“Since his arrest nearly two months ago, Scott Peterson has amassed an unusually thick stack of letters – many of them from women – in his single-person jail cell, according to a newspaper report.”
Why would so many women be sending this guy fan mail, given that he killed his wife and their unborn child-allegedly? Wouldn’t a person who had any common sense at all want to avoid this person, for the sake of their own safety??
This, of course, isn’t the first time that someone who was accused or even convicted of murder has been flooded with tons of letters from adoring female fans. O.J. Simpson apparently has no trouble finding dates these days. Many convicted murderers, including Ted Bundy, have gotten married while they were on death row.
Peterson has also admitted that he cheated on his wife with a ‘massage therapist’. So even if he didn’t kill his wife, he at least cheated on her. Wouldn’t women find such behavior intolerable?
So why do so many women fall in love with alleged criminals like Scott Peterson?
You know how it is, women always fall for the jerks or bad boys if you will. While nice guys like me can’t even get the time of day. What do I have to do for a freaking date, kill someone?!?!
Well, the fifth and sixth paragraphs of your linked article pretty much sum it up, I think. So their own sympathy and their own desperation is what causes it, I would say.
Also, your article says that one of his pen pals is a woman currently in prison for murdering her husband. I bet there are more correspondents like this in his stack of letters, so it might be safe to say that it’s not your usual Jane Housewife sending him these letters.
You wouldn’t want the kind of women that are attracted to guys like this.
The story gets a lot of publicity because first it was a “missing persons” case that hit nationwide coverage - lovely and extremely pregnant woman disappears on Christmas Eve. There was some hope for a while that she and her baby might be found alive, and a lot of questions about what happened. Then her attractive husband apparently went fishing on Christmas Eve, which sounded suspicious to a lot of people. Then the infidelity comes out - did she get mad and run away to Mexico to hide out? Did he kill her to be with his mistress? Did the mistress kill her?
True, though some of us eventually get over the idea that we can “save” a bad boy and look for someone who doesn’t need so much work. Plus, a guy in jail has the appeal that you can still “work” on him, but he’s locked up and can’t actually hurt you.
Having said that… my last boyfriend was a “nice guy” when we met and turned into a grade-A jerk about a year later. (I hung on for another year and a half, hoping it was just a phase.) Rather fulfilled my personal theory that we date jerks because at least we know up front what we’re getting, instead of waiting for the other shoe to drop. I’d finally just gotten used to the idea that it wasn’t going to happen when it did happen. So even though I’d prefer to date a “nice guy” (they’re really not all boring, and generally much better for conversation), I’ll probably be a bit nervous, maybe even a little suspicious of the motives, next time around. Not fair maybe, but it’s a lot less baggage than some people carry.
But you wouldn’t catch me writing to a serial killer or someone suspected of murdering his own wife. No way. I may have relationship issues, but I’m not crazy. What if he gets out and shows up at your door?
Why are some women attracted to Scott Peterson? I’ll hazard some guesses…
He’s a physically attractive guy. IMHO.
He’s now famous/infamous; either way, his name’s well known to a good chunk of the American public.
They think, for whatever reasons, that he’s been wrongfully accused of the crimes, yet he perseveres. Thus, his nobility quotient goes way up.
If any of these women were to start a relationship with him, he certainly wouldn’t cheat on them.
Any, some, or all of the above might be the reason why several women have a thing for him. And yeah, there may be several women in prison who write as well, perhaps because they can relate.
Cosmopolitan: I agree, I think you’ve got it there. Sadly, since Andrew Luster (that Max Factor heir recently caught in Mexico) also fulfills 1-4, he’ll probably be receiving sacks of letters too.
I think that the point is that while no, these are not the sort of women that you’d want to take home to mom, i’m sure that some of them, at least, are attractive (read:fuckable). And that can be quite galling to one’s sense of fairness, especially if you’re not the sort to cheat on, and then murder your wife.
Now that’s the truth. Why do women find him attractive/handsome (forgetting the crimes he’s accused of)? Doesn’t do zippo for me - and, I may be naive enough to think I can “change a bad boy”, but I would draw the proverbial line at someone who is in jail for murdering their wife/unborn son.
Hmm…is this strange behavior exclusive to females? Are men writing in to convicted females (Heidi doesn’t count)?
Yeah, but I’m betting you’ll find a higher-than-usual proportion of psychos among that group as well. The sort who are “fuckable” but then won’t leave you alone, even after a restraining order…
I remember hearing that there were scores of women who came every day to trial to ogle Richard Ramirez too. I saw an investigative report or something about it. The opinion was, that while these men are dangerous they are also safe. They won’t cheat, or leave you.
That was one of the best.