"Three dozen phone calls came in to the warden's office on Peterson's first day at his new home in San Quentin State Prison – women were pleading for his mailing address, and one smitten 18-year-old said she wanted to marry him," the paper said.

"Smitten?" Yes, say experts, even though as far as anyone knows, none of the women have yet to meet Peterson or spend any time with him.

Besides the thrill of marrying a "notorious" man, the paper reported, there is this fact: A death row inmate likely won't be coming home – ever – so if things don't work out, oh well.

"They love the celebrity status," Jack Levin, a criminologist who is director of the Brudnick Center on Violence at Northeastern University in Boston, told the Chronicle. Co-author of the book "Extreme Killing: Understanding Serial and Mass Murder," Levin said the book examines "killer groupies," among other bizarre behavior surrounding the condemned.

Other notable notorious killers who garner much attention include: