Investigators seek more victims -- through Craigslist

I'd feel suicidal too if I was in his shoes.

Two things are missing from all the many accounts of this I've read.
1) How certain is it that the panties found in Markoff's appartment are those of his alleged victims and not those of his girlfriend?? How was this ascertained so immediately??
2) There has not been one word from anyone at the BU Medical School! I can understand why the administration would keep a buttoned-up, no-comment approach, but haven't any reporters found some med students who are willing to talk about this classmate of theirs? Like, how has he been acting lately? Is he up on his studies? That is, how does a 2nd year med student have ANY spare time for gambling, let alone the other alleged escapades??

I have to agree that the suspect is in fact innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. I am alarmed because I believe that TV and newspapers both have already convicted him. I fear that it will be impossible to have a fair and unbiased jury seated in this case, and that if he is convicted and there is any shadow of bias in the case, it will result in the case being thrown out. It is needful that a true verdict come in in this case so that either an innocent person will not go to prison or that a guilty one might later go free on a technicality. Think about it!

Anyone who would talk with Boston Keystone Cops for ANY reason is crazy.

Don't forget to post to/check the "therapeutic" services on CL. That section has been clogged with erotic posts for months and months!

This link of Philip Markoff connecting with his victim via Craigslist is putting an undeserved and unfortunately negative mark on one of the best Web sites to come about thanks to the Internet. Craigslist has always been one of the best examples of freedom generally and free speech specifically, not to mention a great service to the public. And it has done so completely free to nearly all users, and has created a REAL community where all users pitch in to monitor and flag down wrong postings -- as democratic an approach as can be.

Markoff would have found a victim whether Craigslist existed or not, whether it was as open as it is or not, whether on the Internet or not. He could have simply responded to a classified ad in the newspaper for nearly anything, or through a church singles group, or connected in an endless number of other ways!

Unfortunately, no matter where you find freedom, you will find people who will exploit it for the wrong reasons. But this is not a blight on that freedom any more than the Constitution is a blight on the Untied States.

There has been a wrongheaded focus of late to drastically restrict or even eliminate this freedom. The social Web sites, like MySpace and Facebook, were hit first, and gave in easily, taking steps that decidedly limit the freedom -- and even privacy -- they once offered. We are all being watched now, and closely. Nothing is private now. The latest crackdown has been on Craigslist, but Craigslist has been more willing to fight for freedom.

These crackdowns seem only over sex, not other crimes -- a truly wrongheaded mindset. Craigslist actually created its sex-oriented categories in order to keep those postings out of other categories, so the other categories could be "clean." It has now been forced to charge users of its Erotic Services category, so it can get their credit card and thus positive ID, which has only resulted in those posters fleeing into the other categories!

Of course I am against any malfeasance via the Web, whether white collar crime or a sex crime or anything else. But the freedom on Craigslist has expanded our world and its opportunities -- and I'm not just talking about sex. To interfere with this would be a tragedy. To force it into becoming another corporatized piece of crap squeezing the public for money -- which is all that will come of the crackdown -- would be a major loss.

Craigslist has worked, and it has worked wonderfully. That is why it is about the most popular Web site on the Internet. But just as anyone must be alert and be cautious when dealing with strangers on the street or anywhere else, so they must on the Internet, including on Craigslist. But that is no reason to ruin Craigslist and drive it into corporitized crap.

I don't know if this guy did what they say he did: but, I can't believe he is already being crucified before he had his day in court.
Is this what you people want? Gossip in popular opinioin and assumed guilty? You people make me sick.

Craigslist is just like the yellow pages, or the newspaper. People need to take precaution themselves. Gary Hilton, the drifter murderer, found his victims in parks. Do we shut parks down? At least craigslist leaves a trail. The Gary Hilton case was just lucky.

I have never seen an area on Craigslist called "Adult Gig" as stated in the subhead for this story from the bostom.com page. Where did that come from? I agree with earlier posters about the underwear, how could that be ascertained so quickly? Also, where was the girlfriend when Markoff went to Warwick? I also find it wrong that PM is continually referrred to as a BU Med School student when his enrollment been terminated. He's now a recently expelled BU Med student.

Hey Leo K...you ask "how does a 2nd year med student have ANY spare time for gambling, let alone the other alleged escapades??" If you read the previous articles on him, you'd know that he's been out of school since February because of financial problems.

The truth is absolute. It doesn't matter how the media portray it (and by the amount of complaining Americans do about the luxury of a free press, you'd think they'd prefer to live in China).

Markoff may not have had a fair trial yet but the people who continue to proclaim his innocence clearly have no idea what an IP address is.

2: !: It probably matches his victim's bra.
2: Yes there has - he's been suspended, and BU is not anxious to be associated at this point. The less media swarming campus the better.

I don't see where anything but factual evidence has been presented in the news, and this is good! I think the news media is doing an excellent job and serve to protect the public from more possible harm. As for the news of his arrest, and what evidence there is, why not?

Some people really can't believe why he's being crucified so quickly!?! How about in the face of overwhelming evidence. The police have a much bigger case than what they're reporting. If I had this much against me I would call you a fool for spewing any nonsense about innocence.

Not one word from the BU medical school? They only suspended him as soon as he was arrested...what more do they need to say? The incident didn't happen on campus, so how much more involved do they need to be?

Two points to make. Boston.com is really slow to post comments making response to other comments or dialoge impossible. My other point is, is this guy really stupid or trying to be smart storing a gun in a hollowed copy of Gray's Anatomy? The book retails for about $200. Did he have another copy to reference while he was a medical student? His girlfriend was also a "medical" person ( they met in an ER), wouldn't she want to reference the book while they might have had medical discussions?

Lets see, what was their first clue... His ip address was linked to an e-mail that was sent to the women the day of the murder... AND he just happens to look exactly like the guy on the surveillance videos...

All the better hotels have surveillance cameras. Walking in front of them using a cell phone and contacting someone on through Craig's list all gives the police easily traceable data to track somebody down in short order. How can somebody with such a good scholastic record in the sciences be so stupid.

I believe Markoff's gambling sickness overpowered his reasoning power. It is frightening to think that someone who had so much could end up so bad . I doubt if there will be any answers to why this happened. To me it is uncomprehensible.

Besides trying Markoff in the media, another big mistake by the Boston PD is that they do not guarantee to not prosecute victims who met Markoff due to their illegal professions. They are saying that convicting Markoff is their first priority, but everyone knows that after Markoff's fate is sealed, the second priority becomes the new first priority. They should promise immunity to anyone victimized by Markoff who comes forward. Until they do that, anyone would be a fool to help the police.

The more that comes out about this guy, the worse and worse he looks. Talk about a wolf in sheep's clothing!! I feel sorry for his girlfriend, as he totally betrayed her trust and love. This reminds me of the Laci Peterson case, where Scott was so deceptive and dear Laci had no inkling as to what he was up to. Sooner or later, the girlfriend would most likely end up murdered as well. Better his true colors were discovered and caught before they married. Her life would have been miserable! To her, I say move on with your own life and ALWAYS look for those red flags. I am sure she saw them, but denied it.

Even if Markoff was proved to had discussions over the computer with the dead girl and even if he is on video in the same hotel as dead girl and even if he was in same room as the dead girl, has there been any reports of evidence showing he pulled the trigger? Isn't there a shadow of doubt that someone else could have been in the hotel room after Markoff left? This is ultimately what the prosecutors will have to prove. Simply having panties of some hookers and an ip address matching a craigslist person is not good enough reason to convict. Having duct tape and plastic hancuffs or whatever else this guy had is not good enough for a court to convict.

To John,#18,

Yes, it appears he was an addicted gambler, and he very well may have been a sex addict as well? The police must have determined the undergarments belonged to victims from surviving victim identifying the item(s). It is clear the investigators do not need to tell the public how these things were determined, however, it is unlikely they would state the items belonged to victims if they weren't sure.
The first victim stated he didn't touch her so, was he actually going there for
robbery only, or was he there for sex and robbery knowing he'd have the victims in a compromised situation. I can never judge these women for trying to make a living, especially in this tough economy, however, do shuddered to
think about the chances they take letting these strangers into their lives, their rooms, or whereever they meet them. Some trashy tv show was flashing photos of the deceased scantily clad. I saw this while dining out this evening at a local pub. Very sad to see this.
How truly disrespectful! Well, he must know he's guilty, hence trying to harm himself. All in all, this is one sad and distressful story. And Craigslist is a great service, and it is too bad it is being stigmatized by these events.
Finally, there should be armed gaurds or polce presence at Coply Marrott and other hotels. Too many deadbeats move in and out of those lobbies. A friend was robbed a few years back at Copley Marriott. The thieves took off down the escalator.

robberty, with

There's circumstancial evidence for sure... zip ties, duct tape...even underwear. What is not circumstancial evidence are matching ballistics tests, identical DNA samples on the underwear and from the victims, as well as matching DNA at the crime scene and in the Quincy apt. Including, of course, the same fingerprints on the weapon as on the the suspects' fingers. Never mind that surely one victim positively ID'd the suspect from the much higher quality photos that were taken by the detective force this past weekend. All this will have to be proven in court and hopefully will.

"I have never seen an area on Craigslist called "Adult Gig" as stated in the subhead for this story from the bostom.com page. Where did that come from? I agree with earlier posters about the underwear, how could that be ascertained so quickly? Also, where was the girlfriend when Markoff went to Warwick? I also find it wrong that PM is continually referrred to as a BU Med School student when his enrollment been terminated. He's now a recently expelled BU Med student."

God do you actually read???
Underwear determined by forensics
PM is not expellled but suspended from BU
His fiancee was in NJ all last week

Talk about filtering yoyr own information. Hope you are never on a jury!!!!!!!!!

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GUUIIIIILLTYYY!