A US medical student facing charges of murdering a masseuse he had lured to a hotel through classifieds website Craigslist was linked to the slaying in part by surveillance video and computer evidence, authorities said. Philip Markoff, 22, is due to face court in Boston in connection with the shooting death of a New York woman at a luxury hotel in Boston on April 14 and the kidnapping and armed robbery of another masseuse on April 10 who was tied up at another hotel. Police say Markoff was the man seen on video surveillance using a hand-held texting device at hotels where the women were attacked.
But the stunned fiancee of the Boston University medical school student insists police have the wrong man and there is no way he could have done it. He's a predator," Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley said in announcing Markoff's arrest earlier in the day during a traffic stop south of Boston.
Conley said evidence from computer forensic experts and "old-fashioned shoe leather" linked Markoff to the two crimes. Conley's office refused any further comment on Tuesday until after the arraignment, scheduled for noon. An email sent to McAllister via her Facebook page was not immediately returned. There was no published telephone listing for a Megan McAllister in the Boston area. Michael Bernard, who lives in Markoff's building in Quincy, was shocked to recognise his neighbour on television reports of the killing.
It doesn't make sense. Two of Markoff's neighbors told Good Morning America on Tuesday they were stunned by the accusations. Another neighbor, Mike Dye, told the show he had Markoff over to his apartment complex for parties including a Super Bowl party. Uva described "just a nice, normal couple. I lived right next door to him, and I would never have expected this", Uva said. Police on Monday arrested Markoff, of Quincy, during a traffic stop in Walpole, south of Boston, on charges of murder and unlawful possession of a firearm in the death of Julissa Brisman, 26, who was found dead at the Boston Marriott Copley Place.
The New York City woman advertised massage services on Craigslist and had a massage table set up in the room where she was shot, police said. In addition, Markoff is charged with kidnapping and armed robbery days earlier at the Westin Copley Hotel in Boston involving another woman who also advertised massage services on Craigslist. Police said they had long suspected that Brisman's killer was connected to a robbery at the Westin.
