Peterson Heads For Another Joint, Now Locked Up In Menard Prison

Drew Peterson wasn't one to be tied down, managing to marry four times in 29 years. And even now that he's been packed off to prison, he's still a rambling man.

Peterson, 59, was transferred to his third prison since he was sentenced to serve 38 years a mere seven days ago.

Peterson was whisked from the Will County jail to the Northern Reception and Classification Center on the grounds of Stateville prison the day after he was sentenced by Judge Edward Burmila. Ordinary inmates wait for the weekly bus to Stateville, but Drew Peterson is apparently no ordinary inmate, as the Will County Sheriff's Department set up a special trip to get him out quickly.

Then at Stateville, where it takes an average of three weeks to two months before a prisoner is classified and transferred to a facility, Peterson was taken away to Pontiac Correctional Center in a matter of hours.

It's unlikely Peterson had time to make many friends at Pontiac, as he was transferred to Menard Correctional Center today, confirmed Stacey Solano, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Downstate Menard, a 135-year-old prison on the banks of the Mississippi River, is about 320 miles from Peterson's former home in Bolingbrook, where he served for nearly 30 years as a police officer.

Peterson abruptly quit the police department after his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, mysteriously vanished in October 2007. A year and a half later, Peterson was arrested and jailed on charges he murdered his third wife, Kathleen Savio.

Savio had been found drowned in a dry bathtub in March 2004. Until Stacy Peterson disappeared, the Illinois State Police insisted Savio's death was nothing more than a freak bathtub accident.

Peterson was found guilty of Savio's murder in September following a five week trial.

Solano said she could not comment on the reasons for Peterson's move to Menard due to safety and security reasons.

Peterson will be sharing his new home with former Oswego resident Christopher Vaughn, who executed his wife and three children in June 2007 as part of a plan to start life anew in the Yukon Wilderness.

Vaughn's trial took place at the same time as Peterson's and was held in the courtroom next-door on the fourth floor of the Joliet Courthouse.

Vaughn is pulling a pair of life sentences for the killings, which he tried blaming on his slain wife, Kimberly Vaughn.

One of Peterson's attorney, Joseph "Shark" Lopez, said he had no prior knowledge of the prison switch.

"You can't control IDOC," Lopez said. "IDOC moved him because IDOC wanted to move him. IDOC marches to its own drum."

Lopez said Peterson's new home is a tough place and that there are "more murderers in Menard than anyplace else in the state." But he is confident that Peterson will get along with the other prisoners, who he said were "rooting" for him during his trial.

"They were rooting for him because they think he got the shaft like they did," Lopez said. "It doesn't matter that he was a cop. They thought Drew got screwed."

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