Drew Peterson appears on 'The Today Show' on the anniversary of wife's disappearance
On the one-year anniversary of his wife Stacy Peterson’s disappearance, Drew Peterson said he doesn’t think she’ll ever come back.
“If I was a little girl and the focus of all this media attention, I wouldn't be coming back,” he said in an interview with the Associated Press. “Why would a little girl come back to that?”
Appearing on NBC’s Today Show, Peterson also stuck by his contention that he had nothing to do with his wife’s disappearance.
Drew Peterson also released a statement that said, “There is not a single day that goes by that I don’t think about Stacy, so to me Tuesday is just another day of her being away.”
“ I realize this may be a significant event for the media, but it is not for me or my family. I won’t be participating in any vigils. Instead, I am giving one interview and then I will be far from the media spotlight spending quality time with my kids who need their dad now more than ever.”
He said in the statement that there is “no need to worry” about his kids.
“I am taking good care of them though I have to admit acting as both dad and mom takes a lot of work and patience,’’ Peterson said in the statement. “My son Thomas is first in his class at one of the largest and finest high schools in Illinois. His brother Chris is also doing exceptionally well in school and is involved in wrestling and other activities. My youngest kids, Anthony and Lacy are too young to be in school but both are happy and healthy and adjusting normally.”
Peterson said he had nothing to do with Stacy’s disappearance or the death of Kathy Savio, his third wife.
“I hope that Stacy returns home or reveals herself, and that I am one day cleared of any wrongdoing in both cases. Until then, I remain strong thanks in no small part to my family and especially my kids who believe in their dad,” Peterson said.
In a statement to mark the one-year anniversary, Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow called the investigations "highly productive."
“I fully expect there to be a resolution in at least one of these investigations in the near future," he wrote, but would not elaborate.
Peterson's attorney Joel Brodsky, wonders if something's happened to her since her disappearance.
ÒThe longer it goes on, the more possible that some harm came to her,” he told the AP. “Maybe she fell in with bad people ... I'm not saying it happened, but it certainly starts creeping into your thoughts as a possibility.”
On the Today show, Peterson said he has no idea why three answers he gave during a polygraph examination related to the disappearance were judged to be deceptive.
“I have no idea,” Peterson said in New York. “I have no real knowledge of the operations of the polygraph.”
Peterson had agreed to take the examination at the request of Derek Armstrong, the author of the recently published book “Drew Peterson Exposed.”
According to transcripts of the examination released by Armstrong, Peterson was deceptive when he said Stacy Peterson called to tell him she was leaving him; when he said he did not know where she was; and when he said he had seen her the night before she vanished.
Lauer asked Peterson if he understands why many believe he killed both Savio and Stacy.
“I understand very well,” he replied. “The media’s done everything they can to keep me in a position looking guilty.”
Lauer then asked if Peterson expects to be charged with murder and tried.
“I really don’t know. I would hope not,” Peterson answered. “All I can do is mentally prepare for it and prepare for the well-being of my children.”
Asked what he would say to Stacy if she was alive and listening to the show, Peterson said, “Show yourself. Put an end to this nightmare.”
Friends and family of Stacy Peterson and Savio are taking part in a vigil this evening, going from Savio's house to Stacy's house in Bolingbrook.