This is a rush transcript from "On the Record ," April 24, 2009. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: Tonight: She had to have been absolutely terrified, thinking she was about to be murdered after being attacked by a man now thought to be the Craigslist killer. Twenty-three-year-old medical student Philip Markoff is accused of murdering a masseuse in a fancy Boston hotel. But days before that murder, at another fancy hotel nearby, Markoff allegedly assaulted another, 29-year-old woman. She got lucky. She got away alive.
And this morning on "Good Morning America," the woman described exactly how she recognized Markoff from a hotel surveillance tape.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The same clothing and (INAUDIBLE) basically, his face. My parents don't know what I do, so -- I mean, to find out that way would be horrifying. And I just hope that they (INAUDIBLE) behind bars for the rest of his life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAN SUSTEREN: Markoff's parents visited him in jail today, and the accused killer's lawyer says this about the meeting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN SALSBERG, MARKOFF'S ATTORNEY: His parents have seen him. You know, they, of course, remain very concerned about him. But they would really ask that all of you respect their privacy. They're not going to talk about their conversation with him or about anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAN SUSTEREN: Joe Dwinell joins us live. He's the city editor for The Boston Herald. Joe, I can only imagine how horrible it is for the parents. But while I was feeling some empathy for the parents whose son is in jail and charged with murder, I then thought about the victim's mother. And it's her birthday today, isn't it, the victim.
JOE DWINELL, BOSTON HERALD: Right. Julissa Brisman would have turned 26 years old today. And her mother released a statement through the DA, saying this is going to haunt her for the rest of her life. Her girl would call her every day, and now that phone call is never going to come again.
VAN SUSTEREN: It's just absolutely devastating. Philip Markoff's parents were there today. What's his background?
DWINELL: Well, the father is a dentist. The mother works at an Indian casino. We reported that. That might -- you know, might lead to some speculation about the gambling. His brother was there, too. His brother, Jon, came with his wife. They left a little bit later. They didn't have a lot to say, but they definitely were looking glum as they left that jail.
VAN SUSTEREN: Is Markoff still on suicide watch?
DWINELL: He is. He's on suicide watch. There's one report that he's beyond suicide watch, he's almost catatonic. He may be in a kind of protective suit that they give people, especially in this situation, so soon in their incarceration.
VAN SUSTEREN: Any new developments in terms of evidence today?
DWINELL: Rhode Island -- now that there's a lot -- there's some more coming out of the Rhode Island hold-up. That was a week ago Thursday. They're saying that there are prints on the wall and also text messages that allegedly were sent by Philip Markoff right after that botched robbery. There's also possibly prints that were found on the plastic restraints that he allegedly used to lash up his victims. Now, those developments are coming out today.
VAN SUSTEREN: You mean to tell me that in the attack in Rhode Island, that after it occurred, he decides to text message from the very hotel?
DWINELL: Right. As you saw in those surveillance photos, he was almost obsessed by that BlackBerry. His head was down. Maybe that was part of the plan. We'll find out. But his head was down and he was, you know, thumbing away on the BlackBerry. So they're saying -- sources are saying -- they told the Associated Press today that they traced those text messages. We don't know who they were sent to, but they said some were sent.
VAN SUSTEREN: Where is the fiancee of Philip Markoff? I know that at least yesterday, she was standing by him. But I assume every day, it must get more punishing as she hears the evidence roll out.
DWINELL: I would believe so. Megan McAllister is back home on the Jersey shore. Her dad came -- as you -- we reported last night, the dad came out yesterday. Not a peep today. I reached out to her on Facebook. She's not responding. So who knows what she's doing now as these details start to leak out day by day.
VAN SUSTEREN: Isn't she also a medical student, not at the same -- not at the same medical school that the defendant is? But why isn't she in medical school?
DWINELL: Good question. We looked that up on line. She goes to school in St. Kitts, and there semester break is right now. She's due back -- if she goes back, we don't know -- in May. So they have two semesters and the next one starts in May.
VAN SUSTEREN: All right. Then, of course, she's due to get married in August to the man who's now sitting in jail, charged with horrible crimes. But that's unlikely that's going to happen. Joe, thank you.
DWINELL: You're welcome, Greta.
VAN SUSTEREN: "On the Record" is on the ground in Boston, tracing the steps of the accused Craigslist killer. Today we teamed up with The Boston Herald to take you inside the investigation, starting with the first attack police know about.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On April 10th, Trisha Leffler heard a knock at the door. She answered it. And on the other side, police say, was not a sex-seeking john, but suspect Philip Markoff. Police say that Markoff came here to the Westin Copley, where he attacked Leffler.
This is what the room probably looked like here at the Westin Copley in downtown Boston. We know that there was no massage table in this incident.
He went from this Westin to the next attack at the Marriott, which, as you can see, actually is just right down the street. These two hotels are very close together. After he allegedly attacked Trisha Leffler, two days later, was gambling at the Foxwoods Casino.
So police say one day after the Foxwoods trip and three days after the attack here at the Westin Copley is when Philip Markoff set up a new e-mail address that he used to contact his next victim. Now, this e-mail address, they say, of all the things that we know about Markoff, was the key piece of evidence that basically did him in, that led police to his apartment in Quincy. They traced the IP address on his e-mail account to this apartment in Quincy where he lived.
Now, on April 16th, there's been a report that Markoff went to Foxwoods and that he gambled there and won big, somewhere around the area of $5,000. Despite the fact that he had all this money, if this report is true, that that did not deter him from again setting up an appointment via Craigslist. This incident also did not go as Markoff planned, in Warwick, Rhode Island.
After he set up his appointment on Craigslist, police say, he arrived there, gun in tow, and you know, restraints as well as tape and that he set up an appointment with a Las Vegas erotic dancer. But when he got there, police say her husband actually came out and saw him and that he pointed a gun at the husband, pointed a gun at the victim, a Las Vegas, lap dancer, and ran off and left.
Now, on the weekend of April 18th is when police got their big break. So this is when, on Saturday, they finally traced his e-mails to an apartment in Quincy. So by Sunday morning, the Boston police are actually parked outside Markoff's Quincy apartment. They're waiting for somebody who matches the suspect's description to come out. And that's exactly what happened at noon on Sunday.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAN SUSTEREN: Former LAPD homicide detective Mark Fuhrman joins us. And of course, Mark, it's innocent until proven guilty and presumption of innocence. But as a practical matter, when those ballistics tests come back and the gun in this apartment match the ballistics of the bullets in that poor woman's chest, it's -- it's curtains for him as to that murder.
Is the -- would you not think that right now, the police are searching for other possible robbery victims, or even homicide victims?
MARK FUHRMAN, FORMER LAPD HOMICIDE DETECTIVE: Oh, of course, they are, Greta. And I think there's certain keys here. Activity on his BlackBerry is one. When did he obtain this semi-automatic handgun? Where was he obtaining these draw ties that he's used to tie up the victims? So they'll go back to those locations and they'll look at his credit cards and debit card and they'll try to find out when he actually started being active. And they'll probably work from that point to that date of the homicide or the current robberies that they know about.
VAN SUSTEREN: All right. It's very -- I mean, the physical evidence is very helpful in identifying who perpetrated a particular crime. But when this man was stopped, when this medical student was stopped, he was told he was under arrest, presumably given his Miranda rights. What does a detective do to try to get him to talk? What are the type of -- what's your method? What are the questions you want to ask? Because if he'll say something incriminating, that makes it a whole lot easier.
FUHRMAN: Well, you've got to first -- you've got to figure out just exactly who this guy is and what he will respond to. But one of the best methods is to really sit him down and advise him of his rights. And if he says, Well -- before you say anything, or before you want a lawyer, or even if he says he wants a lawyer, you know, you tell them, You know, I don't need to talk to you. And the only reason that I would need to talk to you is to have you explain some of the evidence against you. So if you want to try to explain some of this, we'll go through it piece by piece and you can answer my questions. And at any time, you can invoke your privilege to have an attorney -- and really don't act like you're all that interested, that you really need it. And sometimes, that elicits a lot of response from the suspect, trying to explain away evidence that he knows you have.
VAN SUSTEREN: And is it likely to be videotaped? Is that a sort of preferred method of now interviewing people is to put them under videotape, or not?
FUHRMAN: Put them on a videotape and you put them on an audiotape that's separate, so you always have a back-up. And even if you get a written confession from the suspect or he wants to explain away evidence, you have him write it in his own hand on video. You leave him alone because sometimes suspects mutter things. Sometimes they talk out loud. Sometimes they show anger, frustration.
And you never -- you -- I'm not a big fan of putting a videotape in a room where they know they're being videotaped. You have a hidden videotape and a hidden audio. You don't tell them either one. They have no expectation of privacy at that moment. So when you do that, you get a lot of candid body movements and statements. And sometimes this takes hours, even days to keep working somebody. But like you said, if they invoke their privilege, you're kind of dead in the water and then they have to contact you, you can't re-contact them.
VAN SUSTEREN: And when you say "invoke the privilege," once they say, I want a lawyer, I don't want to talk, it is closure for that and you get them a lawyer right away. And Mark, as always, thank you very much.
FUHRMAN: Thank you.
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