American TV scoopmeister Michael Ausiello is reporting this morning that William Petersen is leaving CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
The 10th episode of the next series, due to air in the States in September, will be his last (for the forseeable future at least), and the show’s executive producer, Carol Mendelsohn, is promising a big send-off for Gil Grissom, who is struggling to cope following the shooting of Warrick in the final episode of the last series.
As previously reported, Grissom’s true love, Sara Sidle, played by Jorja Fox, will be returning to help Grissom through the crisis. The new series will also see the addition of two new regular cast members: Lauren Lee Smith as new CSI Riley Adams and an as-yet-unconfirmed actor as a professor with a background in pathology.
Mendelsohn also confirmed to Ausiello that the drama’s most infamous serial menace to date, the Miniature Killer, will be back for an episode.
