Deadly Good Looks?

AP Photo Why is America riveted by Philip Markoff? Call it the reverse Susan Boyle effect: The alleged “Craigslist Killer” seems too handsome and too professional to have possibly murdered a woman. Not unlike another case that shocked the country two decades ago, “Preppie Killer” Robert Chambers, beauty might turn out to be the beast.

Susan Boyle opened her mouth and forced the world to remember that looks are a poor indicator of either talent or character. When she made the sneers turn to cheers, it was a heartlifting moment, but it was also a moment of vindication. It was about justice. Someone of real merit got the recognition she deserved, even though she didn’t look like Paris or Britney. Oxygen-deprived at birth, confined to a small burg, her days wiled away as a caretaker—if she’d turned criminal to climb her way out of a life filled with obstacles, no one would have been shocked. Instead, this delightful, disarmingly genuine woman climbed up on that stage and turned the world into her cheerleader.

Lawyers can argue about almost anything. But there is one thing they all agree on: Having a good-looking client is half the battle—sometimes even more than half. When you start out with a clean-cut client who doesn’t fit the criminal mold, you’re way ahead of the game, because the jury only has to look at him to have doubts.

Philip Markoff, on the other hand, was born into a life of opportunity. He had access to good schools—the kind that offer membership on golf teams and bowling teams—he had no disability, and he didn’t have to care for ailing parents, so he made the honor society. He made it into medical school and was about to marry the girl he met while volunteering in the emergency room of a local hospital. His future was laid out for him like a fine linen tablecloth—smooth and wide open with possibilities. This is not the guy you expect to commit premeditated armed robbery of women who sell sex on Craigslist—gambling debts or not.

Accused of the robbery and brutal murder of Julissa Brisman, the robbery of another woman, and the attempted robbery of a third, the evidence amassed so far against Philip Markoff is damning. And it’s only getting worse. While at first it looked like a straight-up robbery, if the latest revelation is true, it’s a case that goes much higher on the sicko scale: The police have reportedly found underwear belonging to both Brisman and the other robbery victim in Markoff’s apartment. Law-enforcement sources said that he took them as souvenirs. You probably don’t need me to tell you that robbers aren’t generally big on souvenirs—unless you think your wallet and credit cards qualify as keepsakes. If all this pans out—and many of the sources so far are anonymous, so caveat emptor—the only thing that would be surprising is the announcement that there are no other victims. It’s Sociopath 101.

Underwear fetish aside, for all his med school smarts Markoff seems to have made dumb mistakes—like not realizing he’d be captured on surveillance cameras—that ultimately got him caught. But he also got some things painfully right. For instance, by targeting women who are prostituting themselves, he picked one of the safest and most common of targets. Hookers are unlikely to report a robbery because they didn’t come by their money legally in the first place. They’re also vulnerable—unless they’re lucky enough to have an understanding boyfriend stashed in the next room, like the third would-be victim did. And even if one of them did report him, how would she identify him? Markoff didn’t exactly run in the same circles as these women, and the odds were pretty slim that they’d wind up in his emergency room. He had no rapsheet, so it’s not like the cops would have his mugshot to put into a photo lineup to show any of the victims. And even if one of the women did manage to identify him, it’s his word—a medical student with barely a traffic ticket on his record—against hers, a hooker who advertises on Craigslist. Who’s the cop going to believe? The logic is as cunning as it is chilling.

His family, friends, and fiancée seem to be in varying stages of shell-shock, or denial. Although the evidence keeps piling up, they don’t believe any of it—at least that’s what we hear. And to tell you the truth, even if they did have inklings that there was something “off” about Markoff, I wouldn’t expect them to tell us so.

But in this constant, instant news era, it’s impossible to keep a lid on everyone who ever knew him, and so it was bound to happen that others would surface who did not have such a hard time believing Markoff did it. Tiffany Montgomery, Markoff’s former lab partner, said other students in that class had always thought he was “disturbed.” Montgomery, who presumably had the most contact with him, found his mood swings so troubling she considered reporting him as a suicide risk. The ink on that report was still fresh when another former Markoff study buddy, Morgan Houston, came forward to claim that Markoff pushed her against the wall and tried to kiss her after a night of drinking with friends. She was unable to get him to stop, so she was relieved when another male friend came and pulled Markoff away.

In my experience, if one or two such witnesses crawl out of the woodwork, there will likely be many more to come. And then this trickle will become a flow, and the flow will become a tidal wave that will bury any hope of a viable defense. Markoff defense attorney John Salsberg probably loves these two as much as Sarah Palin loves Darwin. If the defense is going to have any chance here, witnesses like Montgomery and Houston can’t keep popping up. This case isn’t likely to allow for a mental defense—there’s too much evidence of planning and premeditation. That means Salsberg will have to claim that someone else did it.