Craigslist Killer Phillip Markoff Committed Suicide

A former medical student accused of killing women he met through Craigslist killed himself inside the Boston jail, where he was awaiting trial, authorities said Sunday.

Philip Markoff’s body was found Sunday morning in the Nashua Street Jail after an apparent suicide, said Ed Geary, a spokesman for the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office. Prison officials have launched a full investigation into how a high-profile inmate was able to take his own life without anyone noticing for hours.

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Markoff, 24, a former Boston University student, was suspected of killing at least three women through advertisements for erotic services posted on classified website Craigslist.org.

He was scheduled to go on trial for the Massachusetts cases in March 2011.

Saturday would have been Markoff’s first wedding anniversary, but his nuptials were cancelled after his arrest. Markoff was engaged at the time of his arrest. His fiancee, Megan McAllister, from New Jersey, ended the relationship with Markoff after visiting him in jail, and their wedding, scheduled for Aug. 14, 2009, was subsequently canceled.