JOLIET, Ill.

An attorney testified that the fourth wife of former suburban Chicago police officer Drew Peterson talked about extorting money from her husband just days before she vanished in 2007.

At today's hearing, Harry Smith said Stacy Peterson called him and said she thought Drew Peterson was angry with her. She said Peterson thought she'd told someone he'd killed his third wife, Kathleen Savio.

The dramatic details were the first in weeks of testimony that recounted Stacy Peterson talking directly about Drew Peterson's alleged involvement in Savio's 2004 death.

The hearing will determine what hearsay evidence will be allowed at Peterson's upcoming murder trial.

Drew Peterson denies wrongdoing.

He's a suspect in Stacy Peterson's disappearance, but hasn't been charged.