Who Killed JuLissa Brisman? A Serial Killer May Be Targeting Women via CraigsList

Surveillance image of suspect in JuLissa Brisman's murder

He may only be in his 20s. He is clean-cut, blond and he uses a smart phone, perhaps a Blackberry or iPhone. He probably resembles a thousand other outwardly presentable young guys in and around Boston, NYC, you name it - but he may be killing women he finds through CraigsList. Women like 26-year-old JuLissa Brisman.

Police in Boston say Brisman was killed in a room at Boston's upscale Marriott Copley Place hotel. They believe she was murdered by the blond, young man after he answered an ad she placed on CraigsList.

The following is from the New York Daily News:

The deadly drama unfolded when fellow hotel guests heard screams from her room on the 20th floor of the downtown hotel.

She was found lying in a pool of blood, with several bullet wounds and a plastic "restraint" on one wrist, cops said. A massage table was set up inside the 20th-floor room.

JuLissa Brisman/MySpace

JuLissa Brisman was taken to the hospital, but it was too late.

Boston cops don't know if Brisman was selling sex. The following comes from the Boston Police Department's own News Blog:

The preliminary investigation suggests Ms. Brisman was advertising masseuse services on Craigslist. Detectives are investigating the possibility that this incident was an attempted robbery. It appears that there was a struggle between the victim and the suspect in the threshold of the hotel room immediately prior to the shooting.

In addition, detectives are investigating the possibility that this incident is related to another recent incident which also occurred at a local hotel.

On April 10, 2009, at approximately 12:46am, officers responded to a robbery in progress at the Westin Hotel at 10 Huntington Ave. Officers received a report from a 29 year old female victim that she was robbed at gunpoint in her hotel room. 

Brisman's friends insist she wasn't selling sex. Photographer Mark Pines told the Daily News that aspiring actress and model was selling nothing but "straight massage," and that she was "legit." Pines also didn't believe that Brisman resisted her attacker. He said it "wasn't in her nature" to handle such a situation that way.

JuLissa Brisman's current MySpace profile is private, but back in May of 2008 it was still public. That was when it was indexed by MySpaceProfiles.org [copy of the page here] a site that scans the social network and condenses info from profiles onto a single, shorter web page without all the browser-freezing MySpace "pimpage."

So, in May of last year, Brisman described herself as "A TruE BoRN and RaiSeD ManHaTTan HoTTiE FiNaLLy GeTTin a H0Ld oF ThiS W0nDeRFuL ThiNg We caLL LIFE!!!! : )"

She was also clear about her primary interests:

ACTiNG..I live it..I breathe it-it's my Passion!, FasHion ShowS (and shopping after!!),Broadway Shows,CoNcErTs,I LoVe "SeXy TimEz"~ Hanging out and spoiling my GorGe0uS d0g CoCo ChAnEL!! He's the Man of my life!!oh ya!! lol TraveLing and HavIng Fun absolutly any single place I go ALL oveR the WoRLD!!, dancing, TaNNiNg,WoRkIng OuT, LuVV GoiNg 2 the beaCh, "SERENiTY",Loving to PUNK ppl with mY FriEndZ!! LOL!!HangiNg 0uT w/ my LiL SiS MeLissa!! We are sum CrazY LiL things when 2gether!! Heh,heheh!!, People who don't judge and they are there for you WHEN YOUR LIFE GETS WAAAAY OUT OF HAND!! , My Hilarious FrienDZ & FaM who Laugh At all my TacKy and CorNy Jokes!!! ~ KiSSeS~~

Brisman loved the movies Juno and 40 Year Old Virgin and listed among her favorite books Uta Hagen's Respect for Acting and Challenge for the Actor.

Brisman wrote that her heroes were "Sarah Jessica Parker & Marilyn Monroe," and she quoted Monroe: "I have too many fantasies to be a housewife, I guess I am a fantasy..."

JuLissa Brisman hasn't been the only victim of the mysterious blond man. Police in Rhode Island believe he may have struck there, as well. From WPRI.com:

Police are investigating an attempted robbery at a hotel in Warwick that could be connected to a Boston murder.

According to police, the suspect tied a woman up in a room at the Holiday Inn Express on Jefferson Boulevard , held a gun to her head, then fled. Nothing was taken and the woman was not hurt...

The man sought for the attempted robbery in Warwick matches the description of the man seen on surveillance footage from the Boston Marriott.

Speaking on-air on the Today Show this morning, former FBI profiler Clint Van Zandt referred to this man (if he is indeed responsible for Brisman's murder as well as perhaps 2 armed robberies, so far) as someone on a "spree."

If that's true, and the mystery blond man isn't a serial killer per se, he will escalate his crimes. Fortunately, a major trail of evidence must have been left both through the killer's contacts via CraigsList. It may only be a matter of time. Otherwise, another young woman's dreams of the glamorous life in Manhattan or Hollywood may shatter with the sound of gunshots in some anonymous hotel room.

Call the Boston Police at (617) 343-4470 if you think you have information about the murder of JuLissa Brisman. If you want to remain anonymous, you can call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-494-TIPS.

NOTE (added later): Check out a blog post at The Village Voice about JuLissa Brisman's missed date on Facebook. The missed connection with an old high school friend happened the night she was murdered.

Mark Pines's cell phone PSA, starring JuLissa Brisman.