Should Attorney General Go After Backpage Over Hotel Murder?

By JOE VINCE (Patch Staff)

Two Boston-area men were arrested and charged with murder Monday, accused of killing a 34-year-old woman in a Burlington after using a classifieds ad website to target escorts to rob at gunpoint.

Now that website—Backpage—has become the target of state law enforcement officials.

“We have a lot of concerns with these websites,” Attorney General Maura Healey told The Boston Herald. “We saw it with Craigslist and we see the same concerns with Backpage. We’re going to do everything we can to protect the public.”

»Via The Boston Herald

Epshod Jeune, 24, of Burlington, and Derrell Fisher, 21, of Roxbury, are charged with murder, attempted robbery and unlawful possession of a firearm in the shooting death of Sania Johnson, 34, of the Bronx, NY, on Thursday, July 2, in Room 118 of the Extended Stay America hotel, 40 South Ave.

Prosecutors claim the men used Backpage to find Johnson, and the two also are accused of using the site in connection with an armed assault of another woman at the Red Roof Inn in Woburn earlier that night.

»RELATED: 2 Men Arrested in Burlington Hotel Death

This isn’t the first time Backpage has come under fire after being connected to the murders of prostitutes. Late last year, Darren Deon Vann was accused of using Backpage to meet escorts at hotels around northwest Indiana, outside of Chicago, and then kill them. He is believed to have killed as many as seven women, but he’s only been charged in the death of two so far.

Craigslist, a similar classifieds site, removed its erotic and adult services listings permanently in September of 2010 after pressure from attorneys general across the country threatening lawsuits against the service.

Backpage, which is the second-largest classifieds site behind Craigslist, also has fought claims that its escort ads help facilitate human trafficking. Government officials, religious leaders and celebrities, such as Alicia Keys, have asked the site to eliminate its escort ads.

»RELATED: Dead Woman Found in Burlington Hotel Room Murdered

In the past, the site has defended itself by saying it’s an “ally in the fight against human trafficking,” allowing law enforcement a place to track and monitor these criminals.

YOUR TURN: Do you think Backpage should shut down its escort ads? Would that be a strike against free speech in the U.S.? Or does it not even matter because escorts and criminals will find other places to go? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section.