Drew Peterson: Why I'm Getting Married Again

Jan. 29, 2009— -- Drew Peterson says he understands why his future fifth wife's loved ones are concerned for her safety. But Peterson, who is a suspect in the disappearance of his fourth wife Stacy and the death of his third wife Kathleen Savio in their Bolingbrook, Ill., home, said that "I'm a good guy."

Peterson's first two wives have complained about him being very controlling and, before her disappearance, Stacy allegedly told her minister that Peterson confessed to killing Savio.

"All of which didn't happen," Peterson told "Nightline" in his first interview since his engagement. "But I will acknowledge that I would have concerns if I was the friends and family of this young girl.

"She likes me. She likes me a lot," he said of his fiancée Christina Raines, 23. "I'm good to her and I treat her better than she's ever been treated."

Despite still being legally married to Stacy, Peterson, 55, says he is OK with getting remarried and is deeply in love. The couple haven't yet set a date, but Peterson says they'll wed this year. In the state of Illinois, Peterson can be granted a divorce on the basis of abandonment and is free to remarry if Stacy Peterson doesn't respond to a court submission within 30 days.

"I like being married," he said. "I like having a family. ... I enjoy belonging to somebody."

But Peterson acknowledged that, while he liked the early romantic stages of each relationship, he eventually lost interest when "there was no excitement in the marriage anymore."

"I'm basically attracted to young, beautiful women with good personalities," he said. "That's what I'm attracted to."

While Raines, who is 32 years younger than Peterson, is reluctant to speak publicly, Peterson has been proclaiming his innocence for more than a year to anyone who will listen. He has not been charged in either case.

"It's pretty terrifying," Peterson said of all the negative attention. "You know, you're in your house and you're under suspicion for horrendous activity and next thing you know, you've got every news crew get in your face all over America."

But some people believe that Peterson enjoys the attention, joking with the media and the public and holding impromptu news conferences.

"I think dealing with them, in such a manner of humor, was the way I was able to cope with it all," he admitted. "It's kind of comical. I have fun with it. I'll go out somewhere and I'll be recognized and it's just like, I think my, my personality's gone from sinister to celebrity."

But Illinois state prosecutors aren't laughing, and they say they expect to resolve their investigation soon.