The kidnapping and murder of Nick Markowitz.

Anyone living in Southern California, specifically the Los Angeles and Santa Barbara areas, during the 2000s, most likely remembers this story. Whether, they remember the actual crime that took place in the summer of 2000, the subsequent international manhunt for one of the suspects, who was captured in Brazil in the beginning of 2005, or his trial that took place in May 2009.

On September 19th, 1984, Nicholas “Nick” Samuel Markowitz was born in West Hills, California, a Los Angeles neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. Nick was born to parents Jeff and Susan Markowitz. Nick had a sister called Leah Markowitz and half-brother called Benjamin “Ben” Markowitz.

Nick was regarded as a kind, friendly, and soft-spoken boy who was a very ordinary teenager. He was a theater kid at El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, California and an avid reader.His mother Susan described him as a “wonderful and handsome kid”. Nick was loved by his whole family.

On August 5th, 2000, Nick returned home late at night, and got into an argument with his parents. His sister Leah thought he looked high that evening, and noticed he had something in his pocket that looked like a crack pipe. Leah asked him about the bulge in his pocket. Nick asked his parents to discuss it the next morning.

Nick was already up by the time Jeff and Susan got up, and instead of waiting for his parents to talk about last night, he had left the house. He was barely a mile from his house when a white van pulled up and two young guys jumped out, while the driver stayed in the van. They attacked Nick, shoved him inside the van, and kidnapped him. Nick had no idea why he was attacked and and shoved inside the van.

Pauline Mahoney called 9-1-1 to report that she saw a group of young men beat up another young man and kidnap him. She gave the 9-1-1 operator the van's license plate. Unfortunately, police wrote it down as an assault, not a kidnapping. Police patrolled the area looking for an assault victim, but found nobody. Rosalia de la Cruz was the second person to report the assault and kidnapping, at first she thought it might be a gang initiation, but when the person was put in the van, she knew it was a kidnapping. Rosalia even gave the 9-1-1 operator her name and cell phone number, but police never got back to her for further questioning. Even though, they were unable to find Nick.

The guys that kidnapped Nick were 20 year old Jesse James Hollywood, 20 year old Jesse Rugge, and 20 year old William Skidmore. Nick’s brother Ben and the guys went to El Camino Real High School together and all played on the baseball team. In 1996, Jesse James was expelled from El Camino Real High School, allegedly Ben, Jesse James, Jesse and William remained friends. Ben said on the stand that he became friends with Jesse James in 1999, not in High School.

Nick’s half-brother Ben owed Jesse James $1200 for ecstasy pills at the time of Nick’s kidnapping. The guys were on their way to confront Ben. When they saw Nick walking down the street, they decided to kidnap him, and use him for ransom. It’s believed that Nick was told he was being held as ransom, and as soon as his brother paid his debt Nick would go home to his family.

After kidnapping Nick, the guys picked up their friend, Brian Affronti who didn’t expect to see a tied up Nick, somebody he didn’t know, when he got in the van. They drove to Santa Barbara, California. In Santa Barbara Nick was introduced to Jesse R's friends Graham Pressley, Natasha Adams-Young, and Kelly Carpenter. He went to several house parties in Santa Barbara. Throughout his time in Santa Barbara it’s alleged that Nick consumed a lot of alcohol and drugs. Reports indicate that many people saw Nick in Santa Barbara, but didn’t know he was there against his will.

After partying in Santa Barbara for 2 days Nick was told he was going home to his family. On August 8th, they held a party at the Lemon Tree Inn in Santa Barbara to celebrate Nick going back home to his parents.

However, Jesse James had contacted his lawyer, who told him that anyone involved in a kidnapping, faced up to life in prison in the State of California. This changed Jesse James' plan, he didn’t want to go to prison for life, so he came up with a new plan. The new plan was more sinister, Jesse James called his friend Ryan Hoyt and told him to go to Santa Barbara. Ryan owed Jesse James money, if Ryan helped Jesse James to get rid of his problem, the problem being Nick, the debt would be erased. He really thought that going from a possible kidnapping charge to a murder charge was the best option available.

Jesse James gave Ryan a Tec-9 automatic pistol, and Ryan drove to Santa Barbara. The murder of Nick took place during the early morning hours of August 9th, in the Santa Ynez Mountains, a mountain range north of Santa Barbara after the party at the Lemon Tree Inn. A shallow grave was dug along the Lizard’s Mouth Trail by Graham sometime before the actual murder.

After the party Jesse R, Ryan, and Graham got in a car with Nick and drove him to his grave, instead of his parents’ home. The person Nick trusted the most, Jesse R, bound Nick’s hands behind his back and covered his mouth with duct-tape. Ryan hit Nick in the head with a shovel, knocking Nick into the grave, before unloading the clip of the Tec-9.

On August 12th, Nick’s body was found by hiker Lars Wilkstrom along the Lizard's Mouth trail. Within hours of the discovery of Nick’s body, Graham, Jesse R, Ryan, William were arrested.

Ryan, 20 years old at the time of the murder, was charged and convicted of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to death on December 9th, 2001. On appeal his sentence was upheld. He’s currently housed at San Quentin State Prison in San Quentin, California awaiting his execution.

Jesse R, 20 years old at the time of the murder, was charged with aiding in the kidnapping and murder of Nick. He was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 7 years for aggravated kidnapping for ransom/extortion with special circumstances. He was acquitted of the murder charge. Jesse R was granted parole and released from prison on October 24th, 2013 after serving 11 years.

William, 20 years old at the time of the kidnapping of Nick, was charged with kidnapping and robbery. He was sentenced to 9 years in prison as part of a plea bargain. William served about 7 years and was released in April, 2009.

Graham, 17 years old at the time of the murder, was tried twice. In July 2002, Graham was acquitted of kidnapping and a hung jury on the murder charge. Graham was tried again in October 2002, and convicted of second-degree murder. Graham being a minor, served his sentence at a California Youth Authority facility. He was released shortly before his 25th birthday in 2007.

In 2003, Nick’s family filed and won a civil lawsuit against everyone involved with Nick’s kidnapping and murder, as well as the owner of the van used in the kidnapping, and the homeowners of several homes Nick was held against his will.

It’s said that Ben knew Jesse James was responsible for his brother's kidnapping, and that he was coming for him. Supposedly, Ben broke into Jesse James’ house and killed his dog, and left a voicemail threatening Jesse James’ whole family.

While Jesse James has always claimed to be innocent of Nick’s kidnapping and murder. He fled Los Angeles shortly after Nick’s murder. It’s believed he went to Canada, and from Canada he fled to Brazil with the help of his father Jack Hollywood, his godfather Richard Dispenza, and his girlfriend at the time Michelle Lasher. Nick’s family put up a reward of $30,000 for information leading to Jesse James’ capture, they later raised the reward to $50,000.

In Brazil, Jesse James lived on Copacabana Beach under the name “Michael Costa Giroux" and claimed to be a Rio de Janeiro native first, and later said he was from Saquarema. Obviously, he had to learn Portuguese because who would believe he was Brazilian if he didn’t speak Portuguese.

While hiding in Brazil he met Marcia Reis, and he got her pregnant in November 2004. He thought a baby with a Brazilian citizen would prevent him from being extradited to the U.S. That used to be the case, but the law had recently changed, and Jesse James had entered Brazil with a false passport, so he was an illegal immigrant in Brazil. Being an illegal immigrant meant, he would’ve been deported regardless. Keep in mind Marcia didn’t know he was a fugitive and that law enforcement in California were looking for him.

After about 5 years on the run, Jesse James was finally arrested on March 9th, 2005 in Saquarema, Brazil. Jesse James was planning to meet one of his cousins that day. Authorities in California discovered Jesse James’ plan and requested Brazilian authorities to arrest him. Instead of meeting his cousin, he was arrested. He was extradited from Brazil, and arrived in California on March 10th, a day after he was arrested in Brazil.

Jesse James, 20 years old at the time of Nick’s murder, was the final suspect in Nick’s kidnapping and murder to be charged.

His trial started on May 18th 2009, the court case lasted 4 weeks before it went to the jury to decide his faith. The case had a lot of witnesses, the witnesses include Nick’s father Jeff and half-brother Ben.

Nick’s father Jeff, testified that he tried to keep Nick and Ben apart, because of Ben’s criminal history. But Nick and Ben were drawn to each other, Nick would often spend the night at Ben’s apartment after running away from home. Jeff testified that he and his wife confronted Nick about a bag of drugs in his pocket. Nick asked to discuss it the following morning, before they could discuss it, Nick had left the house.

Graham testified that he never saw Nick bound but Nick told him they beat him up and threw him in the back of a van. Graham asked Jesse R about this, at this point Jesse R allegedly told Graham “that Hollywood was crazy and offered him $2,000 to kill Nick.” He testified that he, Nick, and Jesse R, were at the Lemon Tree Inn by themselves when Ryan entered with the Tec-9. Ryan and Graham drove to the Lizard’s Mouth, where Ryan instructed Graham to find and dig a hole. Later they returned to the spot with Jesse R and Nick joining them, who both calmly walked to the grave with Ryan. Graham testified he stayed at the bottom of the hill, and heard “a rapid succession” of gunshots.

Chas Saulsbury testified that Jesse James showed up at his mother’s Colorado house in August 2000. He agreed to drive Jesse James from his mother’s house to Las Vegas, Nevada and from Las Vegas back to the L.A. area. During this ride Jesse James slowly gave him details about Nick’s kidnapping. Jesse James told him Ryan Hoyt volunteered to kill Nick, after Ryan and Jesse R found out about the possible life sentence for kidnapping. Jesse James’ defense team tried to discredit Chas’ testimony by portraying him as dishonest and weak.

Richard Hoeflinger testified that on August 6th, 2000, Jesse R showed up at his Santa Barbara apartment unannounced, and that Jesse R was in trouble and needed a place to stay. After agreeing that Jesse R could stay at his home, Richard said Jesse R left and came back with Nick, Jesse James, William and Brian. This is when Jesse told him that they had kidnapped Nick. Richard didn’t report the crime and went to a barbeque that he planned to go to. When he came back home Nick was unbound and playing video games.

Gabriel Ibarra testified that he saw Nick’s hands and mouth bound with duct tape in the back bedroom of the apartment he shared with Richard. He didn’t report the crime cause he was scared of Jesse James who told him to “keep [his] f*cking mouth shut” about what he saw, while pointing at a bulge in his waistband.

Shauna Vasquez testified that she saw Nick’s hands bound with duct tape when she was at Richard and Gabriel’s apartment on August 6th, 2000. She said on the stand “He told me that Nicholas’ brother owed him money and had broken windows in his house.” He being Jesse James.

Jaymi Dickensheet testified she saw Nick, Jesse James, and three others enter Richard’s apartment and walk into the back bedroom on August 6th, 2000. Jaymi stated “He wasn’t, from what I could see, held against his will,” on the stand.

Emilio Jerez another roommate of Richard testified he “was not completely honest at first with the police because he was scared of the whole situation with Jesse Hollywood” During Jesse R’s trial he testified that he didn’t see Nick tied up at the house, but now testifying at Jesse James’ trial said he saw Jesse James, Jesse R in a bedroom with Nick sitting on the bed.

Jesse James was convicted of kidnapping and first-degree murder with special circumstances on July 8th, 2009. On July 15th, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He’s housed in San Quentin State Prison in San Quentin, California.

As stated before Jesse James has always maintained his innocence and has appealed his sentence several times. His defense team claims he’s innocent because he wasn’t present at the time of Nick’s murder and Nick could have left at any time.

Jesse James’ son John Paul Hollywood-Reis with Marcia was born in July 2005 about 4 months after his arrest. During his trial in May 2009, Michelle, his ex-girlfriend claimed she was still in love with him. On January 19th 2014, while incarcerated Jesse James got married to Melinda Enos. Their relationship started after Melinda wrote him a letter after he got sentenced.

America’s Most Wanted covered Nick’s murder in September 2000, and June 2004 asking anyone with information regarding Jesse James’ whereabouts to call law enforcement and twice in 2005 after Jesse James’ arrest. Dateline also covered the case. The movie Alpha Dog is based on Nick’s case. If you haven’t seen it, I suggest you watch it.