As the Drew Peterson saga again plays out on a national stage, Kathleen Savio’s parents sought comfort the only place they could find it: beside their daughter’s grave in Hillside.
Last week, Marcia Savio, Kathleen’s stepmother, brought flowers to Kathleen’s grave in advance of Mother’s Day and kissed the headstone four times — once for her, once for Kathleen’s father, Henry, and once each for the slain woman’s two children.
Then, before leaving, she said softly, “Let’s go get him.”
Marcia Savio was talking about Peterson, whom Illinois State Police would arrest just days later on charges alleging that he murdered Kathleen Savio, his third wife, in 2004.
On Friday, while Peterson mugged for the cameras and joked with reporters during his first court appearance in Joliet, Marcia Savio again retreated to her daughter’s grave to share the news.
“We’re so happy he was arrested, but we know there’s a long way to go,” Marcia Savio told the Tribune on Friday in a rare interview. “Something good needs to come of this. No one should have to live with fear the way Kathleen did.”
Henry J. Savio declined to be interviewed. Marcia Savio, who’s been married to him for more than 30 years, said the five years since Kathleen’s murder have been hard on him.
“He’s very hurt by a lot of what he sees and reads,” Marcia Savio said of her husband. “What [Peterson] did to [Kathleen] was bad enough. Why does he have to act like that?”
The Savios did not attend Friday’s hearing and aren’t sure if they’ll attend future court proceedings unless they’re called to testify.
The Stone Park couple are content to remain out of the spotlight while other family members, including Kathleen’s brother, sister, niece and nephew, speak freely about the case and their memories of her.
That continued Friday night when all four appeared on CNN’s “Larry King Live,” along with an attorney who is representing the Savio family in a wrongful-death case against Peterson.
Family and friends have said Peterson and Kathleen Savio, whom many called “Kitty,” began dating while the former Bolingbrook police sergeant was still married to his second wife.
They wed in 1992 and had two boys. The couple was working on a divorce settlement in 2004 when Savio was found dead in a dry bathtub, a death initially ruled an accident.
Marcia Savio said she and her husband didn’t care much for Peterson while he and Kathleen were together, and they and other family members have said they suspected abuse.
“Kitty was a proud young lady,” Marcia Savio said. “In a lot of cases where women are being abused, they simply don’t talk about it. And they don’t take action because they believe things will get better.”
