by Felicia Donovan
I've been closely following the unfolding events that led to the arrest of Philip Markoff, a 22-year old, second-year student at Boston University's School of Medicine on charges of murdering at least one, if not several women, hired from a Craigslist ad for "massage services." This blonde, clean-cut, All-American medical student has stunned the nation - emerging as a potential serial killer.
While many including his fiancee, still refute the charges and maintain Markoff's innocence, anyone who has any experience in cyber crime investigations knows that the evidence in this type of case will be very difficult to dispel.
Sunday night, my Cyber Crime Fighters: Tales from the Trenches, co-author, Det. Kristyn Bernier, and I received a request from Fox Worldwide News for an interview. We were unable to provide it because of circumstances, however, had we been able to make a statement, we would have focused on the mounting digital evidence pointing to Markoff.
The Digital Trail
Remember that just about everything you do on a computer is traceable. This includes viewing Craigslist Ads. This includes sending text messages via a cell phone to confirm an appointment for a massage.
According to reports, Police traced the Internet communications with the victim, Julissa Brisman, to an e-mail account opened the day before her death. Using Internet provider information, they found the computer was at Markoff's residence in Quincy, Massachusetts. That computer will be forensically examined and just about everything it was ever used for will be traced.
Then there's the digital video evidence. It's a fact of life that we are often under closed-circuit video surveillance in more and more public places. This includes the McDonald's you get your Happy Meals at, as well as hotel lobbies, halls and corridors like the one in Boston where the meet was arranged. The video evidence keeps building.
Above and beyond the digital evidence is an emerging trail of physical evidence including items found in Markoff's apartment like panties from two of the victims and a handgun - located in a hollowed out copy of Gray's Anatomy.
The irony here is that as mystery authors, we would never write a story with such irrefutable evidence. If anyone can think of a twist in this story to prove Markoff is innocent, hats off to their creativity because right now, the ending to this particular horrific and bloody tale seems cast in stone...
