Snapped on Oxygen: How did Kathleen Savio die?

Kathleen Savio was the ex-wife of Bolingbrook police officer Drew Peterson. Her bruised body was found in a dry bathtub in her home in March 2004 with a large gash on her scalp. The incident occurred a few months after their bitter divorce.

The victim's death was initially ruled to be from accidental drowning, but the mysterious disappearance of Peterson's new wife, a younger woman named Stacy Ann Cales, in 2007 prompted detectives to exhume and re-examine Savio's body.

After examination, a medical examiner concluded that she died of drowning after a struggle. Her body was then placed in the bathtub. They also found odd bruises on her body and ruled it a homicide.

Snapped on Oxygen chronicles Kathleen Savio's murder by her former abusive husband. The episode, titled Notorious: Drew Peterson, will air on the channel this Monday, May 8, at 8 pm ET.

The synopsis of the episode states:

"The life and crimes of master manipulator, Drew Peterson."

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Kathleen Savio was threatened by her ex-husband for months over legal, divorce-related disputes

Months after divorcing his second wife, police officer Drew Peterson married Kathleen Savio on May 3, 1992. The couple then had two sons, Thomas and Kristopher, and were together for nearly 11 years until Peterson started a relationship with a younger hotel receptionist named Stacy Ann Cales. Savio and her cop husband initially separated, and their divorce was finalized in October 2003.

Reports state that the divorce proceedings turned bitter when the former couple started disputing over custody of their children and splitting their finances. Savio started to fear Peterson and, at one point, even told her sister,

"He's gonna kill me and it's gonna look like an accident."

On March 11, 2002, she filed for an emergency order of protection against him after he threatened her.

According to reports, between 2002 and 2004, police were dispatched to the Peterson residence 18 times because of calls reporting domestic disturbances, including complaints about parents picking up their kids after visiting too late. The threats continued for months.

All Things Interesting reported that Kathleen Savio even wrote to the assistant state’s attorney describing her fights with Drew Peterson:

"He knows how to manipulate the system, and his next step is to take my children away. Or kill me instead … I haven’t received help from the Police here in Bolingbrook, and [am] asking for your help now. Before it’s to late [sic] … Please return my call, or write with answers to my questions."

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Kathleen Savio's death was ruled an accidental drowning until disturbing details surfaced during a second autopsy

On March 1, 2004, Kathleen Savio was found dead in a dry, waterless bathtub in her home. A coroner's jury initially ruled her death to be an accidental drowning. Regardless, Drew Peterson, who had married Stacy Ann Cales shortly after his divorce from Savio, claimed he was with his new wife at the time and had nothing to with his ex-wife's death.

That changed when in 2007, Cales went missing, and her sudden disappearance prompted detectives still working on Savio's suspicious death to exhume her body and re-examine the case. Following forensic tests, a New York City medical examiner determined that she died of drowning after a struggle.

The medical examiner revealed that a second autopsy showed that Kathleen Savio's body was covered in extensive bruising and scraping, and there was a large, unexplained gash on her scalp. This inch-long deep wound was likely caused by a hard blow hard. Authorities believed her death was a "homicide staged to look like an accident."

Drew Peterson was indicted for Savio's murder in May 2009. He stood trial in 2012 and was found guilty of premeditated murder based on circumstantial evidence or hearsay. Peterson was then sentenced to 38 years in prison. His fourth wife, Stacy Ann Cales, remains missing to date.

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Oxygen's Snapped will further delve into Kathleen Savio's murder case this Monday.