Suspect's father denies son tied to other slayings

Adam Peterson, charged with murder in Madison, Wis., was not there at the time of two other killings, his dad says.

By JIM ADAMS, Star Tribune

Last update: June 29, 2008 - 6:56 AM

The father of a Washington County man charged in a Wisconsin homicide says it is unlikely that his son was involved in two other unsolved Madison killings because he was out of town when they happened.

Melvin Peterson said Brittany Zimmermann was killed in April, a month after his son, Adam Peterson, 20, had returned to Minnesota, where he underwent treatment for depression. Another woman, Kelly Nolan, was killed last summer, when Adam and his twin brother, Eric, were working at Wisconsin Dells, their father said.

No one familiar with the case in the Madison Police Department was available to comment.

Peterson, a 2006 graduate of Stillwater High School, was charged Friday with first-degree murder in the death of Joel Marino, 31, who was stabbed to death in his Madison home in January.

Just a week earlier, police had an encounter with Peterson that led them to place his name on a list of people with potentially dangerous mental illness.

The former University of Wisconsin student was arrested at his mother's rural Stillwater home on Thursday. DNA tests linked him to a knife and other evidence found at the scene of the Marino killing.

Melvin Peterson said he assumes police are aware of his son's whereabouts during the other deaths, which left the city on edge.

Authorities said Friday they had no forensic evidence linking Adam Peterson to other homicides but would investigate further.

Melvin Peterson said Adam and Eric stayed at Wisconsin Dells last summer, though they made occasional day trips to Madison, returning to the Dells at night.

He said he visited Adam twice in the Washington County jail, where he is being held pending extradition, probably this week.

He said his son never displayed any mental health problems until he moved back home in March, after which he had ongoing counseling.

"He was fine at Christmas. He seemed happy, well-adjusted and fine,'' Peterson said Saturday. "I sent him back to Madison in early January."

Madeleine Saxler, of Stillwater, has been friends with Peterson since middle school.

"A lot of teenagers go through rough patches in their lives," she said. "There was nothing that suggested to me that Adam was going through anything more than a teenage rough patch."

Still, she said, she and the others who know him well are "shocked and confused" by the allegations Peterson now faces.

"He's a regular, normal friend, and he's loved by many," she said. "It's a situation no one knows how to handle."

Staff writer Maria Elena Baca contributed to this report. Jim Adams • 612-673-7658

Recent East Metro stories

Hastings Veterans Home deficient in controlling finances, audit finds - June 29, 2008

Hastings Veterans Home deficient in controlling finances, audit finds - Operators of the Minnesota Veterans Home in Hastings failed to adequately control its finances during a 32-month period ending in March, according to a report released Thursday by the state's Legislative Auditor. More