'Straight-Edge' Markoff's Pals Wonder What They Missed

Scrawled a second word that looked like 'pocket'

(NEWSER) - As he lay dying by his own hand on what should have been his first wedding anniversary, the alleged “Craigslist Killer” scrawled his former fiancé’s name in blood on the wall of his cell, sources tell ABC News . Philip Markoff also tried to write a second word, which looked like “pocket.” Markoff reportedly suffocated himself with a bag, swallowed a wad of toilet paper to make sure officials couldn't revive him, and cut himself with an object he’d fashioned into a razor—one official said it was a pen, another the silver plate covering an electrical outlet. More»

Reportedly used a plastic bag, pen

(NEWSER) - Accused Craigslist killer Philip Markoff was found with a plastic bag tied over his head and puncture wounds on his neck and both ankles. A law enforcement officer says Markoff cut one of his arteries, with sources telling the Boston Herald that he used a pen and his medical-school knowledge to do so. Sources also say Markoff hadn't been checked on all night, leading some officials to clamor for a probe into the jail's oversight of its most infamous prisoner. More»

Philip Markoff committed suicide, say authorities

(AP) - Philip Markoff, the former Boston University medical student accused of killing a masseuse he met through Craigslist, is dead in an apparent jailhouse suicide, say authorities. A spokesman for the Suffolk County sheriff's office says Philip Markoff was declared dead by emergency medical workers at about 10:15am. The body was found in the Nashua Street Jail. More»

Real-world cops with computers tracked real-world cybercrime

(NEWSER) - Accused Craigslist killer Philip Markoff’s alleged crimes and capture were so tied to the Internet that a “new kind of murder” has been born, writes Maureen Orth in Vanity Fair. Not only did Markoff allegedly find victim Julissa Brisman on Craigslist, but before the meeting that Boston police say led to her death, they communicated only by email. And investigators’ identification of a suspect worked the same way, with a little help from Microsoft. More»

(NEWSER) - Philip Markoff’s ex-fiancée visited the accused “Craigslist killer” in jail two weeks ago to say goodbye, the Boston Herald reports. Megan McAllister told Markoff “that in all likelihood she would not be coming back to Boston," her lawyer said today, adding that though McAllister had originally stood by Markoff, she was alarmed by the facts coming to light. More»