Woman's father - Stay away from my daughter, Drew Peterson!

A father has told Drew Peterson to get the heck away from his 23 year old child after an article appeared Thursday about his impending marriage to the young woman. Christina Raines, 23, is Peterson's 6th fiancee and will be his fifth wife if and when his last wife is officially declared dead.
The proposal happened sometime on the week of December 7 - 13, because Chris was spotted wearing a engagement ring Friday the 12th. Drew Peterson is the suburban Chicago (Bolingbrook, IL) policeman whose 4th wife, Stacy Peterson, has been missing since October 2007.

Until the body of Stacy is found or she is legally declared dead, Drew is still officially married to Stacy. After Stacy’s disappearance, Drew Peterson’s 3rd wife Kathleen’s body was exhumed. The cause of Kathleen’s death in March of 2004, originally thought to be suicide by drowning, was found to be murder after bruises were found on Kathy’s body.

The father, 53 year old Ernie Raines, isn't too happy.

"I said, 'You need to take that back. If you don't want to, I will,' " said Ernie Raines, 53. "I said, why would you want to marry someone like that anyway? He's my age for Christ's sake."

Ernie Raines said he and his daughter met Peterson at a Bolingbrook laundromat years ago, and that she has been friendly with him for months. Peterson has brought her roses, taken her to "Blue Man Group," promised to buy her a car and even autographed a book for him, Ernie Raines said.

Concerned about Peterson -- "I don't want a third one to come up missing" -- Ernie Raines said he drove to Peterson's house last month to "let him know that I'm here, that I'm around, that I know where he lives."

He said Peterson asked him, "Did you get my book?""We talked, I said, 'You know me, I'd kill for my kids, you know that,' " Ernie Raines said. "He told me: 'I will never do nothing to hurt your daughter, that's why I didn't put her name out.' "

Besides the suspicions about foul play and the last two wives Drew Peterson had, he also had a assault weapons charge filed against him. The unlawful use of a weapon charge stemmed from Peterson's ownership of a Colt AR-15 assault rifle taken from Peterson's job as a swat team member. The possession of the rifle would have been legal if the gun barrel was 16 inches or longer.

Judge Richard Schoenstedt threw out the weapons charge in November after prosecutors including Assistant State's Attorney John Connor failed to turn over evidence to help the Peterson defense try to prove that their client was a victim of a malicious prosecution.

On December 12, the Will County State Attorney's Office said through their spokesman Charles Pelkie that they appealed the decision to dismiss the case.

"We indicated right from the start that we planned to appeal this decision...We fully expect to win on appeal."

A timeline of the Peterson case can be found here.