Grand jury to review evidence from killing at Marriott Copley
(Boston Police)
One of the four photos released by Boston police. To see all four, click here.
By Peter Schworm and Maria Cramer, Globe Staff
Boston police today identified the 26-year-old woman gunned down at the Marriott Copley as Julissa Brisman, a New York City resident who apparently met her killer through an ad for massage services she posted on Craigslist.
PHOTO GALLERY  Surveillance photos |
Police believe Brisman was struggling with her attacker on the 20th floor of the posh Back Bay hotel when he shot her multiple times in the torso on Tuesday night. She apparently was fighting the attacker as he tried to bind her hands with a plastic cord, according to law enforcement officials. A massage table was found in her room at the Marriott Copley.
A Suffolk County grand jury will begin reviewing evidence today in Brisman's slaying, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Grand juries can be used as investigative tools, such as building probable cause for search warrants. It does not mean that police have identified a suspect.
The Marriott's security cameras captured images of a young man who police have described as "a person of interest" in the slaying. He looks as if he just stepped from the pages of a fashion catalog, with a stylish, dark jacket, tousled hair, and cool nonchalance as he glides down an escalator to a marble landing, casually typing a message into a cellphone.
And as authorities launched a hunt for the man - also captured on surveillance cameras last week at the Westin Copley Hotel, where a 29-year-old Las Vegas woman was bound and robbed at gunpoint - the killing this week opened a window on a vast and elusive underworld of prostitutes who advertise online and do business at high-end hotels.
"What we believe is that there are a series of independent operations that are occurring, and it's very difficult for the hotels to police them because they don't know who it is that's coming in to use their rooms," said Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis. "We've been monitoring it very closely, but it's very difficult to completely eliminate it."
The man was captured on the Marriott's security cameras around 10 p.m., police said. About that time, Jane Greenberg, a New York woman staying with her teenage son three doors down from the crime scene, heard two loud shrieks. Rushing into the hallway, she saw a small woman collapsed on the floor, halfway out the room door.
"I asked several times, 'Are you OK,'" Greenberg told WCVB-TV. "'Are you OK? Are you OK?' And no response whatsoever."
Greenberg said she heard loud bangs before the shrieking but had not thought they were gunshots. Greenberg called hotel security, which arrived immediately.
Police said the crime appears linked to the robbery of the Las Vegas woman at the Westin on April 10. That woman, who was bound with a plastic cord and gagged, according to a police report, was also robbed of a debit card, $800 in cash, and $250 in American Express gift cards. She had also advertised massage services on Craigslist, police said.
"Everything about the crime leads us to believe they are connected," Davis said. "The similarities between the method of operation but also the photos that we've taken from the scenes of both crimes show a very similar suspect."
Yesterday, a witness to the Westin attack described another harrowing scene. The 47-year-old doctor from Tennessee, who asked that his name be withheld, said he was in his room working on his laptop when he heard a frantic banging on his door. He opened it to find a petite blond in a cocktail dress who told him she had just been robbed by a tall, blond muscular man who threatened her with a gun and a knife and left her bound and gagged.
"Her wrists had marks from zip ties," said the man. She said she had wriggled out of the restraints after the robber fled the room. "She was remarkably calm for what had gone on," he said.
She called security from his room phone and later told police she had initially met her assailant outside the hotel and he had later come to her room.
Police said neither woman was sexually assaulted, but investigators declined to say whether there was consensual sexual activity.
Police released enhanced photographs taken from security tapes at the Marriott and the Westin in the hope that someone would identify the man, who is believed to live in the Boston area. They described him as "a person of interest."
Calling yesterday's developments a "critical point" in the investigation, Davis appealed for help in identifying the man in the footage. "We are really looking for the public to help us," Davis said. "We believe that someone would be able to see this photo and call us and tell us who he is."
Davis, who said it was unclear whether Tuesday's victim was a prostitute, said department officials have been working with security guards at hotels to curtail prostitution, advising them to look for guests who have people coming and going from their rooms frequently or at odd hours.
Davis said many escorts may not report crimes against them. In February, FBI agents arrested five women, ages 19 to 33, who allegedly showed up at the Boston Marriott Long Wharf after agreeing to provide sex for up to $300 an hour to undercover officers.
The officers had responded to advertisements posted on Craigslist, according to Boston police reports. At Choices Escorts & Dancers, an area escort agency, a woman said working independently through sites like Craigslist is highly dangerous.
"Agencies are more secure - these sites are not," she said, declining to provide her name. "The people who prey on these girls, they target independent escorts. They know that if you're on Craigslist, you are unprotected."
She said the Marriott Copley was a "nice, secure hotel" that will not typically let a woman visit a room after midnight unescorted.
When told that in this case the man had apparently visited the woman, she said, "That's another thing we don't do."
"You can't screen guys that are coming to you" agreed a man who answered the phone at an escort service he did not want named. His service, he said, would not allow a client to approach one of its escorts in a hotel room unguarded, no matter how nice the room.
"We send these guys through a lot of screening before we let them near our girls," he said.
Hotels said they are coordinating with authorities.
Lucy Slosser, a spokeswoman for the Marriott Copley, called the shooting an "isolated incident" but said the hotel works closely with police to deter prostitution. Michael Jorgensen, general manager at Westin Copley, said the hotel "acts swiftly and diligently to investigate any reports of illicit activity on our premises."
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What ever happened to the word "suspect' ? The phrase "person of interest ' is just plain clunky and bureaucratic.
Are the police going to post this person's picture anywhere? How can we help if we can't see what the guy looks like?
I was completely disheartened when I got to this sentence:
He looks as if he just stepped from the pages of a fashion catalog, with a stylish, dark jacket, tousled hair, and cool nonchalance as he glides down an escalator to a marble landing, casually typing a message into a cellphone.
That is not really appropriate for this type of journalism. Not only is it filled with subjective adjectives, but the police image released in no way matches that description.
"He looks as if he just stepped from the pages of a fashion catalog, with a stylish, dark jacket, tousled hair, and cool nonchalance as he glides down an escalator to a marble landing, casually typing a message into a cellphone."
Are we introducing a character in a novel or describing an alleged killer? It's as if Truman Capote came back from the dead and became editor at the Globe.
This is so frightening! Don't these girls realize the danger they put themselves in?
How to solve it...
1) Have expert idenitfy Cell phone and all networks that use it
2) Identify the likely cell(s) for the Mariott
3) Query all cell phone text records on those cells for the short period corresponding to video timestamp (5 minute window?)
4) Filter users by age
5) Manually cross reference RMV for photo identification.
Voila, you've got your man.
Yeah, only if Truman Capote forgot how to write in the afterlife, so he filled in the spaces with teenage adjectives!
I'm just glad we still have a newspaper that will post these evil suspected killers, never mind how they describe them. Let's get this creep!
I agree 100% with Catie and zowee. A woman was murdered, and the lead-in to the story is about the fashion-plate looks of the alleged killer? I doubt the lead would be anything like this if the murder occurred in, oh, let's say Lynn or Fall River. Aside from being bad journalism, it's disrespectful to the victim and her family. Whatever happened to "The facts, ma'am, just the facts"?
Does anyone have any thoughts on the whole craigslist angle? I am sure the police are on it but wouldn't some form of communication have been used to set up the meeting between this woman and her killer? I would think there would be either an email or cell phone trail between the two.
Since when is the Marriott a high-end hotel?
The major hotels should install some sort of magnetic card reader that operates elevators and exit doors from stairways. They use them for guests to open their hotel rooms, however, should also require guests to use them to access elevators and stairway doors. This may not totally eliminate access from non-guests of the hotel, but certainly would help prevent unwarranted access by anyone just walking into the hotel.
"What we believe is that there are a series of independent operations (i.e. prostitution operations) that are occurring, and it's very difficult for the hotels to police them because they don't know who it is that's coming in to use their rooms," said Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis.
Wouldn't you think bringing a massage table into a hotel is a pretty good clue that something is going on? I mean - isn't not like you can sneak one of these things in easily right?
This reminds me of another local crime lately where the woman from Wellesley allegedly ran down the State Trooper. Has the Globe seen or printed any of the Airport surveillance films from that yet?
I was going to comment on this as well:
"He looks as if he just stepped from the pages of a fashion catalog, with a stylish, dark jacket, tousled hair, and cool nonchalance as he glides down an escalator to a marble landing, casually typing a message into a cellphone."
latey I read the globe and shake my head when I come across stuff like this....its getting so 'tabloid'. Who is writing this junk? and who is editing and letting garbage like this get into what is supposed to be a news story?
Yes, very tacky to describe this man in such a way, He looks pretty frumpy to me. Then again, the kids at The Globe play journalist like other kids play House.
Maybe it's like law & order and they're trying to bait the killer by flattering his ego with that kind of description in the media. Or maybe it's just bad journalism.
"He looks as if he just stepped from the pages of a fashion catalog, with a stylish, dark jacket, tousled hair, and cool nonchalance as he glides down an escalator to a marble landing, casually typing a message into a cellphone. "
Sounds like the reporters want to date the guy. The guy is a savage animal.
Its actually kinda creapy if you ask me. I am sure it will be like a CSI episode and they will catch him in a few days. They probably have to try and access her emails somehow and see how she does business. I am sure he is laying really low today. And I love the way they use the word Massage services. - can we just say hooker or prostitute? You dont need to travel 300 miles to give massages. I think people should also be on the lookout that if your male friend was blond yesterday and now he has a different hair color - might want to wonder why!!!
OMG. They described American Psycho!
for one, i dont think prostitution should be illegal. i mean if a woman wants to charge for sex and a man is gonna pay for it, or vice versa, then there should be no law preventing this from taking place. i think its ridiculous. and if anyone has a problem with it then they are too worried about other peoples business because it is none of their concern in the first place. and this isnt a pro-prostitution post. but i honestly believe that if prostitution was legal like it should be then agencies and what not could have open screenings with id being required etc which could prevent things like this.
truth be told, im suprised the government doesnt legalize it and tax the business because they like to get thewir hands on everything else. and sorry if my typing went arry because for some reason the box where your name is to go takes up space in which u cant see what u are typing. but honestly prostitution should be legal and like i said, the only ones who are against it are people who cant mind their own business and people who worry too much about others than they do themselves. why do people care if prostitution is legal or not?????!!!!
I agree with the comments about the atrocious writing in this article. Also, since when is a masseuse necessarily a prostitute ?
How about tracking the IP address of the suspect's computer if he responded to this woman's e-mail? I am sure craigslist will be happy to oblige.
Um, if they have photos of the suspect leaving the hotel, shouldn't there be pictures of him entering the hotel as some point? (i.e. photos of him facing the camera)
Yes, let's compliment an "alleged" sociopath:
....and Ted Bundy sat stoically, his tossled hair blowing gently in the afternoon breeze, his strong chin, and piercing eyes defining his boyish good looks.
I am a male massage therapist that uses CL to post ads all the time, and these "hookers, masueses" or whatever you want to call them know what they are doing. If you want to play with fire you will get burned, screw the hookers, now I can get some legit business instead of everybody assuming that if you post on CL that makes you "pro." A masuse is a hooker, any professional massage therapist will call themselves as such.
"He looks as if he just stepped from the pages of a fashion catalog, with a stylish, dark jacket, tousled hair, and cool nonchalance as he glides down an escalator to a marble landing, casually typing a message into a cellphone."
This is one of the strangest, most inappropriate statements I've ever read in a serious newspaper article. This is not a column, or opinion piece. Commentary like this has no place. "Tousled hair"? Am I reading Cosmo? And is it just me, or does that look like a boring jacket, far from stylish? This is, of course, all beside the point. I can't imagine why it would be included in the first place.
I don't care what she was doing, she didn't deserve to die. She is someone's daughter, sister and friend. What a shame.
Does anyone else think he looks Russian?
I wonder if the person would have been described as a fashion plate had he worn the same clothes but, instead of being white with blond tousled hair, been Black or Hispanic with an equally stylish haircut?
The Herald has a totally different pic of a girl with blond hair and green eyes...I know she could have dyed her hair and put colored lenses in, but the pics still look like two diff people...
Here is the problem with tracking the Cell phone. Anyone can walk into a CVS or Store 24 and buy one of the throw away phones where you can buy minutes with cash at the store. It doesn't require any other sort of personal information for activation. So you may be able to track down the phone, but there is no way to now who "owns" it. I do not if this person had one of those phones, but if he does this sort of thing frequently it wouldn't surprise me.
Also, I believe there are legal distinctions between being a "person of interest" and a "suspect". I believe once someone is labeled a suspect they are provided more legal protections.
Where's the computer enhanced blow-up photo of Mr. Halston, Gucci, Fiarucci? Either he's their man or the affair he's having is now exposed...On the Catwalk, yeah!
#12 - bm53. The suspect in this case was INVITED by the victim. I'm sure she would have left her guest in anyway - your suggestion is useless.
#13. DMB - people do bring LUGGAGE in a hotel, remember? Those massage tables fold and pack into a small luggage case. Having the hotel personnel check the contents of your luggage would revolutionize the "check-in" process :).
Good call, Chris and SB. But you can't do that without a warrant; hence the grand jury.
You could bring in a massage table pretty easily - there are lots of folding versions (with their own carry cases), and they'd probably also fit into a very large suitcase.
It's good that the BPD seems to be going all out on this one, even if it's because the attacks happened in a major hotel.
The massage fronting for prostitution goes on everyday, with places like Mandala in Newton and Angels these girls are prostitutes and they should know the danger in what they are doing. Its a sad state we live in when public officials turn a blind eye, until these girls get greedy and start turning tricks outside of the safety of the massage parlor front. She is a victim ? and so are all the woman who have been affected by these woman giving everyone diseases.
Why not just pull the victim's email and cell phone records. I assume she spoke with this guy in either form or both. So unless the guy was using a cloned or throw-away cell phone (which, lets face it, most criminals are total idiots), then they should be able to narrow down the list of potential, fashionable killers to 1.
Not trying to be the sort of person who finds holes in every theory, but two things stick out from the comments:
1) BM53: There are a few hotels in the city that have card readers in the elevators that require room keys. These are the hotels that the escorts/massage girls try to avoid.
2) DMB: Business people take large presentation cases into hotels all the time that easily could look like a folded up massage table. Either that, or slipping the doorman $20 goes a long way to getting anything you want into a hotel room. I used to sneak poker tables into hotel rooms all the time without much problem, so I'm guessing a massage table wouldn't be too difficult and may not even raise a red flag.
A massage table does not indicate prostitution nor is it illegal to charge for a massage.
Wouldn't the woman who got away have an email address for the guy who robbed her and couldn't they compell whatever service it is to give up the name of the person who made the email account?
meeting someone from craigslist is asking for trouble.
What makes you think he was actually "texting". He could have been surfing the net, browsing emails, or simply just pressing buttons. The phone was a diversion that allowed the suspect to walk through the massive hotel complex without having to make eye contact or interact with anyone.
How to solve it...
1) Have expert idenitfy Cell phone and all networks that use it
2) Identify the likely cell(s) for the Mariott
3) Query all cell phone text records on those cells for the short period corresponding to video timestamp (5 minute window?)
4) Filter users by age
5) Manually cross reference RMV for photo identification.
Voila, you've got your man.
Most escorts do not bring massage table into a hotel.
Beds are sufficient... Those with massage tables are usually
not full service escorts.
Besides what does it matter what that poor girl was doing for living ???
The sad thing is she was murdered for a few hundred $ perhaps...
And some of you prudes are more concerned about her profession
than about the creep that killed her.
Aned here I thought the field of "Massage Therapy" was just that.
Dear chris, this isn't an episode of CSI and Privacy Laws still exist.
Yeah, what's with the fashion mag description of the perp? Was he wearing a particular fragrance? Something very 'high end' perhaps?
The guy just killed somebodys 26 year old sister/daughter, and you write about it like it's some fashion shoot. I wonder what he drives? Sporty? Macho? Does he vacation in St Moritz?
Good thing he wasn't too swarthy, or heavebn forbid, a negro ( no tousled hair, no gliding), because that story line wouldn't work as well when you're writing fashion drama.
"...He looks as if he just stepped from the pages of a fashion catalog, with a stylish, dark jacket, tousled hair, and cool nonchalance as he glides down an escalator to a marble landing, ..." Good Lord - its like the beginning of a Mickey Spillane novel. Is this the best the Globe can do?!
I agree with BM53, I know the hotel wants customers to come and go freely but, as a guset I have no problem showing a room key getting on an elevator, for security reasons
If this guy did take the elevator would there not be pictures of him tere. I can't imagine walking up 20 flights of stairs ...
The minimum rate at this Marriott is a couple of hundred bucks. That qualifies as high end to me. I mean, come on, it's ain't no Motel 6
How to solve it...
1) Have expert idenitfy Cell phone and all networks that use it
2) Identify the likely cell(s) for the Mariott
3) Query all cell phone text records on those cells for the short period corresponding to video timestamp (5 minute window?)
4) Filter users by age
5) Manually cross reference RMV for photo identification.
= circumstantial evidence
Who knows if he was sending a text message, or just trying to look normal as he walked out of the hotel? Shut up about scanning cell towers in the area for that exact minute.
What if it was a novelty phone with Bubble Gum in it?!
Copley Killer, if you are reading this:
You need to turn yourself in today. Go to the police and turn yourself in.
Pity if the guy in the picture is an innocent person who happened to be seen leaving the hotel. Was he the only person leaving the hotel?? Might be him, might not but he's already been labeled, accused and sentenced. Not everything is as it appears. As for the description; he looks like an average guy, averagely dressed and not like a Calvin Klein ad. That was so unnecessary!
Any murder is tragic but this story also exposes a tragic truism of our culture: Our infatuation with attractiveness, sex, and deviant behavior. When there is a murder of a minority in our inner cities you'll be lucky to find the story on the 3rd page of the Metro section. However, the murder of an attractive, young white woman, offering a massage at a downtown hotel = Major Story!!! So sad, on so many different levels.........................
So, jay_giles_fan, you're saying she deserved it? This woman was killed. Get some perspective and show some respect.
There is a difference between a "person of interest" and a suspect. A person of interest might be someone with knowledge about a crime but isn't the perp, such as a witness.
this man of interest certainly dosn't look like he's in any rush after possibly
killing someone! hmmmmmmmmmmm. do they have the right person
of interest???
what if- and it's a big if- she was a legit massuese the reason he shot her was that she did not want to have sex with him? Or that she didn't have any money on her because she's not a pro?
She probably got murdered for false advertisement. The Herald has the picture posted that she used in the craigslist ad and it certainly isn't her.
Hey HBX,
You cannot fit a massage table in a suitcase you moron. They fold but not that much where it can fit in a suitcase. Think about it.
I sure how the killer is found soon but before we jump to conclusions a few obvious things jump out:
1) it is very hard to match the guy in the baseball cap to the guy in the Marriott pictures, at least from the ones provided by this newspaper
2) Both the Westin and the Marriott are attached to the Copley/Prudential malls. I am sure that many people who live in the area and pass through the mall end up on their surveillance cameras. It is a convenient way to walk from South End to Copley.
3) the police have circumstantial evidence at best. No one actually saw the guy.
It seems like unfortunately there is no case right now and more people may get killed.
Many of these well intentioned suggestions are problematic. For example, "The major hotels should install some sort of magnetic card reader that operates elevators and exit doors from stairways. " That would be a fire code violation. Can you imagine in a fire trying to exit via the stairs but you need to have a valid card from the hotel!
People can buy disposable cell phones and email from anonymous email addressed from cyber cafes, libraries, etc. The police will need a search warrant to get the details from CL (signed by a judge), as they should, because it would set a bad precedent to just hand over anything the police want anytime they want it.
Here's two suggestions I think would work:
1.) Better quality cameras and more of them. There is not a single video of the alleged perpetrator from an eye level, straight ahead view. The quality is better than your average gas station video but still mediocre. Why are there no cameras in the elevators?!
2.) Controlling access to floors on the hotel. The idea that anyone, anytime can walk of the street into a hotel in an urban area makes no sense. The major hotels should institute a system where the guest has to sign the person and show ID. Customers have to show ID so why not guests? This could be extended to card reader access for getting onto the floors (not leaving) by providing guests with temporary use cards for swiping in the elevators and at doors.
UMM CHASE,
PLEASE! LETS NOT START THE RACE CARD.
HONEST TO GOD THAT IS GETTING OLDDDDDDDDDDD.
GET A LIFE.
HELLO!!!!!!
CAN ANYONE SAY INTERNET/CELL PHONE RECORDS????? Duh!
Man, and I NEVER write ANYTHING in all caps!!
Elaine: Oh, this innocent looking shirt has something which isn't innocent at all. Touchability! Heavy, silky Italian cotton, with a fine, almost terrycloth like feeling. Five button placket, relaxed fit, innocence and mayhem at once.
Peterman: That's NOT bad!
Maybe Peter Schworm and Maria Cramer should write for the J. Peterman catalogue after the Globe goes out of business.
Get use to it with all the cuts at the news papers they will soon be printed in India & Mexico. I'm learning Spanish on-line at the university of Mexico.
I agree the fashion mag description of this guy was overwrought, but I get what the writers were trying to do. If you just saw this guy on the street, he looks pretty clean cut, you probably wouldn't think twice. But here he's a suspect in an awful crime.
Like #20 said, I think its a not-so-subtle American Psycho reference.
Was it "bring your child to work day" at the Globe when the authors penned the "fashion catalog" line... For the record, I planned on complaining about the line prior to reading the other user complaints below the article as I found it irrelevant and offensive to the victim.
First question: Who rented the room where all of this took place?
Second question: What connects this man in the photos to the crime?
Third question: Are there pictures from the night the other crime took place? If he was there on both nights he has some explaining to do.
I like the way this article is written. It is factual and yet interesting. Author, don't let these back-set drivers tell you how to write! // I love Craigslist and use it all the time, but I am not offering any time of body or sex service. // Back not all that long ago, upscale prostitution was run in hotels by either the doormen or hotel security. That's right! Those guys ran it and it was secure and well-paying. The services were offered for men who were staying at the hotels (not just coming there for sex) and the girls were known and protected. A young lady I knew worked as a banquet waitress and then was brought into the biz by the hotel security. She made a real lot of money and had a good time. At a different hotel, the doormen ran it. If the women need to sneak around hotel security, rather than working with it, hotel prostitution becomes unsafe.
"He looks as if he just stepped from the pages of a fashion catalog, with a stylish, dark jacket, tousled hair, and cool nonchalance as he glides down an escalator to a marble landing, casually typing a message into a cellphone."
Thanks for the hack writing. You took an important story and wiped your stupidity all over it -KUDOS!
#37 Rob, still bitter because your gonnorrhea hasn't cleared up yet? hahahaha!!! joking - If they legalized prostitution, we wouldn't have this problem. In Holland, the girls have their proper jobs, titles, etc, and they get pension and healthcare, if memory serves - oh, and they pay taxes too!
Black Guy = Suspect
White Guy = Person of interest
Very interesting indeed!
This Craigslist thing has to stop. All they have to do is remove the "Personals" and the "Gigs-Adult" sections on the site. I know that it will just start again somewhere else, but atleast there will be a short break before this stuff starts on some other site. Craigslist knows of these problems...get rid of the sections. It is a good site that is becoming more sleezy everyday.
moral of the story: don't prostitute
The cops need to provide a close up of one of these stills. I want a good look at this guy.
why is it always "girl"?
Can't the Marriott afford higher quality surveillance cameras? These pics are ridiculously grainy. Note to Boston PD: the feds are capable of enhancing digital photos--and there are probably plenty of local university folks that can do the same. A clearer picture would obviously be a big help.
"The major hotels should install some sort of magnetic card reader that operates elevators and exit doors from stairways."
Good luck getting that one through the fire code.
If you're going to rob and kill people, don't you think that maybe you wouldn't set up an email account in your real name, and would access that account from a public computer?
And assuming he's not using a stolen phone or a burner, you'd still have to figure out which cell tower he hit, then sort through the 10,000 other users on the same tower until you think you isolated him, then convince the phone company to turn over his name and address. I don't know why you'd need him RMV picture though (which assumes that he's a MA resident). Or do you propose to suspend the 4th amendment, force the phone companies to turn over the names of every person who was on their phone in the area, and then scan them all through the RMV looking for a photo match? You've basically just handed this guy's lawyer a reason to get the case dismissed.
This blogger might want to review your comment before posting it.
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