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  At this time, Ben had assumed possession of the “bunk” Ecstasy pills. Hollywood testified that he handed one to Michelle Lasher to test. “We gave her one of the pills to see if it was good and she said it was good.” He would say Ben gave him “the whole story” that it was no good, then explained to the court, if “you had one hundred pills, and you give out ten of them and they’re no good . . . you bring the guy the other ninety back and say, here, here’s your ninety pills, they’re no good, you can find out for yourself. He did not do that.” No, he stated that Ben had “taken the money for himself.” Hollywood told the court Ben wanted more marijuana fronted to him, but Hollywood declined. Ben was said to owe him twenty-five hundred dollars.

  Hollywood testified that he spread word around his dealing circles to write Ben off, that he wasn’t good on his word to pay back any debt. He then told a very different tale about encountering Ben’s fiancée at BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse where she was a server.

  Hollywood became angry when he saw the diamond ring she was wearing and found out that Ben had just gotten a new apartment. He told Ben’s fiancée that Ben had been ducking him and owed him. “She seemed very embarrassed.” He would also ask her, “Why are you with this guy?” Hollywood testified that she said Ben “does this to everybody.” She then said, according to Hollywood, “You guys don’t have to pay for this.” He didn’t pay the thirty-five-dollar tab, instead telling her, “Take fifty dollars off Ben’s debt.”

  He told the jury, “I wasn’t trying to do this maliciously or to provoke Ben, either.” He told the court he regretted his actions. “That’s kind of what set Ben off.”

  From there the threats started. According to Hollywood, Ben would leave messages on his voice mail like, “You better be packing,” meaning he’d better have a gun. “I have two nines,” meaning two nine-millimeter pistols. “I’m not the type of guy to talk things out.”

  After the restaurant incident, Hollywood claimed his dog was poisoned and died. He stated that two days later Ben had called up to say vindictively, “Sorry to hear about your dog.”

  Hollywood also stated that Ben left the veiled threat, “I know where your mom lives.” He interpreted that as a threat against his entire family who lived at his mother’s.

  According to Hollywood, Ben summed himself up the best during his own testimony. “When Ben was up here, he described it best when he said he’s a snake in the grass.” After Ben told Casey Sheehan to relay the message to Hollywood, “Tell Jesse he better be packing, I’m packing,” Hollywood stated he turned to John Roberts for firearms in the form of a pistol and an AR-15.

  Hollywood said he went to his lawyer, Stephen Hogg, for advice. He told Hogg that Ben “was coming after me like Cape Fear,” in reference to a movie in which Robert De Niro plays a jilted character out for revenge.

  Blatt had Hollywood remind the court that he had been on the run for four and a half years and in custody the same amount of time. It had taken this long to bring him to trial due to preparations, which included interviewing witnesses and reviewing all case evidence on both sides.

  Hollywood said that he regretted “being in that whole lifestyle.” Blatt formed questions in order for his client to downplay his reputation as a drug kingpin. Hollywood didn’t buy jewelry, take expensive vacations or purchase a lot of clothes. Similarly, Blatt would downplay Nick’s kidnapping and murder by referring to it as “the incident with Mr. Nick Markowitz.”

  Hollywood testified about the day his windows were broken. He claimed Ben called up to ask, “How did you like that window job?” and then told him, “This is just the beginning, motherfucker.”

  When asked about the events of August 6, he stated, “I wanted to confront Ben and end this.” He said it was futile to call Ben, yet told him to “come over right now and we’ll settle this,” in a one-on-one fight.

  Hollywood stated he wasn’t on his way to break windows at the Markowitz home when he, Jesse Rugge, and William Skidmore piled into that white van. No, he said they were driving to pick up Brian Affronti, en route to Fiesta in Santa Barbara. That was when he spotted Nick walking down the street. “I got out of the van and I pinned him up against a tree and I said, ‘Where’s your brother?’ ” He said Skidmore punched Nick in the stomach and then “ushered” him into the van.

  He would testify that everything happened very quickly. That Skidmore checked Nick’s pockets and took weed, Valium, and his wallet. Hollywood would tactically leave out the fact that he commandeered Nick’s pager. He didn’t recall Nick’s ring.

  When asked why he didn’t just let Nick go once Nick said he didn’t know where Ben was, Hollywood could only respond, “I should have. I don’t know why I didn’t.”

  On the drive to Santa Barbara, Hollywood testified, Nick said Ben “was always a problem.”

  Blatt would downplay the kidnapping once again by referring to it as “the taking of Nick Markowitz.” Hollywood made no attempts to call Ben or the Markowitz family.

  Hollywood would state that Nick was intimidated after being pinned against the tree and punched in the stomach. He said Nick “had a scrape on his elbow.”

  Once in Santa Barbara, Hollywood claimed he tried to play peacemaker to the extent that even though he had borrowed a van, he was trying to get a ride home from another friend. “I felt—right when we arrived there with everything that was happening, I felt William Skidmore was being really aggressive and I wanted to de-escalate the situation.” He said this was why he gave the keys to Skidmore and Affronti to head back to Los Angeles, not because they mentioned they had dates. But if he truly wanted to “de-escalate” the situation, why not just have Skidmore drive Nick home?

  Hollywood told the jury he ordered Skidmore to untape Nick when they were at Richard Hoeflinger’s apartment. In Hollywood’s eyes, things might have appeared very casual. “We hand Nick the menu and he said what he wanted to eat.” He said Nick was playing video games and “hanging out” like everybody else. Hollywood stated, “He was free to go. I mean, he was free to do whatever he was going to do in that house.”

  Blatt would again question Hollywood about his thoughts while Nick was at Hoeflinger’s apartment. “I was kind of sidetracked.” But not with the fact that he had committed a kidnapping. No, he would mention how he had wanted to go to Fiesta, how he was still upset over Ben breaking his windows, and lastly how he was going to be showing his house that week. Those were, according to his own testimony, his pressing concerns.

  Skidmore and Affronti had left by this point but had returned because Affronti had forgotten his cell phone. When they returned, Hollywood “was on the couch, I believe with Nick, playing video games.” Yet a second opportunity, and he didn’t elect to send Nick back to the Valley.

  A friend would eventually pick Hollywood up. For the third time that day, Hollywood could have “de-escalated the situation” by giving Nick a ride home. He did not. He left him in Santa Barbara with Jesse Rugge.

  He kept repeating himself to the jury: “I had to show my house, I had these windows broken. I was sidetracked.” He had a “million things,” including his “business,” that needed priority. Nick wasn’t one of them.

  Hollywood testified that when he finally returned to the Valley, he did make one phone call. But it wasn’t to the Markowitz family or to his trusted attorney. It was to Mission Burrito, to order some food.

  Hollywood stated that Jesse Rugge had told him to come up the following day, August 7, to collect five hundred dollars he was owed. He said that the abducted teen “was in no danger. Honestly, I wasn’t really thinking about Nick Markowitz.”

  Hollywood said that he did go to Rugge’s the next day with Michelle Lasher. He said he did see Nick when “I went upstairs to use the bathroom.” He testified that they “smoked some pot in Rugge’s bedroom.” He says he specifically asked Nick, “Do you want to come back to the Valley with us?” Nick allegedly replied, “No, I’m cool.”

  Hollywood would go on to reiterate t
hat he never thought Nick was in any danger.

  On August 8, Hollywood said, he was back in the Valley because he had to meet with his cousin Jerry Hollywood, who was looking for condos for him.

  Hollywood decided that day to also meet with Stephen Hogg because “I was concerned about the initial taking of Nick.” He told Hogg that Nick had been taken from the Valley to Santa Barbara and “was released after that and free to go pretty much.” He did what he could to, in his words, minimize his involvement.

  Hollywood stated he wasn’t concerned about Hogg mentioning a penalty for kidnapping for ransom. As Hollywood understood it, someone would have to call and demand money for the abductee’s release.

  Hollywood never went to the police, he stated, because of his “illicit activities.” He didn’t “want to get my friends in trouble.” He testified that when he spoke to Rugge, Rugge had asked him to come pick him and Nick up and take him back to the Valley, where his mother lived. But Hollywood stated that he didn’t have a car and Michelle Lasher’s was a lease and couldn’t spare the miles. When did he suddenly no longer have access to that white van? Instead, Hollywood sent Hoyt in Casey Sheehan’s car to Santa Barbara to pick up them up. Hollywood then went with Casey Sheehan and Lasher to Outback Steakhouse to celebrate her birthday. This was the dinner he would pay for with his credit card.

  Hollywood testified that he called his cousin Jerry Hollywood later that night at around ten thirty p.m. The conversation went from Hollywood asking if he had gotten his house listed, to whether his cousin had found him a new condo to move into, and then to Nick. Jerry Hollywood, now seventy years old, had testified earlier in the trial that Jesse told him “someone was taking the boy home.” But his cousin’s testimony cast a lot of doubt. Lynn told Judge Hill that he believed Hollywood’s defense investigator had “helped” Jerry remember the phone conversation; Jerry Hollywood said the statements he made were accurate but that “they just weren’t my own words.”

  Hollywood then stated that on August 9, he spoke to Hoyt, who said he’d taken Nick home. But on August 10, Hollywood had the infamous conversation at Hoyt’s birthday party, held at Casey Sheehan’s. Hollywood testified that Hoyt told him “he fucked up.” Hoyt would admit to killing Nick. Hollywood said his response to that admittance was “What the fuck were you thinking?” Others testified that that was in reference to Hoyt leaving Hollywood’s TEC-9 behind at the crime scene.

  Hollywood would go to Palm Springs with his mother and pick up Michelle Lasher. He testified that he didn’t go to the police because “it didn’t fully dawn on me until it was on the news what had happened.” Hollywood told the jury that when Skidmore broke the news that Nick’s body had been found, he stated, “I’m [a] ghost,” as slang for “I’m leaving this area.”

  Hollywood testified that he was afraid of how “our world had just become everyone’s world.” He had used this phrase once before. He was “shocked” that Hoyt “had actually done this.”

  Hollywood fled with Lasher to Las Vegas, where they got a room at the Bellagio for the night. He testified that it was “stupid” how he “just blew the money” on that expensive room. Hollywood beat himself up for paying for a pricey hotel, but not over the murder of a fifteen-year-old boy?

  From there, he confirmed his transgressions in Colorado Springs and how he eventually linked up with Chas Saulsbury. He then testified that he paid Chas three thousand dollars to drive him back to Los Angeles.

  He spoke of how they were “hotboxing in the car,” which prolonged the trip home. As more time went on, Hollywood said he informed his friend of how the killing went down, but was adamant that “I was innocent.” He went as far as to invoke divine guidance. “I was definitely praying, crossing myself and asking God to help me at that point in time.” But help with what? To do the right thing or to not get caught?

  Chas would drop him off at John Roberts’s place. Roberts would send him off with ten thousand dollars. He was picked up by another friend, who let him stay in his trailer in the Mojave Desert for three weeks. It was in an area where “they wouldn’t even deliver mail because it was such a dangerous place.” As he tells it, he went to a supermarket and “got some beer and frozen food and cigarettes.” Though he claimed he was innocent, he never tried to turn himself in to proclaim just that. No, he stated he was scared off by the show America’s Most Wanted, which ran with the motive that Hollywood had kidnapped Ben Markowitz’s brother over an unpaid drug debt.

  He stated he “had no hope.” That this was a “death penalty” case. That he “had already been convicted in the media.” So then he obtained a fake ID from someplace in downtown Los Angeles, boarded a plane at LAX airport, and flew to Vancouver. He was there for six months, then “arranged to get a passport.” From there he flew to Cancún—he didn’t want to fly direct—then headed to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He worked as a “broker for seasonal apartments” and met his wife, Marcia. They were together for three years when she became pregnant with his son, John Paul.

  Blatt would end his direct examination by asking, “At any time, any time, did you ever request or order Mr. Hoyt to hurt Nick?” Hollywood aggressively answered, “Never.” He would continue to state how “I feel terrible for the Markowitz family. I feel terrible for all the families involved in this ordeal. And I feel terrible that people would think that of me, that I would do something like that.”

  And then, as Susan Markowitz watched, he took a final sip from the Smartwater.

  But Hollywood wasn’t done with the questioning. The court took a break. And in ten minutes, it would be prosecuting attorney Joshua Lynn’s turn at the cross-examination.

  And Susan? From that day forward, she could never bring herself to drink Smartwater again.

  Chapter 29

  Cross-Examination

  “HOW DO YOU FEEL RIGHT now?” That was Joshua Lynn’s first question to Hollywood. “Remember you said you felt terrible?” he would remind the defendant.

  He would then cut straight to the point. “Do you believe that you are guilty of anything with respect to Nick Markowitz?” To which Hollywood replied, “Not taking him home.” Lynn would get out of him that he felt bad for pinning Nick up against the tree and “taking him to Santa Barbara.” Hollywood acknowledged the kidnapping, but that was as far as his accountability would go. Hollywood even suggested that Nick was the more intimidating individual because of his height advantage.

  Hollywood purposely referred to Nick in the present tense when Lynn asked, “He was considerably taller, wasn’t he?” Hollywood responded, “Yes, he is.” Lynn had to remind him, “Was, right? He was a lot taller than you. . . .”

  Though others testified that Hollywood ordered the white van to stop when he saw Nick, on the stand Hollywood couldn’t remember who gave the command. He said it could have been Skidmore who said, “That’s Ben’s brother.” However, Skidmore never even knew Ben had a brother. Lynn would ask, “Can you tell me why it is that Rugge would stop the van upon seeing Nick Markowitz if it wasn’t by your order?”

  Hollywood would retreat into saying, “It was right after my windows had been broken.” He would refer to this reason more than half a dozen times during his testimony, often prefacing his answers with how Ben had broken his windows. Lynn would make a point that Nick had zero connection to Hollywood. He didn’t owe him money and he hadn’t broken his windows.

  Lynn would establish early on that Hollywood was the one calling the shots. He asked Hollywood what decisions he made that day, August 6. And even though it might have seemed innocuous as Hollywood answered about making the call to go to Fiesta, to pick up Brian Affronti, and to pin Nick up against the tree, Lynn was laying the groundwork for Hollywood as the decision maker to have Nick murdered.

  Hollywood would scramble with Lynn’s questions regarding his involvement, often prefacing his response by stating his regret as opposed to directly answering the question.

  Hollywood would often contradict himself, stating, “I wasn�
��t using Nick for anything,” even though he would ask Nick about his brother’s whereabouts, and tell Lynn, “I wanted to confront Ben and end this feud.”

  Skidmore had already said the intention was to head over to the Markowitzes’ to hopefully find Ben or break some of their windows. If Hollywood’s true intention that day was to simply pick up Brian Affronti and head to Santa Barbara, why did he have Rugge come down at all? Why not just meet Rugge up at Fiesta?

  Hollywood testified that Skidmore punched Nick and “ushered” him into the van. Hollywood would also counter what Chas Saulsbury testified to about there being guns in the white van. Skidmore stated that at the time, there was at least an AR-15.

  Lynn would find it convenient that Hollywood’s memory was better during direct examination than during cross-examination. “Can you picture sitting in the van right now; can you picture sitting in the van on the way to Brian Affronti’s house?” Hollywood would answer no. “So what memory are you testifying from?”

  Though Hollywood would say Nick was always free to go, Lynn would point out that he never once said, “Go ahead. That was a stupid thing, whatever, it’s over. Go ahead and leave.” In fact, there was never any talk of letting Nick go. Hollywood admitted he never “ordered” anybody to let Nick go.

  Hollywood made the bizarre statement that the kidnapping had ended once Nick was inside the van. Did he think Nick was just along for the ride at this point? He would state, “We started driving and he was with us.” Lynn dug deeper: “If Nick wasn’t being held captive, but he’s in the van with you . . . tell me what Nick’s options were at that time?” Lynn wanted to know what Nick could have done to free himself. Hollywood would shift the responsibility onto Nick, and how this fifteen-year-old could have said, “Let me out right here.”