Man Who Brought Attention to Craigslist with Murder Charge Pleads Not Guilty

June 23, 2009 by Suzanne Conlon

Philip Markoff, 23, a man accused of murdering a woman whom he met online through Craigslist pleaded not guilty in Suffolk Superior Court Monday.  Earlier this year, online community posting site Craigslist stopped allowing listings for erotic services largely because of Markoff’s arrest and the resulting complaints over the site’s role in facilitating violent crime.

Markoff is charged with crimes against three victims, the most serious resulting in first-degree murder, kidnapping and armed robbery charges.  The victim in that case, Julissa Brisman, 25, was murdered at the Boston Marriott Copley Place hotel on April 14.  Prosecutors say that Markoff found Brisman through an erotic massage ad that she had placed on Craigslist, met her at the hotel, and then bound and beat her before shooting her three times.

He is also accused of robbing Trisha Leffler, 29, a prostitute from Las Vegas who he allegedly lured to another Boston hotel and tied up before robbing her.  According to Prosecutor Jennifer Hickman, Leffler was robbed of over $800.  The third case involves assaulting another woman, a stripper, who he found through a Craigslist ad in Warwick, Rhode Island.  He allegedly attempted to rob her at gunpoint, but fled when her husband entered the room.

Markoff was a second-year medical student at Boston University at the time of his arrest.  Prosecutors arrested him after they traced an email address used to set up an appointment with Brisman.

“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,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley following Markoff’s arrest in April.  “He probably thought he was going to get away with it.  He thought he was too smart for us.”

Investigators later said that they had found the 9mm handgun used to kill Brisman in a hollowed-out copy of medical textbook Gray’s Anatomy in Markoff’s apartment.  Megan McAllister, Markoff’s fiancée at the time, said in an April email to ABC’s Good Morning America, “he could not hurt a fly.  All I have to say is Philip is a beautiful person, inside and out.”  She has since canceled their wedding, which had been scheduled for August.

In response to complaints from police, prosecutors, and the attorneys general of Missouri, Illinois, and Connecticut, Craigslist agreed in May to close its “erotic services” section.  It opened a new “adult services” category and began charging $10 to list ads.  The company says that the content is also monitored.  The attorneys general believe that it is still too soon to say whether the changes will be effective.

Markoff’s court date has been set for June 1, 2010.