He would never put anything in front of his work , '' he said . `` He had great aspirations to be a doctor . '' Markoff , a second-year student at Boston University 's School of Medicine , is charged with killing 26-year-old Julissa Brisman of New York on April 14 at Boston 's Copley Marriott Hotel . Watch acquaintances describe a smart , good-looking guy '' Markoff was arraigned Tuesday and is being held without bail . His attorney , John Salsberg , told reporters after the hearing that Markoff is `` not guilty of the charges . He has his family 's support . I have not received any document or report or piece of evidence other than what I heard in the courtroom . All I have at the moment are words -- no proof of anything . '' A Boston University spokeswoman said the school suspended Markoff , who has no criminal record , when it learned of the charges on Monday . `` This was a brutal , vicious crime . Savage , '' Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley told reporters . `` And it shows that Philip Markoff is a man who
BOSTON , Massachusetts -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Friends and acquaintances of Philip Markoff , a medical student accused of killing a woman he may have met through a Craigslist online ad , described the 23-year-old as a model student . Medical student Philip Markoff , 23 , appears in court Tuesday in Boston , Massachusetts . `` My girlfriend actually rode the elevator with him a lot alone ; it 's kind of freaking her out now , '' said Patrick Sullivan , who lived in the same apartment building as Markoff in Quincy , Massachusetts , a Boston suburb . `` She thought he was kind of the all-American , good-looking guy , '' Sullivan said . `` When she saw him on TV yesterday , she even remarked , ' I ca n't believe it 's him . I always thought he had such a great smile , and he was so nice to me . ' '' James Kehoe , a friend of Markoff 's from the State University of New York at Albany , where both attended college , said Markoff was `` one of the best students I 've probably ever encountered . '' ``