BOSTON — Philip Markoff seemed to have a good life: The handsome, clean-cut, 23-year-old medical student was planning a lavish beachfront wedding in August.
But authorities say his computer and surveillance video paint a picture of a suspected serial criminal who targeted women offering erotic services through Craigslist. Now he’s accused of killing one and suspected of robbing and tying up another.
Markoff appeared in court Tuesday on charges including murder, kidnapping and armed robbery. He said nothing during the brief hearing and was jailed without bail.
Markoff is accused in the death of Julissa Brisman of New York City, who was found dead April 14 in a Boston hotel after being bashed in the head and shot three times. Prosecutors believe Markoff’s original motive was robbery, but he wound up killing Brisman when she fought back.
Brisman, 26, was an aspiring model and actress who had advertised erotic massage on Craigslist. Authorities said she and Markoff communicated through e-mail and cell phone to set up a meeting.
Investigators traced an e-mail to Markoff, who created a new e-mail address the day before Brisman’s body was discovered at the Marriott Copley Hotel. He was arrested Monday in Walpole, southwest of Boston, as he drove with his fiance to Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut.
Authorities say he was the man seen on surveillance video near where Brisman was found.
On April 10, prosecutor Jennifer Hickman said, Markoff contacted the woman he allegedly robbed using Craigslist and set up a meeting after midnight. The woman told investigators she met Markoff and then let him into her room at the Westin Copley in Boston. When she shut the door and turned around, he was pointing a gun at her stomach. He bound her hands and mouth.
He then stole more than $800 and personal items, Hickman said.
Police say they found a semiautomatic weapon, duct tape and restraints — what prosecutors called “critical, powerful” evidence — in the upscale apartment Markoff shared with his fiancee in Quincy.
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