Goes to trial tomorrow. He's toast.

Goes to trial tomorrow. He's toast.

I certainly hope so.

Goes to trial tomorrow. He's toast.
I watched this case with my grandparents when it originally aired and it has intrigued us since. It has stuck with us because we have the same last name as his victim, "Markowitz", which is a pretty rare name, and because we live in Encino, which is not far from where Nick resided.

I hope JJH gets death for orchestrating this little stunt. As for Ben, he should be ashamed of himself for taking up a lifestyle that lead to his brother being used as collateral.

I still can't believe Nick didn't just leave when JJH offered him many chances to do so! When JJH and his gang came across him, did they force him into the van? Because from what I read and watched, other sources said Nick was treated like a guest instead of a captive.

What a scumbag this guy is. I hope he never sees the light of day again. I felt so terrible for that kids mother. Does anyone know if she stayed married to her husband? I don't know if I could, if his son was basically the reason my only son was murdered.

What a scumbag this guy is. I hope he never sees the light of day again. I felt so terrible for that kids mother. Does anyone know if she stayed married to her husband? I don't know if I could, if his son was basically the reason my only son was murdered.I didn't get the feeling that Jeff Markowitz(Nick's dad) was close to his other son.(Ben) Jeff seemed close to Nick, and Susan. In the commentary on the UM DVD, they mentioned that Ben was always in trouble. He did look like quite the thuggish type; not really someone who was close to his dad.

What a scumbag this guy is. I hope he never sees the light of day again. I felt so terrible for that kids mother. Does anyone know if she stayed married to her husband? I don't know if I could, if his son was basically the reason my only son was murdered.


Whoa! Ben Markowitz should receive very little blame for what happened to his brother. Did Ben have problems? Yes. Did he owe drug money? Yes. But the kidnapping and murder plot was the call of JJH. Even if Ben owed him money, JJH could have come up with a better way to get it. Hollywood, Hoyt, Rugge, et al. deserve the blame much more than Ben Markowitz.

I don't think Ben should be blamed for the death either. Sure he had a problem with drugs and owed money but he did nothing for Jesse to justify kidnapping and killing Nick.

I don't know...

It would be one thing if Ben was minding his own business, and his brother happened to be killed by Ben's friends, maybe in a car accident or something.

But Ben owed a very prominent drug dealer quite a bit of money. And didn't JJH tell him to pay up or else, and Ben just blew it off?

If Ben had paid his drug debt, or better yet, had not been associating with known dangerous people like JJH, none of this would have ever happened.

I can't say that Ben is completely innocent. He knew he was playing with fire.

Having your little brother kidnapped and murdered because you associate with drug dealers (who you are indebted to and refuse to pay) makes you partially guilty.

Ben should have known that drug dealers do whatever it takes to get paid. They are gangsters. They do drive bys and shoot up people's houses to intimidate. They kill witnesses who are going to testify against them in court.

Ben knew this. He's partly to blame. IMO, it's similar to women who date men who beat the woman's kids. She puts up with it for selfish reasons. That's what Ben was doing. He knew crap could happen, but he took those risks for his own selfish reasons. And instead of getting himself killed, he ended having his brother pay the price for his own selfishness.

I wanted to make sure, was the film Alpha Dog based on this guy's incident?

I wanted to make sure, was the film Alpha Dog based on this guy's incident?

Yep. Also, Jesse James Hollywood sued over the making of the movie, saying that it was so closely based on his case, that it could taint the jury pool.

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/DEFENDANT+SUES+OVER+%60ALPHA+DOG'+JESSE+JAMES+HOLLYWOOD+SEEKS+TO+STOP...-a0153541277

Yeah, it was, in fact prosecutors and detectives in the case got in trouble for helping with the script. Personally, Hollywood should be convicted and I am sure he will be. The trial will be held in Santa Barbara County, California where the murder occured. I am sort of puzzled as to why Hollywood's attorney did not pursue a change of venue (unless he did pursue one and it was denied). The jury will consist of 8 women and 4 men along with 4 alternates. However Santa Barbara County overall has a lower rate of sending people to death row than other counties do. If the trial had been moved, chances are it would have been moved to either Los Angeles County or Orange County.

In terms of the other players in the case, the shooter, Ryan Hoyt, was convicted in November of 2001 of first degree murder and in December of 2001 was sentenced to death. He currently sits on death row at San Quentin State Prison. Jesse Rugge was charged with murder and kidnapping. At his trial in 2002 he was convicted of kidnapping but was acquitted of the murder charge. In September of 2002 he was sentenced to 7 years to life in prison. He was denied parole at his first parole eligibility hearing in 2007 and is currently serving his time at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga, California which is in central California, about mid way between Fresno and Bakersfield, right along I-5 about 190 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. He will have another parole hearing this year.

William Skidmore pled guilty in 2002 to kidnapping and robbery and was sentenced to 9 years in prison. He pled guilty two weeks before his trial was to begin, in exchange, the murder charge against him was dismissed. Skidmore was released from prison last month. However Skidmore already has two strikes on his record so he will have to be careful.

Graham Pressley, was also tried in 2002. At his first trial, the jury acquitted him of kidnapping but hung on the murder charge. At his 2nd trial he was acquitted of first degree murder but was convicted of 2nd degree murder. He was convicted as an adult and prosecutors had sought a sentence of 18 years to life (15 to life for the murder which is the mandatory adult sentence for 2nd degree murder as well as an additional 3 years for using a gun during a felony). However Pressley (who was 17 when the murder was committed, 19 when he was sentenced) was sentenced as a juvenile after the Santa Barbara County Sheriff intervened and asked the trial judge to spare Pressley. It turned out the Sheriff was/is a friend of Pressley's father. The trial judge agreed and in February of 2003, Pressley was sentenced to be in the custody of the California Youth Authority at a juvenile detention facility until his 25th birthday. Pressley was released in 2007.

Whoa! Ben Markowitz should receive very little blame for what happened to his brother. Did Ben have problems? Yes. Did he owe drug money? Yes. But the kidnapping and murder plot was the call of JJH. Even if Ben owed him money, JJH could have come up with a better way to get it. Hollywood, Hoyt, Rugge, et al. deserve the blame much more than Ben Markowitz.


Oh, trust me, I know that JJH is the one who is responsible, I think what he did was horrible, and completely not justified at all for being mad at someone else who did not pay a debt. I just think that if I was in that situation I would still be upset about my step son, because if he hadn't been in that lifestyle, my son would still be alive, bottom line. I know how the mind can work after things like this and you go over everything that happened and wonder what could have been different to make things turn out another way. That doesn't mean Ben directly responsible or anything like that, but the fact is, if he had not owed drug money and run with this kind of a crowd, her son more than likely would not have been exposed to these people. If he had repaid his debts, there would have been no message sent.

Anyway, I was just wondering if they stayed together because I have heard the death of a child is one of those things that a lot of times relationships don't make it through. I was just thinking that if it had been me I would definitely think about the fact that my husband's son had started a chain of events that led to the death of my son.

eta: thank you TracyLynn, I didn't see your post before I replied to this, that is exactly what I am saying.

Atomicfizz, with the trial having started, we may get news reports that mention the parents. That info, of whether the parents have split up or are still together may be mentioned, probably in passing, and not as an outright annoucement.

Until you brought it up, I was unaware that Ben and Nick didn't have the same mom, and were half brothers. (is that right?)

Do you know anything about the family dynamics? Did both boys belong to the dad but had different mothers? How old was Ben when Nick was born?

Were they raised like siblings or was Ben older and doing his own thing by the time Nick came along, so he wasn't too interested in having a younger brother? Were the boys raised in the same household?

Wow, that's a lot of questions, but you know how nosey I always am! :nod:

Oh, trust me, I know that JJH is the one who is responsible, I think what he did was horrible, and completely not justified at all for being mad at someone else who did not pay a debt. I just think that if I was in that situation I would still be upset about my step son, because if he hadn't been in that lifestyle, my son would still be alive, bottom line. I know how the mind can work after things like this and you go over everything that happened and wonder what could have been different to make things turn out another way. That doesn't mean Ben directly responsible or anything like that, but the fact is, if he had not owed drug money and run with this kind of a crowd, her son more than likely would not have been exposed to these people. If he had repaid his debts, there would have been no message sent.

Anyway, I was just wondering if they stayed together because I have heard the death of a child is one of those things that a lot of times relationships don't make it through. I was just thinking that if it had been me I would definitely think about the fact that my husband's son had started a chain of events that led to the death of my son.

eta: thank you TracyLynn, I didn't see your post before I replied to this, that is exactly what I am saying.

The death of a child is THE toughest thing someone can ever go through. Speaking from experience, it truly it something that can strengthen a marriage or break a marriage (in our case, it strengthened it). I believe the Markowitz's are still together. I have seen pictures of them recently and they were together.

TracyLynn, I'm not really sure about the family dynamic, but I believe that Nick and Ben have the same father, and different mothers. From what I can gather online, it seems that they were about 6 or 7 years apart. I don't know how close they were though.

marlins3 - ?? Did you mean to put a reply there? :(

I watched this case with my grandparents when it originally aired and it has intrigued us since. It has stuck with us because we have the same last name as his victim, "Markowitz", which is a pretty rare name, and because we live in Encino, which is not far from where Nick resided.

I hope JJH gets death for orchestrating this little stunt. As for Ben, he should be ashamed of himself for taking up a lifestyle that lead to his brother being used as collateral.

I still can't believe Nick didn't just leave when JJH offered him many chances to do so! When JJH and his gang came across him, did they force him into the van? Because from what I read and watched, other sources said Nick was treated like a guest instead of a captive.

Nick was assaulted and forced into the van. He was later treated as a a guest and willingly used marijuana and valium with his captors. To answer another poster's question, the markowitz's are still together and Susan and Ben Markowitz have actually grown very close over the last few years.