Boston University School of Medicine second-year student and alleged ‘Craigslist killer’ Philip Markoff waived his right to appear in a pretrial hearing Thursday morning in Boston Municipal Court.
Markoff, 23, who is accused of killing 25-year-old masseuse Julissa Brisman of New York City, chose not to appear because he did not expect anything of consequence to happen in this hearing, according to his lawyer John Salsberg. Susan Haynes, Markoff’s mother, attended the hearing despite her son’s absence.’
‘There was no purpose in his appearing in court,’ Salsberg said.
Salsberg declined to discuss the charges against Markoff, and said he does not have ‘any expectations in particular’ for the case.
A probable cause hearing is set for July 1, but will be canceled if Markoff is indicted by a grand jury before then, as is expected by the prosecution. Markoff’s case would then move out of Boston Municipal Court to Superior Court.
Markoff is charged with the April 14 murder of Brisman at the Boston Marriott Copley Place Hotel and the April 10 armed robbery and kidnapping of Trisha Leffler, 29, at the Westin Copley Place, and is also charged in an arrest warrant with attempting to rob a prostitute April 16 at a Warwick, R.I. hotel. Markoff allegedly contacted the woman through Craigslist.
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