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2 Charged With Murder In Shooting At Burlington Hotel

BURLINGTON (CBS) – Two men have been charged with shooting and killing a woman last week at a hotel in Burlington.

Epshod Jeune, 24, of Burlington and Derrell Fisher, 21, of Roxbury were arrested Monday for the murder of Sanisha Johnson, 34, of the Bronx, New York, at the Extended Stay America Hotel on July 2.

They're also charged with robbing and beating a woman at the Red Roof Inn in Woburn late Wednesday night, shortly before the Burlington murder.

epshod-jeune
Epshod Jeune (WBZ)

Both men were arraigned in Woburn District Court Monday afternoon on several charges including murder, attempted armed robbery and unlawful possession of a firearm.  Neither showed his face in the courtroom.

derrell-fisher
Derrell Fisher (WBZ)

Prosecutors say a third person drove the getaway car. That person has not yet been named or charged.

Investigators say the men met the victims, who were escorts, on the website Backpage and both were captured on surveillance video at both hotels.

Jeune, who once worked at the Burlington Extended Stay Hotel, and Fisher were ordered held without bail.

An attorney for Jeune said he's trying to get the bottom of the case.

"Through our own independent investigation, we're going to leave no stone unturned," he said.

Websites With 'Criminal Elements'

Backpage.com is a site very familiar to local police.

"We've had two incidents in the last ten days in regards to this website," Arlington Police Sgt. Bryan Gallagher says.

Sgt. Gallagher says Backpage is becoming a big problem for them.

"These websites, such as Craigslist and Backpage, have criminal elements from human trafficking to robberies," Sgt. Gallagher says.

In fact, one man was robbed in Arlington last week when he responded to an ad.

"The situation didn't go down how it was supposed to online and he was pushed out of a wheelchair and robbed of his possessions," Sgt. Gallagher said.

Arlington now has an officer on a federal task force trying to battle back and trying to stay one step ahead of this site and the criminals they say troll for local victims.

Now they want to make sure the warning is clear.

"Don't go on these websites unless you know what you are getting into and on these websites frequently you don't," Sgt. Gallagher says.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Ben Parker reports: 

WBZ-TV's Kate Merrill contributed to this report.

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