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Accused Craigslist killer indicted

E-mail|Link|Comments () June 21, 2009 04:09 PM

By Matt Collette, Globe Correspondent

Philip Markoff, the 23-year-old medical student who allegedly killed a masseuse he met on Craigslist, has been indicted and will be arraigned tomorrow morning in Suffolk Superior Court, according to District Attorney Daniel F. Conley.

Markoff has been charged in the April 14 killing of 26-year-old Julissa Brisman, a masseuse who advertised on Craigslist, with a gun he purchased under a false identity. Four days earlier, Markoff allegedly bound and robbed Trisha Leffler, a 29-year-old prostitute from Las Vegas. In both cases, as well as in a third attack in Warwick, R.I., Markoff allegedly used disposable cellphones and temporary e-mail addresses to make appointments, then used plastic ties and duct tape to bind his victims.

His attacks were quick and brutal, and his methods were similar, Conley said.

“He had a very brief encounter with Julissa Brisman," said Conley. "He bound her hands, he used the same ties that he used on Trisha Leffler, and they had a very, very violent struggle. And, in the course of that struggle, he hit Miss Brisman in the head with his gun. He then pressed the gun into her chest and he fired the gun. She suffered three gunshot wounds and he fled the grounds.”

Tomorrow morning, Markoff will be arraigned on charges of first-degree murder, armed robbery, two counts of armed kidnapping, armed assault with intent to rob, and two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm. After his April 20 arrest, not guilty pleas were entered on behalf of Markoff, who is being held at the Nashua Street Jail.

The indictment was handed down from the grand jury, which heard testimony from witnesses, victims, and Markoff's fiancee, Megan McAllister, and saw evidence presented by prosecutors, said Conley. He said McAllister has cooperated with investigators, but declined to discuss her testimony in detail.

Conley said his office presented volumes of physical evidence, including security footage that allegedly shows Markoff entering and leaving each attack, fingerprints recovered from the duct tape and the plastic ties Markoff used to bind his victims.

Markoff was arrested as he drove southbound Interstate 95, allegedly headed to Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut. When he was arrested, police recovered a New York drivers license that belonged to a man named Andrew Miller. Conley said the 9 mm automatic handgun used to kill Brisman had been purchased in a New Hampshire gun shop in February under Miller's name, though prosecutors found Markoff's fingerprint on paperwork filed with the purchase.

"We're not sure how he got this license," said Conley. Investigators interviewed Miller and do not believe he is connected to the assaults.

Markoff's attorney, John Salsberg, said his client would plead not guilty to all charges.