‘Craigslist killer’ suspect pleads not guilty, held without bail

Boston University School of Medicine second-year student Philip Markoff, accused of killing a 25-year-old New York masseuse he allegedly met on Craigslist, pleaded not guilty in a strong, clear voice Monday in Suffolk Superior Court to first-degree murder, armed robbery and kidnapping charges.

A judge ordered Markoff, 23, to be held without bail, without objection from his court-appointed defense attorney John Salsberg. A grand jury indicted Markoff Thursday on seven counts, including the April 14 killing and attempted robbery of Julissa Brisman at the Boston Marriott Copley Place Hotel and the April 10 armed robbery of Trisha Leffler, 29, at the Westin Copley Place, according to the district attorney’s office.

Markoff, dressed in a blue and white striped, collared shirt and khaki slacks, stared straight ahead without expression as Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Edmond Zabin detailed the attacks against Brisman, Leffler and a third woman who Markoff also attempted to rob April 16 at a Warwick, R.I. hotel, according to an arrest warrant.

Salsberg called the rehashing of details unnecessary and unsuccessfully asked Judge Gary Wilson that Zabin not continue. Wilson said there was no precedent for granting such a request.

Evidence linking Markoff to the hotel attacks included witness testimony, surveillance footage, forensics and Internet and telephone records, Zabin said. Markoff allegedly contacted the women through the ‘Erotic Services’ section of the online advertising site Craigslist, and arranged meetings with them using three different disposable Tracfones, a prepaid cell phone that does not require the user to provide any identifying information, he said.

On April 14, Markoff allegedly met Brisman in her room on the 20th floor of the Boston Marriot Copley Place Hotel after answering her Craigslist advertisement for ‘erotic massage,’ Zabin said. Upon entering, Markoff attempted to restrain Brisman at gunpoint with plastic ties, but she resisted, Zabin said. In the struggle, Markoff allegedly struck her on the head with ‘severe force,’ then fatally shot Brisman three times, Zabin said.

Four days earlier, Markoff allegedly robbed Leffler at gunpoint in the Westin Copley Place, binding her wrists with plastic ties and stealing cash and personal items before covering her mouth with duct tape, cutting the phone lines in the room and leaving, Zabin said.

Markoff’s former fianc’eacute;, Megan McAllister, was out of town when Markoff allegedly committed the crime spree, Zabin said.

A search of Markoff’s Quincy apartment revealed a 9mm automatic handgun hidden in a hollowed out copy of ‘Gray’s Anatomy,’ which ballistics later match to the gun that killed Brisman, additional ammunition, plastic ties and Tracfones, and multiple laptops, on one of which the hard drive still contained emails between Markoff and the alleged victims, Zabin said.

Markoff’s fingerprints were also found on the purchasing documents of the handgun used to fatally shoot Brisman, Zabin said. Markoff allegedly bought the 9mm handgun in Mason, N.H. in February using a New York man’s driver’s license. Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley said it was unclear in what capacity Markoff and Andrew Miller, the New York man whose license Markoff used, knew each other, if at all.

When Markoff was arrested in late April, as he was driving with McAllister on Interstate 95 headed to Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut, he allegedly had in his possession the Tracfone he had used to contact Leffler as well as’ Miller’s driver’s license, Zabin said.

Investigators were initially concerned that there may exist other victims yet to come forward, but despite a notice posted by investigators on Craigslist requesting that other victims contact authorities, there is no evidence at this time that suggests Markoff attacked more than the three known women, Conley said.

Conley said investigators may never know what led Markoff to allegedly commit such ‘brutality’ against the three women, but lack of motive will not hurt the prosecution’s efforts.

‘We’re very satisfied at this point that the evidence that we’ve developed . . . supports these charges,’ Conley said. But the case remains ‘open and active, and we’ll aggressively pursue any and all additional evidence.’

Markoff’s attorney Salsberg criticized the investigation, alleging that the grand jury may have been inappropriately exposed to details about the case, perhaps tainting Thursday’s indictments. In response, Salsberg said he filed a motion requesting that the district attorney’s office answer nine questions pertaining to the handling of the grand jury investigation, which will be addressed Tuesday afternoon in a hearing. Markoff has waived his right to appear at that hearing.

‘The prosecution team has continuously been beating the drum, releasing information to the press, and I suggest what’s going to end up happening is the jury pool is going to be poisoned,’ Salsberg said. ‘I’m starting this case at the very beginning, which is to look at these indictments and determine whether or not the proceedings were conducted appropriately or not appropriately.’

Salsberg declined to discuss the case further, but said the Markoff family is ‘definitely sticking by’ their son.

Brisman’s mother, Carmen Guzman, accompanied by a victim witness advocate as well as family and friends, attended the arraignment, holding the hand of a companion sitting beside her during the proceedings. Even though Brisman’s murder is ‘immeasurable and unfathomable,’ Guzman wanted to attend Markoff’s arraignment, Brisman’s mother said through a spokesman.

‘We are overwhelmed and devastated by the loss of our Julissa,’ Jeremy Silverfine, reading a statement on behalf of Guzman, said after Markoff’s arraignment. ‘We ask for compassion and privacy as we continue the long process of grieving.’

In addition to Tuesday’s hearing, Markoff is scheduled for pretrial hearings in August and December, as well as May 2010. His trial is set to begin in June 2010.
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