Alleged Craigslist Killer Charged In R.I.

A medical student accused in Boston of killing a masseuse he met on Craigslist has been charged in Rhode Island with assaulting a stripper in a hotel, Attorney General Patrick Lynch said Monday.

An arrest warrant issued Monday accuses Philip Markoff of assault and weapons violations. Authorities previously said Markoff, 23, was the suspect in the April 16 robbery attempt at a Holiday Inn Express in Warwick.

Craigslist is a classified advertising Web site.

An exotic dancer from Las Vegas who offered lap dances told Rhode Island authorities that she was bound with cord and held at gunpoint by a man she met through Craigslist. She said her assailant fled when her husband came up to the hotel room.

A law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity previously told The Associated Press that investigators found Markoff's fingerprint in the hotel. They also believe he sent text messages from there.

Markoff faces four counts in Rhode Island, including assault with intent to rob, assault with a dangerous weapon, possession of a handgun without a license, and use of a firearm while committing a crime of violence, CBS affiliate WPRI in Providence.

Markoff was arrested April 20 on Interstate 95 while driving with his fiancee to Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut.

He was charged with the April 14 killing of Julissa Brisman, a 25-year-old New York City resident who advertised on Craigslist, at the Boston Marriott Copley Place hotel.

He also has been charged in a separate robbery at a hotel of another masseuse who, police say, he met through the site.

He has pleaded not guilty. His lawyer, John Salsberg, did not return a phone message Monday.

Markoff was put on suicide watch at the Boston jail where he is being held.

Meanwhile, CBS News correspondent Kelly Wallace has confirmed there will be meeting Tuesday between the attorneys general from Connecticut, Missouri and Illinois - and possibly other states - with lawyers from Craigslist, as the states' attorneys are pushing to clean up the site.

"Craigslist looks forward to meeting with the attorneys general, and anticipates making further progress toward the common goal of eliminating illegal activity from craigslist, while preserving its full utility and benefit for tens of millions of law-abiding Americans who value and depend
on craigslist's free local community services in their everyday lives," wrote Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster in an e-mail to CBS News.