Drew Peterson’s Pal Says ‘I’m Certain This Guy Killed His Wife,’ From the ‘National Enquirer’ Archives

Drew Peterson and Kathleen Savio’s son, Kris, was struggling after his stepmom, Stacy Peterson, disappeared without a trace in 2007.

“My one mommy died, and my other mommy went away,” the then 13-year-old middle schooler told family friend Richard Mims, the National Enquirer reported in December of that year. “I don’t know what to think about this.”

Kris’ biological mother, Savio, had died in a suspicious bathtub accident in March 2004. Now, his adoptive mother, Stacy, 23, had vanished, creating national headlines.

At the center of both mysteries was Kris’ dad, former Bolingbrook Police sergeant Drew, now 72.

Mims, 40, Drew’s close friend, broke his silence about his pal in a world exclusive Enquirer interview. He revealed shocking details about the case and what happened inside the Petersons’ house, both before and after Stacy disappeared.

Mims remembered trying to comfort Kris as they talked about his mothers. “He looked frightened, and I told him: ‘Well, you just have to hope for the best,’ ” Mims said, assuring the boy that Stacy would be coming home.

But Stacy didn’t come home, and Mims’ pal Drew became a suspect in what police determined was a homicide investigation.

At first, Mims believed Drew’s explanation that Stacy had run off with another man on October 28. But in the days after Stacy disappeared, he learned why Kris was frightened. Mims says the boy had heard his parents fighting, an argument that police and Mims believe ended in murder.

Mims lived in Drew’s home from October 30 to November 3. He helped care for the Peterson children and did errands for Drew. By the time he left, Mims was convinced Drew was guilty of murder.

“Right now, I’m certain this guy killed his wife,” Mims told the Enquirer.

The main reason for his certainty is a shocking statement made by Drew’s son Kris.

“Kris heard Drew fighting with Stacy in their bedroom on the day she disappeared,” said Mims. “Kris’ bedroom is right next to his parents’ bedroom, and when Stacy argues, she shouts.”

Mims is convinced Drew “snapped Stacy’s neck in their bed. Drew’s a karate expert and has been since he was a young man. It’s quick. It’s quiet. And she wouldn’t have a chance to scream.”

Mims said on the night of October 31, Halloween, young Kris began to open up about Drew and Stacy’s final fight. The boy was out helping supervise his stepbrother Anthony, 4, and stepsister Lacy, 2, as they trick-or-treated, dressed as SpiderMan and Tinker Bell respectively.

Neighbor Sharon Bychowski was also helping, and at one point, Kris pulled the woman aside. “Sharon told me Kris looked scared,” Mims told the Enquirer. “He said: ‘I was in my bedroom, and I heard mommy and daddy fighting.’ ”

Kris told Bychowski that Stacy was yelling she wanted a divorce and that she wanted his father to move out of the house. Mims said that suddenly things got quiet at that point, according to Kris.

A source close to the investigation confirmed Kris did hear that final argument and that the boy told Illinois State Police his story.

Mims first heard about Stacy’s disappearance the morning of Tuesday, October 30. He called Drew, who asked him to come over that night.

When Mims arrived at Drew’s home, his friend and the ex-cop’s adult son Steve (from the first of his four marriages) were in the kitchen. “I said: ‘Dude, what’s going on?’ He said: ‘Stacy ran off with another man.’ He said she called about 9 p. m. [on Sunday, October 28], said she found someone she wants to be with. He said she took $25,000 from the safe in the house and left the car parked at Clow International Airport [which is about 400 yards from the Peterson home].”

Mims asked what he could do to help, and Drew told him to stay over, that he and Steve had to go get Stacy’s car, which Drew said he’d stashed at a neighbor’s house after first bringing it home from the airport Sunday night. “I wondered why he’d moved Stacy’s car somewhere else,” Mims told the Enquirer.

While Drew and Steve left, Mims sat with Kris and the two young ones in the living room. When Drew returned with Stacy’s car, Mims asked him more about the day Stacy disappeared.

“He said: ‘Well I got up about 11 o’clock, and Stacy was gone. I didn’t think much of it because she was supposed to go see her grandfather.’ Drew says the next time he tried calling her was at 8 p. m. He left her a voice mail and he said something to the effect: ‘I don’t want to disturb you if you’re out on a date.’”

“I asked if Stacy was dating somebody else. He said: ‘Actually I think she’s dating four or five different guys from the intelligence I can gather up.’ ”

And clearly Drew had been tracking Stacy’s movements, Mims said. “Drew said he had gotten receipts from a T. G. I. Friday’s just the Thursday before when Stacy had gone out with one guy and used his credit card,” Mims told the Enquirer. “I said: ‘Are you serious? When did this all start?’ ”

Drew said it was months ago when Stacy went back to school to take nursing classes. Drew said that’s when Stacy started seeing ” the f**king street rats that she hung out with before I knew her.”

On Halloween, Mims said, Drew paced a lot, fielding calls, and deciding he would let only the pretty female reporters in the house.

That night, after trick-or-treating was over, Drew and Mims sipped rum and Cokes and the cop leaned over. What he said gave Mims the chills. “I’m going to have to ask you to be my hostage when the cops come for me. Maybe I’ll have a standoff with them,” said Drew.

Although Drew laughed after making the shocking statement, Mims thought he was serious. “I wondered if I was going to wake up in the night with a gun to my head,” said Mims.

The cops did come the next day, with a search warrant, hauling off both Peterson cars and taking in Drew for questioning.

Mims stayed in the house while cadaver dogs went room to room sniffing for Stacy’s body. Police took all the linens off the bed in Drew and Stacy’s bedroom, and they confiscated carpet cleaner, computers, toothbrushes and Drew’s guns. When Drew got home in the afternoon, Mims met him at neighbor Bychowski’s house as the police finished the search.

Later that night inside the house, Drew showed Mims a gun he’d hidden, a small pistol that folded in half. “They [the police] didn’t find this one,” Drew sneered.

On the morning of Friday, November 2, Drew’s son Steve came over to pick up the youngest children and Kris, who wasn’t feeling well enough to go to school.

“I watched Drew write a check for a little over $200,000 from a home equity line and give it to Steve in case something happened to him. He also gave him another $10,000 check and $500 in cash. I think this was a man who knows he’s going to jail,” said Mims.

Late that night, after making several secret exits from the home and returning through a sliding glass door at the back of the home, Drew poured more rum and Cokes and told disgusting stories about Stacy.

“The evening got weird,” said Mims. “We’re sitting on the couch. Drew says: ‘You can’t ever repeat this but I’ll tell you some s**t about Stacy.”

He told Mims that he caught Stacy sunbathing topless the past summer at her brother’s home. “It was all lies,” his friend told the Enquirer. “I’m thinking this guy wants me to hate Stacy.”

Mims said he finally told Drew: “This is very disrespectful, Dude. I got to get some sleep.” With the children out of the house, Mims slept in Kris’ room that night, locking the door, tossing and turning all night.

The next day he left the Peterson home and started to help in the search for Stacy. Mims said Drew called him, angrily accusing him of “joining the other side.”

As the days passed, more and more revelations about Drew emerged. There were reports that someone helped him carry a barrel or another type of container out of the house. Stacy’s family revealed that she was terrified of Drew, that she wanted a divorce and that she told her sister if she disappears, to please look for her.

It’s all took a heavy toll on Mims. ” I’ve been apologizing to all of Stacy’s friends for ever believing Drew in the first place,” said Mims.

In the wake of Stacy’s disappearance, Drew was convicted of murdering his third wife, Savio. He is currently serving 38-year sentence for that crime, plus another 40 years after being found guilty in a murder-for-hire plot against the prosecutor. Stacy has never been found.

The chilling case is now the subject of the first season of the new anthology micro-drama series from GammaTime, National Enquirer Presents: The Drew Peterson Story premieres on April 8. Download GammaTime from the App Store or Google Play Store now.