A jury has convicted former suburban Chicago police officer Drew Peterson of murdering his third wife.

Drew Peterson
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Jurors returned with a guilty verdict against Drew Peterson on Thursday in the 2004 death of Kathleen Savio.

The 58-year-old Peterson faces a maximum 60-year prison term.

Savio's body was found in her bathtub in 2004. Authorities initially ruled the 40-year-old died accidentally. Her death was reclassified after Peterson's 23-year-old fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, vanished in 2007.

Authorities presume Stacy Peterson is dead, though her body has never been found. Drew Peterson is a suspect but has not been charged in her disappearance.

As authorities investigated what happened to the women, Drew Peterson gained a national reputation as unsavory and tactless, often cracking off-color jokes about the case.

(Copyright 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

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