What's So Sexy About Murderers?

Murder suspect Joran Van der Sloot is getting plenty of attention from single women and he's far from the only killer or suspected killer to be inundated with love letters. For some women, the attraction of a celebrity felon is irresistable, Barbara Isenberg, author of Women Who Love Men Who Kill, tells the Daily Beast. Killers kicking their heels in jail are much likelier to respond to "fan mail" than showbiz celebrities, she notes.

Many of the women she interviewed who fell in love with felons had been in abusive relationships in the past and liked the idea of a man who was safely locked away. "If you are in a relationship with a man behind bars for life, or a man on death row, then you have a lot of control over the relationship," Isenberg says. It's not just women who fall for people behind bars: Casey Anthony has complained about all the letter she gets from male admirers and Amanda Knox says she's had plenty "fan letters," including some marriage proposals. (More Joran Van der Sloot stories.)