Philip Markoff, the man known to most as the so-called “Craigslist Killer” took his own life yesterday in a Boston jail and many are asking how hard could it have been for jail guards to monitor someone who had attempted suicide on three previous occasions.
dailybeast.com: As far back as the spring of last year, Markoff was placed on suicide watch immediately after his arrest on murder charges in the shooting death of Internet “escort” Julia Brisman, 25, at a Boston hotel. Jail guards noticed markings on his neck indicating he had attempted to strangle himself with his shoelaces. He reportedly attempted suicide again a week later after his fiancé broke off their engagement. He then spent about a month in a segregated unit where he was under constant watch, but was released back into general population until he tried again to commit suicide on what would have been his wedding day, August 14, 2009.
So the question becomes, why? Why wasn’t it enough to put the guy in a secure cell for prisoners at high risk for suicide that he’d tried three times to take his own life? After all, according to one national study, one-third of prisoners who commit suicide have a history of suicidal behavior, and almost 40 percent, like Markoff, have a history of mental illness.
