Stacy Peterson is eventually discovered. Meanwhile Drew Peterson will be serving the rest of his wretched life behind bars where he belongs.
I find it both bizarre and fascinating that Michael and Drew Peterson, had murdered wives named Kathleen, and in each case police exhumed bodies of other murdered women, to help prove their guilt.
