Drew Peterson sentencing set for Friday in murder-for-hire case

Three years ago, moments before he was sentenced to 38 years in prison, Drew Peterson shook a Will County courtroom with a loud, angry and defiant exclamation: “I did not kill Kathleen!”

Then, while delivering a lengthy, rambling speech declaring he’d been framed for the murder of Kathleen Savio, Peterson delivered a line which would come back to haunt him years later. It was aimed at Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow.

“I hope Mr. Glasgow looks me in the eye right now,” Peterson said. “Never forget my face. Never forget what you have done here.”

Now, Peterson faces sentencing all over again Friday in downstate Randolph County. That’s where a jury found Peterson guilty two months ago of hatching a plot from Menard Correctional Center to have Glasgow killed. Prosecutors used the words Peterson uttered during his 2013 sentencing hearing against him in the latest trial.

A hearing is scheduled for Friday at which Peterson may get a chance to speak again.

Meanwhile, a source familiar with the matter said Peterson has been complaining to the judge about his Randolph County defense lawyer — after famously blaming his former lead counsel in 2012 for his murder conviction.

That latest complaint could force a delay in Peterson’s sentencing.

In May, a downstate jury took barely an hour to convict the former Bolingbrook police sergeant. Prosecutors said Peterson offered $10,000 to a Satan’s Disciple known as “Beast” to have Glasgow killed, but the fellow inmate wore an FBI wire and caught Peterson on tape.

Now Peterson, 62, faces a minimum 20-year sentence that won’t begin until he completes his 38-year sentence for the murder of Savio, his third wife. Randolph County State’s Attorney Jeremy Walker has said he will seek a sentence near the maximum of 60 years.

Glasgow led the team of prosecutors that secured Peterson’s murder conviction. Peterson has been locked up at Menard Correctional Center since 2013, where he enlisted street-gang member Antonio Smith, an inmate serving 40 years for crimes that include attempted murder, to help pull off Glasgow’s assassination.

Walker said Peterson was driven to have Glasgow killed for four reasons: Peterson wanted to protect his pension; he wanted to win his appeal; he didn’t want to be charged with the murder of Stacy Peterson; and he was mad that his son lost his job at the Oak Brook police department.

Peterson’s fourth wife, Stacy, vanished in 2007, and that set in motion the events that led to his 2012 conviction for Savio’s murder.

No one has ever been charged in connection with Stacy Peterson’s disappearance. However, Peterson remains the prime suspect, and Glasgow told reporters in May “we never stop reviewing that case.”