Drew Peterson and fiancee Christina Raines make 'Today Show' appearance
The Drew Peterson media tour continued Friday morning when the former Bolingbrook cop and his young lady love Christina Raines appeared together on a "Today" show snugglefest.
(NBC/The Today Show)
Drew Peterson: 'Looks like the devil actually won this round'
Raines, 24, told a "Today" show reporter in a taped interview that she believes Peterson, 55, has done nothing wrong, though she understands why none of her family or friends -- with the exception of her mother -- support the relationship.
"I don't believe he'll hurt anyone," she said. "He's nice. He has a good heart, he's very caring and I don't think he'll ever hurt me or anyone else." She joked that if she thought Peterson would harm her: "I'm running the other way." Peterson's future father-in-law, Ernest Raines, called him "the devil" in a previous interview.
"It looks like the devil actually won this round," Peterson said Friday when asked about this.
Noting there were pictures of Peterson's fourth wife Stacy, who disappeared in 2007 and who he is still married to, around the house, Raines looked uncomfortable. Peterson said she didn't want to answer a question about whether it was hard to live in a home surrounded by pictures of Peterson's missing wife, who he has maintained left him for another man.
Peterson said Friday he was attracted to Raines because she was "a simple girl." He said he's done having children with eight children between them and a grandchild on the way. Raines said she would like one more child, saying she wants "family" out of the relationship.
Raines said she was hoping for a June or July wedding. Peterson said he wanted the wedding "as soon as possible," though he needs to divorce Stacy Peterson first.
Raines, who has largely stayed away from the limelight Peterson embraces, previously told CBS' "The Early Show" that their engagement was a publicity "stunt" in an appearance on the show with her father.
She and her two young children moved in, out and back into Peterson's Bolingbrook home within the last month.
Stacy Peterson was 23 years old when she disappeared in 2007. Authorities have labeled Drew Peterson as a suspect in her disappearance, which they called a "potential homicide." Police also continue to investigate the 2004 bathtub drowning death of Peterson's third wife, Kathleen Savio.
Raines testified on Feb. 5 before a Will County grand jury investigating Stacy Peterson's disappearance and Savio's death.
Peterson's four children from his marriages to Savio and Stacy Peterson live at the Bolingbrook home. The oldest of is 15 years old.