# No trial needed for Craigs List Killer **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 15, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trial-needed-for-craigs-list-killer/550359 "2010-08-15T22:06:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trial-needed-for-craigs-list-killer/550359/1 "2010-08-15T22:06:47Z")
I guess this guy couldn’t face thirty years or more in prison. That is one less case the judge and prosecutor has to deal with. I recall this case in the news. It’s hard to understand why a person training to save lives choose to take them. cops found the victim(s) underwear in this guys apartment. They had a solid case against him. > **[Victims' Panties Found in Craigslist Suspect's Home](https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=7398011&page=1)** > > Friends of accused Craigslist killer Philip Markoff say they are stunned that the 22-year-old medical student, who's engaged to be married, has been charged with murder and robbery in Boston and Rhode Island hotels. > [@](#): > > BOSTON – A former medical student accused of killing a masseuse he met through Craigslist committed suicide in the Boston jail where he was awaiting trial, authorities said Sunday. > > Philip Markoff, 24, was found unresponsive in his cell Sunday morning in the Nashua Street Jail, [http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/08/15/report-craigslist-killer-commits-suicide-jail-cell/](http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/08/15/report-craigslist-killer-commits-suicide-jail-cell/) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trial-needed-for-craigs-list-killer/550359/2 "2010-08-15T22:18:32Z")
This guy reminds me of Ted Bundy. All American boy next door looks, intelligent, and well educated. He could have easily become a serial killer. It’s a good thing the cops found him early before he killed more women. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trial-needed-for-craigs-list-killer/550359/3 "2010-08-15T23:46:23Z")
Not too surprising to hear, really. Oh well. We won’t miss him. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trial-needed-for-craigs-list-killer/550359/4 "2010-08-16T00:50:56Z")
Disturbing. Why would this guy kill? Medical student, about to be engaged… gambling debt, ok, so he had to rob to pay it off… but why kill? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trial-needed-for-craigs-list-killer/550359/5 "2010-08-16T00:55:52Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > Why would this guy kill? Medical student, about to be engaged… gambling debt, ok, so he had to rob to pay it off… but why kill? Is this a serious question? Do you really expect a rational explanation? ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trial-needed-for-craigs-list-killer/550359/6 "2010-08-16T01:16:38Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > > [@Reply](#): > > > > Why would this guy kill? Medical student, about to be engaged… gambling debt, ok, so he had to rob to pay it off… but why kill? > > Is this a serious question? Do you really expect a rational explanation? Serious but rhetorical. It’s a mindset that I don’t possess and can’t envision, meaning it’s also one that I would like to understand more. This is especially the case when the killer is your average middle-class next-door-neighbor type. Did the robbery go awry? Was he just trying to escape? Why three shots? Was he going to become a serial killer if he wasn’t caught? Etc. That said, I don’t expect much of a explanation here… or anywhere, now that he’s dead. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trial-needed-for-craigs-list-killer/550359/7 "2010-08-16T02:14:08Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > Disturbing. > > Why would this guy kill? Medical student, about to be engaged… gambling debt, ok, so he had to rob to pay it off… but why kill? :quote Firefly: Some people juggle geese. ---
**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trial-needed-for-craigs-list-killer/550359/8 "2010-08-16T03:08:08Z")
I really don’t think that the gambling debts were the issue here, I think the robbery was just a part of victimizing the prostitutes he was contacting. Gambling debts are dischargeable (unlike his student loans) and he came from a wealthy family that doubtless could have supported him to an extent that he could have survived through a bankruptcy if he had needed to. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trial-needed-for-craigs-list-killer/550359/9 "2010-08-16T03:25:21Z")
Good. Now let him be forgotten forever. ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trial-needed-for-craigs-list-killer/550359/10 "2010-08-16T03:30:45Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > Disturbing. > > Why would this guy kill? Medical student, about to be engaged… gambling debt, ok, so he had to rob to pay it off… but why kill? Dude, the guy was hoarding the underwear of random women, including the woman he killed. And had a hollowed out Gray’s anatomy book with a semi-automatic in it. All signs point to a little budding serial killer. My sister’s a doctor at BMC. Probably not his type what with not being a prostitute and all, but still nice to know that she’ll never encounter his creepiness on a rotation. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trial-needed-for-craigs-list-killer/550359/11 "2010-08-16T03:51:29Z")
> [@anu-la1979](#): > > > [@Reply](#): > > > > Disturbing. > > > > Why would this guy kill? Medical student, about to be engaged… gambling debt, ok, so he had to rob to pay it off… but why kill? > > Dude, the guy was hoarding the underwear of random women, including the woman he killed. And had a hollowed out Gray’s anatomy book with a semi-automatic in it. All signs point to a little budding serial killer. Right. Forgot about that. Wonder if the fiancee was in on it too. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trial-needed-for-craigs-list-killer/550359/12 "2010-08-16T09:40:48Z")
You have to understand “they’re just prostitutes,” or rather that is how a lot of people look at it. I’m sure when people heard about this guy’s death they said, “Good, save everyone a lot of money and time.” Just as when the prostitutes were killed, I’m sure some people said, “Good that one less to deal with.” The thing is if you kill random people, it’s very difficult to catch someone. The fact he used CL means he left a trail, not a bright thing to do. But everyday you read about criminals being traced through cell phone records. You’d think by now everyone would know that a cell phone leaves a trace, but people don’t evidently. And as for being goodlooking well he was no Richard Loeb 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trial-needed-for-craigs-list-killer/550359/13 "2010-08-16T10:27:35Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > Right. Forgot about that. Wonder if the fiancee was in on it too. Considering everything he tucked away so carefully, I doubt it. She proverbially “stood by her man” until she met with him in prison, where I assume he either confessed to her or she didn’t like his answers, then broke it off. The cops obviously didn’t pursue a case and I’m assuming they at least looked at that line. I’m suspecting she was his attempt at building a facade of a normal life. If he hadn’t been caught and his life had moved along as he’d planned it, who would suspect a handsome doctor with a wife as being someone who attacks women?