He Was Always Such a Nice Boy

Often, relatives and acquaintances of the suspect in a notorious case express shock and disbelief when the crime and the alleged perpetrator become publicly linked. The man accused of being the “Craigslist killer,” 23-year-old Philip Markoff, is among those who made a positive impression in better times.

The Boston Globe:

Terry Law, another neighbor on Thurston, taught Markoff in first grade and remembered, “He was smart, very smart. Good at math and science.”

“They found a semiautomatic, they said on TV today. Oh God, he was a skinny, little towhead blonde boy in my class,” she said.

Sonja Hluska, 63, a neighbor whose house looks out over Markoff’s former house, also taught him high school English.

“He was a good student and just a really nice, nice kid. He was one of my most polite students,” she said. “Just a nice, clean-cut boy, smart, wanting to succeed. Mmmm ... No, nothing strange, nothing out of the ordinary.”’

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AP photo / Mark Garfinkel, pool

Boston University medical student Philip Markoff during his arraignment in Boston Municipal Court on Tuesday.