KIDNAPPING LINKED TO DRUG DEBT

Casual Visitors Allegedly Referred To Teen As 'stolen Boy' In Days Before
His Death

A teen-ager found shot to death in the Santa Barbara mountains was
kidnapped because his stepbrother owed $36,000 to a drug dealer named Jesse
James Hollywood, according to a theory pieced together by the Santa Barbara
County Sheriff's Department.

Investigators call Hollywood the ringleader in a kidnapping scheme intended
to squeeze money from a West Hills man Hollywood believed owed him money.

The search for Hollywood, 20, also of West Hills, continued Thursday. Four
others, three men and a teen-age boy, are in custody in Santa Barbara. All
are accused of kidnapping, criminal conspiracy and murder in the death of
15-year-old Nicholas Sam Markowitz.

The plot unraveled after the alleged kidnappers could not find Benjamin
Markowitz, 25, so instead abducted his stepbrother Nicholas, said Sheriff
Jim Thomas.

The boy was held at a house in the 700 block of Casiano Drive in Santa
Barbara for two days -- he was referred to as the "stolen kid" by at least
a half-dozen visitors who drifted in and out of the house while he was
there -- before the group abandoned the scheme, authorities said.

"At some point, there was some discussion among the group that kidnapping
was a very serious charge," Thomas told a news conference Thursday
afternoon. "There was a decision that eliminating the witness was the best
thing to do."

Nicholas' body was found by hikers Saturday in a shallow grave near the
Lizard's Mouth rock formation.

Authorities said the case began Aug. 6 when Hollywood and two friends,
Jesse Taylor Rugge, 20, of Santa Barbara, and William R. Skidmore, 20, of
Simi Valley, went looking for the older Markowitz. They couldn't find him,
but saw Nicholas walking near his home.

Authorities said they abducted the 15-year-old from West Hills and drove
him to Rugge's home in a comfortable Hidden Valley neighborhood, where he
lives with his parents, and held him for two days. During that time, the
boy was given marijuana and Valium -- and at least a half-dozen friends of
the alleged kidnappers visited the house.

Rugge's parents were home during that time.

"I didn't know anything was going on," Rugge's father, Barron Rugge, said
Thursday afternoon.

Standing at the door of his brown stucco house, he held a shaking hand to
his temple and looked at the ground.

"Nick didn't know anything was going on. They were all just sitting on the
couch watching TV," he said.

"I don't know how this happened."

Investigators said it was unclear if anyone tried to extort money from
Nicholas.

On Aug. 8, Thomas said, Rugge and a 17-year-old Goleta boy brought Nicholas
to the Lemon Tree Inn on State Street, where they met Ryan James Hoyt, 21,
of Pacoima. Rugge and the 17-year-old drove to Lizard's Mouth, on West
Camino Cielo about four miles west of Highway 154, and allegedly dug a grave.

Later, according to authorities, Rugge, the 17-year old and Hoyt regrouped
at the hotel, then drove Nicholas up into the mountains.

"They took our victim to the grave, where he was bound, gagged and
executed," said Thomas.

Thomas said Hoyt shot Nicholas nine times in the head and torso with a
semiautomatic gun known as an Intratec, or "Tec-9," which is now illegal.
Nicholas was buried with the weapon and expelled shell casings.

Thomas said investigators believe Rugge was the only other suspect to
witness the killing. Rugge told detectives he threw up after the killing.

Rugge's father said he knew something was wrong with his son Tuesday night.

"He kept saying, OI've seen something that I never should have seen. I've
got to talk to you,'E" Barron Rugge said. "But we just never hooked up."

Hoyt, in contrast, reportedly told investigators that shooting someone "was
easier than he expected."

The third suspect, a 17-year-old from Goleta who was not identified because
of his age, told investigators he waited in the car during the shooting.

All of the suspects, except for the Goleta teen, played softball with
Benjamin Markowitz on a West Hills team when they were younger. Rugge and
his family had moved to the Santa Barbara area in recent years.

After Nicholas' body was found, investigators questioned his family,
including Benjamin Markowitz. He told detectives he's received numerous
death threats from Hollywood over the last month and that he had been hiding.

The first break in the case came when a girl who visited the Rugge
household last week saw a news story about Nicholas' death. She identified
the main players in the alleged scheme.

Rugge was arrested near his home Wednesday morning.

The parents of the 17-year-old brought him to the Sheriff's Department a
few hours later. Late Wednesday afternoon, Skidmore was arrested at his
Simi Valley home, with the assistance of Los Angeles Police Department SWAT
officers.

Thursday, Hoyt was taken into custody in Pacoima as he drove away from a
friend's house. Sheriff's officials said all of the arrests occurred
without incident.

Court records show that in January, Hollywood was placed on 24 months'
probation after pleading no contest to a misdemeanor violation of
disturbing the peace. Sheriff's officials said Hoyt has no criminal record.

Rugge had two previous brushes with the law: a 1996 arrest on suspicion of
bringing a weapon onto school grounds, and a drunken driving arrest in
February of this year. They said Skidmore has been arrested twice on
suspicion of being under the influence of drugs.

Thomas said Nicholas' family was informed Thursday of the circumstances
surrounding his death.

"They're devastated," he said. "I can't believe that the stepbrother isn't
as devastated as the rest of the family.

"This is one where you just scratch your head at the loss of a 15-year-old
victim," Thomas said. "It's sad. Absolutely sad."