Boston: A 24-year old Boston University student, accused in the 2009 killing of a New York masseuse whom he had met on Craigslist, was found dead in his prison cell here in an apparent case of suicide.

Philip Markoff, the 'Craigslist Killer', was found dead at Nashua Street Jail on Sunday morning with a plastic bag tied over his head. He was alone in his cell.

Markoff was arrested in April 2009, a week after he allegedly shot Julissa Brisman, a 25-year-old New York masseuse who had travelled to Boston after placing an advertisement for her services on Craigslist.

Markoff had pleaded not guilty and was slated to go on trial in March next year.

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

"The long-awaited criminal prosecution was their only opportunity to confront him, and now he has taken that away as well."

Markoff had allegedly shot Brisman thrice with a handgun in April 2009.

Prosecutors said he had also battered her head.

He was also charged with attacking two other women he met through the classified advertising website.
 
His next court appearance was scheduled for September, Markoff's attorney John Salsberg said.

Markoff, a former Boston University medical student, had been placed on suicide watch shortly after his arrest. He was put in a  special cell under camera surveillance after he tried to use shoelaces to hang himself. 

Tags: Boston, boston student, Craigslist Killer, suicide case