Drew Peterson Trial: Jury to Hear Opening Arguments Monday

(CHICAGO) -- The murder trial of former Illinois cop Drew Peterson could hinge on the statements of two women who won't be at that trial: his third wife he is accused of murdering and his fourth wife who has disappeared.

A jury of seven men and five women will hear opening arguments Monday on whether Peterson, 58, killed his then-wife Kathleen Savio in 2004 and made it look like an accident.

Peterson skyrocketed to notoriety in 2007 when his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, disappeared. Cops exhumed Savio's body as part of their investigation into Stacy's disappearance, eventually changing the cause of Savio's death from an accident to homicide and charging Peterson with murder. Stacy has never been found.

In the trial, prosecutors will argue that bruises on Savio's neck, together with Peterson's history of domestic violence and his statements about Savio's death to his fourth wife prove that he murdered Savio.

Kathleen Zellner, a Chicago attorney who has been following the case, noted that the prosecution is expected to try and use statements that Stacy Peterson made to her minister before her disappearance, in which she said that Peterson had admitted to killing Savio. If the judge admits the hearsay statements of Stacy Peterson, the testimony could be damaging to Peterson, she said.

Prosecutors will also try to admit Stacy Peterson's statements to her minister that she saw Drew Peterson arrive home with women's clothing around the time of Savio's death.

"That doesn't concern us," Peterson's attorney, Joel Brodsky told ABC News. "Anybody that knows anybody that has been through a divorce knows that people say things and do things that is totally out of character, and clearly Kathy was trying to build a case to try and get as much money as she could."

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