<p>in a rural area? try harder.</p>
<p>His Dad is a dentist. His grandfather is a lawyer. Don’t assume that the only reason he attended SUNY Albany was financial.</p>
<p>Maybe his parents cut him off because of the gambling. We don’t know what the real story is with this guy.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Not that that has any significance, but he’s a dentist in Syracuse. Hardly a rural area. My point is that he does not come from a poor family and that assumptions should not be made.</p>
<p>Reading what Megan, his fiancee stated today really struck me as so sad. it seems that she can’t yet believe it…she really doesn’t know this other Phillip and it is confounding on a deep level to let that kind of betrayal in. I can’t imagine what these parents are going thru, especially Megan’s – they must want to protect her but need to let her find her way with this.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine what his parents are going through…</p>
<p>NSM, didn’t you say the same thing about Casey Anthony’s parents??^^^ When all the facts eventually come out, it may become a little clearer.</p>
<p>So apparently he was ■■■■■■■■ for victims and posting pics on the casual encounters section. So, as someone who has used Craigs List quite a bit (selling cars, buying furniture), I decided to give it a quick check. OMG - it is DISGUSTING. I can’t believe Craig’s List allows folks to post pictures like that. Wow. IMO, Craig’s List should take some control here…they are encouraging some unbelievably vile behavior. I understand that the CEO is refusing to budge. I’m no longer a fan!
As for P. Markoff, I do feel really bad for the family. Everyone assumes the parents MUST be weird - but that’s not always true. The parents of one of the Columbine killers were normal, friendly folks. I think some of this is biological…although it in no way excuses the behavior. Bottom line, I know terrific kids with awful parents and awful kids with terrific parents.</p>
<p>^^^^</p>
<p>A couple of months ago it was announced that either the Attorney General of Illinois or the State’s Attorney of Cook County (Chicago) - I can’t remember which - has either sued or is contemplating suing Craig’s List for promoting prostitution. This has been an issue for a long time and the Craig’s List folks are not interested in helping. Maybe this case will help change their minds.</p>
<p>I have a close friend who know’s Markoff’s dad (and knew Markoff as a child before the parents got divorced and mom moved away with the kids) - dad is a nice guy. Who knows what went “wrong” with the kid but good parents can have bad kids (and vice versa).</p>
<p>As a side note, </p>
<p>re:
</p>
<p>Having a public defender does not equate to ineffective assistance of counsel!</p>
<p>"NSM, didn’t you say the same thing about Casey Anthony’s parents??^^^ When all the facts eventually come out, it may become a little clearer.:</p>
<p>I continue to feel sorry for Casey Anthony’s parents. I suspect Casey Anthony has always been sociopathic, and it would be very hard for a parent to recognize that. To recognize that one’s only child killed one’s only grandchild and then went about her business happily is so horrifying that I think that most normal people would grasp at straws in order to deny that’s what happened.</p>
<p>I also believe that good parents can have children who do horrific things through no fault of their upbringing. I am convinced that some people are born missing whatever part of the brain is responsible for empathy and having a conscience.</p>
<p>Argh, this case is so tragic and befuddling (thus far), I don’t know where to begin! O.K., let look at the management of Craigslist company. Can we really assign any blame to it? Probably not. Whether we like it or not, there have been and likely will be, a significant number of internet users whom utilize it for the sex business. Just like the original VCR that brought adult movies into the homes of “clean cut and ordinary” Americans. One reason for the financial decline of newspapers is diminishing revenue from classified ads. Well, I’ve read that the most lucrative sites online are sex sites. Craigslist and others will not give that up without a big fight. And they may likely be joined in that fight by large media corporations, including Fox Broadcasting and the New York Times. The financial issues are coupled with First Amendment and privacy principles. Remember several years ago when some angry parents tried to get the phone company to restrain phone sex companies?</p>
<p>I agree we don’t have complete influence over how our kids’ develop. those of us with multiple kids know how different each child is often from birth. There are some things that are hard wired… there may very well be a biological/genetic component to sociopathy. and I agree that parents are often unable to see signs of this because they ARE the parents and naturally don’t want to see such things. that said, I do think there are often signs there that were minimized or dismissed. we do know that mistreatment and harming of animals is an early sign of sociopathy and often a part of a killer’s history–unfortunately these early signs are often played down or even ignored. in Markoff’s case he was agressive and forceful with a lab partner, however this went unreported. </p>
<p>imho I think we continue to miss or ignore a lot of signs in otherwise clean cut, smart, successful, family in the suburbs type people because we don’t associate “criminal behavior” with this profile–even though we know sociopathy occurs in all groups. a la Madoff—</p>
<p>“Having a public defender does not equate to ineffective assistance of counsel!”</p>
<p>No, but it’s often a good start.</p>
<p>Some of the smartest trial attnys I’ve known have worked for a time in the PD. You’d have been lucky to get one of them!</p>
<p>This guy is not a public defender. While I am not admitted to practice in Mass., most states have programs whereby attorneys in private practice can get on a special list of experienced criminal defense attorneys who will take a certain number of cases and be paid by the governement at an hourly rate well below their normal one. I assume that’s what has taken palce here.</p>
<p>LakeWashington: I don’t agree on Craigs List. Their product is classified ads and I believe they have some responsibility for monitoring the content of these adds, and setting up systems to prevent abuse.<br>
Ebay brings buyers and sellers together and I don’t see any explicit pics and ads there.
At the very least, CL should prohibit the pics on that section of this site. And do some monitoring to ensure that the ads are reasonably OK - for goodness sake…the CC board is monitored! Would you think it was OK if the site started moving into child porn? There need to be a line drawn here.</p>
<p>" also believe that good parents can have children who do horrific things through no fault of their upbringing. I am convinced that some people are born missing whatever part of the brain is responsible for empathy and having a conscience."</p>
<p>Northstarmom, I totally agree with you. The case I keep revisiting in my mind is Columbine, where a sociopathic boy fooled everyone: his teachers, his shrinks, police, and yes, his parents, who were good people and raised another, good son. In a suicide note the main instigator of Columbine wrote to his parents that there was nothing they could have done to stop him, and he quoted Shakespeare “good wombs have borne evil sons” or something to that effect.</p>
<p>Why would people assume his parents don’t have the money for med school as if they’re supposed to be paying for it? Don’t most grad students pay/borrow for their education? There are other kids as well as two residences for divorced parents to consider.</p>
<p>I see this as a situation where a kid picked up some bad, addictive habits and dug a progressively deeper pit for himself over a period of time. He may have started gambling in high school as the Oneida Indians opened a casino up here and gambling was a big, new, exciting activity (not that he would have been allowed to gamble there when underage, but kids will take small steps that lead to big leaps). There has always been horse racing here but the gambling problems have increased dramatically with the casino. </p>
<p>I’ve seen it happen with all kinds of addictions and behaviors and one addiction frequently leads to another if no serious consequences occur to thwart the addict. Sex/drugs/gambling/shopping all seem to have some common threads - it just takes over and, for an alarming number of people, eventually all is lost and they’ve done things they never would have even thought of otherwise. Addicts are often accomplished liars - they lie to themselves and it becomes easy to trick others as well, especially those who care about them. In the end, I think he turned into something he quite likely wouldn’t have otherwise, not uncommon but he just took it to an extreme level. Or is it that he just fell so far?</p>
<p>Toneranger, I’ve reviewed Craigslist ads only once, and that was for real estate, so I didn’t know that the site allows provocative or erotic pictures to be posted. Probably not a good idea if you’re trying to not to attract people with significant personality problems.</p>
<p>^^^
Agree. I’m a regular user of Craig’s List and I didn’t know either until I read one of the articles on this sicko. Checked it out the section…opened a few pics. Hard core and completely disgusting. Wow. IMO, the CEO of Craig’s list is being really stupid here.</p>