No more delays.
Jury selection to begin in Drew Peterson murder-for-hire trial
By The Associated Press | CBSNEWS.com | May 20, 2016ST. LOUIS -- Jury selection is set to begin in the murder-for-hire trial of Drew Peterson, the former suburban Chicago police officer accused of plotting to kill the prosecutor who put him behind bars in his third wife's death.
The process will start Friday in Randolph County in southern Illinois, where Peterson, 62, is serving a 38-year-sentence at the maximum security Menard Correctional Center. Opening arguments are scheduled to start Monday, with the trial anticipated to last at least one week.
The Illinois Attorney General's Office and the Randolph County state's attorney are prosecuting the case against Peterson, who faces a sentence of up to 60 years if convicted of solicitation of murder for hire along with solicitation of murder.
Peterson has pleaded not guilty to charges that he enlisted another inmate between September 2013 and December 2014 to help plan the death of Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow, who is among the state's likely witnesses. Glasgow has previously declined to discuss the alleged threats.
The crux of the state's case is expected to consist of wiretapped conversations between Peterson and a confidential informant. Prosecutors have not identified a prospective hit man.
A public defender representing Peterson unsuccessfully sought to bar the secretly recorded conversations, arguing that the Will County judge who authorized the wiretap improperly met with the jailed informant, whose name was inadvertently disclosed during pretrial proceedings.
Even as he faces additional time in prison, Peterson is appealing his 2012 murder conviction to the Illinois Supreme Court.
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