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OMFG, Peter Braunstein XOXOs Gossip Girl
By
Jen Chung
Published Sep 21, 2009
Modified Sep 21, 2009
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By
Jen Chung
Published Sep 21, 2009
Modified Sep 21, 2009
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Peter Braunstein loves keeping in touch. The former journalist was convicted of attacking and assaulting a former colleague—while kidnapping her in her own apartment for 13 hours by pretending to be a firefighter (he set a fire in her building's stairwell) —in 2005 and sentenced to 20 years to life in prison in 2007. There was also a manhunt and capture after suicide attempt in Memphis. Now, he writes letters to the Post and Daily News, detailing his love for CW shows and his ultimately achieved goal of fame (or infamy).
Braunstein's given jailhouse interviews to the Post and Daily News since being in lockup, but now the tabloids can compare notes on what they got: The Post says it received a " seven-page, handwritten letter" from the "stir-crazy, suicidal sex fiend" while the News describes its missive as a three-pager. He tells the Post, "There's another incentive or two for staying in the game, namely, Season 3 of 'Gossip Girl.' But still I ask myself: Sure, it's probably going to be great, but is 'Gossip Girl' in and of itself reason enough to stay alive? We'll see." Um, Blake Lively, Taylor Momsen, and Leighton Meester—be glad he's behind bars.
He adds, "Before I concocted the fireman idea, when I was just an extremely hurt and practically nonfunctioning person, I felt like the most unwanted person in New York .And then overnight I became NYC's Most Wanted, and then one of America's Most Wanted. It was just so ironic." To the Daily News, he writes something similar: "I accomplished what I set out to do. Before the crime, I had been shunned by the fashion world, shunned by the worst girlfriend ever, shunned by my friends, shunned by the city itself. I felt like New York's most unwanted person. And then suddenly I became New York's Most Wanted and then America's Most Wanted because of that show. ... I went from being an on-the-rise reporter with a beautiful girlfriend in a long-term relationship to a jobless down-on-his-luck-guy, to a full-fledged psychotic."
Other Braunstein tidbits: He's also watching The Mentalist, The Beautiful Life and Melrose Place; he got a bevy of female admirer pen pals; and he really enjoyed going to Applebee's with cops while in Ohio to face other charges (robbery and abduction while on the lam), "Hey, this isn't half bad, what with the planes, the franchise-restaurant food, maybe I should start copping to some of the still-unsolved stuff I pulled during the manhunt and rack up some more frequent-flier miles."
Tagged
crazy
fire fiend
gossip girl
kidnapping
peter braunstein
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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