It’s not an uncommon phenomenon, but it should be.

Whenever someone commits something so egregious as mass murder, there is a multitude of women who become attracted to the murderer in various different ways. As it turns out, the Parkland shooter — whom I will not give the satisfaction of having his name written for the public to read by my hand — is no different.

According to the Florida-Sun Sentinel, the Parkland shooter is getting gobs of fan mail from women, and a few men to boot.

As you can imagine, the mail varies in tone. Some of it is girls and women who are emotionally attracted to the shooter or offer him friendship and someone to talk to. Others, however, are erotically attracted to the shooter and include revealing photos in the mail. One teen reportedly told the shooter how handsome he is, and how big her breasts are:

A teenager wrote on March 15: “I’m 18-years-old. I’m a senior in high school. When I saw your picture on the television, something attracted me to you.”

The letter was mailed from Texas and tucked inside an envelope covered with hand-drawn hearts and happy faces. “Your eyes are beautiful and the freckles on your face make you so handsome.” She goes on to describe herself as white with big, brown eyes. “I’m really skinny and have 34C sized breasts.” She ends the letter with three preschool-rated jokes about gummy bears and peanut butter.

However, some offer prayers for his soul and encouragement to seek God. According to Broward County Public Defender Howard Finkelstein, these are the ones that typically get read to the shooter.

“We read a few religious ones to him that extended wishes for his soul and to come to God,” Finkelstein said, “but we have not and will not read him the fan letters or share the photos of scantily-clad teenage girls.”

Finklestein said he’s blown away by the amount of mail the shooter gets. Some of it even includes money, and the shooter has accumulated hundreds of dollars via his fans.

“In my 40 years as public defender, I’ve never seen this many letters to a defendant. Everyone now and then gets a few, but nothing like this,” he said.

“The letters shake me up because they are written by regular, everyday teenage girls from across the nation,” he added. “That scares me. It’s perverted.”

According to psychologist Carole Lieberman, these women showing intense love for serial killers stems from problems at home. Usually in the form of fathers that have shown little love, or abandoned their daughters.

“Women who become pen pals and groupies of killers in prison are those who have had a dysfunctional relationship with their dad that has made them feel unlovable,” she said.  According to her, this generates bad self-esteem issues making them susceptible to the power of the killer.

This has been echoed by Psychologist Leon Seltzer who wrote:

The fantasy that seems to be operating in such devotees, and that constitutes the plot of virtually all erotic/romantic novels written with women in mind, is that the “misogyny and jerkdom” they might have to battle with in such super-dominant males is only temporary. That it doesn’t really represent the man’s innermost reality. That his violence and lack of tender feelings is only the beginning of the story, and that their unsparing love, affection, and dedication can ultimately transform his character by helping him get in touch with his, well, “inner goo.”

It’s upsetting to think that someone like the shooter is getting this kind of positive attention for brutally murdering 17 people, and leaving families devastated in their wake.

(h/t: Daily Wire)