Why Marry Scott Peterson?

In addition to receiving the death sentence after he was found guilty of murder, lately Scott Peterson's been receiving something else — marriage proposals. Death row marriages are not unusual. I know I shouldn't be judgmental when it comes to matters of the heart, but it's hard for me to see these romances as anything but weird. We often hear single women complain, "All the good men are taken," but marrying a guy "until lethal injection do us part" seems a bit desperate.

We all know unlikely couples who seem to be doing just fine. I know a woman who's a liberal Democrat married to a conservative Republican. At first, you might think "How can that work? Doesn't that mean they have different values?" Then you realize they must have other things in common that make their political differences seem minor. So, are the friends of women who marry murderers saying the same thing? "Sure, she works in a bank and he's a serial killer, but they have so many other things in common."

Women marrying the most frightening people of our society should make regular lonely single guys more confident about their futures. I can imagine them saying to themselves, "If Lyle and Erik Menendez could find somebody, there's got to be hope for me."

What makes guys behind bars so attractive to these women? Are we men really that hard to live with? I guess these are women who just don't want to put up with our usual garbage. They'll never have to say, "You told me there were only two minutes left in the game twenty minutes ago" to their husband. Or, "We both work. Why should I have to be the one to put the dishes in the dishwasher?" Or, "She's your mother. Why don't you sit next to her at Thanksgiving?" They won't have to help him find his keys, they won't trip over his shoes, and they won't have to come up with new and exciting things to do together on the weekends to keep their marriage fresh.

There is also the celebrity factor. Our society is fascinated by celebrities, whether the person's fame is related to his doing something good or bad. These killers are on the cover of "People" magazine, right next to the latest celebrity diet. So, maybe the adoring women feel that a little bit of the spotlight that's shining on the celebrity murderer will also shine on them - just as they think that if they go on Jennifer Anniston's diet, they'll look just like her.

Then there's the "bad boy syndrome." An example would be a high school girl who chooses the boy who is constantly in trouble for cutting class over the math genius. But there seems to be a huge difference between that and an adult woman who spurns her shoe salesman boyfriend for a serial killer.

Although women being attracted to murderers is nothing new, the Digital Age has made it frighteningly easier. There are Web sites that help direct people to prisoners who may want to get married. I get nervous for my friends who use "regular" Internet dating, and now I learn there is a whole new meaning to the term "pen pal." One of these Web sites contains a warning for those seeking to start a relationship with a prisoner: "Use your instincts and look for sincerity; if you feel something doesn't seem right, it most certainly isn't." Well, my instincts tell me that looking for a date on one of these Web sites "doesn't seem right."

So, my suggestion for those who are so frustrated with the dating world that they are tempted to start up a relationship with a convicted murderer is this: If you must do it, at least do it as a last resort. Start with people who are guilty of lesser crimes. Don't contact the murderers until you've already dated every man in America who's ever gotten a speeding ticket.

By Lloyd Garver