List of Craigslist killers

The term Craigslist Killer, in relation to current events, refers to a person or persons perpetrating a crime against a victim who either posted advertisements to, or answered requests for, personal services on Craigslist, a popular classified advertising website. Before the development of the Internet, when similar cases were described in the media, they were commonly known as "Want Ad Murders" and the perpetrators were called "Want Ad Killers" or "Lonely Hearts Club Killers", due to their method of finding victims through newspaper classified ads and personal or lonely hearts club ads.

While there have been three different murder cases in which the suspects met their victims through Craigslist, and in which the individual suspects have all at various times been referred to by the media as "the Craigslist Killer," at present the term is usually associated with Philip Markoff, who was recently arrested in connection with the April, 2009 incidents in Boston, Massachussets and Warwick, Rhode Island. All three individuals and their respective cases are discussed below.

Michael John Anderson
Michael John Anderson, age 19, murdered Katherine Anne Olson, a 24-year-old theater graduate and professional nanny, on October 25, 2007 in a Minneapolis, Minnesota suburb after seeing an ad for her services as a nanny on Craigslist. Posing as a married woman named "Amy," he exchanged emails with her, and when she arrived at his house for an interview, he shot her in the back with a .357 Magnum and put her body into the trunk of her car, which he drove to the Burnsville Nature Preserve, where he abandoned it.

The car with Olson's body in it was discovered on October 26, 2007.

Anderson, who was referred to by the media as "The Craigslist Killer, was found guilty of 1st and 2nd degree murder and 2nd degree manslaughter and received a life sentence without parole on April 1, 2009.

John Katehis
On March 25, 2009, police arrested 16-year-old John Katehis of Queens, New York for the murder of the former radio reporter George Weber. During his extended career, Weber had worked as an on-air reporter for WABC in New York City, KGO in San Francisco, and KTLK and KMPC in Los Angeles.

Katehis confessed to the crime when apprehended. He said that he was a Satanist and a sadomasochist and that he had responded to his victim's advertisement on Craigslist for "rough sex," but stabbed Weber in self-defense after Weber tried to stab him. Weber's body was found bound and he had been stabbed 50 times. Katehis was dubbed "The Craigslist Killer" by the media.

Despite his original confession, on March 26, 2009, Katehis pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder and weapons possession. He was held without bail.

Philip Markoff
In 2009, three assaults on women took place—one of which resulted in murder—in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The assaults, which were closely spaced in time, exhibited strong similarities to each other, and were suspected by law enforcement officials of being committed by the same individual.

The first incident took place on Friday, April 10, 2009, at the Westin Copley Place Hotel, in Boston, Massachusetts, in which a Las Vegas prostitute was bound and robbed at gunpoint. The next incident was committed on Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at the Copley Marriott, also in Boston, and resulted in the death of Julissa Brisman. The third incident occurred on Thursday, April 16, 2009 at a Holiday Inn Express in Warwick, Rhode Island, resulting in the attempted robbery of an exotic dancer.

The motive for the crimes does not seem to be sexual in nature, as none of the victims were sexually assaulted. Criminal profiler John Kelly, of New Jersey’s STALK Inc., said that he believed the motive for the attacks may be drug-related. Boston investigators suspect that Markoff may have preyed on prostitutes and Brisman, a masseuse, because of a gambling problem.

On April 20, 2009, citing evidence collected ia security camera videos and internet technology, police arrested Philip Markoff, a 22-year-old medical student at Boston University, living in the High Point apartments in Quincy, Massachusetts, and charged him with armed robbery and kidnapping for the events of April 10, and murder in the death of Julissa Brisman on April 14. The arrest took place on Interstate 95 in Walpole, Massachusetts while Markoff and his fiance were en route to a gambling casino. Markoff was referred to as "The Craigslist Killer" in the media

On Tuesday, April 21, 2009, Markoff was arraigned on murder and gun charges brought by the Suffolk County District Attorney in Brisman's slaying. A procedural not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf. He will be held without bail on a murder charge, although separate bonds were set on charges of armed robbery and kidnapping stemming from an incident involving a second woman. Markoff is originally from Sherrill, New York.