Ex-Cop to Missing Wife: 'Make Yourself Seen'
Drew Peterson Tells ABC News He Was 'Controlling' But Not Abusive
Nov. 20, 2007
Drew Peterson says he's a very misunderstood man.
Since the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, Oct. 28, all eyes have been on the 53-year-old police sergeant. He's been named a suspect in her disappearance, and the drowning death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, is being called a homicide by a forensic pathologist.
Now, he says, he wants to tell his side of the story and send a message to Stacy.
"Make yourself known. Make yourself seen. Come out publicly. That's it. Let this be over," Peterson said.
Peterson admits that if he was an outsider hearing about the case, "I'd look at me as a bad guy."
But, he told ABC News' Barbara Pinto, he's not the bad guy. "Basically, I'm a good person. I do good things."
Peterson says the fact that he has not joined the massive search for his 23-year-old wife is nothing sinister.
"Why would I go search for someone who I don't believe is there? Why would I go beat the weeds in the cold? It's a waste of time," Peterson said.
Says Stacy's PMS Contributed to Problems
He maintains that she ran off with another man.
When asked whether he thought Stacy would take off and leave their two young children, Peterson was philosophical. "Do you ever really know somebody?" he said.
Peterson admits his life with Stacy was volatile.
"I would say I was controlling, but I wasn't abusive," he told Pinto.
He said many of their problems were brought on by her depression and PMS.
"When she was menstruating, hungry or tired, she was agitated and she would ask me about a divorce and talk about divorce on a monthly basis," Peterson said. "Then, when the cycle passed, she was OK and we were in love again and happy."
Peterson denies allegations that he threatened to kill three of his four wives. Peterson's second wife, Vicky Connolly, told the Chicago Tribune that during their marriage, Peterson told her he could kill her and make it look like an accident.
"The ex-wives saying such a thing, they're getting even I would say," he said. "For me divorcing them or cheating on them or whatever."
Savio's body was exhumed last week when police reopened the investigation into her death, which was originally ruled an accidental death by drowning. After examining her body, Michael Baden, a renowned forensic pathologist, said that Savio's death was a homicide.
Peterson dismisses Baden's findings, saying the new autopsy is unreliable.
"I put more faith in the first autopsy because it was fresh," he said.
Peterson says he and his four children have been prisoners in their own home for weeks.
He said he told them "that their mom's on vacation and they understand. They're OK with that."
Peterson said he just wants the media circus to end. But a few hours after he spoke to Pinto, he was on his porch being photographed for People magazine.
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