Peterson engagement wasn't a stunt

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JOLIET, Ill., Feb. 4 (UPI) -- An Illinois man says his daughter's engagement to a man, whose third wife was found dead and fourth wife went missing, wasn't a publicity stunt.

Ernie Raines contradicted his daughter, Christina, 24, when he said her engagement to Drew Peterson was legitimate, the Joliet Herald Tribune reported Wednesday.

Christina Raines told a television audience her engagement to Peterson a "stunt" suggested by Peterson's attorney.

"Well, (Peterson) had told me that his lawyer had wanted him to be in the media and wanted to propose to someone at a restaurant," Christina Raines said during an interview on CBS's "The Early Show" to discuss the break-up.

Ernie Raines says if that were true he wouldn't have been so upset about the prospect of his daughter marrying Peterson.

Peterson, a retired Bolingbrook policeman, is a suspect in the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacey, and authorities have reopened an investigation into the death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio.