Opening arguments under way in Drew Peterson murder trial

This undated file photo provided by her family shows Stacy Peterson, 23, of Bolingbrook, Ill., and her husband, Drew Peterson, a police officer with the Bolingbrook Police Department. (AP )

The former Bolingbrook, Ill., police sergeant told Judge Edward Burmila, when asked if he was "comfortable" with a trial date later this month: "Yes, your honor. I've been in solitary confinement for three years, your honor."

On May 7, 2009, Peterson was indicted by the Will County Grand Jury and charged with the murder of Kathleen Savio, who was found in a waterless bathtub on March 1, 2004. They married in 1992, and divorced in 2003. (Family Handout)

Savio's death was initially ruled an accidental drowning by a coroner's jury that included a police officer who knew Peterson and told the other jurors that Peterson was 'a good man.'

But after Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy, went missing in 2007, the case was reopened and Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow determined the death was a "homicide staged to look like an accident."

Peterson arrives at the Will County Courthouse in Joliet, Ill., on May 8, 2009, for his arraignment on charges of first-degree murder in the 2004 death of his former wife Kathleen Savio. The trial has been delayed as Peterson's attorneys battle prosecutors over damning hearsay statements, including ones made by Stacy Peterson. (AP)

Meanwhile, the search for Stacy Peterson went on. Police have executed several search warrants on Peterson's property, but have turned up no trace of the former Stacy Ann Cales, who was just 19 when they married. (WMBD)

Stacy Ann Peterson, in an undated file photo provided by the Illinois State Police. (AP)

Former Westbrook Christian Church pastor Neil Schori told "On the Record" on December 11, 2007, that Stacey Peterson confessed to him that her husband had killed his third wife, Kathleen Savio. (FNC)

Among the leads police have pursued was the theory Stacey's body was put in three 55-gallon drums a Peterson pal claimed the ex-cop had purchased. Peterson's stepbrother, Thomas Morphey, allegedly attempted suicide two days after helping Peterson carry a large blue plastic container from his home to his SUV. Neighbors reported seeing Peterson and another man, possibly Morphey, hauling a 55-gallon barrel out of the house shortly after her disappearance. (WMBD)

Peterson has never been camera shy, often smiling at reporters and making ill-conceived jokes. He appeared on Larry King Live in April, 2008, and later called in to a Chicago radio program, prompting Will County Judge Stephen White to limit Peterson's access to the media.

Lifetime television aired a movie about the accused killer in January, called "Drew Peterson: Untouchable." The film, which starred Rob Lowe as Peterson, portrayed the events surrounding the death of Kathleen Savio and the disappearance of Stacy Peterson.