Maybe young women should be warned against marrying men whose last name is Peterson.
Of course no one can forget the heinous 2002 murder of pregnant wife Laci Peterson by her vicious, arrogant husband, Scott Peterson.
Less famous, however, is Drew Peterson, the Illinois police sergeant who is now awaiting trial for the murder of his third wife (yes, third) Kathleen Savio. He is also under suspicion for the disappearance of his f
ourth wife, 23-year-old Stacy Peterson.
Tonight, Lifetime premieres a terrific movie based on the case, “Drew Peterson: Untouchable,” with the arrogant, silver-haired Peterson portrayed with scary sliminess by Rob Lowe. Yes, he is the last person you’d imagine in the role.
The movie — based on Joseph Hosey’s 2008 book, “Fatal Vows: The Tragic Wives of Sgt. Drew Peterson” — opens at the end of Peterson’s third marriage to young Kathleen Savio (Cara Buono). She’s at the point where she’s had it with the philandering, abusive Peterson.
But Kathleen’s anger doesn’t stop him from sneaking his newest young girlfriend, Stacy (Kaley Cuoco) into his basement for sex — while Kathleen and the children are upstairs.
When Drew and Kathleen divorce, she warns Stacy that she’ll be in the same boat one day.
But Peterson had a way of convincing women that the last wife was the crazy one. Shortly thereafter, Kathleen, the mother of two of Drew’s sons, is found dead in her dry bathtub. The ruling? Accidental drowning!
By the time Stacy becomes stepmother to those boys and gives birth to two more children — by the age of 23 — Drew has become abusive to her, as well. Then one day Stacy disappears.
Only this time, the media is forced to listen to her sisters and Stacy’s next-door-neighbor, Karen (Catherine Dent).
Is Drew scared? No. The extremely arrogant, motorcycle-riding cop loves the attention — and can’t get enough of the media, even letting a radio station sponsor a “Win a Date With Drew” contest, while the whole neighborhood is out searching for his missing wife (he claims Stacy ran off with another man).
The movie, for true-crime fans, is a terrific retelling of the case, including Peterson’s arrest and shocking behavior with the state police officers. When he’s brought to jail and told to strip he reportedly proceeded to do a slow strip while humming a stripper tune.
For the record? Stacy is still missing, and Drew is trolling for wife number five from jail.