Judge says DNA can be taken from accused Craigslist killer Philip Markoff

BOSTON — Prosecutors can obtain a DNA sample from the former Boston University medical student charged with killing a masseuse he met on Craigslist, a Massachusetts judge ruled Monday.

Jake Wark, a spokesman for the Suffolk district attorney, said Superior Court Judge Frank Gaziano granted a motion to take DNA from an oral swab of Philip Markoff, who is being held without bail. The judge said the sample could only be compared with biological evidence seized by investigators in the case.

Markoff has pleaded not guilty in the April 14 shooting death of Julissa Brisman, of New York City, and the armed robbery four days later of a Las Vegas woman, both at upscale Boston hotels. He has also been charged in an alleged attack on a stripper in Warwick, R.I.

Markoff met the women through advertisements for erotic services posted on Craigslist, a classified advertising Web site, prosecutors said.

"Investigators have recovered biological evidence in several locations in this case and one more DNA profile to compare that biological evidence against (Markoff) can only make that case stronger," Wark said.

A call to Markoff’s attorney, John Salsberg, was not immediately returned.

Gaziano ruled on a motion originally made by the district attorney’s office in October.

According to the motion, criminalists from the Boston Police Department crime lab identified two blood stains taken from swabs on a handgun that was seized during a search of Markoff’s apartment in Quincy, Mass. Prosecutors allege that Markoff used the weapon to bludgeon Brisman before the victim was shot three times at close range.

Investigators also found several other items in the apartment, including four pairs of women’s underwear wrapped inside of socks and hidden in a box spring.

"A comparison of any DNA profiles generated from the items of evidence can be compared to the DNA profile of the defendant and the three victims to either include or exclude those individuals as possible donors of said profiles," the motion read.

The next court date in the case is March 29, Wark said. A trial date has not been set.

Markoff was engaged to Megan McAllister at the time of his arrest.

McAllister ended the relationship with Markoff after visiting him in jail in June, and their wedding scheduled for August was subsequently canceled.

Murder Indictment in Craigslist Case

BOSTON, Massachusetts (CNN) -- A Massachusetts grand jury late last week indicted a 23-year-old medical student on seven counts, including first-degree murder, in the fatal shooting of one woman and the robbery of another in Boston hotels.

Philip Markoff is charged with the April 14 fatal shooting and attempted robbery of Julissa Brisman, 25, and the armed robbery of a 29-year-old Las Vegas woman on April 10. Investigators have linked both incidents to advertisements on the Craigslist classified ad Web site.

Markoff also is charged with "the armed and forcible confinement" of the two women, as well as two counts of unlawful firearm possession, the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office said Sunday.

The grand jury returned the seven-count indictment late Thursday, and it moves the case from Boston Municipal Court to Suffolk Superior Court, where Markoff is expected to appear for a Monday morning arraignment. He previously pleaded not guilty in the city court and is being held without bail.

Markoff's attorney, John Salzberg, had no comment on the new indictment.

Prosecutors said Brisman, a model from New York who advertised as a masseuse on Craigslist, was shot three times at close range and suffered blunt head trauma at the Marriott Copley Place hotel.

The Las Vegas woman was robbed of $800 in cash and $250 in American Express gift cards at the Westin Copley Place hotel, police reports said.

Markoff, a second-year medical student at Boston University's School of Medicine, also has been charged in a nonfatal hotel assault in Rhode Island.

He has been charged with assault with the intent to rob, assault with a dangerous weapon, possession of a handgun and use of a firearm while committing a crime of violence, stemming from an April 16 robbery attempt at a Holiday Inn Express in Warwick, Rhode Island.

Markoff's Family Visit Craigslist Suspect In Jail

BOSTON -- The parents, brother and sister-in-law of Philip Markoff visited the accused killer in the Boston jail for the first time Friday since his arraignment this week on murder, kidnapping and robbery charges.

Dr. Richard Markoff and Susan Haynes arrived early in the afternoon at the Nashua Street Jail to see their son, who has been charged in connection with the April 14 death in a Boston hotel of a woman offering erotic massages, and the robbery of a Las Vegas prostitute the week before that. Both offered their services on Craigslist.

Markoff's parents stayed at the jail for about two hours and left without making any comments to media gathered outside. Markoff's brother and sister-in-law also visited him on Friday. It was unclear when or if Markoff's fiancee, Megan MicAllister, would visit.

Markoff was arraigned on the charges Tuesday, but his attorney John Salsberg said he was under the impression Markoff's parents were not allowed to see their son right away.

"What I was told was that he couldn't have any visitors until he was classified, that that's the rule of the jail, and so my understanding was that the first day they could come was going to be today and so I asked them to wait until today," Salsberg said.

"This is difficult for them, they would really request that they have some privacy ... They love their son very much. They are supportive of him, that's what they would say if they were speaking themselves," Salsberg added.

Authorities were so concerned about Markoff's mental state that he was moved to an isolation cell on Thursday after a possible suicide attempt.

Markoff was separated from the other inmates at the jail and was wearing a special restraining suit to keep him from harming himself, the Boston Herald reported.

Law enforcement sources said Thursday that shoelace marks were found on Markoff's neck, consistent with a suicide attempt.

There was a preliminary match between a gun found in Markoff's Quincy apartment and the bullets used to kill JuLissa Brisman, 26, the erotic masseuse who was shot to death in Boston's Marriott Copley Square hotel April 14.

Markoff's fingerprints were also found on duct tape at one of the hotel crime scenes and on plastic restraints used in one of the attacks, ABC News reported.

Markoff, 23, a Boston University medical student, was charged with murder in connection with Brisman's death and was also charged with robbery and kidnapping in connection with an attack on a Las Vegas prostitute in Boston's Westin Hotel the week before Brisman died. Both women had advertised erotic services on Craigslist.

Markoff's attorney has maintained Markoff's innocence, as has his New Jersey fiancee Megan McAllister, whose father said she remains "confident in Phil."

Salsberg would not confirm the suicide attempt but said his client is having a "tough time" adjusting to being in jail.

“It's difficult for anybody to make the transition from a life of freedom to being incarcerated or detained, particularly the first few days,” said Salsberg. “However, I have a tremendous amount of confidence that the Sheriff's Department of Suffolk County is going to make sure that he’s well taken care of and looked after.”

Prosecutors who used computer forensics to trace Markoff are now turning to Craigslist to search for other possible victims in the case.

Markoff is also suspected in an attempted robbery in Warwick, R.I., of a woman who had posted a Craigslist ad as a stripper.

Investigators are looking into whether Markoff had developed a gambling habit.

"As we explore various motives for the robberies, gambling is certainly a motive that we will look at," Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley said Tuesday.

Markoff opened a line of credit at Connecticut's Foxwoods Casino in 2008. His visits there increased in March and April of 2009, ABC News reported.

Two days after the attack on the prostitute in Westin Hotel that netted $800, Markoff was at the casino on April 12. Two days later, on April 14, Brisman was killed at the Marriott Hotel. Two days after that, Markoff was back at Foxwoods, collecting winnings of $5,300.