Peterson may seek new prosecutor

JOLIET — Drew Peterson didn't get the judge he wanted. Now his lawyers might shoot for a new prosecutor.

"He knows a lot of the judges in Will County. He knows a lot of the state's attorneys in Will County," attorney Joel Brodsky said of his client, accused wife-killer and disgraced former cop Peterson.

"In fact, he and (State's Attorney James) Glasgow are not unfamiliar," Brodsky said.

Brodsky claimed Peterson and top prosecutor Glasgow got to be especially familiar while Peterson was working closely with the state's attorney's office as an undercover narcotics officer in the mid-1980s.

Charles B. Pelkie, the spokesman for the state's attorney's office, said Glasgow and Peterson were never close, either personally or professionally.

"He's never tried a case where Drew Peterson was a witness," Pelkie said.

Brodsky said he and Peterson would discuss whether to try to have Glasgow replaced by a special prosecutor.

New judge assigned

Brodsky mentioned his possible plan to get rid of Glasgow following a hearing Thursday afternoon to determine whether prosecutors could knock Judge Richard Schoenstedt off the case.

Brodsky challenged Glasgow's motion to replace Schoenstedt, but Brodsky lost.

Chief Judge Gerald Kinney named Judge Carla Allesio Policandriotes to take the case in Schoenstedt's place, and Brodsky immediately objected.

After a break in the hearing, Brodsky withdrew his objection and accepted the assignment of Policandriotes.

Brodsky later explained he was unfamiliar with the new judge and was scrambling to get himself up to speed. After doing so, he decided she was preferable to other judges Kinney could have chosen.

Seeking lower bail

Peterson remains in custody at the county jail. He faces two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the March 2004 apparent bathtub drowning of his third wife, Kathleen Savio, and is being held in lieu of $20 million bond.

Brodsky will attempt to convince Policandriotes to drop that bond during a hearing this afternoon.

In court papers, Brodsky asked the bond to be set between $100,000 to $500,000, which means Peterson could get out by posting as little as $10,000 cash.

Is he a danger?

Besides the murder charges hanging over him in connection with Savio's death, Peterson is also the state police's sole suspect in what they term the "potential homicide" of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, who vanished in October 2007.

Pamela Bosco, the foster mother of Stacy's sister, Cassandra Cales, said she does not want to see Peterson making bond and getting out of jail.

"He's unpredictable," Bosco said. "We'd rather see him stay in jail. Keep him in jail for everyone's protection."

Another of Peterson's attorneys, Andrew Abood, disputed the risk associated with setting Peterson free.

"Of course she's going to say that, and we're not here to get into an argument with Bosco or the Savios or anybody," Abood said, insisting Peterson was not a danger.

'We're hopeful'

Bosco also said Stacy's friends and relatives were cautiously optimistic that the human remains found on the banks of Des Plaines River near Channahon on Wednesday might be those of the missing mother.

"We're patient. We're hopeful. We'll see what happens," Bosco said. "We've always prepared ourselves this way. It's inevitable."

A blue barrel was spotted near the remains fueled speculation they may actually belong to Stacy because of reports that Peterson and his unwilling stepbrother, Thomas Morphey, may have carried her body out of her home in a blue plastic barrel.

But a source close to the story said the barrel spotted near the remains does not match the one described by Morphey.

Peterson haggard?

The previously irrepressible Peterson was noticeably grayer, more haggard and quieter Thursday afternoon than at his previous court appearances. He also wore eyeglasses instead of contacts for the first time.

"I think he realizes it's a serious situation now," Bosco said. "He's not out on the streets."