Philip Markoff (February 12, 1986 - August 15, 2010)[1] was an American
medical student who was charged with the armed robbery and murder of Julissa Brisman in a
Boston hotel on April 14, 2009, and two other armed robberies.[2][3]
Markoff maintained his innocence of all charges and pleaded not guilty at his arraignment. A grand jury
indicted Markoff for
first-degree murder, armed robbery, and other charges.[4][5]
On August 15, 2010, Markoff died by
suicide in Boston's
Nashua Street Jail, where he was awaiting trial.[1][6] Markoff was one of several criminals described by media outlets as the "Craigslist Killer", because the killer was alleged to have met his victims through ads placed on the internet site
Craigslist. Two of Markoff's victims were offering erotic services on Craigslist.[7][8][9]
Background
Philip Markoff was the son of Susan (née Haynes)[10] and Richard Markoff, a dentist in
Syracuse, New York. He had an older brother, Jonathan Markoff, and a half-sister (whose father was Susan's second husband, Gary Carroll, a banker).[11] He graduated in 2004 from
Vernon-Verona-Sherrill High School,[12] where he was a member of the
National Honor Society,[13] the History Club, the Youth Court, and the school bowling and golf teams.[14]
After high school, Markoff attended
SUNY Albany where he was a pre-med student. He graduated from SUNY Albany in 2007, and applied for medical schools after taking the MCAT.[2][15] He was a second-year medical student at
Boston University School of Medicine at the time of the crimes. He was suspended from the school after the criminal charges were filed against him.[15]
Markoff met Megan McAllister, a native of
New Jersey, in 2005, while they were both volunteers at the
Albany Medical Center emergency room.[16] They were engaged to be married, with their wedding planned for August 14, 2009.[17] McAllister was to have begun medical school in the fall of 2009.[18]
Robberies and murder
Markoff was suspected in three robberies, one of which included a murder.
Julissa Brisman (who had posted an advertisement online offering massage services) was found dead on April 14, 2009, at the Copley
Marriott, also in Boston.[7][19][20]
Police suspected that the three crimes – close in time and similar in many ways – were committed by the same person.[9] Security camera footage, cell phone activity, and email evidence led police to suspect Markoff in the April 10 and April 14 incidents,[21] and he was arrested April 20 in
Walpole, Massachusetts, while he and his fiancée were en route to
Foxwoods Casino in
Connecticut.[22]
On April 21, he was
arraigned in Brisman's death; the prosecutor stated that a
semi-automatic handgun, wrist restraints, and
duct tape had been found in Markoff's apartment.[21][23] Markoff pleaded not guilty.[2]
On May 4, Rhode Island officials issued a warrant for Markoff's arrest in the April 16 incident, though the state's Attorney General said that their prosecution would not go forward until the Boston charges were resolved.[3]
Markoff's trial was originally expected to begin in July 2010 but was later delayed to March 2011.[24][25]
While Markoff was called a ‘‘monstrous prostitute-predator’’ by the media,[26] his fiancée initially affirmed her belief in his innocence, calling him "beautiful inside and out".[16][27] On April 29 she visited Markoff in jail to call off their wedding.[17] On June 11, she visited Markoff a second time and told him she did not plan to see him again for "a long period of time, if ever".[28]
Suicide
Markoff made several suicide attempts while at the
Nashua Street Jail; one attempt was made three days after his arrest, an additional attempt after his fiancée broke up with him, and another attempt on the day his wedding was to have taken place. At various times he was on
suicide watch or in the jail's psychiatric unit.[29][30][31][32]
On August 15, 2010, one year and one day after his wedding was to have taken place,[33] Markoff was found dead in his cell.[1] He had used a knife, made from a pen and a piece of metal, to cut arteries in his ankles, legs, and neck. He had also swallowed toilet paper and tightened a plastic bag over his head with gauze.[34]
Additionally, he had written his former fiancée's name and their pet names for each other in blood on the cell wall, and photographs of the two of them were scattered about.[35]
The April 25, 2009 episode of the CBS News television series 48 Hours Mystery, titled "Craigslist: Classified for Murder", was devoted to the case.[30]
A Date with Death: The Secret Life of the Accused "Craigslist Killer" written by
Michele McPhee, was published by St. Martin's True Crime Library on May 25, 2010.[38]
The Season 3 premiere of Murder Made Me Famous, which aired on April 8, 2017, chronicled the case.
The second episode of Season 5 (2019) of the
Investigation Discovery show See No Evil covered Julissa Brisman's murder and the search for her killer.[39]