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Should we be pleased or frustrated when an accused murderer commits suicide while in custody?

By Douglas A. Berman

The provocative question in the title for this post is inspired by this breaking news via CNN, which is headlined "Police: Accused Craigslist killer dead of apparent suicide."  Here are the story basics: A onetime medical student who was facing charges including first-degree murder in a killing tied to the Craigslist website died Sunday of an apparent suicide, police said.  Philip Markoff was found in his Nashua Street Jail cell at 10:17 a.m. Sunday and pronounced dead by medics, said Steven Tompkins, spokesman for the Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Sheriff's Office. Markoff, 24, was charged with the April 14, 2009, fatal shooting and attempted robbery of Julissa Brisman, 25, at Boston's Copley Marriott Hotel. Police said that Brisman, a model, advertised as a masseuse on Craiglist, a popular online classifieds service, and said Markoff may have met her through the site...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on August 15, 2010 (boomark / email).