"There was so much pressure. Fear too."

El Monte resident Candace Aikin testified before a grand jury in Joliet, Illinois last week regarding the disappearance of her niece.

Her niece happens to be Stacy Peterson, a 23-year-old woman who went missing in October and has become the missing woman case that the cable news networks love to cover, mostly because of her husband Drew.

For good reason perhaps. According to Wikipedia:

Drew Walter Peterson (born January 6, 1954), is a former Bolingbrook, Illinois police sergeant and alleged double-murderer who has received nationwide attention in the United States for becoming a suspect in a police investigation following the death of his third wife and subsequent disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy.^[1][2] Peterson has repeatedly denied involvement in both cases.

Here's part of what Aiken said, according to thekansan.com:

"At the end they asked me what kind of a mother (Stacy) is, what kind of a person she is and would she ever leave her family. That was really hard," Aikin said, still visibly shaken from her testimony. "I'm glad I was able to talk to the jurors and tell them my love for Stacy and what a great person she is, and to be able to help the case in any way that I can."

<snip>

Aikin, of El Monte, Calif., last saw her niece in August. Although Peterson had told her aunt of marital problems for more than two years, Aikin said Peterson was seriously considering leaving the relationship by the time she visited in August.

"She wanted out," Aikin said. "There was so much pressure. Fear too."