wellness: Last News

Newsweek, Lee, 61, said her former anger had been fueled by the question of her gender identity. Now, she said she finally felt comfortable living as a woman in the Oregon State Penitentiary, where she is serving six life sentences for the killings of Hawke-Petit, 48, Hayley Petit, 17, and 11-year-old Michaela Rose Petit in Cheshire on July 23, 2007."For the first time in my life I am happy to be alive and do not want to die," Lee told Newsweek via email on Jan.

15, adding she intends to resume hormone replacement therapy shortly.The vast majority of inmates in Oregon State Penitentiary are men, but Lee said she is able to wear makeup, eye shadow, foundation, eyeliner and even lipstick on occasion. She also cherishes her jewelry, including rings and necklaces, as well as bras, panties and what she called a "slightly feminized" uniform.

That had eliminated her thoughts of suicide. She's now seeking breast augmentation and hair replacement therapy since male pattern baldness drastically enhances her gender dysphoria.Lee said that she had initially been diagnosed at the age of 16 with the condition - a feeling of distress that can happen when a person's gender identity differs from the sex they are born with.

But Lee said she wasn't told of the diagnosis at the time and that "intolerance" simmered inside her for decades."I hurt, so I hurt others," she said.Had Lee accepted herself earlier, Hawke-Petit and her daughters may still be alive, she said."I think about them every day and regret my part in what happened and all the pain I caused," Lee said. "That is why I want to use my life today to prevent someone else from doing what I did."Lee characterized her actions as "wrong on every level," the behavior of someone deeply mired in addiction and gender identity issues.

Newsweek was unable to reach Komisarjevsky for comment.The only survivor of the attack was William Petit Jr., who was bound and beaten with a baseball bat. He declined to comment on Lee's transition