When Philip Markoff, the alleged ‘Craigslist killer,’ entered Courtroom 10 in Boston Municipal Court Tuesday morning for his arraignment, silence fell.
The Boston University student, handcuffs visible over his blue and white button-down shirt, remained silent throughout the eight minute arraignment, which had been pushed back to noon to allow family members of the victims to attend, according to Jake Wark, press secretary for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office.
The accused School of Medicine second-year student, Markoff, 23, was sentenced to be held without bail after being charged with the April 14 alleged murder of New York woman Julissa Brisman, and for $250,000 bail in the separate April 10 alleged kidnapping and armed robbery of Las Vegas woman Trisha Leffler. Both women had advertised masseuse services on popular online classifieds site Craigslist.
A plea of not guilty was submitted on Markoff’s behalf at the arraignment, which revealed further details about the events that led to the upstate New York native and University at Albany graduate’s arrest Monday night.
Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Hickman said the suspect bound the first victim, Leffler’s, wrists with zip ties after surprising her with a gun.
On the night of April 10, the victim met with the suspect at Westin Copley Place hotel in Boston’s Back Bay around midnight, Hickman said. When the two made it to their hotel room, the suspect allegedly bound the woman to the door handles of the room and went through her belongings, stealing $800 and other items, Hickman said.’
Brisman’s death at the Boston Marriott Copley Place hotel occurred after she put up a fight against being bound, Hickman said.
Brisman’s head was bashed and she was shot three times, Hickman said. One shot pierced her left hip, another shot went through her chest and the third, fatal bullet punctured her heart and killed her immediately, Hickman said. Plastic zip ties were found at the crime scene.
Markoff was taken into custody Monday on Interstate 95 on the way to Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut with his fianc’eacute;e Megan McCallister, according to The Boston Globe. Markoff and McCallister had a wedding date set for August, according to an engagement website that was taken offline from the Internet Tuesday afternoon. He was arrested at 7 p.m. after Boston Police found evidence at his Quincy home.
Police found a semiautomatic firearm with ammunition, duct tape, plastic zip ties similar to ones allegedly used in the crimes and other ‘strong’ forensic evidence in Markoff’s apartment Monday night after taking Markoff into custody, Hickman said. Virtual evidence, including Internet Protocol addresses tracing back to Markoff’s computer and incriminating cell phone records, has also been uncovered. Markoff had opened an email account the day before Brisman’s murder, which BPD used to trace him.
‘This was a brutal, vicious crime, savage, and it shows Philip Markoff is a man who is willing to take advantage of women, to hurt them, to beat them, to rob them,’ Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley said. ‘He probably thought he was going to get away with it. He thought he was too smart for us.’
Surveillance photos and videos from the two hotels, showing a man with blonde hair, had already been released by BPD to the public, which asked for tips, or clues for the investigation. More than 150 tips came in, Conley said.
Though probation officers said during the arraignment that Markoff has no previous criminal record in Massachusetts or out-of-state, Conley said he may have struck other times and that any other victims were urged to come forward.
‘Our priority is to hold him accountable for each and every one of these crimes, not to hold you accountable for offering services on Craigslist,’ Conley said.
Another robbery that occurred in Warwick, R.I. Thursday may also be connected to Markoff, authorities said. Warwick police released surveillance photos, similar to those from the BPD, of a man comparable in physical description to the man in the Boston photos leaving a hotel after a robbery similar to those Markoff stands trial for. The victim in Rhode Island had also allegedly advertised her services on Craigslist and been bound by zip ties.
Markoff’s attorney John Salsberg said at a news conference after the arraignment that all he had at the moment were ‘words, no proof of anything.’
‘He has pleaded not guilty,’ Salsberg said. ‘He is not guilty.’
The pretrial hearing is set for May 21.
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