Drew Peterson Dismisses Pals' Wiretaps

Former Cop Says He Never Said Anything Incriminating About His Wife's Disappearance

(CBS/AP)  Drew Peterson says he's confident he never said anything incriminating to friends who claim they wore a wire and taped conversations with him that link him to the disappearance of his fourth wife and slaying of his third wife.

"My thing is ... if they recorded me for seven months, it's going to clear me more than it's going to hurt me," the former Bolingbrook police sergeant told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Peterson, who has been named a suspect in the October disappearance of his wife, Stacy, would not discuss specific statements made by Paula Stark and her husband Len Wawczak in Wednesday's Chicago Sun-Times.

The couple claimed, among other things, that Peterson had wished aloud that he'd cremated his third wife's remains and asked them to set fire to a memorial to his missing wife.

"If I said anything close to that, it was taken out of context," Peterson said.

Stark and Wawczak told the newspaper that they secretly recorded conversations with Peterson, whom they'd known for 16 years, after being contacted by the Illinois State Police in mid-November. They said they continued recording conversations through mid-June.

Neither the state police nor the Will County State's Attorney's office would comment about the couple's account. A man who answered the phone Wednesday at a listing for Wawczak said the couple was not home.

Peterson told CBS News' The Early Show that he has not been contacted by authorities about the tapes.

"Everything I've heard has been through the media," he said, "nothing through the police or through any type of official."

Peterson's attorney, Joel Brodsky, said he doesn't know if there are any tapes, but said if there are, he also is confident Peterson said nothing incriminating on them.

"We kind of say, if there are tapes of everything Drew said for the last 8 months, bring it on," Brodsky told the AP. "Even if they did some minor wiring for the state police a couple of times, there's certainly nothing incriminating on there."

Brodsky also said Peterson told the attorney he never said some of the things the couple attributed to him, including their assertion that he'd told them he wishes he'd had Kathleen Savio's body cremated. Brodsky also said Peterson told him he never asked Wawczak to set fire to a memorial to Stacy Peterson that a neighbor had erected or sabotage a boat that had been used to search for her.

Savio's body was found in a waterless bathtub in 2004 and her death was classified as accidental. Her body was exhumed after Stacy Peterson vanished and, after an autopsy, authorities reclassified the death as a homicide. Peterson has not been named a suspect by authorities, but family members of Savio have said they believe Peterson was involved with her death.

Brodsky also dismissed some of what Stark and Wawczak said as ridiculous, particularly their contention that Peterson told them he wasn't worried Stacy Peterson's remains would be found because he believed he would have been already tried and acquitted by then.

"That's a great plan," Brodsky said sarcastically. "Talk about your mastermind criminal. Lex Luthor, stand aside."

Peterson and Brodsky also questioned the couple's motives, and wondered if they were looking for a big payday.

"Listen, Paula has filed bankruptcy five times in the last nine years," Brodsky told CBS News, "Lenny's filed bankruptcy twice since 2004."

"The bottom line is these people are having severe financial problems," Peterson said. "Lenny quit his job and they're losing their house," adding that when he learned they were talking to the media he thought it was to drum up attention so they could sell their story later.

Peterson said the couple had asked him for money and became angry when he would not lend it to them.

"They were asking for thousands," he said.

He said they already have tried to cash in, claiming that he signed a hat given to him by one of the many television programs he's appeared on and gave it to Stark and, "The next thing I know it's on eBay..."

In May, WBBM Radio in Chicago reported that a Today show cap signed by Peterson was on the auction site.

Brodsky acknowledged that Peterson gave the couple a revolver after the state police pulled his gun owner's permit, just as he gave other guns to other people on Brodsky's advice because without a permit, it would have been illegal to possess the guns. Peterson never tried to conceal from authorities that he'd done so, Brodsky said.

Peterson told CBS News that he still did not have any idea where his wife Stacy might be.

"No, I don't. I wish I did," he told The Early Show "that would clear up a lot of things."

[honestabe8]

If this former cop is guilty, I hope he is repeatedly sodomized in prison (I don''t think that prisons are full of people friendly to cops) then murdered. Pompous ***....

[babooph]

If he is guilty,of course, arrest him-also a huge lawsuit is in order for the "friends"what fools.More than half the time a spouse is killed,the living spouse did "not" do it !!

[Marie Zarankevich]

After all this time, I am seriously doubting that this woman would remain in hiding for so long, not without seeing her small children. -- My imagination refuses to give me a reason for her behavior. -- She cannot possibly be that fearful of him. -- She cannot possibly think she is getting even with him, not at this point. -- The longer she continues to not surface, the more obvious it becomes that she is no longer alive. -- Those poor children. -- Our world is looking like the Monsters are coming out of their closets.

[sociald63]

guilty .. give this bast-ard the injection

[mo005]

he just wreaks of guilty. Hang him high

[tweety_223]

First of all, you can file bankruptcy more than once every seven years if you file and then don''t follow through with it....Maybe they filed and then backed out. Second of all, I think these people probably are just wanting money...if they weren''t after fame and fortune, they wouldn''t be broadcasting this on television nor trying to sell his things on EBay. Third of all, I think Peterson is guilty, but this needs to be tried in court not on the internet or television.

[kamece]

What kind of lawyer is this Idiot. He doesn''t even check his facts before he speaks. A person cannot file bankruptcy more than once every 7 years. Geez - talk about liars needing to put a spin on things. When will both men grow up. Brodsky is reaching for anything at this point. GUILTY and DESPERATE!!!

[petro49l]

If Drew is telling the truth, he should submit to a polygraph. I am certain that when Drew is consistent, the Police will say that the investigation is mistake.

[jetlizhan]

i hope these accusations stick. i can''t wait to see this s.o.b. off the streets and locked up - hopefully forever without parole. what a pompous @ss creep.