‘Craigslist killer’ suspect faces additional charges

Rhode Island police have issued a warrant seeking assault and weapon charges against Philip Markoff, alleged ‘Craigslist killer,’ for attempting to rob a prostitute at gunpoint in a Warwick, R.I. hotel, Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch said Monday in an aired news conference.

Markoff, 23, a Boston University School of Medicine second-year student, is already facing charges in Boston for the April 14 murder of Julissa Brisman, 25, at the Boston Marriott Copley Place Hotel and the April 10 armed robbery and kidnapping of Trisha Leffler, 29, at the Westin Copley Place. Markoff allegedly contacted the women through Craigslist.

Markoff’s fingerprint was allegedly found in a Holiday Inn Express Hotel and Suites in Warwick, where a prostitute was held up at gunpoint on April 16, according to The Boston Globe. The woman, who advertised private lap dances on Craigslist, reported that a man fitting Markoff’s description tied her up at gunpoint before fleeing the scene after the woman’s husband entered the room.

Police arrested Markoff April 20 for the Boston charges. He pled not guilty to all charges on April 21 and is currently being held without bail in the Nashua Street Jail.

Lynch announced that Markoff now faces four new assault and weapons charges. The arrest warrant, which will be delivered to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office and the Nashua Street Jail, will serve as ‘a hold in the system’ against Markoff until a Rhode Island grand jury or prosecutor reviews the charges.

After the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office begins reviewing Markoff’s charges, the Rhode Island District Attorney’s Office will have the right to ‘request the body be brought to a court in Rhode Island,’ Lynch said.

‘Ultimately, when he’s brought here, he’ll be arraigned,’ Lynch said.