Accused “Craigslist killer” Philip Markoff — who was awaiting trial on charges that he killed a New York masseuse in a hotel room — committed suicide this morning in a Boston jail, officials said.
Markoff, 24, was pronounced dead at 10:17 a.m. by Boston Emergency Medical Services, said Steven Thompkins, chief of external affairs for the Suffolk County Sheriff’s office in Boston.
“Markoff was alone in his cell, and all evidence collected thus far indicates that he took his own life,” The Suffolk County district attorney’s office said in an e-mailed statement.
There were differing reports about how he died. ABC News said it had been told by two sources that Markoff was believed to have cut his wrists and then tied something tightly around his neck before going to bed last night.
The Boston Herald said it had been told by sources that he was found suffocated with a plastic bag tied over his head.
Markoff, a former Boston University medical student, was arrested in April 2009 for the murder of erotic masseuse Julissa Brisman at the Boston Marriott Copley Place and the robbery of Trisha Leffler at the Westin Hotel.
Police said Markoff met both women through ads they ran on the online classified service Craigslist.
Markoff had been placed on suicide watch in the days after his arrest.
Yesterday would have been the one-year anniversary of his marriage to ex-fiancée Megan McAllister, had Markoff not been busted for the Brisman murder.
McAllister, of New Jersey, met Markoff while volunteering at a medical center near SUNY Albany.
They had planned to marry Aug. 14, 2009 on a beach at sunset in Long Branch, near her home.
After Markoff’s arrest, McAllister very publicly came to his defense, but later dumped him.
Marcia Scott Harrison and Leonard Greene