The enigma of Philip Markoff, alternately described as a brutal Internet predator and a great guy with a winning smile, became more confusing Tuesday when reports surfaced that the accused Craigslist killer had gambling debts and was arrested en route to Foxwoods Resort Casino.
Dubbed the craigslist killer for how he allegedly met a masseuse who was shot to death and a prostitute who was robbed earlier this month, the 23-year-old Boston University medical school student was held without bail after being arraigned Tuesday in Boston on charges of murder, kidnapping and armed robbery.
"This was a brutal, vicious crime — savage, and it shows Philip Markoff is a man who is willing to take advantage of women, to hurt them, to beat them, to rob them," Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley said. "He probably thought he was going to get away with it. He thought he was too smart for us."
But minus the sullen expression, shackles and wrinkles in the striped blue dress shirt and khakis he wore in court Tuesday, a glimpse of Markoff could be seen through the eyes of his fiancée, Megan McAllister.
"He could not hurt a fly," McAllister said in an e-mail to ABC's "Good Morning America."
"All I have to say is Philip is a beautiful person, inside and out."
The couple, who were together when Markoff was arrested, planned to get married Aug. 14 on a beach at sunset in Long Branch, N.J.
Boston police refused to comment on reports citing unidentified law enforcement sources that Markoff was a problem gambler. But Foxwoods said that it was helping investigators.
"We do not release information publicly concerning individual patrons; however, we are aware of this situation and are cooperating with the appropriate law enforcement authorities," the casino and the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation said in a statement.
Conley said he believed that Markoff's original motive was robbery, and authorities said there could be more victims.
Connecticut state police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance said that Massachusetts officials kept state authorities informed of their investigation as it developed "in case it crossed the border." He said that state police have reviewed open cases and found none that fits the pattern of the Massachusetts crimes.
The combination of a handsome, seemingly privileged suspect and victims from the seamier edges of the Internet generated plenty of media attention Tuesday.
Reporters descended on the Boston University medical school campus, where Markoff was in his second year. The university has said that Markoff was suspended after his arrest.
Lev Salnikov, a technician in the nuclear medicine center, said that staff members and students were shocked by the charges.
"I just can't accept it because it's not easy to get in [to the medical school]," Salnikov said. "Any kind of crime in the medical society is extremely rare."
Markoff's attorney John Salsberg said that Markoff is not guilty and "has his family's support."
Markoff is accused of killing Julissa Brisman, 26, of New York City, who was found dead April 14 in a Boston hotel after being hit in the head and shot three times.
Brisman was an aspiring model and actress who had advertised erotic massage on craigslist. Authorities said that she and Markoff communicated through e-mail and cellphone to set up a meeting.
Investigators traced an e-mail to Markoff, who created a new address at his Quincy, Mass., apartment the day before Brisman's body was discovered at the Boston Marriott Copley Place hotel.
Authorities say he was the man seen on surveillance video near where Brisman was found and where a woman was robbed in Rhode Island.
That woman told investigators that she met a man, who police have since identified as Markoff, on April 10 and let him into her room at the Westin Copley Place in Boston. When she shut the door and turned around, the woman said, he was pointing a gun at her stomach. She also told police that he bound her hands and mouth.
He then stole more than $800 and personal items, authorities said.
Police said they found a semiautomatic weapon, duct tape and restraints in the upscale apartment that Markoff shared with his fiancée.
ABC News reported Tuesday, citing unnamed sources, that two days after each of the crimes, Markoff went to Foxwoods to gamble. The report said that he had gone to the casino once in 2008, but started visiting more frequently in March.
Marvin Steinberg, executive director of the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling, said that compulsive gamblers who commit crimes usually eschew violence in favor of schemes such as embezzlement, but that anything is possible.
"You name it and people will do it in the service of a gambling problem," Steinberg said.
Gamblers who commit crimes to obtain money also quickly head to a casino, much like junkies want to do their drugs after scoring, said Steinberg, a psychologist.
Coverage of the case, and other similar incidents around the country, also has given pause to some who advertise their services in the "erotic" section of Craigslist. A woman who e-mailed The Courant using the name "Lotsa Love" said that she had been lucky and not had any problems, but would be reluctant to contact police if she did.
"I am more careful now," she said, although the ad remained posted Tuesday.