Convicted killer Drew Peterson fears for life in prison, report says

Letters from prison: Peterson fears for his life in jail

Convicted murderer writes letters to his attorney

Convicted murderer Drew Peterson now fears for his own life as he serves his 38-year prison sentence in an Illinois prison, according to letters written to his attorney and obtained by MyFoxChicago.com.

“Joel, did you ever feel that something was going to happen before it does? I feel I’m going to die in here. If the inmates don’t get me I’m gonna be killed by the cruel guards,” the former police officer wrote in a letter Brodsky shared with MyFoxChicago.com.

Peterson started writing letters to his attorney Joel Brodsky after his February sentencing for the killing of his third wife, Kathleen Savio. He is currently being held in protective custody and has complained of the "nightmarish," conditions.

“I’m in a cell the size of a broom closet, peeling paint, rusting fixtures, I have no TV or anything and I haven’t been out since I got here,” he wrote in a letter shown to MyFoxChicago.com.

“The food is terrible and I’m in solitary confinement,” he wrote.

Savio’s sister, Susan Doman, told MyFoxChicago.com she has no sympathy for Peterson and she wishes he would die.

Doman had a heated exchange with Peterson moments before the judge read his sentence and had to be removed from the courtroom.

Peterson had shocked the courtroom with a rare public outburst of anger when he proclaimed his innocence.

“I did not kill Kathleen!” he shouted.

Doman shot back “Yes, you did. You liar!” Sheriff’s deputies then removed her from the courtroom.

Illinois does not have the death penalty, and the 59-year-old Peterson had faced a maximum 60-year prison term. The judge gave him four years’ credit for the time he has served since his arrest.

Neighbors found Savio’s body in a dry bathtub at home with a gas on her head, her hair soaked in blood, in 2004. Peterson is also a suspect in the disappearance of Stacy Peterson – who was 23-years-old when she vanished – but he hasn’t been charged in her case.

It was her disappearance that led authorities to take another look at Savio’s death and eventually reclassify it from an accident to a homicide.

“I hope she is haunting him in his dreams,” Savio’s brother, Henry Jr., said. “I hope she is watching his descent into hell.”

Peterson has maintained his fourth wife ran off with another man and is still alive.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.