The Texas allure for the Euro babes

Dallas Morning News:

Romina Deeken is a classic beauty – long and lithe, cascading blond hair, green eyes set in alabaster – not the type of woman who needs to solicit attention from men.

But last year, the 24-year-old German reached out to a convicted killer on Texas' death row. Her motives were altruistic, she said, not romantic. In time, after more than 50 letters posted back and forth across the Atlantic, Ms. Deeken said, mutual feelings grew.

"I have a connection with him," she explained recently, shaking slightly, tears running down her cheek. "Everyone in life has a vision, has dreams, has fears, is searching for something. He is the person I can talk deeply with about these things."

Ms. Deeken's story is coffee shop talk in this small southeast Texas town, home of the maximum-security Polunsky Unit and death row.

Each month, dozens of travel-weary, love-struck European women arrive in Livingston for visits with condemned inmates, a pair of four-hour chats through Plexiglas. There is no touching.

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Their relationships with the inmates typically begin when women join anti-death penalty groups like Amnesty International, or during Internet research. Pen-pal groups such as LostVault.com post free personal ads based on letters and pictures from death row inmates, like this one from Jose Noey Martinez:

"The worst thing in life is loneliness and that's all I've had in my life so I'm hoping by me putting up this ad I can make some great friends out there in the free world. So if you like what you see, please write to me."

In 1995, Mr. Martinez was convicted of stabbing to death a 68-year-old woman and her 4-year-old granddaughter. He sexually assaulted the older woman, defiled the corpse of the child, and reportedly threatened the victims' family as he was led from the courtroom, saying, "It's not over yet."

Many people who live in Livingston say the European visitors are naive. Death penalty opponents counter that even the pathologically violent and vile deserve a dignified life.

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They're so gullible, you just want to shake them and say, 'Are you women that stupid?' " she said, eyes wide behind horn-rimmed glasses. "Those guys over there are running a game. They've got 10 to 20 women at a time they're romancing."

Ms. Ray shares the prevailing opinion in this lakeside town that idealistic amateurs are being played by professional players.

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In answer to Ms. Ray's question, yes they are. In addition to their misplaced compassion for a murder, they are totally insensitive to victims of these horrible crimes. This is not to mention all the people who have been saved from murder because of the death penalties deterrent effect. Deeken, BTW is a real babe. Hat tip Larwyn and TigerHawk. Another BTW, there are also some babes who work for the Texas Department of Corrections in their women's unit.