Ex-officer lawyer denies barrel existed

BOLINGBROOK, Ill. - A lawyer for Drew Peterson has denied a large container was ever hauled out of the former police officer's suburban home the day his wife vanished

"We have heard several stories. First it was a barrel. Then it was a container. The shape keeps shifting," Joel Brodsky told NBC's "Today" show Thursday. "There never was a barrel. There never was a container."

Peterson's stepbrother reportedly said he removed a container from an upstairs bedroom and put it in his sport-utility vehicle, according to media reports that cited anonymous sources close to the investigation into Stacy Peterson's disappearance last month.

The stepbrother, Thomas Morphey, later became distraught after learning that Stacy Peterson was missing and tried to kill himself, The Herald News of Joliet reported Wednesday.

In Thursday's interview, Brodsky lashed out at the stepbrother, claiming the man has a history of mental problems and bouts with alcoholism. "He's simply not a credible witness," Brodsky told NBC.

Authorities say Drew Peterson is a suspect in his fourth wife's disappearance and have called her case a possible homicide. Investigators are also re-examining the 2004 death of Drew Peterson's third wife, Kathleen Savio. Police have said her death may have been a homicide staged to look like an accidental bathtub drowning.