Scott Peterson Has a Pen-pal

Richelle Nice sentenced Scott Peterson to death. As part of the twelve member jury that endured a seven month trial in the case of the fertilizer salesman who killed his pregnant wife, Nice sentenced Scott Peterson to death. The experience obviously struck a chord with Nice, an attractive 36 year old, mother of four. She started to freak out and began having panic attacks. As part of an exercise suggested by her therapist, she wrote a letter to Scott Peterson. Mailing the letter was not part of the doctor’s idea of “therapy” but that’s what Nice did anyway. She was shocked to see that the convicted killer wrote her back.

Nice seems like an okay person. She was on some MSNBC program (the one with the guy who kind of looks and acts like an angry muppet, I think his name is Dan Abrahams) and, other than her bright red hair and manic personality, she seemed pretty cool. She was actually kind of attractive for a kooky, most likely bi-polar, dyed red head, mother of four. And I realize that this, admittedly, says more about who I find good looking than the general opinion of American males (whom I don’t speak for).

When I saw her on TV it looked like she was either a normal person getting over a hangover or an alcoholic badly in need of a drink; she was simultaneously shaking and sitting still like a newly found corpse. This jerk, Abrahams, asked very stupid questions and basically came off as an asshole who hates the world; so I didn’t get any “good” information.

The whole situation is incredibly interesting, though. It’s the kind of topic that is custom-made for hack shows like the one that Abrahams so miserably works. It is enticing, a little bit wrong and the girl, Nice, has a wounded fawn appeal to her that wins Academy Awards for actresses her same age.

To her credit, Richelle Nice was extremely upfront about her letters and the entire situation. She didn’t come across as some sick woman contaminated by an unhealthy obsession. She seemed like a mildly troubled, middle aged person who is still haunted by having served on the jury of one of the most famous trials in American history.

She simply wants answers; and not, as your wild imagination would have you think, Scott Peterson. She wants to know why Scott Peterson killed his wife Lacey. And she’s not getting any answers. According to Nice, he has repeatedly denied the murder in several of his letters. Most of the correspondence, apparently, has focused on Nice. “He talked a lot about those autopsy photos and how hard that must have been for the jurors to see,” Nice said. He also commented on a breast cancer awareness stamp that Richelle used.

So where does that leave us? Nice plans on continuing the letter, she has received no closure yet. Scott Peterson is obviously in another place; his impending death has clearly clouded his already cloudy mind. Perhaps one day he’ll confess to the murder but maybe he won’t. Maybe he’s not the killer.

People need to do things that are sometimes strange and hard to understand. Sometimes they need to become the pen pal of killers who they sentenced to death; so it goes. I hope Richelle Nice finds what she’s looking for, in a letter or elsewhere.

[THANKS TO CNN.COM FOR THE QUOTE AND SOME INFORMATION]