Case snapshot
Philip Markoff was a 23-year-old Boston University medical student with a wedding three months away when police arrested him for murder. He had used Craigslist to find women offering massage and escort services, then robbed them at gunpoint in their hotel rooms. One victim fought back and paid with her life.
The pattern emerges
On April 14, 2009, Trisha Leffler advertised massage services on Craigslist. A man contacted her, arranged an appointment, and met her at a Westin hotel in Boston. He pulled a gun, demanded money, then fled with $800 in cash. Leffler survived. She described her attacker as a clean-cut white male in his twenties, well-dressed, calm.
Two days later, Julissa Brisman posted a similar ad. The 26-year-old model and massage therapist from New York was staying at the Boston Marriott Copley Place. A man booked an appointment through email. Security footage later showed him arriving in a black windbreaker, jeans, and sneakers. He entered her room just after 10 p.m.
Fifteen minutes later, another guest heard what sounded like a struggle. Hotel staff found Brisman’s body in the doorway of her room at 10:24 p.m. She had been shot three times at close range. Her underwear was duct-taped into her mouth. Cash and credit cards were missing.
A third victim
Four days after Brisman’s murder, Cynthia Melton met a man who had contacted her through a Craigslist ad. The meeting took place at a Holiday Inn Express in Warwick, Rhode Island. He tied her up with duct tape and plastic zip ties, held her at gunpoint, and stole cash and a laptop. Melton survived.
Boston Police now had three violent robberies in six days. All involved women who had advertised services on Craigslist. All occurred in hotels. All involved a similar suspect.
Investigators began combing through surveillance footage from each location. The same man appeared on camera at all three hotels. He wore similar clothing. He moved with confidence. In each case, he had used email to arrange the meeting. Detectives traced the IP addresses and found they belonged to the same user.
The arrest
On April 20, 2009, Boston Police identified Philip Markoff as their suspect. He was a second-year medical student at Boston University. He lived in Quincy, Massachusetts, with his fiancée, Megan McAllister. They were planning an August wedding in New Jersey. Friends described him as intelligent, focused, unremarkable.
Surveillance footage placed Markoff at the Marriott Copley Place the night Brisman was killed. Investigators obtained a warrant and stopped him on Interstate 95 in Walpole while he was driving with McAllister. Police arrested him without incident. A search of his apartment uncovered a semiautomatic handgun, hollow-point ammunition, duct tape, zip ties, and women’s underwear that did not belong to his fiancée.
A pair of sneakers matched shoe prints left at the Marriott. A hollowed-out copy of “Gray’s Anatomy” contained a handgun and cash. Detectives recovered emails sent from Markoff’s computer to the Craigslist ads posted by Leffler, Brisman, and Melton.
The unraveling
McAllister initially defended Markoff. She issued a public statement insisting he was innocent, claiming police had made a mistake. As more evidence surfaced, she ended the engagement and cut off contact. Markoff’s family remained silent.
Prosecutors charged Markoff with first-degree murder, armed robbery, and kidnapping. He pleaded not guilty. His defense team sought to suppress evidence, but investigators had surveillance footage, forensic matches, digital records, and physical evidence recovered from his apartment.
During his time in jail, Markoff refused meals. He became withdrawn. Guards placed him under close watch after he was found with self-inflicted injuries.
August 15, 2010
On what was supposed to be his wedding day, Philip Markoff was found dead in his cell at the Nashua Street Jail in Boston. He had used a plastic bag and a makeshift ligature fashioned from shoelaces and socks to asphyxiate himself. He had also slashed major arteries in his ankles and legs, scrawling the name “Megan” in blood on the wall of his cell.
Authorities ruled his death a suicide. He left no note. He never went to trial. The case against him closed with his death.
The search for other victims
Detectives worked to determine whether Markoff had committed additional crimes. They reviewed unsolved robberies and assaults involving women advertising on Craigslist in the Boston area and beyond. Some cases shared similarities, including the use of duct tape, restraints, and firearms. However, investigators could not definitively link Markoff to other incidents.
The investigation revealed that Markoff had been active on Craigslist for weeks before the attacks. He had responded to dozens of ads, arranged meetings, and canceled at the last minute. Some women reported meeting him and noticing nothing unusual. Others never heard from him again. The scope of his activity suggested planning and rehearsal, but the timeline remained incomplete.
The aftermath
Julissa Brisman’s family described her as warm, ambitious, and hardworking. She had moved to New York to pursue modeling and used massage work to support herself. Trisha Leffler and Cynthia Melton survived their attacks but were left traumatized. Both cooperated fully with investigators.
The case drew national attention to the dangers faced by women advertising services online. Craigslist came under scrutiny for its lack of safety measures and its role in facilitating anonymous contact. The company eventually removed its adult services section under pressure from law enforcement and advocacy groups.
What remains unknown
Markoff’s suicide eliminated the possibility of a trial, a confession, or any public accounting of his actions. Investigators never determined what drove him to commit the crimes. No history of violence surfaced. No criminal record existed. Friends, classmates, and instructors expressed shock. His fiancée never spoke publicly about him again.
Markoff maintained two lives. One as a promising medical student engaged to be married. The other as a predator hunting vulnerable women through online ads. The speed with which he escalated from robbery to murder suggested either desperation or a willingness to kill that had been present from the start.
Boston Police closed the case after Markoff’s death. The evidence connected him to three victims. Whether he acted alone, whether he had previously committed similar crimes, and what motivated his attacks remain unanswered.
Where to dive deeper
- Documentary: “The Craigslist Killer” (Lifetime)
- Book: “Seven Days of Rage: The Deadly Crime Spree of the Craigslist Killer” by Michael Fleeman
- Podcast: “The Craigslist Killer” (“Casefile True Crime”, Casefile Presents)
- Podcast: “Philip Markoff” (“Morbid”, Wondery)
