Apr 18, 2009 11:45 pm US/Eastern
Model's Death Sparks Hunt For 'Craigslist Killer'
'Person Of Interest' Caught On Surveillance Video
WARWICK, R.I. (CBS) ―
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Julissa Brisman was killed at Marriott Copley in Boston on April 16, 2009, as seen here in this undated handout photo.
AP
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Police released this image of the man believed to be connected to the Marriott murder and a robbery at the Westin last week. He may also be linked to an attack in Rhode Island.
CBS
Police are searching for a man they say is preying on women who advertise their services on Craigslist, CBS station WBZ-TV reported.
Julissa Brisman, 26, was found shot to death in a room at the Marriott Copley Hotel in Boston Tuesday night after advertising a massage on Craigslist, police said.
An armed attempted robbery at a Rhode Island Holiday Inn Express Hotel Thursday is connected to Brisman's death, and to another holdup earlier in the week, according to police. A woman held at gunpoint at the Holiday Inn told police she believed the crime was similar Brisman's murder case, which prompted them to start investigating the possibility of a connection.
"The victim did make some indication that this is like what happened in Boston," said Warwick police Col. Stephen McCartney. "So that raised our antennas."
After reviewing surveillance tapes from both hotels, police realized the same man appeared twice. The man is young and clean-cut with blond hair. He appears to be about 6-feet tall and 200 pounds.
The Rhode Island woman said she was attacked outside The Cadillac Lounge strip club in Providence, R.I. The 26-year-old woman also advertised services on Craigslist. She told police she was bound with a cord and held at gunpoint.
The man ran off, when the woman's husband came to the rescue. The husband briefly chased the man, but then returned to check on his wife, WBZ-TV reported.
"She may have been involved in some sort of a sex-for-money transaction at the point in time when she had the confrontation with this alleged assailant," said Warwick Police Chief Stephen McCartney.
McCartney told WBZ Friday that his investigators want to re-interview the couple to get more information.
Brisman was an aspiring actress and model living in New York City. She advertised massage services in order to pay the bills, friends say, and often took $1,000-a-night jobs out of town serving drinks and food topless.
"She was a bubbly, bright person, very open. Perhaps she was too open, too trusting," Pines said.
Brisman studied acting at the HB Studio in the West Village in 2004 and 2005. She landed acting and modeling jobs soon after. A high point was a role in a public service spot about cell phone safety for pedestrians.
Her mother and sister traveled from New York to Boston as the search for the man in the photos intensifies.
"It's sad that some nut took her life like that and I just hope the police find out who did it," actor Onye Coleman said.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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