CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) -
Prosecutors have rested their case in the Drew Peterson trial and the judge says closing arguments will take place Tuesday after the holiday weekend.
First up Thursday was pathologist Dr. Michael Baden. He sought to counter defense witnesses who told jurors Peterson's third wife, Kathleen Savio, died in an accidental fall in her bathtub in 2004.
Peterson has pleaded not guilty to murdering Savio. He was charged after his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, disappeared in 2007.
Baden said a gash on the back of Savio's head and bruising on her front indicated an attack.
Dr. Baden said the injury to Savio's diaphragm could have been caused "by a very strong bear hug," and her other injuries were consistent with a struggle. The defense objected to Baden saying that Savio's hand and wrist injuries "could have occurred while she was trying to defend herself."
The jury was told to disregard one of Baden's comments Thursday. The pathologist called the defense's contention that Savio became dizzy from standing up in her bathtub "interesting speculation."
Defense witness pathologist Dr. Vincent DiMaio called a scrape on Savio's buttocks a "drying artifact." Baden said DiMaio was wrong, and "that mark is a clear abrasion."
He said that some of the injuries could have been caused by a fall, but they couldn't all come from a single fall.
The defense objected to his statement that Savio's hand and wrist injuries "could have occurred while she was trying to defend herself."
Baden is the former chief medical examiner for New York City. The defense has accused Baden of tailoring his findings for a network TV show he worked for.
The prosecution called forensic pathologist and head injury expert Dr. Mary Case back to the stand as a rebuttal witness Thursday.
Dr. Case testified that in order for Savio to sustain a brain injury, it would require a fall from more than 15 feet, not the 49-inches in the tub.
Prosecutors said they are looking forward to closing arguments.
"It's been a grueling five weeks and we're very satisfied with the place that we're at right now," said James Glasgow.
Defense attorneys contend prosecutors haven't been able to put Drew Peterson in the house the weekend Savio died in 2004, and that there is more than enough reasonable doubt about her death being a homicide.
"We don't have to tell you anything, we don't have to even give a closing argument, they have to tell this jury how this happened, where it happened, when it happened and they can't do that," remarked Joe Lopez, Peterson's Defense Attorney.
Judge Edward Burmila apparently did not want jurors to be deliberating through the holiday weekend, so he delayed closing arguments until next Tuesday.
He has not said whether or not jurors will be sequestered.
DEFENSE RESTS AFTER TOM PETERSON'S TESTINMONY
Drew Peterson's attorneys rested their case Wednesday, but not without some drama.
The former Bolingbrook sergeant announced that he would not take the stand in his own defense
The technical testimony on Thursday contrasted with Wednesday's emotional testimony, as Peterson's son testified that he never believed his father killed his mother, Kathleen Savio. Thomas Peterson, 19, was 11 at the time of his mother's death.
Tom testified that he was staying with his dad the weekend she died, and has believed in Peterson's innocence ever since. He said he never suspected Peterson had anything to do with his mom's drowning, and that his father was genuinely sad when it happened.
But a divorce attorney said Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy, told him Peterson had killed Savio.
Harry Smith revealed in court that Stacy Peterson asked him over the telephone if he could get more money out of her husband in the divorce if she told the police about how he killed his third wife.
Smith said that conversation took place a few days before she vanished in 2007. She never officially hired him.
The testimony was supposed to discredit Stacy Peterson in the eyes of the jury – or rather, the hearsay testimony made on her behalf.
"I think right then and there sealed the deal for the state," Stacy Peterson family spokesperson Pam Bosco said. "The jury right then heard loud and clear that drew killed Kathleen that night."
Peterson's attorneys attacked the testimony.
They said all it showed was that Stacy Peterson wanted to gain an advantage in a divorce from Peterson.
"Here's what you found out," defense attorney Steve Greenberg said. "You found out Stacy was going to say anything to get a divorce."
Harry Smith could be called as a rebuttal witness.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
