Med School Student Charged with Murder

Suspect tied to two other assaults

Boston police have arrested Philip H. Markoff, a second-year Boston University School of Medicine student, in connection with the killing of a woman who advertised massage services on Craigslist and was later shot to death at the Marriott Copley Place.

Markoff, 22, who lives in Quincy, is also believed to have attacked a woman who advertised lap dance services on Craigslist last week at the Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites in Warwick, R.I. He also is a suspect in an attack two weeks ago at the Westin Hotel in Boston, when a woman was robbed of a debit card, $800 in cash, and $250 in American Express gift cards.

Officer Eddy Chrispin of the Boston Police Media Relations Office says Markoff is being charged with murder, armed robbery, and kidnapping.

Ellen Berlin, director of communications for the School of Medicine, says that Markoff has been suspended from Boston University.

Markoff was arrested for the murder of 26-year-old Julissa Brisman, who was shot to death in her room at the Marriott Copley Place. Brisman’s hands were bound with plastic ties, as was the victim of the Westin robbery. According to the Boston Globe, the victim of the Rhode Island assault told investigators that a clean-cut blond man tied her up with plastic cord and demanded cash. The Globe reports that the woman’s husband entered the room as the assailant was rummaging through her items. At that point, the Globe reports, the attacker pointed a gun at the husband and fled out the door.

In hotel surveillance photographs published last week on the Boston Police Department’s blog, the suspect is seen walking past an elevator wearing a baseball cap and a jacket over an untucked shirt. The surveillance pictures were taken 25 minutes before police responded to the hotel after getting a call about the attack around 11:15 p.m.

Boston police reportedly investigated more than 150 leads before zeroing in on Markoff.

This BU Today story was written by Art Jahnke.