Anna Doman thought she’d feel a lot better after Drew Peterson was convicted of killing her youngest sister.

But neither the guilty verdict returned against Peterson last September nor the nine years that have passed since Kathleen Savio was slain have really eased Doman’s loss.

“It still hurts a lot. I thought it would be better by now, but it’s not, “ Doman said. “I just miss her so much.”

Savio, 40, was found drowned in her bathtub on March 1, 2004, while she was still locked in a nasty court fight with Peterson, her ex-husband, over their finances.

Her death staggered Doman, who recalled how she and her sister — whom family members called “Kitty” — had been so close each sometimes knew what the other was thinking.

“We could finish each other’s sentences,” Doman recalled, laughing for a moment.

She had worried about Kathy’s safety, particularly after her sister confided only six weeks before her death that Peterson had threatened to kill her.

Doman’s testimony during Peterson’s trial about those threats, along with similar statements Savio made to their sister, Susan, helped persuade jurors to convict the former Bolingbrook cop of murder.

But Doman, 57, doesn’t like to dwell on Kathy’s death or Peterson’s trial.

Instead, she liked to remember Kathy was the fun, favorite aunt of her children and Susan’s children.

Now some of those children are parents themselves — and Kathy would dote on her great-nieces and nephews, Doman said.

Doman is teaching Italian to her four young grandchildren — and she says the kids, even her 3-year-old grandson — are starting to use some of those phrases when they talk to her.

“She would go crazy for my grandson,” Doman said of Savio.

Doman is trying to write a statement to read at Peterson’s sentencing to express how much her sister’s death still pains her.

But she’s having trouble putting her hurt into words — and she’s isn’t sure she’ll be able to write something in time for Peterson’s scheduled sentencing this week.

“I still miss her,” Doman said simply. “Even after all these years, it’s hard. I’ll think of something every day I want to tell her.”

What she wishes now is that Peterson would tell investigators what he knows about the 2007 disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy.

Peterson is the only suspect in Stacy Peterson’s still-unsolved disappearance, but he has never been charged. Will County authorities have said they are continuing to investigate.

Doman is relieved that she at least has the slight comfort of knowing what happened to her sister — and who is responsible.

“I’m still very concerned for Stacy’s family,” Doman said. “To not know what happened would drive me crazy.”