Philip Markoff, Pre-Med Student at Boston University, Dubbed the "Craigslist Killer" Arrested for the Murder of Julissa Brisman

UPDATE

According to ABC News, a police source close to the investigation of the Boston man charged with robbing two women he met on Craigslist and killing one says a search of Philip Markoff's house turned up guns and plastic ties, and police believe his motive in the crimes was to pay off gambling debts.

His fiancee Megan McAllister told ABC News the police are wrong.

"Unfortunately, you were given wrong information as was the public," McAllister wrote to ABC News in an e-mail. "All I have to say to you is Philip is a beautiful person inside and out and could not hurt a fly! A police officer in Boston (or many) is trying to make big bucks by selling this false story to the TV stations. What else is new?? Philip is an intelligent man who is just trying to live his life so if you could leave us alone we would greatly appreciate it. We expect to marry in August and share and wonderful, meaningful life together."

Well, she is sadly mistakened if she thinks the police arrested him on a whim.
On first glance, Philip Markoff, the 22-year old pre-med student dubbed the "Craigslist Killer" doesn't fit the bill -- a murderer and a thief. Some say he's too clean-shaven. He's too decent. He's engaged to be married to Megan McAllister. He has way too much going for himself to resort to such behavior. But wasn't Scott Peterson clean-cut and suave too? Of course, a person is innocent until proven guilty, but I have to wonder if the cops could have made such a terrible mistake and arrest the wrong guy? What do you think?

Last night, Boston cops named Markoff the cold-blooded "Craigslist Killer," who murdered New York masseuse Julissa Brisman and attacked at least two other escorts in hotels. Markoff attends Boston University, which I sure does not welcome this sort of publicity, and lives in Quincy, a harborside town 10 minutes south of Boston. He will be arraigned on murder charges today. According to media reports, the brainy blond doctor-to-be grew up in upstate Sherrill, N.Y. and attended SUNY Albany for his undergraduate studies. He has no rap sheet, but they believe he has been preying on sex workers for quite some time. Yes, they are branding him as a predator. He was arrested after cops tailed him for several days. Markoff will also be charged with kidnapping and robbery in an attack four days earlier in another luxury Boston hotel on an exotic dancer who advertised online.

I don't condone what he did by any means, but people who advertise their services on the Internet, whether it be as an escort or a masseuse, are asking for some serious trouble. You are opening yourself up to potential criminals bent on doing bodily harm, as this man has been accused of doing.

Markoff seems to have grown up with a great deal of privilege, which makes his alleged actions seem incredulous, but not impossible. He is the son of a Syracuse dentist and engaged to marry Megan McAllister, a fellow med student he met while they were at SUNY Albany. According to the NY Daily News, a Web page devoted to their planned wedding later this year recounts how they volunteered together at an area emergency room and enjoyed their first date on Nov. 11, 2005. McAllister could not be reached for comment. Still, that doesn't mean this man couldn't have been leading a double life. Think the BTK Killer, for example, who terrorized people in Kansas City for many years, but was a seemingly upstanding member of the community and a family-man.

Residents of the sprawling 800-unit High Point apartment complex where Markoff rented a third-floor flat earlier this year mostly described Markoff, who was on the golf and bowling teams in high school, as an average Joe, but several said there was something not quite right about him.

"The guy was friendly enough. He'd say hello when you saw him and he supposedly had a girlfriend," said John Uva, who has lived in the building for two years. "But he was never really around much, and there was a creepy factor to it." Source: NY Daily News

For now, it seems that his girlfriend and his close friends are sticking by him. I can't say I blame them at this stage, but somewhere in the back of their minds a seed of doubt should be taking root that maybe they ought to revisit their interactions with him to see if there has been any inconsistencies in his behavior or his statements. If he's in fact proven to be the killer, there had to have been signs that his girlfriend, especially, should have seen. For those who think this man has too much going for him to commit such a crime ought to revisit history and take a look at "Preppy Killer" Michael Chambers, Michael Skakel, a Kennedy offspring, Kansas City's "BTK Killer" Dennis Rader, Scott Peterson, O.J. Simpson and I could go on and on.