Will County State’s Attorney’s Office Trial Team: People v. Peterson

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July 5

Will County State’s Attorney James W. Glasgow will lead a four-member team of highly experienced trial attorneys in the prosecution of Case Number 09CF1048, People v. Peterson. Biographical information on members of the trial team, including the State’s Attorney, is provided below.

Will County State’s Attorney James W. Glasgow
Will County State’s Attorney James W. Glasgow is the lead prosecutor in the murder trial of Drew Peterson.  State’s Attorney Glasgow has a long and distinguished career during which he has implemented groundbreaking initiatives to investigate, prosecute and prevent crime.

State's Attorney James W. Glasgow

State’s Attorney Glasgow:

  • Established a Will County Veterans and Servicemembers Court to provide critical treatment, counseling and assistance to local veterans and servicemembers who have struggled with mental health and substance abuse disorders since returning home from military operations. He also purchased an ADA-accessible shuttle bus for use by the Veterans Assistance Commission of Will County to transport local veterans from Joliet to Hines VA Hospital where they receive necessary medical services. He used money forfeited to the state by criminals to fund the bus.
  • Passed two tough new domestic violence laws in 2011 and 2012 that significantly increase penalties for repeat offenders as well as for abusers who torture their victims.
  • Authored a groundbreaking new state law in 2011 that closed loopholes in prior laws and made it illegal to possess or sell every form of synthetic marijuana. State’s Attorney Glasgow and House Minority Leader Tom Cross, who sponsored the law, sent 350 letters to tobacco vendors warning them to remove the products from their shelves, resulting in virtually complete compliance in Will County.
  • Created the new Paws 4 Kids program in which licensed pet therapy dogs welcome children who come to the Will County Children’s Advocacy Center for victim sensitive interviews when there are allegations of sexual abuse. State’s Attorney Glasgow established the Center in 1995 to assist in the prosecution of child predators and to ease the trauma these investigations create for sensitive children. 
  • Formed a Financial Crimes Prosecution Unit to investigate and prosecute financial predators who target the elderly.
  • Opened the Miller Taylor House, a home for recovering addicts that is operated by the Will County Drug Court. A recovery home for women is in the process of being opened. State’s Attorney Glasgow spearheaded the creation of the Drug Court, which has helped nearly 300 drug abusers kick their addictions and return to their communities as productive citizens who pay their way rather than burdening society with their addictions and crimes. 
  • Implemented a Bad Check Restitution Program that has reclaimed nearly $2 million dollars in lost revenues to Will County businesses.
  • Produced several Gang Awareness and Prevention books to educate the public about gang activity in their schools and communities. He also formed Will County’s first Gang Prosecution Unit in the early 1990s and helped organize gang sweeps that dramatically reduced gang shootings in the early 1990s, and he drafted an administrative order that banned the wearing of gang clothing, flashing of gang signs and other gang activity inside the Will County Courthouse.
  • Drafted an Animal Torture Statute that created the first felony charge in Illinois for the abuse of animals and a mandatory psychiatric evaluation upon conviction to identify potential mass murderers.
  • Established a Crime Prevention Division that travels the county to educate citizens about gang violence, financial scams, elder abuse, Internet safety and drug abuse prevention.

In his long history with the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office, Glasgow served as a lead prosecutor in both the Misdemeanor and Felony Trial Divisions. He has successfully prosecuted felony criminal cases ranging from retail theft to first-degree murder. In addition, he secured jury convictions in three death-penalty cases. Two of those convictions in the 1990s were against Gregory Shaw and Elton Williams. Both were convicted of shooting Crest Hill Police Officer Timothy Simenson.

Glasgow served as Will County’s elected State’s Attorney from 1992–2000, and once again as the elected State’s Attorney from 2004 to the present. He currently is serving his fourth term.  He received his Juris Doctor from Northern Illinois Law School and his undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois.  He has been practicing law since 1981.

Assistant State’s Attorney Kathleen Patton 

Assistant State's Attorney Kathleen Patton

Assistant State’s Attorney Kathleen Patton is State’s Attorney Glasgow’s Criminal Division Chief.  In that role, she supervises and directs more than 50 assistant state’s attorneys who prosecute roughly 3,000 new felony cases and more than 4,000 new misdemeanor cases each year. Patton has been with the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office for a total of 19 years, eight years in the 1980s and the last 11 starting in 2001.  She has served the last five elected state’s attorneys and has successfully prosecuted numerous murder cases as well as other felonies over the course of her career. In one notable case, Patton secured a conviction and an eight-year prison sentence against a local fire chief and his wife who stole more than $100,000 from the accounts of an elderly woman he and his wife had befriended. Patton received her undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois and attended graduate school at Columbia College. She received her law degree from Valparaiso University.

Assistant State’s Attorney John Connor

Assistant State's Attorney John Connor

Assistant State’s Attorney John Connor spearheaded State’s Attorney Glasgow’s Grand Jury investigation into the disappearance of Stacy Peterson and the murder of Kathleen Savio. He has been a prosecutor for the past 14 years and helped launch the state’s attorney’s Major Crimes Prosecution Unit. He also was instrumental in establishing the office’s Computer Crimes Prosecution Unit, which specializes in criminal cases that involve digital evidence. As a felony courtroom supervisor, he successfully prosecuted criminal cases ranging from theft and robbery to rape and murder. He served as the lead prosecutor in more than 25 felony jury trials, notably securing a conviction and 104-year prison sentence for Larry Southwood, who sexually abused a 14-year-old girl who has cerebral palsy. Connor also served briefly as a prosecutor for the Illinois Attorney General’s High Tech Crime Bureau in Chicago. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois Law School and the University of Notre Dame.

Assistant State’s Attorney Chris Koch

Assistant State's Attorney Chris Koch

Assistant State’s Attorney Chris Koch has been a prosecutor with the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office since 2003. He has prosecuted a broad range of felonies including murders and many complex financial crimes. In 2007, Koch worked with Assistant State’s Attorney Kathleen Patton to secure the convictions against the former local fire chief and his wife for defrauding an elderly woman of more than $100,000 from her life savings. He also helped spearhead the creation of State’s Attorney Glasgow’s Financial Crimes Prosecution Unit, which handles complicated cases involving financial exploitation, theft, identity theft and loan fraud. Koch serves as a supervising attorney in a felony courtroom. He graduated from Bowling Green State University in Ohio with a degree in sociology. He received his law degree from the John Marshall Law School in 2003.