JOLIET, Ill. (Associated Press) -
A friend of Kathleen Savio's testified that Savio once told her Drew Peterson "broke into the house dressed in a SWAT uniform and held a knift to her throat and said, 'I can kill you and make it look like an accident.'"
Peterson is on trial for the murder of Savio, his third wife.
The friend, Kristin Anderson, started her testimony but broke down in tears. The jury was cleared from the courtroom, and Anderson was seen sobbing in the hallway.
Later she returned to deliver her testimony.
Anderson said Savio showed her a knife she kept between her mattresses for protection.
She said after Savio died, she tried three times to State Police, but they ignored the information.
During a blistering cross examination defense attorney Joe Lopez accused Anderson of changing her story about Drew's threat involving a knife. After suggesting she did not do enough to tell authorities Lopez asked Anderson if she felt guilty after Savio died, causing people in the gallery to gasp out loud. Lopez made no apologies.
"I have to represent my client zealously," said Lopez afterwards, "and I have to do what I can this is a murder case, a serious case."
Anderson's statements were only allowed after vigorous arguments by prosecutors who convinced Judge Edward Burmila to allow the hearsay testimony.
"He mad the right ruling," said Will County State's Attorney James Glasgo, "the correct ruling and so this was a real crossroads in the trial".
For the families of Kathleen Savio, and Peterson's missing fourth wife Stacy, Anderson's testimony was critical.
Nicholas Savio, Kathleen's half-brother said, "This is the second or third person saying I can kill you and make it look like a complete accident, that's not a coincidence."
Pam Bosco, spokeswoman for Stacy's family said, "No matter what punch the defense pulled on this woman they couldn't get her, she didn't waiver, I mean you could tell she was honest."
Earlier, there was testimony about questions Peterson and his fourth wife, Stacy, faced together from state police investigators after Savio's death.
Drew Peterson sat on a card-table chair next to a tearful Stacy and corrected at least one of her answers, the lead investigator told jurors Wednesday.
The dramatic testimony came as prosecutors continued to try to show that the initial investigation into the 2004 drowning of Savio was badly botched and that investigators overlooked potentially key evidence as they rallied to protect a fellow officer from scrutiny.
Now-retired Illinois State Police sergeant Patrick Collins testified that Peterson -- who was only charged in the 40-year-old Savio's death after his fourth wife, 23-year-old Stacy Peterson, went missing 2007 -- had his hand on Stacy Peterson's knee and his arm around her shoulder during the 2004 interview in the basement of the couple's home.
"He sat very close to Stacy as we proceeded to ask questions," Collins recalled. "She was very distraught."
Drew Peterson asked Collins if he could sit in on the interview as a "professional courtesy," and the 26-year state police veteran agreed. Collins conceded Wednesday it was unusual to let one potential witness to sit in on the interview of another potential witness, saying he had never done it before and never did it again after that.
As investigators asked Stacy Peterson about Drew Peterson's whereabouts around the time Savio died, her then-husband continually rubbed his hand across his face, Collins testified. At one point, he even corrected Stacy Peterson about what they had eaten for breakfast one day, Collins said.
"He corrected her, saying, (it was) bacon and sausage," Collins told jurors.
Many outside observers may be inclined to link Savio's death to Stacy Peterson's disappearance, but jurors aren't supposed to make any such links. The presiding judge has strictly prohibited prosecutors from telling jurors that Stacy Peterson is presumed dead or that Drew Peterson is a suspect in her disappearance. He is not charged in his fourth wife's disappearance.
During the 2004 interview at the Petersons' home, located just blocks from Savio's house where she was found dead in her bathtub, Stacy Peterson became increasingly emotional, Collins testified.
"She became shaken and started to cry," Collins said. "And (so) we shut the interview down." He said that was the first and last time he ever interviewed her.
Drew and Stacy Peterson had married shortly before Savio was found dead. Years earlier, when Drew Peterson began dating Stacy Cales, who was 30 years younger, there was acrimony between the women. In a letter, Savio once accused Stacy of driving by her house and making rude gestures.
Collins and other investigators who arrived at Savio's house on March 1, 2004, after her body was found have testified that they quickly concluded she died from an accidental fall. As a result, they didn't bother trying to collect fingerprints, strands of hair, blood or any other physical evidence.
That has put prosecutors in a quandary, forcing them to rely on circumstantial and normally barred hearsay evidence.
The defense has argued the Savio investigation was perfectly adequate and that there was no evidence tying Peterson to Savio's death.
