U.S. & World

BOSTON (AP) ― Boston police are investigating attacks on two masseuses-for-hire at luxury hotels, including the killing of one woman at the ritzy Marriott Copley, as the industry braces for an onslaught of guests for next week's marathon.

The primary piece of evidence tying the two crimes together involve listings on popular classified Web site, Craigslist. The fatal shooting of Julissa Brisman, 26, of New York City, prompted the Marriott to step up security in the hotel. Her body was found Tuesday, collapsed in the doorway of her room.

Police said they think she was fighting an attacker during an attempted robbery when he shot her several times in the torso. And the same person may have been involved in the robbery last week of a woman at the Westin Copley Hotel, Police Commissioner Edward Davis said.

Both women had advertised massage services on Craigslist, the online classified service, and both were guests at luxury hotels. The motive for both attacks appeared to be robbery, Davis said.

The victim at the Westin, a 29-year-old from Las Vegas, was bound with a plastic cord and robbed of a debit card and $800 in cash. Police believe Brisman's attacker had also attempted to tie her with a plastic cord.

They released surveillance video from both hotels showing a young, clean-cut looking man with blond hair whom they called a "person of interest" in both crimes.

Police said that they believe the victim at the Westin was involved in prostitution but that they are uncertain about Brisman.

"What we know is that Miss Brisman was advertising masseuse services on Craigslist," said police spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll. A massage table was found in her hotel room.

A spokesperson for Craigslist did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company has said it cooperates with law enforcement and works to prevent inappropriate use of the site.

Brisman's killing and the earlier attack at the Westin come as the city's hotels prepare for thousands of guests streaming into the city for NBA and NHL playoff games and the Boston Marathon.

"In light of the incident on Tuesday night, we heightened security, as much in an effort to kind of appease any potentially frazzled nerves than anything else," said Lucy Slosser, a spokeswoman for the Marriott Copley.

Paul Sacco, president of the Massachusetts Lodging Association, said he spoke to several hotel managers Thursday.

"Naturally, it's a concern. Basically, we are going into a marathon weekend, a very busy period," he said.

"But I have to say that hotels are some of the safest places to be. They have 24-hour security. These two rather terrible and isolated incidents, I feel, are just that."

Brisman's killing also appears to have rattled other masseuses who advertise on Craigslist in Boston.

One poster included a news article about the killing and wrote "very scary!!" under the headline: "YOU MUST READ THIS..."

Brisman's friends said they didn't know she had advertised herself as a masseuse.

Matthew Terhune, 34, a photographer from New York City, said he photographed Brisman last year for head shots she needed for a tanning salon.

He said Brisman told him she had been paid $1,000 to fly out to private parties in Chicago and walk around in a bikini or topless. "But I don't think it went beyond that," Terhune said. "They were just parties where guys wanted to see hot girls."

Makeup artist Emily Claire, 30, Terhune's girlfriend, worked with Brisman during the photo shoot. She said Brisman, a recovering alcoholic, wanted eventually become an Alcoholics Anonymous counselor.

"The last time she was here she went to an AA meeting," Claire said.


Expert: Technology Will Be Hotel Killer's Undoing

"This guy is going to get caught for sure."

That's what Tom Nolan told CBS station WBZ-TV in Boston when he learned about the man police want to question about the two murders.

Nolan is an associate professor of criminal justice at Boston University, and a former Boston police officer with 27 years of service under his belt.

"He looks like anyone who could be walking down Commonwealth Avenue, looks like any man. But someone knows him."

The man, who is white and has blond hair, was captured by surveillance cameras at the Copley Marriott and the nearby Westin Hotel on the nights of the two strikingly similar attacks.

"This form of expressive aggression and violence he used may suggest this is someone who has got a history of violence against women, maybe someone who is mentally disordered, and police know this," said Nolan.

"Technology will ultimately prove his undoing. The very means by which he gained access to his victims and target his victims, selected his victims, communicated with them... this is all retrievable information and information that forensic investigators can identify and use to track down who this individual is."

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)