Drew Peterson faces up to 60 years in prison after a grand jury Thursday indicted the 55-year-old former Bolingbrook police sergeant in the 2004 murder of his third wife.

Peterson, who became infamous after he was named a suspect in the disappearance of his fourth wife Stacy, was arrested without incident Thursday. He faces two first degree murder charges for the March 2004 drowning of Kathleen Savio, who was found dead in a dry bathtub in her Bolingbrook home.   

Peterson is being held by the Will County sheriff’s department in lieu of $20 million bail. Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow, who said he will personally try the case, called the case the biggest of his life.

“I requested the $20 million bond because I felt this was as grave and serious a case as I’ve ever handled,” Glasgow said. “And Judge (Daniel) Rozak agreed.”

In a telephone interview on CNN’s “Larry King Live,” Nick Savio, Kathleen Savio’s youngest brother, said that Kathleen Savio had told their sister that she feared for her life and that she wrote “a bunch of letters that said if anything ever happened to her, it was him that killed her.”

Also speaking to King, Peterson's attorney, Joel Brodsky, said the indictment was not surprising, but that the case is flimsy.

“This case has always been a circumstantial case; it’s been a weak circumstantial case; the original pathologist found that it was an accidental death and we believe it was still an accidental death, and we’re going to bring in our own pathologist to prove that,” Brodsky said.

Brodsky said that one of his main defense strategies is attacking a relatively new law that allows for hearsay to be used in court testimony. The law would allow for statements such as Savio expressing fear to her sister to be admissible in court.

“I think it’s an outrageous law," Brodsky said. "It allows innuendo, it allows hearsay, it allows rumor in the place of fact."

Glasgow said law was inspired by the Peterson case and that he does plan to utilize hearsay testimony if a judge allows.

“In essence, what you’re basically allowing the victim of violence to do is testify from the grave,” Glasgow said.

Savio’s body was found by neighbors on March 1, 2004. She and Peterson had officially divorced but had yet to determine the specifics of the separation. A coroner’s jury later ruled the 40-year-old woman had accidentally drowned, surmising that she probably slipped and fell in the bathtub.

The ruling stood for more than three years until, in October 2007, Cassandra Cales filed a missing persons report for her 23-year-old sister, Stacy, Peterson’s fourth wife.

Within days, police had labeled Peterson a suspect in the disappearance and their attention was drawn back to the mysterious 2004 death. Savio’s body was exhumed in November 2007 and an independent pathologist reclassified the death as a homicide by drowning. Police never named a suspect in the slaying.

Stacy Peterson family spokeswoman Pam Bosco said news of the arrest had given the family hope that progress would be made in the disappearance of the mother of two.

“We’re not focusing on Stacy today, but we’re just happy for the Savio family. We always said that Stacy and Kathleen had one thing in common and that was Drew Peterson," Bosco said. “As this case unfolds, hopefully it will lead us down the path of finding Stacy also.”

Cales also expressed confidence that Peterson would eventually be charged in her sister’s disappearance, which police are calling a “potential homicide.”

“It was like a weight lifted off my shoulders,” Cales said.

The indictment came just two weeks before the end of a special grand jury investigating both cases. The grand jurors have been hearing evidence in the case for nearly 18 months, the maximum time allowed for a grand jury. Glasgow said prosecutors plan to present additional evidence regarding the Stacy Peterson case in the last two grand jury meetings.

A regular grand jury that meets every Wednesday may be asked to investigate the case once the 18-month time limit is up.

“That (investigation) is not going to be slowed in any way shape or form by this indictment,” Glasgow said. “That investigation is still foremost on our minds and we believe we have some significant things to follow up on.”

State police officers were in the area of Peterson’s Bolingbrook home for most of Thursday awaiting word of a possible indictment, Illinois State Police Capt. Carl Dobrich said.

“We were hoping that once we had the warrant in hand that he would be out and about,” Dobrich said.

By about 5:30 p.m. police had all three wishes. The grand jury had indicted, a judge had issued a warrant for Peterson’s arrest and the former police officer left alone from his home at 6 Pheasant Chase Court. He made it less than six blocks before being stopped at the intersection of Lily Cache Lane and South Weber Road.

Sharon Bychowski, Peterson’s neighbor, said Illinois State Police had escorted the former officer’s three youngest children out of the home under the cover of blankets shortly after his arrest.

“It’s just heartbreaking,” Bychowski said.

A fourth child was not at home at the time of the incident, Dobrich said. The three children were taken to the Bolingbrook Police Department and then transferred to the state Department of Children and Family Services. At Peterson’s request, police contacted his adult son, Stephen, to take custody of the children.

“Our utmost concerns were the well-being of the children,” Dobrich said. “We knew that three of the children were home. We did not want to alarm them.”

An arraignment hearing has been scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Friday.

In a statement released Thursday night, Andrew Abood, one of Peterson’s attorneys, said Peterson continues to maintain his innocence “regarding the rumor and innuendo that has circulated regarding” Savio’s death.

“Although he is disappointed with the decision of the state, he looks forward to the opportunity to once and for all prove his innocence in a court of law,” Abood said in the release.