CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) -
Bryan Falat, formerly of the Illinois State Police, testified after lunch on Wednesday. He was one of the first ISP investigators on the scene at Savio's home when her body was found in her bathtub in 2004.
He questioned whether Savio's death was an accident, because of the way other investigators processed the crime scene and conducted the rest of Savio's death investigation. They gathered close to no physical evidence from the scene.
But Falat's suspicions were quelled by the conclusion of the first autopsy: accidental death by drowning.
Falat was even more concerned when Peterson was allowed to sit in on an interview with his much-younger fourth wife, Stacy Peterson. The 23-year-old appeared scared during exchange, and her husband even answered one of the questions for her. He was allowed in on the interview as a favor from another Bolingbrook police officer.
After Stacy Peterson vanished in 2007, Savio's body was exhumed. A second autopsy determined her death to be a homicide. Drew Peterson was charged with first-degree murder in 2009. He has pleaded not guilty.
Stacy Peterson has never been found. The defendant is a suspect in her disappearance, but has not been charged in relation to it.
The so-called hit man in the Drew Peterson trial also testified today that Peterson offered him $25,000 to "take care of" his 3rd wife Kathleen Savio. The hit never happened, and three months later Savio was found dead.
The witness, Jeffrey Pachter, testified that Drew Peterson wanted to get a heads up when the "hit" was going to happen because he wanted to make sure he had an alibi. Pachter said Peterson would plan to be on vacation, out of the country or he would go to Six Flags Great America where he would start a fight to make a record that he was there.
Jeff Pachter said Peterson offered him $25,000 to kill Savio one late night during a ride-along in Drew Peterson's Bolingbrook police car in late 2003. But, Peterson said if he could find someone else to take care of his wife for less he could keep the remaining balance. Pachter said he warned Peterson that "this is something you will take to your grave."
Peterson met Pachter while he was moonlighting at the cable company where Pachter worked. He said Peterson told him if he ever needed to call, he was to use a key phrase that had something to do with cookies.
Defense attorneys called the testimony ridiculous even though Pachter stuck to his story during cross examination.
"You can't expect a witness to get on the stand and say Mr. Lopez, you're right, I lied. Ain't gonna happen, it's not gonna happen, I've never seen it happen, I see it happen on Me TV at 10:30 at night when I watch Perry Mason, that's the only time I see it," Peterson's attorney Joe Lopez remarked.
Pachter denied making the story up, or trying to get on TV or write a book. He did admit he was a convicted sex offender, who owed his gambling bookie $1,000.
"Drew's not gonna hire Mother Theresa to kill his wife," Stacy Peterson's Family Spokesperson, Pam Bosco said. "He's gonna go to someone with some kind of a past."
Pachter testified he did not know why Peterson tried to hire him, but he never did anything about the offer.
In July 2004, four months after Savio died, Pachter said he called Peterson to ask how his family was doing. Peterson said they were doing fine, and then added "the favor that I asked you-- I don't need it anymore."
WITNESS: PETERSON OFFERED HIM MONEY TO HIRE A HIT MAN
Jeffrey Pachter testified Wednesday that the former Bolingbrook cop offered him money to hire a hit man to kill Kathleen Savio.
Pachter appeared nervous as he stood outside court before his testimony, as he was the first witness on the stand for the prosecution Wednesday. He was Peterson's former co-worker at a local cable company.
Patcher said on the stand that Drew Peterson never asked him to kill Kathleen Savio. He said Peterson offered him $25,000 to hire someone to kill her for him.
"He asked me if I could find someone to take care of his third wife," Pachter said. "If I could find somebody to do it for less, [he said] I could keep the balance."
Pachter said the code word to let Peterson know the hit happened had something to do with cookies. He couldn't remember the word.
The witness testified that Peterson never gave him a photo of Savio, an address, a down payment or a weapon to facilitate the hit. Pachter said Peterson never told him why he wanted his third wife killed. He never mentioned pension money, child support or any property settlement in the divorce.
But Pachter said Peterson did say, "This is something you will take to your grave."
Patcher said Peterson asked him to let him know when he'd do it, so that he'd have an alibi. The witness testified that Peterson planned to be on vacation out of the country or at Great America, if the hit man was hired and the deed carried out. He said Peterson planned to start a fight at the location to prove his "alibi."
Four months after Savio was found dead, Peterson phoned Pachter and said, "The favor that I asked you [about], I don't need it anymore."
Defense attorney Joe Lopez conducted Jeffrey Pachter's cross-examination.
His first question regarded whether Pachter made his testimony up for his 15 minutes of fame. Lopez asked if Pachter wanted to be on TV or write a book, to profit from the media attention this murder case has received.
Then Lopez asked, "Do you even know how to write?"
After finishing with that line of questioning, Pachter admitted to being a convicted sex offender and in debt. He owes his bookie $1,000, and $35,000 to the IRS.
Prosecutors allege Peterson ended up killing Savio himself.
WITNESSES ON DECK
Kathleen Savio's personal physician Dr. Vinod Motiani was scheduled to take the stand Wednesday morning, but could not be in court due to family issues. Motiani will take the stand after Falat.
Savio's divorce lawyer Harry Smith could also testify Wednesday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
