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Will County Board GOP members consider replacing the coroner with a medical examiner

Forensic pathologist to testify Thursday before the panel

By Erika Slife and Matthew Walberg |Tribune reporters

12:08 AM CDT, June 12, 2008

A noted forensic pathologist is slated to testify Thursday before the Will County Board at the request of GOP members who are exploring the possibility of replacing the coroner with a medical examiner.

The meeting is the latest assault on Coroner Patrick O'Neil, a Democrat. He is facing a re-election challenge from a former employee amid criticism of his office's handling of the investigation into the death of Kathleen Savio, former wife of Drew Peterson, who is a suspect in the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy.

Savio, 40, was found drowned March 1, 2004, in a bathtub in her Bolingbrook home. Under O'Neil's watch, a coroner's jury ruled that her death was an accident. But authorities reopened her case as a murder investigation after Stacy Peterson disappeared Oct. 28.

Thursday's meeting of the Republican-controlled board is expected to be a step toward a proposed referendum measure in November on eliminating the elected coroner in favor of an appointed medical examiner.

"I've gotten a lot of criticism in my area about how some facets of the Peterson case were handled by the coroner's office," said County Board Majority Leader Wayne McMillan (R-Bolingbrook). "[Some] of the perceptions are that the coroner's office should have played more of a defining part in that whole coroner's inquest" involving the cause of Savio's death.

O'Neil could not be reached for comment.

In 2004, forensic pathologist Bryan Mitchell determined that Savio drowned, and a coroner's jury later ruled that the death was accidental, largely because an Illinois State Police investigator said there appeared to be nothing suspicious about it.

Now, the board has scheduled Dr. Michael Baden, former New York medical examiner and a renowned forensic pathologist, to testify about the advantages and disadvantages of an examiner's office.

He also has had a role in Savio's case. He performed an autopsy on her remains, which were exhumed in November as part of the state police's new investigation.

In a statement issued by the board Wednesday, Ann Dralle (R-Bolingbrook) explained why Baden was chosen.

"Because of the Kathleen Savio case, Dr. Baden already knows about Will County and the current system we have in place for death investigations," Dralle wrote. When reached later, she dismissed any suggestion that politics was a motivation for her.

"I like Pat O'Neil—he's a nice guy," Dralle said. "This is not, for me personally, about eliminating a Democrat position. This is too serious of an issue to play that kind of heavy politics."

But Democrats, who only hold seven of the board's 27 seats, aren't buying it.

"A lot of us feel that this is a political maneuver in an election year," said County Board Minority Whip Walt Adamic (D- Joliet). "Pat's done a good job . . . This whole thing was done for political reasons rather than anything else, and it seems like when you do things for political reasons, that's not the best way to govern."

Drew Peterson has not been named a suspect in Savio's case. He says he is innocent in both cases.

mwalberg@tribune.com

eslife@tribune.com