Fam of 3rd Wife Sues Peterson for Her Death

Sick of waiting for a grand jury to act, Kathleen Savio’s family has filed a wrongful death suit against husband Drew Peterson, the Chicago Tribune reports. The grand jury, which expires next month, has been investigating the death of Savio, Peterson’s third wife, and the disappearance of fourth wife Stacy Peterson since November 2007. The Savios have hired John Kelly, the high-powered attorney who won the Brown family's civil suit against OJ Simpson, to represent them.

“We felt that the current grand jury is going to bring forward an indictment, or they'll be dismissed and we can proceed,” said Kelly, who acknowledged it was unusual to file a civil case while a grand jury is still meeting. Defense attorneys will now be able to subpoena evidence from the criminal case for the civil one—but the state action will take precedence if the grand jury does return an indictment. (More Drew Peterson stories.)