The family of a Manhattan woman allegedly shot to death by the so-called "Craigslist Killer" Philip Markoff says it will pursue other "avenues to seek justice," following his suicide in a Boston jail yesterday.
According to published reports, police sources say former Boston University medical student Philip Markoff, 24, was found with cuts to his body and a plastic bag over his head.
He was accused of killing Manhattan resident Julissa Brisman at a Boston hotel in April 2009, after meeting her through Craigslist's "Erotic Services" section.
A lawyer for Brisman's family says they have asked a federal prosecutor in New Hampshire to investigate the gun shop used in the crime.Meanwhile, Boston Councilman Stephen Murphy is also asking for an independent probe into Markoff's death.
The former Boston University student and upstate New York native pleaded not guilty to murder, kidnapping and armed robbery charges and was to have gone to trial in March.
Criminologists say fear of the trial may have led to Markoff's suicide.
"It's not at all surprising. Of course inmates do on occasion take their own life, but this one is a little different," said criminologist James Fox. "If Markoff is the sociopath he seems to be, he would not want to be the kind of person who would face the music, face the trial, be embarrassed and humiliated in public during his trial for murder."
Markoff was also charged with the armed robbery of a Las Vegas woman at another Boston hotel.