The Craigslist Killer

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Megan McAllister thought she had won the lottery when she began dating fellow med student, Philip Markoff, for he was everything she had ever wanted in a guy—he was sweet, handsome, brilliant, and… a psychopath? Unknown to poor Megan, her husband-to-be’s dark personality surfaced while he searched through erotic service ads on Craigslist on the hunt for his next victim. However, one question remains—why? Why would a successful, handsome future doctor with a beautiful fiancé feel an urge to commit crimes? The answer? He is a psychopath. Philip Markoff’s interpersonal and affective personality traits contribute to his classification as a modern-day psychopath whose popularity in school, loving relationship, and his affluent lifestyle reveal that his psychopathic qualities are inherent.

Contrary to the movie industry’s portrayal of psychopaths, rarely do psychopaths come out in the open and kill their victims with chainsaws or wear disturbing masks. Nor do they act menacing or evil out in public. Rather, most psychopaths attempt to blend into society. A psychopath can be defined as one who uses superficial charm and manipulation to achieve his or her goals, even if it involves committing crimes. They can act quickly and feel neither remorse for committing the crime nor empathy for their unsuspecting victim. As much as they attempt to blend in, psychopaths are unable to fully function in society because they lack some qualities of a “normal” person. In the medical field, psychopathy is not recognized as a disorder. In fact, Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary defines psychopathy as an “obsolete term” (Venes and Taber 1372). In an effort to define psychopathy, multiple psychiatrists attempted to describe i...

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...009. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.

Goodnough, Abby. "Medical Student Is Indicted in Craigslist Killing." The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 22 June 2009. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.

"Interview of Philip Markoff." Interview by Dennis Harris. Boston Police Department. Boston, Massechusetts, 20 Apr. 2009. Transcript.

McPhee, Michele. A Date with Death: The Secret Life of the Accused "Craigslist Killer" New York: St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2010. Print.

Todd, J. "Distinguishing a Psychopath." The British Medical Journal 1 (1954): 157-58. JSTOR. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. (Secondary)

Venes, Donald, and Clarence Wilbur Taber. Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary. 16th ed. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis, 2013. 1372-373. Print.

Walsh, Janet. "Accused 'Craigslist Killer' Philip Markoff Commits Suicide in Boston Jail." Boston.com. The New York Times, 15 Aug. 2010. Web. 06 Mar. 2014.

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