A Dunedin woman has met up with her boyfriend in an American jail.
Brooke McGregor (23) travelled to Ohio to meet Michael Douglass, who was convicted of murdering Sabyasachi Debnath, of Bangladesh, in a hotel room when he was 18.
He's now 27 and serving time in the Toledo Correctional Institution for a crime he says he didn't commit.
Ms McGregor met Douglass through a pen pal website in August last year, according to Fairfax.
"I was drawn to his cheeky smile, his eyes - they begged for love and somebody to care," she said.
"I was nervous that it was going to be less of a connection than in writing, but it was like we had known each other for years."
Ms McGregor left for the United States in February and is staying in Middletown until April.
The town is about three hours away from the prison, and Ms McGregor has been catching rides with Douglass' family.
Douglass is reportedly allowed two full-day visits per month.
Ms McGregor has posted a handful of pictures of her holding hands and hugging Douglass during her visit.
Douglass told Fairfax that he wrote back to Ms McGregor a day after she contacted him, saying he didn't mind she was writing from New Zealand as he just wanted a friend.
"I knew right then and there I loved her and that she was someone very special."
