Craigslist Killer Commits Suicide

[shawmut]

Accused ‘Craigslist Killer’ Philip Markoff commits suicide
By Laurel J. Sweet, Christine McConville and Michele McPhee
Sunday, August 15, 2010


Accused “Craigslist Killer” Philip Markoff committed suicide this morning at Nashua Street Jail in Boston, sources have confirmed.

Markoff, 24, was pronounced dead at 10:17 a.m. by Boston Emergency Medical Services, said Ed Geary, the jail’s deputy director.

“Sad to say, it’s very true. It’s shocking and very saddening,” said Markoff’s defense attorney John Salsberg.
Geary declined to elaborate on the circumstances of Markoff’s death or where his body was found. “The matter is under investigation,” he said.

The former Boston University medical student, who was to go on trial in January, would have celebrated the one-year anniversary of his marriage to ex-fiancee Megan McAllister yesterday had he not been arrested in April 2009 for the murder of erotic masseuse Julissa Brisman at the Boston Marriott Copley Place and the robbery of Trisha Leffler at the Westin Hotel.

Both women met Markoff through ads they ran on Craigslist. He was also a suspect in the attempted armed robbery of an erotic services advertiser working out of a Rhode Island hotel.


http://bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1274824

[hlthe2b]

1. What a total waste of human potential...

Was he mentally ill? Anyone see anything about his suspected motivation? At least the families of the victims (and his own) can move on...

[Fleshdancer]

2. because his friends and family weren't devastated enough by his actions?

It's impossible for me feel any sympathy for this guy, but I feel for anyone who loved him...can you imagine? Hopefully the family of the victims can find closure with this instead of feeling angry over the fact that he couldn't even face the consequences of his horrific actions.

Everyone loses in this story.

[Ian David]

3. Accused College Republican Killer who used CraigsList 2find victims, Philip Markoff Commits Suicide

http://bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1274824

See also:

The College Republican Killer
http://TinyUrl.com/CollegeRepublican

[madmax]

4. Thank you Phil

saved the families a ton of anguish and the state a lot of money to defend your ass. Have a nice trip.

[trumad]

5. I don't believe in Capital Punishment...

But this---I can live with.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

6. Which means he will be considered "not guilty" in the eyes of the court

If I recall that scumbag abortion shooter John Salvi did the same thing AFTER he was convicted and therefore his record lists him as a free man.

[hlthe2b]

7. But not in the eyes of public opinion and history...

he will forever be known as the Craigslist killer.

Unlike with Ken Lay, where his lack of conviction meant the loss of any chance for his victims to gain any kind of compensation, with this guy, it really doesn't have the same implications. After all, they certainly weren't going to engrave his conviction year on his tombstone.

Maybe it will avoid some further pain for the families.

[alcibiades_mystery]

8. Ken Lay was convicted

[hlthe2b]

9. Lay's conviction was vacated after death... so officially, no.

Judge vacates Ken Lay's Enron conviction (and dismissed the original indictment)

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/special/enron/4265806.html

Former Enron Chairman Ken Lay's criminal conviction was vacated and his indictment dismissed by a judge today.

U.S. District Judge Sim Lake granted the request by Lay's estate to vacate the conviction, an outcome that was widely anticipated given legal precedent. He also dismissed the indictment used to bring him to trial earlier this year.

Lay died July 5, just weeks after a jury found him guilty on six charges of conspiracy and fraud and Lake found him guilty on four charges of bank fraud.

In his decision, Lake cited a decision in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals that makes death, before the appeals process has been exhausted, grounds for throwing out a conviction and dismissing an indictment.

The Department of Justice tried to trump that precedent, however, when it asked Congress in early September to pass a law that would essentially prevent courts from vacating criminal convictions if a defendant dies before going through the entire appeals process.