JOLIET, Ill. (AP) -- A witness at Drew Peterson's murder trial says the former Illinois police officer offered him $25,000 to hire someone to kill his third wife and told him it was a secret he'd take to his grave.
Jeff Pachter used to work with Peterson at a cable company. Pachter testified Wednesday that Peterson made the request months before Kathleen Savio was found dead in 2004. He says the code word to let Peterson know the hit happened was related to cookies, but he couldn't remember the word.
During cross-examination, defense attorney Joe Lopez accused Pachter of inventing the story to get his 15 minutes of fame and profit from the case's notoriety.
Prosecutors allege Peterson ended up killing Savio himself. He was charged only after his fourth wife disappeared in 2007.
