The Illicit List: Crime and Craigslist

Four days before allegedly killing Brisman, Markoff may have committed a more successful but less deadly crime. Trisha Leffler, 29, says he arranged to meet her at another Back Bay luxury hotel, the Westin Copley Place, after seeing the Las Vegas prostitute's ad on Craigslist.

Once they were alone in the room, Leffler says, Markoff robbed her at gunpoint. She says he bound and gagged her, and got away with her debit card, $800 in cash and $250 in American Express gift cards.

A Rhode Island official has said Markoff will also be charged in an attack there, an arrest warrant for him was announced on May 4, 2009. According to the official, Markoff's fingerprints match those found at the Holiday Inn Express in Warwick, where a stripper who advertised on Craigslist says a man matching his description tried to rob her at gunpoint. Police haven't confirmed this, but reportedly cell phone records show that Markoff sent text messages from Warwick shortly after the time of that attack.

Detectives staked out Markoff's Quincy apartment building, a luxury tower where he paid $1400 a month. When they saw a tall blond man and a woman (later identified as his fiancée) drive away in a Toyota Corolla, they followed the couple to a grocery store and back. One detective compared Markoff to the Celtics' former center Kevin McHale. Markoff may have struck many people as awkward, but he was physically imposing and looked athletic.

When Markoff and McAllister drove toward Connecticut on another trip, police worried he was fleeing. Lieutenant Detective Robert L. Merner and Sergeant Detective Daniel Duff pulled them over in Walpole, Mass., on the way to Foxwoods Casino. They told Markoff he'd have to return to Boston for questioning, and that they had a search warrant to seize the car. He seemed detached, they said. At headquarters, Markoff calmly demanded a lawyer.

They booked him into the Nashua Street Jail, where he's being held without bail. A guard noticed marks around his neck, leading authorities to believe he'd tried to hang himself with his shoelaces. Jailers then placed him in a supervised cell, with cameras watching him 24 hours a day, denying him access to potentially dangerous objects and the possible incitements of newspapers and TV.

Markoff tearfully warned his family, "There's more coming out."