peterson married accountant kathleen savio (born june 13, 1963 in glendale heights, illinois) on may 3, 1992. together they had two sons, thomas (january 5, 1993) and kristopher (august 8, 1994). their divorce was finalized on october 10, 2003. it was reported that between 2002 and 2004, police were called out to the peterson house eighteen times on domestic disturbance calls, including calls for returning children late after visitation. on march 1, 2004, savio's body was found in a waterless bathtub. her death was initially ruled an accidental drowning by a coroner's jury that included a police officer who personally knew peterson and assured the other jurors that he was a good man who would never hurt his wife.