Alleged hotel killer's odds of returning to med school decrease again

Philip Markoff faces arraignment again tomorrow on charges he murdered one woman and bound and robbed another in Boston hotels, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney's office.

A Suffolk County grand jury indicted Markoff on the charges on Thursday, the DA's office says, adding that while Markoff has been linked to at least one similar case - a robbery in Rhode Island - he has yet to be formally charged with anything besides the death of Julissa Brisman at the Marriott Copley Place and the armed robbery of another woman at the Westin Copley Place four days earlier.

Prosecutors charge Markoff used plastic ties to bind both women, but that when Brisman put up a struggle, he smashed her skull with the butt of a gun and then, when that didn't kill her, he shot her three times in the chest and abdomen at close range, which did. Officials said he met both women through their Craigslist ads, using a disposable Tracphone.

Innocent, etc.

Complete release from the DA's office:

ALLEGED HOTEL KILLER INDICTED, DUE IN COURT TOMORROW

MURDER ONE, ARMED ROBBERY, KIDNAPPING AMONG CHARGES

BOSTON, June 21, 2009—The Suffolk County Grand Jury late last week returned a seven-count indictment charging a Quincy man with first-degree murder and other offenses stemming from the fatal shooting of one woman and the gunpoint robbery of another in downtown Boston hotels this spring, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley announced.

The indictments, returned late Thursday, charge PHILIP MARKOFF (D.O.B. 2/12/86) with the April 14 fatal shooting and attempted robbery of 25-year-old Julissa Brisman in the Marriott Copley Place hotel, the April 10 armed robbery of a 29-year-old Las Vegas woman at the Westin Copley Place hotel, the armed and forcible confinement of both women, and two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm.

Markoff is not charged with any offenses against any other individuals. Investigators continue to monitor tips phoned in to the Boston Police Homicide Unit and CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1-800-494-TIPS.

The indictments move Markoff's case from the Boston Municipal Court to Suffolk Superior Court, where an arraignment is expected tomorrow morning.

In the course of the two-month grand jury investigation, prosecutors from Conley's Homicide Unit introduced not only the testimony of witnesses, but also dozens of physical exhibits including internet and telephone records obtained through subpoena. The exhibits and testimony suggest that Markoff contacted both victims through advertisements placed on the "Erotic Services" section of the online service Craigslist.

"Contained in those records was a wealth of information, all of it pointing directly at the defendant," Conley said.

Evidence suggests that Markoff scheduled the meeting with his first victim using a disposable Tracfone – a cellular phone service that doesn't require the user to provide any identifying information to the cell carrier. Shortly after midnight on April 10, prosecutors believe, Markoff met that woman on the Westin hotel's 13th floor. Evidence suggests he accompanied her to her room, where he immediately produced a handgun. Wearing gloves, he allegedly ordered her to the ground and bound her wrists behind her back with zip ties – plastic strips used to secure wires and other loose items.

The woman's assailant spent more than 15 minutes ransacking her hotel room and taking cash and personal items. Before leaving, Markoff allegedly removed his gloves, placed duct tape over her mouth, and cut the phone lines in the room.

Three days later, prosecutors allege, Markoff responded to Brisman's advertisement via email. Using a different Tracfone, he subsequently arranged a meeting for 10:00 p.m. on April 14 in her room on the 20th floor of the Marriott. Evidence suggests that the two struggled briefly after he entered, at which time he struck her multiple times in the head with the butt of a 9mm semiautomatic handgun.

"The blows to her head were so sharp and so violent that they fractured her skull," Conley said.

Markoff allegedly proceeded to fire three rounds into Brisman's chest and abdomen from close range, killing her almost instantly. When she was found lying in the threshold of her room a short time later, Brisman had a zip tie on one wrist and bruising on the other. She was rushed to Boston Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead of her injuries.

In the hours and days following Brisman's homicide, Boston Police homicide detectives and Suffolk prosecutors obtained the internet protocol address for the email account used to set up the deadly encounter. Using that IP information, homicide investigators learned the physical address from which the email was sent and undertook surveillance of it. On April 19, they observed a man meeting the assailant's description at that address and identified him as Markoff.

Alerted to the investigation and Markoff's status as a student, members of the Boston University Police Department obtained the defendant's college identification photograph for use in an array that was later presented to the surviving victim. That woman identified Markoff as her assailant.

Boston Police continued to trail Markoff until they observed him and a female associate leaving his residence with luggage the next day. Believing that he might be preparing to leave the area and having probable cause to search his vehicle, they stopped him as he traveled south on Interstate 95.

Markoff and his associate were transported to Boston Police headquarters for interviews. Meanwhile, investigators executed a search warrant on his home, recovering a 9mm semiautomatic handgun, ammunition, and zip ties consistent with those used in the attacks. Investigators also recovered four pairs of women's underwear bundled into socks and secreted within his box spring, several Tracfones, and laptop computers, including one with remnants of the email communication arranging his meeting with Brisman.

Shortly after 7:00 p.m., Conley approved a warrant charging him with Brisman's murder. Markoff was held without bail at his arraignment the next morning in Boston Municipal Court.

Conley noted the investigative contributions not only of Boston, State, Transit, and BU police, but also those of Boston Police detectives assigned to his Special Investigations Unit; agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Secret Service, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Cybercrime Division of the Massachusetts Attorney General's office; the Rhode Island Attorney General's office; and the police departments of New York City and Warwick, Rhode Island.

Markoff is represented by attorney John Salsberg. His arraignment is expected tomorrow morning in the Magistrate's Session of Suffolk Superior Court, located on the seventh floor of the courthouse.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.