Philip Markoff Medical Student Murder Case...

They say he's a smart medical student but he's been accused of murdering a prostitute and robbing at least 2 others to feed a complulsive gambling addiction. The latest is that he's been put on suicide watch for trying to hang himself with his shoelaces. His girlfriend/financee says he wouldn't hurt a fly, but commentators are now saying that she was the gullible and naive victim of a clever killer, putty in his hands.

Philip Markoff, 23, who reportedly kept the items in his flat, has been charged with fatally shooting Julissa Brisman at the Marriott Copley Place hotel April 14. He is also charged with robbing a second woman - another masseuse who he met through the same classifieds website - at another Boston hotel four days earlier.

Investigators are looking into gambling as a possible motivation in the robberies. A police source told AP that Mr Markoff was a "frequent visitor" to Foxwoods casino in Connecticut.

Mr Markoff was arrested on Monday on a highway in Massachusetts as he and his fiancee drove to Foxwoods.

The Ledyard, Connecticut, casino has confirmed that it is cooperating with authorities investigating Mr Markoff's gambling habits.

Mr Markoff is also suspected in an attempted robbery in Warwick, Rhode Island, of a woman who had posted a Craiglist ad as a stripper. She was held at gunpoint before her husband entered the hotel room and her attacker fled.

Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch said in a statement Wednesday that Warwick police have developed "promising information" about the April 16 robbery at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites.

Markoff's fiancee, Megan McAllister, has insisted police have the wrong man.
"He could not hurt a fly," she said in an e-mail to ABC's Good Morning America on Tuesday. "All I have to say is Philip is a beautiful person, inside and out."

Craiglist, the popular classifieds website, which advertises everything from furniture to flats, has recently come under attack over its hosting of advertisements for prostitutes. But on Wednesday Jim Buckmaster, the company's CEO, defended the website, saying is an "extremely unsafe venue for criminal activity because you're virtually guaranteeing that you're going to get caught".

"That's been the case with nearly every serious violent crime that's been connected with the site," Mr Buckmaster said in a telephone interview AP. "There's an electronic trail leading to yourself. So don't use Craigslist for crime unless you want to go to jail."
A Minnesota man was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole this month for the 2007 slaying of a woman who answered a phony ad he posted for a baby sitter.

Here at http://www.crimebuzz.blogspot.com we'll be following the Markoff case closely as new information emerges and opinions are formed. It's important to note that the media weighting currently is towards, "the man is guilty as charged" however, his lawyer argues there's been no evidence produced, just story evidence from the police. Medical student fiancee of Markoff, Megan Mcallister, another med student, from Boston Uni med school is predicted to begin distancing herself from him in the next couple of weeks.