Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz is apparently the nation's next teen hearthrob (sarcasm is heavily implied here).
According to a report in the Sun Sentinel, dozens of teenage girls, women, and even older men, have been writing to the mass murderer with offers of friendship, encouragement and even money sent to his commissary account. That's not all, some have even formed Facebook Fan Groups to talk about how they can help the killer.
In one letter mailed just six days after Cruz admitted to murdering 17 people and injuring 17 more with an assault-style rifle, a Texas woman wrote that she "reserved the right to care about" Cruz in a greeting card showing a furry bunny holding binoculars looking out at the ocean. The inside of the card reads: "Out of sight, but never out of mind."
Some include photos, like one letter from a woman in Chicago who sent the teenager several suggestive photos, including one with a shot of her cleavage, and one of her in a bikini eating a Popsicle.
Another letter from a teenager, wrote to Cruz that "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."
This isn't new. Women have been writing to prison bad boys since forever, with killers like Charles Manson, Lyle and Erik Menendez, and Ted Bundy receiving bags of mail during their stays in prison.
"There's piles of letters," said Broward County Public Defender Howard Finkelstein, whose office is representing Cruz. "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."
All inmates' mail is opened (with the exception of legal mail), according to the Broward County Sheriff's Office. Any material that is deemed obscene or a safety hazard is returned to the sender.
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