13
TRIGGERMAN
When Ryan Hoyt’s trial finally got under way in 2001, DDA Ron Zonen’s opening argument took the jurors back through the events of August 2000, and Zonen said that even though Ryan Hoyt was not part of the initial kidnapping of Nick Markowitz, once he joined the plot, he became part of the kidnapping. And even though it seemed at times that Nick could have simply walked away, this did not mitigate the fact that he had been kidnapped. Zonen also argued that Hoyt was now claiming amnesia about the interview he had with detectives where he admitted to shooting Nick. Zonen said this was all a scam on Hoyt’s part to try and distance himself from the words he had uttered at that interview. Zonen stressed that Ryan Hoyt, by his own words, had admitted to being a killer.
Cheri Owen, Hoyt’s lead attorney, in her own opening statements, said in part, “Mr. Hoyt was not telling the truth during his statement. Mr. Hoyt feels that he has to protect those people who gave him a sense of being in his lifetime.” She also stated that Hoyt’s claim of amnesia, where the interview was concerned, was valid due to the immense amount of stress he had suffered at that time.
The first witness for the prosecution was Jeffrey Markowitz, Nick’s father. Jeff identified for the jury a belt buckle and ring that had belonged to Nick, as well as a photo of Nick. Jeff spoke a little about Nick, but mostly his testimony was used to get certain items into evidence.
Defense co-counsel Richard Crouter had no questions for Jeffrey Markowitz, but he did tell him that he was sorry for his loss.
Zonen then called Benjamin Markowitz to the stand, but the trial day was almost over before Ben could be asked many questions. There was a late start on the next day, and a real problem occurred. Juror #10 did not show up for the trial on time. Bailiff Roger Brenner phoned the juror’s home and the juror in question answered, saying, “I took some drugs and had a bad reaction and might have to go to the hospital.” This brought everything to a screeching halt as Judge Gordon went into chambers with the prosecution and defense. When they returned, Juror #10 was excused from the jury, and an alternate took his place.
The real news, however, was that Ron Zonen was negotiating a plea bargain deal with William Skidmore. Obviously, what Skidmore had to say would be very damaging to Ryan Hoyt. Zonen told the judge outside the presence of the jury, “We are working very hard to resolve the case with Mr. Skidmore.” Also by bringing Skidmore in, in this fashion, Zonen wanted both Rugge and Pressley’s future trials combined, since the witnesses and testimony were expected to be the same for both. Judge Gordon, however, had his doubts, and quipped, “Logistically, it will be very difficult. Where are we going to do this? At the Earl Warren Showgrounds?” Nonetheless, he took it under advisement.
After this matter was addressed, Zonen had Ben Markowitz return to the stand and tell of his life and his feud with Jesse James Hollywood, which had sparked the kidnapping of Nick. Through Ben, Zonen introduced photos of Jesse Rugge, William Skidmore and Jesse James Hollywood. Also introduced was a photo of the TEC-9 pistol that had allegedly been used by Ryan Hoyt to kill Nick Markowitz. Ben said that he knew the TEC-9 belonged to Jesse James Hollywood.
Because of sound problems of a videotape concerning Jesse James Hollywood and his buddies, on which Hollywood discussed Hoyt’s $1,200 debt, Zonen was unable to play it at the moment, so Crouter cross-examined Ben Markowitz. He did get Ben to admit that Jesse Hollywood had often bossed Ryan Hoyt around and made fun of him. Ben said Hoyt was “the puppy dog of the group.”
The next witness, Pauline Mahoney, laid the groundwork about the whole abduction scene on the corner of Platt and Ingomar Streets, and how she and her boys had chanted the license plate numbers on their way home so they would remember them. She also testified about photos of the white van she had seen.
Then Mahoney’s 911 tape was introduced and played for the jury; followed, after lunch, by the videotape of Jesse James Hollywood and his buddies at a party in which Hollywood was spouting off and Hoyt was the cameraman. Halfway through the videotaping, Hollywood took the camera and asked Hoyt when he was going to pay his marijuana debt. The amount of $1,200 was mentioned.
Brian Affronti testified to events of August 6, 2000, when Jesse James Hollywood, Jesse Rugge and William Skidmore had an unknown boy in Hollywood’s van. Affronti originally thought the boy was their friend. Affronti retained that illusion until Jesse Hollywood made the comment that if Ben thought he was going to kill Hollywood’s family, he had another thing coming, and basically lit into Nick.
Gabriel Ibarra followed, and a photo of the house on Modoc Road, in Santa Barbara, was introduced. It was there that Ibarra had witnessed a teenage boy trussed up with duct tape, in Richard Hoeflinger’s bedroom. Ibarra repeated the comment that Jesse Hollywood had made to Jesse Rugge, “Shut the fuck up” about anything concerning Nick.
Richard Crouter had no questions of Ibarra.
Richard Hoeflinger was questioned by the prosecution about what he had seen when Rugge, Skidmore, Affronti and Hollywood arrived with an unknown boy at his residence. He told about how Hollywood was acting crazy in his house and threatened anyone who told about Nick being there.
Crouter’s cross-examination was brief, to the point of lasting only one minute.
Next on the stand for the prosecution was Kelly Carpenter, who spoke of her days with Nick at Natasha Adams’s house, at Jesse Rugge’s house and at the Lemon Tree Inn. Among other things she spoke about the offer Jesse Rugge allegedly had been given by Jesse Hollywood to murder Nick, and Rugge turned it down. The amount was either stated as $2,000 or $2,500.
Since it was late in the day, court was recessed at 4:25 P.M., and Kelly began her testimony again the next day, at 10:45 A.M. Once again, cross-examination was fairly brief by the defense, since Kelly Carpenter didn’t even know Ryan Hoyt, nor had she ever seen him at the Lemon Tree Inn.
Larz Wikstrom, who worked for the Santa Barbara sheriff ’s office, was the next witness, and he introduced a photo of the Lizard’s Mouth area, and a photo of Nick’s grave site, with the body present.
Natasha Adams, who was now Natasha Adams-Young, testified as to her recollections of the events of August 7, 8 and 9. Among other things she testified about someone coming up from the Los Angeles area on the night of August 8, although she didn’t actually see who the person was.
Once again cross-examination was short by the defense, since Natasha did not know, nor had she met, Ryan Hoyt. Defense counsel Richard Crouter added one more thing, however—he would be the only defense counsel for the rest of the day, because he said Cheri Owen was ill and would not return until the next day.
Detective Albert Lafferty, like Larz Wikstrom, introduced several photos of the crime scene, including photos of the Lizard’s Mouth area as seen from a helicopter, an overall view of the West Camino Cielo Road, the grave site location, bullet strike marks on a rock and the TEC-9 pistol in the grave.
Ron Zonen had Detective David Danielson introduce a photo of a sock with duct tape on it, which was used to gag Nick at one point, and he had David Barber, of the California Department of Justice, testify about the TEC-9 pistol.
The fourth day of trial brought Stephen Hogg to the witness stand for a short recitation of what had transpired between himself and Jesse James Hollywood in August 2000. Jack Hollywood’s testimony followed, and was much longer and far-ranging, covering everything from the boys he had coached in baseball, to his son’s life, to the actual days of trying to find out what had happened and where the kidnapped boy was being held.
Crouter, on cross, asked Jack Hollywood if his actions had been self-serving, and he admitted they had been.
Crouter asked, “Were you doing them to protect your son?”
Jack answered, “Yes.”
“Did you go to the police?”
“No. But now I wish I had.”
After Jack Hollywood testified, Casey Sheehan took the stand. He spoke of seeing Ryan Hoyt buy new clothes after August 9, 2000, even though Hoyt was normally broke. And Sheehan spoke of Hoyt coming up to him and saying, “They picked the boy up at a hotel, and they shot him and put him in a ditch, somewhere up there around Santa Barbara.” It wasn’t absolutely clear if the word “they” indicated Ryan Hoyt as well, though Sheehan thought that it did.
Day five of the trial brought Sheehan back on the stand, to identify photos of his car, which had been used by Jesse Hollywood, and then transferred to Ryan Hoyt so that he could drive up to Santa Barbara to “take care of Nick.” Unlike some of the other testimony, which had been short in nature, Cheri Owen cross-examined Casey Sheehan more extensively.
Next in line was Michelle Lasher. Like Sheehan, she corroborated that Jesse Hollywood was with her at an Outback Steakhouse on the night Nick was murdered, and Hollywood spent the night at her house. This proved the prosecution’s argument that Jesse Hollywood could not have been the triggerman who killed Nick, and Hoyt had been the one who actually pulled the trigger. Of course, the prosecution was contending that Hoyt killed Nick on Jesse Hollywood’s behest.
It could not have been easy for Susan and Jeff Markowitz to listen to Dr. George Sterbenz, forensic pathologist, who described the many wounds that Nick suffered. During Sterbenz’s testimony an X-ray of Nick’s skull and an X-ray of his chest were admitted into evidence. One by one, the bullet wounds were talked about, analyzed and brought into evidence.
Darla Gacek was on the stand a short while, testifying to how she and the others found Nick’s body only partially buried on August 12, 2000. Then it was Detective Cornell’s turn, followed by Detective Mike West.
One of the most damning things of all against Ryan Hoyt, of course, was the videotape of Hoyt being interviewed by the detectives. During this video Ryan said at one point, “I didn’t dig the grave! All I did was kill the kid!” Now Cheri Owen attempted to undo the damage that had already been done by comments such as those to the detectives back in August 2000. She got Hoyt on the stand to testify as to why he had said such things and led him through his claims that he didn’t recall now what he had said during that interview at all. In fact, Hoyt now claimed to have amnesia about almost everything from the time of his arrest until a week thereafter, due to the stress and trauma of the event.
On the stand Hoyt testified that he did vaguely recall talking to his mother by telephone before going to the interview room, but he could not remember what he’d said to her. Having listened to that tape of the phone conversation with his mother, in the courtroom, he acknowledged it was his voice, but still didn’t recall saying anything that was on the tape. He added, “It gave me a different perspective on my mother,” and he agreed with her that he might have been guilty of some things by association. “I mean, I’m guilty because I’m associated with those who are.”
Owen told Hoyt, “On the tape your mother stated that she wanted you to find Jesse Hollywood and turn him in, and quit being a cannibal for his crimes. How did you feel about Jesse Hollywood at the time you were arrested?”
“He was still a friend.”
“And even after you were arrested, would you have preferred to go home or to protect Jesse Hollywood?”
“I wanted to go home, but I felt really bad because, I mean, whether I knew it or not, I believe I brought the means to that child’s end up to Santa Barbara that evening.”
“So you felt that by taking the duffel bag to Santa Barbara that you were the means to Nicholas Markowitz’s death?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
When asked if he remembered talking to the detectives, or recalled what he’d obviously said on the tape, Ryan said that he didn’t. Owen stated, “I’m going to ask you to explain to the ladies and gentlemen of the jury, after hearing these statements being made, what would be the reason for saying, ‘I killed him! I killed him!’”
Ryan answered that he probably said that because he felt guilty for bringing a gun in a bag up to Santa Barbara, where someone else killed Nick Markowitz. He implied that Jesse Rugge or Graham Pressley must have done the actual killing, because now he was claiming he had never been up to Lizard’s Mouth, nor had he even seen Nick Markowitz when he went up to Santa Barbara on the night of August 8 with a duffel bag that Jesse Hollywood had given him. Hoyt claimed that he never laid eyes on Nick Markowitz there, and that he thought at the time he was just delivering a “brick” of marijuana to Jesse Rugge. Delivering dope for Hollywood was something he had done in the past, and it didn’t seem out of the ordinary to him that he was doing it on a trip to Santa Barbara. Hoyt claimed he had no idea that there was a gun in the duffel bag.
Owen asked him, “You saw on the tape where the detectives asked you, ‘You know where you are now, right?’ And you answered, ‘Yeah, behind bars for life. If I wind up behind bars for life, I can’t be behind bars for life as a rat.’ Do you remember making that statement when you saw the videotape?”
“Wait!” Judge Gordon interjected. “You’re saying, does he remember seeing that on the videotape, that’s the question?”
Owen answered, “Yes, Your Honor.”
Hoyt answered he remembered seeing it on the videotape in court, but he didn’t recall saying it in the interview, because he really couldn’t remember anything he said during the interview.
Judge Gordon and all the attorneys started having a a real problem on their hands, which was becoming a catch-22 for Cheri Owen and Ryan Hoyt. If she asked him specific questions about whether statements he made to detectives in the interview were true or false, how could he answer her questions? Supposedly he couldn’t recall what he’d said back then. Judge Gordon finally told her, “He says he doesn’t remember the interview at all, and to ask him what he meant by something in the interview he doesn’t remember calls for speculation.” Finally a sidebar had to be called for, out of the hearing of the jury.
Crouter tried to clear things up by saying to Judge Gordon, “It’s not asking him about what somebody else might have meant by those words. He can tell us what he means by those words in general.”
Zonen chimed in and said, “I think it’s irrelevant how he uses the words.”
Judge Gordon agreed and responded, “That’s what I think. I mean, I assumed you were going to go through this and when you got into portions where he incriminated himself, ask him if those were true statements. But I didn’t think we were going to go through this and ask him what he meant by each word when he doesn’t even remember the interview.”
Crouter replied, “She can ask him what the word means to him, because we know he used it.”
Judge Gordon responded, “I’ll let you do that. But I’m going to be very careful about this, and this is the last sidebar we’re going to have on this subject.”
Cheri Owen wanted to be clear on this important point and asked the judge, “Can I ask him, ‘Well, for what reason can you give this jury why you would say something like that, when it isn’t true?’”
Gordon’s answer was “It’s hard for me to bridge that gap, since he doesn’t even remember saying it at all. You ask the questions, and I’ll simply rule on it, question by question. That’s all I can do.”
When Owen finally asked Hoyt what he meant by the word “rat,” Ryan responded, “Those are people who wind up as somebody’s kid or dead.”
Owen asked if it was a true statement when Detective Reinstadler asked him what he did with Ben’s brother, and Hoyt said, “Kill him.”
Owen asked, “Is that a true statement?”
Hoyt replied, “Oh, no, I did not kill Ben Markowitz! Or anybody. Excuse me.” It was odd, indeed, that Hoyt said the name of Ben Markowitz instead of Nick’s name.
Owen continued, “Sergeant Reinstadler said, ‘You buried the kid.’ Is that a true statement?”
“No, it is not.”
“Sergeant Reinstadler said, ‘Jesse Rugge said you put the duct tape on him.’ And you responded, ‘The only thing I did was kill him.’ Was that a true statement?”
“No, it is not.”
“Sergeant Reinstadler asked you, ‘I just can’t help but wonder if there was ever a time when right before you pulled the trigger, that you just thought, you know, “I shouldn’t do this. This is wrong.”’ And you answered, ‘Hell yes! Right before.’ Is that a true statement?”
“No, it is not.”
“Why would you say it?”
“You know, I’ve been sitting, thinking about this for the past year, and the only thing I can think of would be to protect Jesse Hollywood and those involved.”
“Would you protect Jesse Hollywood at the expense of going to prison for the rest of your life?”
“Would I have? Yes.”
“Was Jesse Hollywood more of a family to you than your own family was?”
“Yes, he was.”
“And did you have anything to do with the kidnapping of Nicholas Markowitz?”
“No, I did not.”
“Did you ever see him at the Lemon Tree Inn when you went there?”
“No, I did not see him at all. Period.”
Ron Zonen was skeptical about almost everything Ryan Hoyt had just said on the stand. Zonen began his counteroffensive against Hoyt’s comments by asking why Hoyt would risk going to prison for Jesse Hollywood, since Hollywood had used him as a virtual slave at his residence. Zonen declared, “This is the same Hollywood who on a regular basis would make you go out in the backyard and pick up beer cans after there would be a party. The same Jesse Hollywood who would have you sand down his front fence in front of all your collective friends and tease you about it afterward. This was all a business arrangement, wasn’t it?”
Ryan replied, “How do you mean ‘business arrangement, ’ sir?”
“Well, were you being paid for that work?”
“No, I was not.”
“It was for a reduction of your debt, is that correct?”
“That is correct.”
“Whatever he ordered, you did. Is that correct?”
“Concerning his backyard, yes.”
“And did it also concern the killing of Nicholas Markowitz? He ordered it, and you did it?”
“No, sir.”
Zonen asked Hoyt about the segment on the videotape where Jesse Hollywood operated the camera, and asked Hoyt how much the debt was at that time. Hoyt agreed that the debt then was $1,200. Zonen also got into the area of the interview that Hoyt had with detectives in August 2000, where he admitted to killing Nick. Hoyt now claimed he recalled seeing the video in court, but he could not remember the initial interview or talking to the detectives in 2000. Nor could he remember the phone call to his mother, prior to the interview. In fact, Hoyt now said that from the time he was arrested near the pay phone booth, to an indeterminate time in the jail cell, he had almost no recollection of the events that had occurred. He said he couldn’t recall being in the police car on the trip up to Santa Barbara or the booking process.
As to why Jesse James Hollywood had given Hoyt $400 at his birthday party, Zonen asked, “Did you ever think it was strange that Jesse Hollywood could, on one hand, be such a generous, giving, kind person, and—on the other hand—torment and humiliate you in front of his friends?”
“Looking back, sir, he was a very erratic person.”
“Did you ever talk to him about that?”
“It wasn’t my place to.”
“What do you mean it wasn’t your place to? Weren’t you friends?”
“Yes.”
“Well, why can’t a friend talk to another friend about his behavior? About how he treats you?”
“As I stated. He was a very erratic person. Why piss him off?”
Zonen asked why Hoyt allowed Hollywood to keep increasing his debt at incredible rates, when Hoyt couldn’t pay it down, and why Hoyt didn’t argue about that. Hoyt answered, “Look how he was treating me at the time. How would he treat me if I told him—excuse my language—to fuck off.”
“Well, why did you think that friendship was so valuable? Why didn’t you just walk away from it?”
“I had known Jesse Hollywood for a long, long period of time. I was friends with his family. I’m friends with his father and mother. I babysat his brother.”
Zonen then asked if Ryan Hoyt had ever been in any fights before the events of August 2000, and Ryan said that he had, and he knew how to take care of himself. Zonen’s next question was “Is it safe to say that during this eight-month period of the time you were indentured to Jesse Hollywood—that during that period of time you were not scared of him physically?”
“I believe I was. I don’t think I would have fought him. I don’t particularly fight friends. And if he would have fought me, he wouldn’t have fought me by himself.”
“Were you scared if you didn’t pick up beer cans in his backyard, he would fight you with any of his friends?”
“Yes, sir. I believe at one point, before I started working in his backyard, he said, ‘You want an ass kicking?’”
Zonen asked why in the period of time from when he was seventeen years old until he was twenty-one, Hoyt had worked only four months.
Hoyt said, “Laziness.”
Zonen replied, “So, during that period of time, your preference was to drink beer, smoke dope and hang out with Jesse Hollywood?”
Hoyt replied, “That is a fair statement.”
Zonen then asked, “Mr. Hoyt, during this time that you were working fairly rigorously for Jesse Hollywood, almost daily cleaning up and going to work around the house, did it occur to you that you could pay off this debt a lot quicker if you simply had a job?”
“Yes, sir. But as I’ve stated, if I did not show up at his house, my grandparents would receive harassing phone calls.”
Zonen wanted to know at what point had Hoyt lost his memory, and when had he regained it.
Hoyt said he lost it at the time of his arrest, and began to remember things again on Sunday, August 20. Someone had slipped a newspaper under his cell door about the murder of Nick Markowitz on that date and he started to recall things around that time period. Hoyt said that he had no recollection of the events of August 17, 18 or 19, nor did he remember the first attorney who had come to speak with him, a man named Bill Duval. In fact, he said he couldn’t even remember the arraignment process with Richard Crouter, except for seeing a photo of that event in a newspaper later on.
Zonen asked, “So, hearing yourself talk (on the videotape) about how you killed Nick Markowitz doesn’t spark any recollection?”
Hoyt replied, “No, sir, it does not.”
And then even Zonen was stunned by the lack of time Hoyt said that he had prepared with his lawyers for the trial. Zonen asked, “How many hours in preparation for your testimony today did you put in with your lawyers?”
“Just one night, and that was last night. That was for a period of an hour and a half.”
“For one hour and a half?”
“Maybe two hours.”
This was incredible, since Ryan Hoyt was on trial for his life.
Zonen wanted to know if Hoyt ever had “situational amnesia” before, where he couldn’t remember specific periods of time.
Hoyt said, “Yes, sir. And usually I was drinking.”
Zonen countered that Hoyt hadn’t been drinking in jail, and Hoyt agreed.
“Did you ever have occasion where you had a complete blackout after drinking, a complete failure of recollection of the order of what you’re telling us happened during the course of this interview, where there was a whole period of a number of days that are a complete mystery to you? Has that ever happened before?”
“No, sir. It hasn’t.”
“Did you ever have instances of emotional trauma-induced amnesia—in other words, where you see something or experience an event that has nothing to do with alcohol at all that caused you to forget the event itself?”
“If there was, I do not remember it.”
“So, to the best of your knowledge, this particular occasion would have been the very first time in your life where you ever had a period of profound amnesia. A complete lack of any recall at all.”
“I would have to say yes, sir.”
Once again Zonen asked, “You have no recollection of ever sitting in the room where these two detectives were interviewing you?”
“No, sir.”
“Then, how did you know that there had been a grave dug?”
“I don’t recall.”
“Your memory is actually fairly good prior to your arrest, is that right?”
“As good as can be expected for somebody who was always on drugs,” Hoyt answered.
“Prior to your arrest, how many people did you have conversations with about this murder?”
“I believe I asked Mr. Sheehan, ‘Do you think that they killed him?’”
“Did Mr. Sheehan tell you something about a grave being dug?”
“Not that I can recall, sir.”
“Did you ask Jack Hollywood anything about a grave being dug?”
“I don’t believe Jack Hollywood knew anything. No, I didn’t.”
Zonen said that Hoyt had mentioned talking to William Skidmore about the murder, and then Zonen asked what Skidmore had told him.
Hoyt replied, “I can’t recall exactly, but the gist of the conversation was that Ben’s brother had been killed.”
“Mr. Hoyt, you were just told that the younger brother of somebody that your good friend was at war with had just been murdered, is that correct?”
“Yes.”
Zonen wanted to know why Hoyt hadn’t asked more questions of Skidmore about the circumstances, and Hoyt said it didn’t occur to him to do so at the time.
Zonen also got into Hoyt’s relationship with Jack and Laurie Hollywood. Hoyt said they treated him decently and even let him stay over the house on occasion. “They let me sleep on the couch. They were kind to me. They fed me.”
Since Ryan was so close to Jack Hollywood, Zonen asked if Jack had ever told Ryan that he was a dealer of marijuana. Ryan replied, “Didn’t know, and didn’t care.”
“The whole time that you were close friends with Jack Hollywood, you never asked him why he always had such large amounts of marijuana available?”
“The least I knew, the better, [that] was the way I looked at it.”
“Was there anything unique about the week following your trip to Santa Barbara that was different from any other week in terms of your drug use?”
“Yes. Mass consumption. It was my birthday. My twenty-first birthday. So it was kind of made a big deal of, and I did a lot of stuff.”
“Does that include the night you went up to Santa Barbara?”
“I smoked weed and had a little bit of cocaine with me.”
“Okay, so let me be real clear. Or perhaps you can be real clear on exactly what Jesse Hollywood’s involvement was the night that you went up to Santa Barbara. He gave you a package to take up to Santa Barbara?”
“A duffel bag.”
“You then took the duffel bag and put it into the car? Or did he?”
“I did.”
“Was it your assumption that Mr. Hollywood was not going to be coming to Santa Barbara, and that’s why he was asking you to run that chore?”
“Yes, that was my assumption.”
“You were up in Santa Barbara for a number of hours, weren’t you?”
“Yeah. In the hotel mostly.”
“When you got to the hotel, did you meet with Jesse Rugge outside the hotel or inside the hotel?”
“I walked up to the room, and he opened the door for me.”
Zonen asked Hoyt a series of questions about his time in Santa Barbara, and Hoyt’s answers were at variance with what Jesse Rugge and Graham Pressley had said, or even what Ryan told detectives in 2000. Hoyt now related that the bag he carried to Santa Barbara was heavy, but not too heavy. He didn’t know there was a gun inside. Instead, he thought he was delivering a “brick” of marijuana to Rugge for distribution in the area. Hoyt said the item in the soft duffel bag did not feel like a gun, but rather “it felt soft. I just assumed he had covered it (the brick) with clothes or something.” Hoyt said he never unzipped the bag to see what was inside.
Hoyt added that he was surprised to see another person in the room at the Lemon Tree Inn when he got there. This other person was introduced to him as Graham. Hoyt also claimed that he never saw Nick Markowitz in the room or anywhere else in Santa Barbara. According to Hoyt, Jesse Rugge borrowed Casey Sheehan’s car from him, and Rugge went with Graham, leaving Hoyt in the room alone. Hoyt said that Rugge “told me he had to run some errands, and I assume he took the bag with him.” After a while, Hoyt said, he got hungry, so he walked down the street to a Jack in the Box for some fast food. He said it was a long walk, which took him about twenty-five to thirty minutes.
Zonen asked if the appearance of Jesse Rugge and Graham Pressley was different when they came back to the hotel, as opposed to when they had left.
Hoyt answered, “I didn’t pay much attention to them.”
Zonen wanted to know if Hoyt had any other conversations with Jack Hollywood after their meeting in the park, and Hoyt said that he hadn’t. Zonen then asked, “Twenty-four hours after your conversation with Jack Hollywood, you were in the same home as his son, the person he’s concerned about. Did you go up to Jesse Hollywood and say, ‘What’s going on with Ben’s younger brother?’ Did you say that to him?”
Hoyt replied, “No, I don’t believe I did. I can’t recall. I was asking around. I was asking Mr. Sheehan. Obviously, I spoke with Mr. Skidmore.”
“Was it your belief that the kidnapping or grabbing of Ben Markowitz’s younger brother had something to do with Ben Markowitz breaking out Jesse Hollywood’s windows?”
“That could have been—how do you say it?—the blow that broke the back, so to speak.”
“So when you learned that Ben’s younger brother had been killed, conceivably related to something Jesse Hollywood did, weren’t you curious in knowing any of the facts?”
“I made no further inquiries. I distanced myself from the whole situation.”
Once, when Zonen asked a question that Hoyt thought had been asked before, he got irritated and answered, “For the third time, sir, I don’t recall the conversation.”
Judge Gordon admonished Hoyt sternly. “You just answer the question. If I think he’s asking you the same question too many times, I’ll tell you that.”
Hoyt meekly replied, “Yes, Your Honor.”
Hoyt also testified that the second time he discussed the topic of the murder with Casey Sheehan was on their trip to Sheehan’s father’s residence in Malibu, and Hoyt had a different take on matters than Sheehan’s testimony. Hoyt related that he’d been snorting coke the night before and he’d only slept a couple of hours. On the drive over, Sheehan supposedly asked Ryan about Skidmore’s comments, and Hoyt reiterated that Skidmore had said that Nick had been murdered. Hoyt denied that he told Sheehan that he’d been the gunman or even been up to the area where the body had been discovered.
Zonen said that since they’d been talking about the murder all during the trial, could Hoyt now remember anything more about his interview with detectives? In other words, had all the testimony in court jogged his memory? Hoyt answered that none of it had. Zonen added, “So nothing that happened yesterday, nor spending the night thinking about it, has refreshed your recollection in any way about this interview?”
“I believe I spent the past year thinking about it.”
“As you sit here today, you still have no recollection of anything in that interview?”
“That is a fair statement.”
Cheri Owen took another shot in testimony with Ryan Hoyt on the stand to try and make the jurors believe he suffered from total amnesia when it came to the interview with detectives on August 17, 2000. Owen asked Hoyt if after he incurred his debt, if he’d ever entertained thoughts of crossing Jesse James Hollywood.
Hoyt replied, “No, I would not. He usually got back at those who would, one way or another.”
Owen asked, “Back in August 2000, when you were arrested, would you have been willing to go to prison for life for Jesse Hollywood?”
“Yes, I would have.”
“Has the arrest been the most emotional, traumatic experience of your life?”
“Yes, ma’am. By far.”
“After that point, did your memory start to fade?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
After Hoyt’s testimony, both the prosecution and defense had experts testify to Ryan Hoyt’s state of mind and his mental capacity. Neither one said Hoyt suffered from “profound” mental illness, but they both said he suffered from a personality disorder. This personality disorder was characterized as the need to depend upon others for approval because of low self-esteem. Hoyt was constantly in fear of their rejection and did things to please them. The real crunch came as to whether Ryan Hoyt suffered from amnesia regarding the actual events of Nick Markowitz’s murder. The psychologist for the defense, Dr. Michael Kania, said that Hoyt’s claims were credible and that his confession to detectives could have been fabricated in a misguided attempt to be seen as a “tough guy” by Jesse James Hollywood and the others. And it was also a misguided attempt to please Jesse Hollywood.
Dr. David Glaser, on the other hand, stated that Ryan Hoyt’s claims of amnesia were not credible. Glaser, the prosecution’s expert, saw these as being a ruse to evade a conviction, and it was no more than a ploy to try and distance himself from the statements he had made to police back in August 2000.
There were very few witnesses for the defense, and many were surprised by the seemingly lackluster case put on by Cheri Owen. Some witnesses would claim later that they were surprised on being called at the last minute to the stand by the defense, and they weren’t prepared.
In closing arguments Ron Zonen told the jurors that Jesse James Hollywood was a “minor league drug lord” who approached Ryan Hoyt with an offer—if Hoyt would kill Nick Markowitz, Jesse Hollywood would forgive Ryan’s drug debt, Zonen said. “The logical explanation for what happened here is that Jesse Hollywood wanted Nicholas killed, and Mr. Hoyt was the guy who said he’d do it.” Zonen added that Ryan Hoyt’s own confession to detectives, and the things Casey Sheehan had to say, backed up this contention.
Cheri Owen, on the other hand, told the jurors that the case boiled down to two questions: Did Ryan Hoyt kidnap Nick Markowitz? And did he pull the trigger? Owen stated that there was no evidence from anyone that Ryan Hoyt had grabbed Nick Markowitz off a street in West Hills on August 6, 2000. And she said since there was no physical evidence that linked Ryan Hoyt to the killing of Nick at Lizard’s Mouth, his admission to the detectives that he did so was just Ryan living in a fantasy world. Ryan Hoyt had said those things out of a misguided allegiance to Jesse James Hollywood.
Owen pronounced, “You’re gonna believe that someone, with no history of violence, murdered someone for such little money? I find that very hard to believe!”
Ron Zonen had a last crack at the jurors in a rebuttal, and he argued that if Hoyt joined in anywhere and at any time during the illegal holding of Nick Markowitz, then he was guilty of kidnapping. And Zonen added that Hoyt, even by his own admission, said that he’d delivered a package from Jesse Hollywood to Santa Barbara. The package, according to Ron Zonen, was of course the TEC-9 pistol.
As far as Hoyt’s claims of amnesia about his admission of guilt during an interview with detectives, Zonen argued, “The fact that Mr. Hoyt recalls details before and after his talk with detectives proves he lied on the stand. What caused the so-called amnesia was a conscious decision on how to deal with the confession. Mr. Hoyt was a drug-addicted, alcoholic slacker who didn’t need a violent streak to kill someone.”
During the jury deliberations the jurors sent notes to the judge asking two interesting questions. One stated, We would like to request a transcript of Casey Sheehan and Natasha Adams so that we can pause portions of the video. In other words, the jurors wanted to compare and contrast the statements Ryan Hoyt made as opposed to those of Casey Sheehan and Natasha Adams. The second note read: Is the kidnapping a continuous single event? They, in essence, wanted to know if the kidnapping started in West Hills and never ended, even though Ryan Hoyt had not been part of grabbing Nick off the street, and it often seemed as if no one was guarding Nick at certain times and he could have walked away.
Apparently, the jurors got the answers they needed, and for a case that was so convoluted, with so many characters involved, it only took the jury of seven women and five men a short time to come back with a decision. When they pronounced a verdict of guilty, Ryan Hoyt showed no emotion at all as he was led from the courtroom.
Susan Markowitz, however, was very emotional. She held a jacket that had belonged to Nick next to her as she told reporters outside the courtroom that she was pleased by the verdict, and she planned to take the stand during the sentencing phase.
Jeff Markowitz added, “There is no joy in the fact that he was convicted of first-degree murder. It won’t bring our son back. Still, an eye for an eye.”
The sentencing phase began on November 26, 2001, and Susan Markowitz had a statement to read before the court. She started off by saying, “I know that Nick’s death has touched many hearts around the world and I pray that I have the strength to eventually thank everyone that has been so supportive, including over 400 that attended his services that brought cards, flowers, plants, love and prayers.”
Susan spoke of how before his murder, Nick had planned to make a positive difference in the world. At his Bar Mitzvah, he’d read from the Torah and his topic had been about justice. He’d said that he knew right from wrong, and in one of his entries in a journal that he and Susan kept, there was a signature of “Rabbi Nick.” She pondered if maybe someday he would have become a rabbi, but that was all just speculation now.
Nick had looked forward to getting his driver’s license, graduating from high school and had hopes for the future that included the possibility of working for his dad, or as an actor or being a psychologist. Susan said he was great with others and would have made a good psychologist. Friends had loved Nick for his qualities of confidence, humor and strength. And Susan brought up the fact that Nick always had a positive outlook on things, and he’d spoken to one of the girls at his kidnapping that it would all be an interesting story he would one day tell his grandchildren.
Susan related that Nick was planning to get together with his first true love, Jeannie, on the day after he was released. She imagined Nick trying to be strong and waiting out the kidnapping, because he wanted to help his brother, Ben. Susan wondered if Nick ever did truly understand all the danger he was in.
She said that Nick had become lost while riding his bike, six months prior to the abduction, and added that he’d been very shaken by the incident. She wondered how much worse it must have been to be “lost” in Santa Barbara with no sense of direction home, and now he was indeed lost forever.
Susan noted that her husband, Jeff, loved all his children—Ben, Leah and Nick—but it was very hard for her to forgive Ben or to be around him. As far as Jeff went, she said, “That I have lost my only child compounds his loss, and looking into each other’s eyes and seeing the pain is tearing us apart.”
Susan told the jury that Nick’s whole life had come down to a single moment, when Ryan Hoyt held Nick’s life in his hands. “He did not even know the name of my son when he shot my child in the face.” She turned directly to Ryan Hoyt in court and said defiantly, “His name was Nicholas Samuel Markowitz!”
Susan said that grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends had all been devastated by the murder. In fact, her mother had suffered a heart attack in Colorado when listening to the testimony of Richard Dispenza at his hearing. One of Nick’s uncles spent every moment that he could creating and running a Web site in remembrance of Nick. The holidays and get-togethers with relatives had been altered forever. Even though people on those occasions tried not to think of Nick, there was no way of getting around it. She said there wouldn’t be any more holidays without tears.
Even Nick’s friends at El Camino Real High School were deeply affected. Their sense of a safe environment at school and in the community had been shattered. Many still had nightmares about Nick’s death. Susan said if Nick had lived, she could imagine him crossing the stage at his graduation, smiling and giving her and Jeff a glance, embarrassed because she would have gone there with horns and holding a hundred balloons to let him know how proud she was of him.
“There are no words to express my loss. I can only imagine Nick’s last breaths that were spent trying to plead for his life through the duct tape that muffled his cries. Hunting and killing game receive more dignity in their death than Nicholas did. This vision has haunted me every minute.”
Susan said that she may not have been shot, but she also died on August 9, 2000. She’d attempted suicide twice and had a hospital bill of over $20,000. She still felt at times that she would receive a telephone call and be able to pay a ransom to get him back, and then she’d remember the reality of the situation.
She noted that there were three more trials to go through (Skidmore being in the process of making a plea deal), and she said “three” because she felt in her heart that Jesse James Hollywood would be captured, and there would be one for him someday. She added, “You can die of a broken heart, and if I do not take my life before that happens, it is what will consume me.”
Susan said that Nick died the worst type of death, knowing that he did not have a chance to say good-bye to those he loved. Susan added that she and Jeff would have gladly given their own lives for his, but for some reason they were doomed to still be alive and suffer upon earth. “We have dug to the depths of nausea and envy the people that had a moment to say goodbye. We honestly believe that our son, Nicholas Samuel Markowitz, would have wanted at least a hug, a kiss and a tearful ‘I love you.’ He deserved so much more. I will be with you soon, son. Love, Mom.”
After Susan spoke, Victoria Hoyt was called by the defense to make her pleas for leniency for Ryan. She spoke of the chaotic life he had suffered as a child and the abuse by Ryan’s dad. Victoria added how Ryan would often take the blame for something that his siblings did so that they would not be punished.
After Victoria, however, there was a whirlwind of defense witnesses: Ryan’s aunt Anne Stendel Thomas speaking for five minutes, and his grandmother Carol Stendel speaking for fifteen minutes.
The same held true for the second day of the sentencing phase. Ryan’s father, James David Hoyt, was only on the stand for five minutes during the defense phase. Jonathon David Hoyt, Ryan’s brother, was on for a little longer, around twenty minutes. And a friend, Jane Elizabeth Bright, was on for eight minutes.
It was Ryan’s younger brother, Jonathon, who affected Ryan the most emotionally. Since Jonathon was serving a sentence in a prison for armed robbery, a crime for which he had been incarcerated as an adult, he was in handcuffs during his testimony. Jonathon said that he and Ryan had often been kicked and punched by their father. Jonathon said that in one incident his father became so angry at him that he picked him up and threw him across the room, leaving a hole in the wall. Jonathon said that he thought Ryan might have suffered the same treatment from his dad.
During this testimony Ryan sat next to his lawyers, blinking back tears. He was so upset, in fact, that after Jonathon was done, Ryan was excused from the courtroom.
Cheri Owen did not call Ryan Hoyt to the stand to plead with the jury during this all-important death penalty phase. Whatever he might have planned to tell them was never known.
Before the sentence was read, Judge Gordon warned everyone in the gallery that he would not allow any kind of outburst when the verdict was read. The courtroom was absolutely silent as a court clerk began reading the verdict, with the final three fatal words from the jurors: “Sentenced to death.”
After the courtroom cleared, Ryan’s aunt collapsed on the shoulder of a friend in the hallway, sobbing. There were also tears in Jeff and Susan Markowitz’s eyes as they left the courtroom. Susan told a reporter, “We agree with the jury’s decision, but this is not a sweet victory. It doesn’t bring us any joy.”
Outside the courtroom Hoyt’s defense attorneys, Richard Crouter and Cheri Owen, were clearly stunned. They agreed it was a difficult case, because of Ryan’s taped confession, but Richard Crouter believed the mitigating factors should have led the jury to a sentence of life without parole. He cited the mitigating factors of Ryan’s age, abusive family history and lack of any previous arrests. Crouter said, “It was just not the sort of heinous crime reserved for the death penalty.”
Ron Zonen disagreed, however, saying, “It’s nothing for anybody to be happy about, putting someone to death. But it is the case that justice was done. The defendant is quite deserving of the verdict that he got.”
After the proceedings were over, Jeff Markowitz announced to the reporters that the reward leading to the arrest of Jesse James Hollywood was going up from $30,000 to $50,000.
Miles away from Santa Barbara, another important hearing was taking place, and it involved a Los Angeles Police Department Board of Rights panel looking into allegations that LAPD officers had mishandled the initial 911 call about Nick Markowitz’s kidnapping on August 6, 2000. When Officer Brent Rygh, an eight-year veteran in 2000, and Officer Donovan Lyons, a seven-year veteran in 2000, arrived on the scene at Platt and Ingomar, in West Hills, there was no fight in progress, or boys or van to be seen. Officer Rygh told the panel, “I thought it was some high-school kids just slap fighting, or horsing around, the way high-school students tend to do.”
Officer Lyons told the panel, which included two LAPD captains and one civilian, “There was a lack of witnesses, lack of suspects, lack of blood. There was overwhelming evidence for lack of a follow-up.”
One of the panelists asked the officers why they did not visit the 911 caller, Pauline Mahoney, in person. Officer Rygh answered that he had called her on his personal cell phone and believed that he had gathered enough information. Panelists also asked why the officers didn’t believe a kidnapping was in progress. The officers said they thought that Nick had been released down the block. As to Officer Rygh’s cell phone call to Pauline Mahoney, board member Xavier Hermosillo said, “While you acted properly, it should have gone further. You weren’t wrong in anything you did, you just weren’t right enough. There is no margin for error in this department.”
Adding to the mistakes had been the fact that the second 911 call had been mishandled by the dispatcher and labeled as an “information-only broadcast.” Panelist member Sergeant John Mumma said it should have been labeled a “kidnapping report.” Since the officers never received this second 911 call, they had no way of knowing that a kidnapping was still in progress.
Officer Rygh did run the van’s license plate number, which Pauline Mahoney had given him, but he mistakenly thought the address of the van’s owner was a long distance away, when, in fact, it was close by. The officers did not visit the registered van’s owner, John Roberts, or file a crime report.
The panel reviewed what they had heard for a few hours, and then returned with a finding: Officer Rygh and Officer Lyons were guilty of a minor breach of policy. Both officers received only a written reprimand, rather than much harsher penalties ranging from suspension to termination. Board chairman Captain Gary Williams told the officers, “Although a more thorough investigation should have taken place, it would not have prevented Nicholas Markowitz’s tragic death.”
The panel may have seen things in that light, but Jeff and Susan Markowitz did not. Both officers and the LAPD were definitely named, along with many others, by the Markowitzes in a lawsuit for wrongful death. Just how that would play out remained to be seen, as well as the fates of Jesse Rugge and Graham Pressley. William Skidmore was not going to trial—he pled guilty to kidnapping and robbery, and received nine years in state prison.