Craigslist Killer Philip Markoff found dead by Nikky Raney

Philip Markoff, 24, was a former medical student at Boston University accused of being the "Craigslist Killer." He killed himself in his jail cell at Nashua Street Jail according to authorities.

Photo taken from Telegraph

Suffolk County Sheriff's office spokesman Steven Tompkins told The Boston Globe that Markoff was pronounced dead at 10:17 am on Sunday, August 15, 2010.

He was awaiting trial for the shooting of Julissa Brisman, 25, on April 14, 2009. Brisman was a masseuse from New York who traveled to Boston after advertising her services on Craigslist. Markoff is said to have shot her three times with a handgun and one of the bullets pierced her heart.

Markoff was also charged with attacking two other women that he met through Craigslist.

Markoff had been placed on suicide watch and place din a special cell with camera surveillance due to marks found on his neck that were thought to have been done by his shoelaces in an attempt to hang himself.

Image courtesy of CBS

All the evidence gathered so far indicates that Markoff took his own life, but there is still much investigation according to Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis and county District Attorney Daniel F. Conley.

"The family of Julissa Brisman is shocked and dismayed by the news of Phillip Markoff's suicide," according to a statement released by Djuna Perkins, the family's Boston-based lawyer.

In most cases suicides are not publicly discussed or written about - this situation proves to be very controversial and must be touched on delicately. Deepest sympathies go out to his family as well as the family of Brisman.