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Gaziano ruled on a motion originally made by the district attorney’s office in October.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

Neighbors Save Boy From Abduction

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Newport News police arrested a 47-year-old man after they say he tried to kidnap a 3-year-old boy.

Police say the man, identified as Wesley Stuart Brown, approached the boy playing outside Thursday afternoon in Paul's Park Trailer Park off Warwick Boulevard. The suspect then put the child in a wagon and walked off right in front of the toddler's grandmother, Angie Craig.

The grandmother's screams got the neighborhood's attention and neighbors surrounded the man. Police say two women drove up and took the child from Brown and put him in their car until police arrived.

William Rhodes, on his way home from work, heard Brown say, "I'm not going to jail. Everything's ok. He wants to go with me! He wants to go with me!"

Officers got the young boy to safety and took the man into custody.

Craig said, "When [the neighbors] found out what was going on, they all came running because that's what they do here. And they do it every time, especially when it's a child."

Brown is charged with one count of Abduction.

The grandmother told police she did not know the suspect and did not know why he had taken the child.

Of the neighbors who helped protect her grandson, Craig said, "Words can't describe how much I appreciate what everyone did for me today."