Digital Trail Led Investigators to Alleged Craigslist Killer

Computerworld — Digital forensics was a key factor in tracking down the man law enforcement says targeted woman who advertised exotic services on Craigslist.

Philip Markoff, 22, of Quincy, Mass., was arraigned in Boston Municipal Court Tuesday. Ordered held without bail, Markoff is charged with murder, armed robbery, unlawful possession of a firearm, and kidnapping. The charges, according to the Boston Police Department, are in connection with the April 14 murder of Julissa Brisman at the Copley Marriott Hotel in Boston, and the April 10 kidnapping and robbery of another victim at the Westin Hotel, also in Boston.

Markoff, a second-year medical student at Boston University, was taken into custody late Monday afternoon. He is due to make his next appearance in Municipal Court on May 21 for a pre-trial conference.

Investigators credit digital forensics work in tracking down the alleged culprit, according to Jake Wark, press secretary for the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office.

"The technology involved was absolutely crucial in identifying the suspect," said Wark in an interview with Computerworld. "The investigation led to the recovery of an abundance of cellular, wireless and other electronic evidence."

He added that investigators from the Boston Police Homicide Unit were able to link the IP address that was used to send an email setting up the April 14 date with the murder victim to Markoff's home address.

Brisman, according to information released by the Boston Police Department, was found at the Copley Marriott with three gunshot wounds, fired at close range, to the abdomen. She also had been repeatedly struck in the head with a blunt object. The woman had been advertising masseuse services on Craigslist. In what police said they believe to be a robbery, the victim and assailant struggled in the doorway to a hotel room before Brisman was shot. She was pronounced dead at Boston Medical Center.

Police report that the murder is connected to an April 10 robbery at the Westin Hotel, which is about two-tenths of a mile from the Copley Marriott and attached by a shopping mall. Police noted that a 29-year-old woman, who had been advertising "sexual services" on Craigslist, was robbed at gunpoint in her hotel room, according to Wark. The woman was bound with restraints and threatened at gunpoint but escaped serious physical harm, he added.

A series of photos (scroll down) were taken by surveillance cameras of a man in both hotels at the time of the incidents.

Wark said police are also investigating whether Markoff can be tied to a similar assault and robbery at the Holiday Inn Express Hotel in Warwick, R.I.