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Ex-cop Drew Peterson on trial on charges he tried to put a hit on prosecutor in his murder case

Already convicted of murder in the 2004 slaying of his third wife, former suburban Chicago police officer Drew Peterson let his hate for the prosecutor in that case overcome his better judgment as he began serving a 38-year prison term, jurors were told Monday.

So Peterson approached a fellow inmate, Antonio Smith, in October 2013. Peterson said he wanted Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow killed, Smith testified in Peterson’s murder solicitation trial, reports the Chicago Tribune (reg. req.).

“He told me something about someone owing him $10,000, and when he got out he was going to collect that and that would be his payment to the person that was supposed to do the killing,” Smith, whose nickname is the “Beast,” testified.

Instead of taking steps to try to help Peterson with that project, however, Smith alerted authorities.

Peterson, now 62, “hates James Glasgow,” said Randolph County State’s Attorney Jeremy Walker during opening arguments. “This man has an animosity toward James Glasgow that just sat there. And stewed and stewed. And grew and grew. To the point where he had a man named ‘Beast’—and he asked ‘Beast’ to kill James Glasgow.”

Walker said Peterson wanted Glasgow killed as he was walking near his office in downtown Joliet, reports the Chicago Sun-Times (sub. req.).

However, defense lawyer Lucas Liefer scoffed at the idea that the secret recordings Smith eventually made of his talks with Peterson amounted to anything more than prison chatter. He described the recordings, which the jury will hear later, as hard to understand and filled with jailhouse jargon.

Liefer also accused the state of failing to let go of the high-profile murder case even after Peterson was convicted in 2012.

“Look around you,” Liefer told the jury, pointing to the Chester courtroom full of spectators. “Why hasn’t Drew Peterson slipped into the past never to be heard from again? Because they won’t let him.”

Glasgow himself says he took the claimed effort to kill him by Peterson seriously.

“I know that Mr. Peterson previously committed murder, and so when the threat is made against me, it’s real,” Glasgow testified.

The Associated Press, NBC Chicago, the Joliet Patch, People and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch also have stories about the trial, which is expected to last about a week. If convicted, Peterson could be sentenced to as much as 60 more years in prison.

Related coverage:

ABAJournal.com: “Drew Peterson gets 38 years for murder of 3rd wife”

ABAJournal.com: “Drew Peterson appeals murder verdict on basis that his own witness shouldn’t have been allowed”

Chicago Tribune (reg. req.): “Illinois Supreme Court to hear Drew Peterson appeal on ‘12 murder conviction “