Philip Markoff, the accused “Craigslist Killer” and a former Boston University medical student, committed suicide by stabbing himself with a “primitive scalpel” and wrapping plastic bags around his head and feet, the district attorney said at a Tuesday press conference.
It should not obscure the overwhelming evidence against Mr. Markoff or the brutality of his crimes,” said Daniel Conley, the Suffolk County DA. “It is, in no small way, the ultimate indicator of consciousness of guilt.”
The apparent suicide ends the DA’s investigation of Markoff, Conley said, and his office will file to end the case on Sept. 16.
Markoff, who was awaiting trial for murder in the first degree and other charges, was found dead in his jail cell on Sunday by a corrections officer. He was pronounced dead at 10:17 a.m. by emergency medical responders.
A medical examiner concluded that blood loss and suffocation combined to cause Markoff’s death, Conley said. Markoff had apparently fashioned a scalpel out of a pen and a piece of metal to puncture several veins in his body, including a carotid artery.
Security footage showed that Markoff’s cell did not have any visitors the night before he was discovered dead. Markoff was the sole occupant of the cell, and the scalpel wounds appear to be “consistent with suicide,” Conley said.
Still, homicide detectives are investigating the death.
In addition, Conley confirmed that the words “Megan,” which is the first name of Markoff’s former fiancée, and “pocket” were scrawled on the wall of his jail cell in a substance that appeared to be blood. Conley did not say whether authorities knew the significance of the word “pocket” to Markoff.
Media outfits had dubbed Markoff the “Craigslist Killer” because police alleged he found victims over the popular website.
The DA said Markoff’s death denies an important moment for the family of Julissa Brisman, who Markoff was accused of killing.
“With Philip Markoff’s final actions, the Brisman family has been deprived of an opportunity to hear a verdict rendered, to see justice pronounced and even the chance to tell the court and Mr. Markoff &- face to face &- what Julissa meant to them and the immeasurable pain and loss he inflicted upon them,” Conley said.
“These are important moments for victims of this type of violence and, as we did from the very beginning, I ask you all again to keep Julissa Brisman and her family and friends in your thoughts and prayers.”
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