The Freedom Bulletin

The Boston Phoenix recently did an interesting front-page article about the police investigation into the “Craigslist killer” case three years ago. Among the most noteworthy (and creepy) things that came out in the article was the Boston Police Department’s subpoena of presumed (although never actually found guilty in court) killer Philip Markoff’s Facebook account.

The documents sent to the cops include all the wall posts that Markoff made, all the photos he uploaded or was tagged in, a list of his friends, and all of the times he ever logged in and IP addresses he used. What makes it even worse is that, if the Markoff case is any example, subpoenas don’t just invade the privacy of the person under investigation, they also reveal information about that person’s friends, who most likely have nothing to do with the suspected crime.

As Chris Matyszczyk at CNET points out,

“The joy of Facebook — for those who find it joyous — is that it provides a vehicle for the sheer spontaneity of communication. You want people to make contact with your life, your friends, your happenings, your feelings, even. You want them to do it as soon as possible.

However, it’s not like normal human spontaneity, which can dissipate and become a memory. It’s recorded.”

Facebook does not notify users when their information is subpoenaed, nor is it even willing to say how many subpoenas it has received or responded to over the years. In other words, law enforcement could be poring through your Facebook data right now, and you wouldn’t even know it.

For anyone who is interested, here is a more in-depth look at the evidence against alleged “Craigslist killer” Philip Markoff. Many thanks to Press Secretary Jake Wark of the Suffolk County D.A.’s office for all of the files.

There is no way I could post everything, since there is just so much (and news outlets have posted some of it already), so here are a few of the most interesting documents I found (all PDF files):

• Markoff’s booking report and copies of the cards, receipts, and bills he had on him when he was arrested
• Markoff’s records from BU School of Medicine, showing his classes and grades
• Markoff’s travel records
• Julissa Brisman’s license, criminal history report, and Craigslist ads
• Brisman’s death certificate
• Brisman’s bill from the Marriott, where she was staying when she was killed

Here are various pictures from the Markoff files:

Today the Suffolk County D.A.’s office released the full evidence in the case of Philip Markoff, the alleged Craigslist killer who, of course, will never go to trial because of his suicide last August.

Among the highlights:

• A 62-page transcript of Markoff’s interview with two detectives on the day he was arrested, and a copy of the Miranda warning that he signed (PDF)
• An audio recording of the same
• Pictures of Markoff’s shoes on the day he was arrested which, according to the D.A.’s office, were stained with the blood of his victim, Julissa Brisman
• The hollowed-out copy of Gray’s Anatomy where Markoff allegedly kept the murder weapon
• Markoff’s computer, cell phones, wallet, Yankees hat, and some items linked to the victims

The police interview is the first time we get to see Markoff’s explanation of what happened in his own words. The explanation, however, is very vague and incomplete. To sum up the 62 page transcript, at the beginning of the interview, Markoff repeatedly expresses his desire for a lawyer and asks the detectives if they can get him one. They explain that he can only be appointed a lawyer if he ends up being charged and is found indigent by a judge, and he doesn’t know of any lawyers to call, so he ends up reluctantly agreeing to be questioned. He is repeatedly asked whether he has been in the Westin or Marriott hotels, had any disagreements with women in hotels, used Craigslist recently, or been in any hotels in Rhode Island. He repeatedly says he doesn’t remember. The detective becomes annoyed with his vague answers, and Markoff becomes annoyed at being asked the same questions again and again, at one point saying, “I just answered that four times” and “You’re just telling me a story…I don’t have anything to add to it.” He finally decides to stop speaking to the detectives until he gets a lawyer.

April 1 update: The Globe has a transcript and some audio excerpts from the police interview with Markoff’s fiancee, Megan McAllister. Lots more to come later this weekend…

Alleged “Craigslist Killer” Philip Markoff has been in the news a lot lately, mostly due to the Lifetime movie about him that aired a week ago. This is a good thing – no matter what you think about him, he is fascinating, and it wouldn’t be right for the world to forget all about him just because he committed suicide and will never go to trial. Here is a sampling of recent news and opinions about Markoff, the movie, and his alleged crimes:

• Alexandra Petri: Why the Craigslist Killer matters
• Melissa Petro: Lifetime’s “The Craigslist Killer” misrepresents prostitutes
• Kristin Davis: Craigslist killer movie shows why prostitution should be decriminalized
• eCanadaNow: Philip Markoff changes the way Craigslist is run
• Senator Scott Brown attended Michele McPhee’s viewing party for the TV movie (she wrote the book it’s based on) and weighed in on the case: “You feel terribly for the fiancee in that whole situation. This is somebody that had this amazing double life. It’s surreal.”

I just finished watching the Philip Markoff movie, “The Craigslist Killer,” on Lifetime. I thought it was a pretty good overview of the case, presenting all the facts in an entertaining and mostly classy way, with decent acting. The only major flaw in the movie is that it exaggerated how sleazy and unfaithful to his fiancee Markoff was by taking some liberties with the facts. More on that later.

Warning, spoilers ahead:

The movie starts out with Philip (played by Jake McDorman), a medical student, talking to his classmates and supervisors, impressing everyone with his intelligence. He meets Megan McAllister (Agnes Bruckner), a college student, and he immediately falls in love with her and asks her out. Their first date is at (of course) a casino. Six months later, they move in together, and shortly after that, he proposes to her during a carriage ride.

Throughout most of the movie, shots of Megan planning and gushing about the wedding are juxtaposed with shots of Philip looking up erotic services ads on Craigslist, visiting the providers of such services, taking suggestive pictures of himself to post on his sex site profile, and buying plastic handcuffs, duct tape, and a gun. One of the best parts is when he browses Craigslist during class but answers the professor’s question perfectly.

Megan gets upset when she finds out that their bank account is overdrawn, and Philip assures her that the money is coming as he walks down the corridor to a prostitute’s hotel room. He ties her up and takes her money, credit cards, and underwear. Back at his apartment, he stuffs the underwear in a sock, puts it under his mattress, and carves out a hole in a Gray’s Anatomy textbook to store his gun.

Then we meet ill-fated Julissa Brisman, who lets Markoff into her hotel room after getting off of the phone with her mother. “You’re beautiful,” he says, and she replies, “You’re not too bad yourself.” As soon as he enters the room, he tries to tie her up, but she fights back, pushing him and grabbing his neck, and he shoots her.

Back at the apartment, Megan notices the cut on his neck, and he makes an excuse for it. The police discuss the profile of the killer as Philip is shown in bed with Megan and charming everyone he meets. Then he visits another prostitute, whom he tries to tie up and rob until her husband arrives. After a violent struggle, he escapes, upset and out of breath, and returns to his apartment.

Meanwhile the superintendent told Megan that Philip hadn’t paid rent for three months, and she confronts him. On the verge of tears, he apologizes, saying, “I am trying my best.” Meanwhile, the police are closing in on Markoff. He keeps seeing himself on the news, grows increasingly panicked, and convinces Megan to go to Foxwoods. On the way, cops pull them over and roughly handcuff Philip, while Megan is (understandably) confused and freaked out. Cops search the apartment, where they find flex-cuffs, a gun, 16 pairs of underwear, a fake ID, and other evidence.

In jail, Philip is taunted by other inmates and tries to strangle himself with his shoelaces but is stopped by a guard. A public defender named Robert Grossman, who according to the cops is pretty darn good, is appointed to defend him. Megan visits him in jail, and he almost confesses to her: “The person who did this, they didn’t feel like they deserved someone as amazing as you…they felt like all they deserved was to be punished.” When she angrily leaves, he panics, crying, and says that he’s scared. Finally, he commits suicide with a makeshift knife and writes “Megan” and “Pocket” on the wall in blood.

Megan is played as superficial and ignorant, and Billy Baldwin, who plays Detective Bennett, is kind of annoying and has a Boston accent that at times sounds almost British. But Jake McDorman makes a pretty good Markoff. He convincingly portrays his dark side and his panic as the noose closes around him. He constantly says cheesy but ironic cliches (With me, what you see is pretty much what you get…I told you, Pocket, it’s going to be happily ever after…I don’t want us to have any secrets…It’s just you and me, Pocket, nothing else matters).

Here are a few of the inaccuracies I noticed in the movie:

• Megan and Philip meet when she is in college and he is in his second year of med school. In real life, they met when they were both in college (she was a couple years older than him).
• Before he started dating Megan, Markoff once tried to kiss one of his female friends and held her against a wall, but she pushed him away. In the movie, this takes place while he and Megan are engaged.
• In the movie, Megan applies to BU med school but doesn’t get in. I don’t think this happened in real life, as far as I know.
• In the movie, after Markoff ties up Tricia Leffler, he actually cuts off her underwear that she is wearing. In real life, he just took them from her suitcase.
• The 16 pairs of underwear found in Markoff’s apartment were reported by some news outlets, but the actual number, according to police and prosecutors, seems to be less.
• It is implied that Markoff may have had sex with some of the prostitutes, which there is absolutely no evidence of.

Photo courtesy of Jon Markoff via Facebook.

Alleged Craigslist Killer Philip Markoff committed suicide a little over a week ago, on August 15. Although I never knew him personally, and although he is an accused murderer, I am still a little sad about his death.

I went to both of Markoff’s arraignments and was planning to attend his trial in March. It is disappointing that he won’t have a trial, but of course that is not the only reason why his death is sad. No matter what crimes he may have committed, he is a human being and a unique individual.

The way Markoff died must have been extremely painful. From what I pieced together from various news reports, it seems that he killed himself sometime between 1:59 a.m. when he turned out his light and 10:06 a.m. when jail staff found his body. He cut his wrists, arms, ankles, and throat with a makeshift scalpel made of a pen and a sharpened piece of metal, severing his carotid artery and several veins. At some point, he wrote two words on the wall above the door, presumably in his own blood: “Megan,” his ex-fiancee’s name, and “pocket,” which seems to be a word he and Megan used for each other. He stuffed toilet paper down his throat to prevent attempts to revive him. He used gauze to tie a clear plastic bag over his head to suffocate himself and another one around his feet to hide the blood. Then he lay down and covered himself with a blanket.

Many people say that suicide is the coward’s way out, but what Markoff did takes a strange kind of courage. Clearly, he wanted to die, and he used his medical training to ensure that this would happen. Markoff’s life belongs to him, and I believe that he had the right to do what he wanted with his own life, including ending it. I don’t believe in encouraging inmates to kill themselves, as some people have suggested, but neither do I support taking away their freedom and privacy to keep them alive against their wishes.

The other day I was reading the comments on the Facebook group supporting Markoff, and it was interesting to read the positive comments about him. Some people expressed sadness at his death and condolences to his family, some emphasized that he was never proven guilty and the world never got to know what evidence his defense team might have presented, and others criticized Suffolk County D.A. Dan Conley for promising to present evidence to the public without Markoff having any opportunity to defend himself. Despite the seemingly strong evidence against Markoff, I admire his family and friends for sticking by him. His brother Jon wrote:

“He was a great guy, and a lot of people are really going to miss him. Thanks for everyone’s support through this difficult time. RIP Phil I will always love you.”

His Facebook picture is the one above of him and Phil together.

Questions still remain, such as:

• Why did Markoff commit suicide? Was it out of guilt, to avoid a trial, or simply because there would be nothing to look forward to if he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison?
• Why did he write Megan’s name on the wall, display her pictures on the table in his cell, and choose to die on the day after his would-be wedding anniversary? Did he love and miss her, or did he feel angry and betrayed? Or both?
• How exactly is Conley going to present his evidence against Markoff? Could his family sue to stop this? Will they sue the Nashua Street Jail for wrongful death? Can Julissa Brisman’s family sue anyone for her death?

We will eventually learn the answers to some of these, but others we may never know the answers to.

He will forever be 24 years old, unmarried, and the alleged Craigslist Killer.

Rest in peace, Phil Markoff.

Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley held a press conference today about Philip Markoff’s suicide, and he also e-mailed out the following press release (I bolded the most important parts):

“At 10:06 am this past Sunday, Aug. 15, a corrections officer making routine rounds at the Nashua Street Jail discovered Phillip Markoff unresponsive in his jail cell.  Staff at Nashua Street immediately administered CPR and notified 911.  Within minutes, members of Boston Emergency Medical Services responded to Mr. Markoff’s cell.  Efforts to revive Mr. Markoff were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at 10:17 am.  Mr. Markoff died at his own hand.

“This death should not divert attention from what really happened here. It should not obscure the overwhelming evidence against Mr. Markoff or the brutality of his crimes. It is, in no small way, the ultimate indicator of consciousness of guilt.

“As the District Attorney, I am designated by statute to direct all death investigations within Suffolk County.  Mr. Markoff’s death is no different.  I have assigned Assistant District Attorney Mark Lee, deputy chief of our Homicide Unit, to lead this investigation with the Boston Police Homicide Unit squad led by Sgt. Det. Mark Sullivan.

“The investigation into Mr. Markoff’s death has been active since the moment of its discovery.  It remains active even at this hour and as a result there are still some pieces of information that cannot yet be released.  Nonetheless, the public deserves updated and accurate information about Mr. Markoff’s death.

“The following information is based on the recovery of physical evidence, key witness interviews, examination of video surveillance footage, an autopsy of Mr. Markoff’s body by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, and initial observations of the condition of Mr. Markoff’s body and his cell at the time he was discovered. 

“Mr. Markoff was the sole occupant of cell #24 at Nashua Street Jail.

“At 1:59 am on Sunday, August 15, he was alone in his locked cell and turned out his light.

“A review of surveillance footage reveals that no one entered Mr. Markoff’s cell until the time he was discovered some eight hours later at 10:06 a.m.

“Mr. Markoff took several measures to harm himself and ensure his own death.  Using a primitive scalpel made from a pen and a sharp piece of metal, he inflicted a series of small punctures and incisions on his body, including his neck, arms, wrists, and ankles.  He hit several veins and the carotid artery in his neck.  All of the wounds were consistent with suicide.

“Mr. Markoff fastened a plastic bag around his head with a length of gauze. He fastened a second plastic bag around his feet.  These were large, clear bags available to inmates at the jail.

“After autopsy, the Medical Examiner determined that this series of actions resulted in air loss and blood loss and combined to cause his death.  We’re currently awaiting toxicology reports to determine what medications, if any, were in his system and whether they contributed to his death.

“Many of you are also curious as to what effect Mr. Markoff’s death has on the criminal case against him.  His death effectively terminates our pending prosecution, and we will file a nolle prosequi closing the case at the next scheduled court date of Sept. 16.

“The evidence assembled against this defendant was overwhelming in quantity and substance.  All of it was developed by the men and women of the Suffolk DA’s office and the Boston Police Homicide Unit who left no stone unturned in their efforts to bring Philip Markoff to justice for the murder of Julissa Brisman.

“With Philip Markoff’s final actions, the Brisman family has been deprived of an opportunity to hear a verdict rendered, to see justice pronounced, and even the chance to tell the court and Mr. Markoff – face to face – what Julissa meant to them and the immeasurable pain and loss he inflicted upon them.  These are important moments for victims of this type of violence and, as we did from the very beginning, I ask you all again to keep Julissa Brisman and her family and friends in your thoughts and prayers.

“I want to extend a final word of thanks to Comissioner Ed Davis for his leadership throughout this case and to the men and women of the Boston Police Homicide, Special Investigations and Fugitive Units.  I also want to recognize the Massachusetts State Police, the FBI, Secret Service, Warwick , Rhode Island police department, the Rhose Island Attorney General’s Office, and the New York City Police Department for their outstanding contributions into the investigation of Philip Markoff’s crimes.”

For more details about Markoff’s dramatic death, see the following news articles:

• Boston Globe – Craigslist suspect Markoff scrawled messages in blood
• Boston Globe – ‘Nothing remarkable’ about Markoff while he awaited trial
• Boston Globe – Markoff fashioned ‘primitive scalpel’ to kill himself
• Boston Globe – James Fox: Denied justice or just us?
• Boston Herald – Suicide dashes hopes for truth
• Boston Herald – Markoff was ‘hell bent’ on killing self
• Boston Herald – NH gun shop cleared in sale of gun to Markoff
• Boston Herald – Margery Eagan: Cowardly act spared Brismans lifetime of pain
• Boston Herald – Autopsy results show Markoff bled, suffocated to death
• ABC – ‘Craigslist Killer’ Philip Markoff died among his fiancee’s photos
• Right Juris – Accused ‘Craigslist Killer’ committed suicide
• New York Post: Final Craigslist chiller

Update as of August 18: Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea Cabral gave a press conference, where she defended the jail’s policies and said that it is impossible to prevent 100% of suicides. She also said that Markoff had been dead for some time before he was found at 10:06 a.m. Additionally, Fox 25 obtained a few exclusive pictures of the bloody words Markoff wrote on the wall of his cell and the makeshift scalpel and plastic bag that he allegedly used.