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Craigslist's masseuse Julissa Brisman found dead in posh Boston hotel; second attack in 2 weeks
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Updated Thursday, April 16th 2009, 4:14 PM

BOSTON - Boston police are investigating attacks on two masseuses-for-hire at luxury hotels, including the killing of one woman at the ritzy Marriott Copley, as the industry braces for an onslaught of guests for next week's marathon.
The fatal shooting of Julissa Brisman, 26, of New York City, prompted the Marriott to step up security in the hotel. Her body was found Tuesday, collapsed in the doorway of her room.
Police said they think she was fighting an attacker during an attempted robbery when he shot her several times in the torso. And the same person may have been involved in the robbery last week of a woman at the Westin Copley Hotel, Police Commissioner Edward Davis said.
Both women had advertised massage services on Craigslist, the online classified service, and both were guests at luxury hotels. The motive for both attacks appeared to be robbery, Davis said.
The victim at the Westin, a 29-year-old from Las Vegas, was bound with a plastic cord and robbed of a debit card and $800 in cash. Police believe Brisman's attacker had also attempted to tie her with a plastic cord.
They released surveillance video from both hotels showing a young, clean-cut looking man with blond hair whom they called a "person of interest" in both crimes.
Police said that they believe the victim at the Westin was involved in prostitution but that they are uncertain about Brisman.
"What we know is that Miss Brisman was advertising masseuse services on Craigslist," said police spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll. A massage table was found in her hotel room.
Brisman's killing and the earlier attack at the Westin come as the city's hotels prepare for thousands of guests streaming into the city for NBA and NHL playoff games and the Boston Marathon.
"In light of the incident on Tuesday night, we heightened security, as much in an effort to kind of appease any potentially frazzled nerves than anything else," said Lucy Slosser, a spokeswoman for the Marriott Copley.
Paul Sacco, president of the Massachusetts Lodging Association, said he spoke to several hotel managers Thursday.
"Naturally, it's a concern. Basically, we are going into a marathon weekend, a very busy period," he said.
"But I have to say that hotels are some of the safest places to be. They have 24-hour security. These two rather terrible and isolated incidents, I feel, are just that."
Brisman's killing also appears to have rattled other masseuses who advertise on Craigslist in Boston.
One poster included a news article about the killing and wrote "very scary!!" under the headline: "YOU MUST READ THIS..."................http://www.nydailynews.com/new.....tel_second_kill.html

Craigslist is as safe as you let it be.

I've used that site so much to buy/sell it's not funny - I save a fortune over Fleabay.

Friends have gotten jobs, free stuff, bartered - all through a free website. It's wonderful.

When you venture to the dark side (personal's and "personal services") - thats where it gets nasty - REALLY nasty.  

For every day people, it's fine. For those that choose to seek out those "services" - well, you get what you pay for (and will likely share it with everyone you claim to love)

I can grasp that's it's as safe as you want it.  Even if I was not spoken for, I don't think I'd get into any online relationships.  My sister has used it for some selling with good experiences.  An acquaintence of mine told me of selling an item for which someone expressed interest and sent her a check for substantially more than the cost, with the story of "the secretary sent the wrong amount, please cash the check and send all but the cost and $100 back via western union" -- she wrote back to the person who wanted to purchase to tell him/her that normal people would put a stop payment on the check and issue a new one, adding that she's not stupid enough to be scammed.  Actually, we subscribe to Readers Digest and they had a write up on scams of which that was one of them.  I find it amazing how many people fall for scams.  What do you think?  Should society just have an attitude of "well, if you were stupid enough to fall for it, tough beans" or should we expend lots of money and energy going after the scammers.  How much preventive education should people have.  I noticed recently on ads on craigslist a warning, highlighted in yellow and then in bold print about not paying by western union.  Then when you send money western union, the first page of the form references how to avoid being scammed.  But if someone still goes ahead and doesn't head the warnings, should our tax money be used to have the AG or consumer protection go after the scammer?  I read recently that many of the debt relief offers in the commercials on TV are scams.  And even people who got those subprime mortgages are now getting refinanced by scammers (wait til we have to bail out the banks in the next go round.)  I know I've gotten off the safety, in terms of personal lives which I think was the original intent of the post, but there's a lot out there

I have recently sold things on craigslist. They are very good at helping one to recognize scam. I had gotten more 'scam' responds than legitimate ones. They are so obvious.

And when I did sell something, I made sure that there were more than one of us there at the time of the sale.

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Craigslist killer suspect once at UAlbany
The Associated Press

    BOSTON — A Boston University medical student who once attended the University at Albany was arrested Monday in the shooting death of a masseuse and the robbery of another woman who both advertised their services on Craigslist.
    Phil Markoff, 22, was arrested during a traffic stop Monday afternoon on Interstate 95 in Walpole, south of Boston, Police Commissioner Ed Davis said at a news conference to announce the arrest. He is also suspected of being connected to an assault on a Las Vegas exotic dancer in Rhode Island last week.
    “We are very, very happy to have this man off the street in such a timely way,” Davis said.
    Authorities said Markoff was originally from upstate New York and now lives in Quincy, just south of Boston. A Facebook profile matching Markoff’s identity, including his photograph, lists him as a 2007 graduate of State University of New York-Albany and in the 2011 class at BU.

http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar01106

As safe as a newspaper classified that no one ever spends money on anymore because they are not the only game in town.

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Craigslist founder rejects idea of ending erotic ads
The Associated Press

    PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The founder of Craigslist does not plan to close the “erotic services” section of the Web site despite criticism that has intensified after a medical student was accused of killing a Boston masseuse who advertised there.
    Craig Newmark contends his site already allows users to fl ag inappropriate material they believe should be removed.
    “Sometimes a bad guy of some sort tries to pull a fast one on our site,” he said in an interview that aired Friday night on ABC News. “We don’t want it there, it’s wrong, and that’s why we have the help of the general community and the law enforcement community getting rid of things like that.”
    Newmark’s comments defied a request by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who asked Craigslist to immediately eliminate photographs in the “erotic services” section, hire staff to screen images and ads that violate the site’s terms of service and fine users who violate those terms.
    The call for action follows the arrest of Philip Markoff, a Boston University medical student charged with killing Julissa Brisman, a 25-year-old masseuse, on April 14 at the Boston Marriott Copley Place hotel. He also is charged in a robbery at a nearby hotel of another masseuse police say he met through the Craigslist classified ads Web site.
    He has pleaded not guilty.
    A law enforcement official said Friday that Markoff’s fingerprint was found on a wall of the Holiday Inn Express in Warwick, R.I. where a stripper has said she was tied up and held at gunpoint.

http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar01602