Wichita ? A Wichita man whose crime spree with his brother left five people dead and one seriously injured is looking for a supportive woman – even though he currently sits on death row.

“An intelligent (career woman if possible) woman with an open mind and a big heart,” reads a personal ad for Reginald Carr on a Web site run by the Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty.

Carr and his brother, Jonathan, were sentenced to death in December 2002 after they kidnapped five people from a Wichita home in 2000 and fatally shot four of them execution-style on a soccer field. A fifth woman also was shot but survived.

The Carrs also were convicted of first-degree murder in the death of a woman who was shot four days before the soccer field slayings.

Assistant County Attorney Kim Parker, who helped prosecute the Carrs, told The Wichita Eagle that Carr’s search for a female friend was “sickening.”

“He can continue to manipulate people who would answer this ad. It’s gruesome,” Parker said.

Parker said Reginald Carr was popular with women even while in jail awaiting trial for his crimes.

“Women had sent nude pictures of themselves and other letters, little greeting cards,” she said.

The appeal of such inmates is not unusual. Dennis Rader, the infamous BTK serial killer, was overwhelmed with correspondence while in jail, including marriage proposals and money.

Reginald Carr’s personal ad says he is a “hopeless romantic” seeking “a ‘mature woman’ who has time to correspond with someone who enjoys writing a lot.

“I enjoy reading, drawing, writing & reading poetry, working out and conversing about politics,” it says.

Although Kansas prison inmates are not allowed to use personal funds to solicit mail through Web sites, they often have people outside of prison post the information for them, said Frances Breyene, spokeswoman for the Corrections Department.

That is what happened in Carr’s case – the Canadian Web site solicits letters for death row inmates, appealing to their sympathy for the inmates’ living conditions.

The Web site says: “Death row inmates are alone in a cell 23 hours out of every day. Often the highlight of their day is when they receive mail, a brief reprieve from the outside world in an otherwise lonely and isolated existence. A few words, a postcard, and the fact that you took a moment to write can mean a great deal. You can make a difference.”

Capt. Dale Call, public information officer for the El Dorado Correctional Facility where Rader and Carr are inmates, said those who check mail found all types of things, including pornography, drugs and even plans for making weapons.

While most sexually explicit photos are confiscated in the mail room, they sometimes slip through: Corrections Department records show Carr received a disciplinary report in May 2005 for having sexually explicit materials.

“Sometimes you’ve got to wonder who’s taking those pictures and if they think their loved one is the only one who is going to see it,” Call said.

A U.S. Department of Justice study of such ads showed that two-thirds of the inmates who post them accurately described their conditions and their crimes, but violent offenders convicted of murder and rape were most likely to lie.

Many of the women who answer the ads find safety in a man who is locked away, said Sheila Isenberg, author of the book “Women Who Marry Men Who Kill.”

“He can’t hurt her,” Isenberg said. “She is very much in control of the relationship, unlike in the past when she was being abused.”

Prisoners, Isenberg said, also have plenty of time to write long, flowery, loving letters.

“Every letter I’ve ever gotten from a prisoner is six, eight, 10 pages long,” Isenberg said.

Such relationships with prisoners are often mistaken for something they’re not, she said.

“What it’s not,” Isenberg said, “is love.”