Murder Movie Threatens To Derail Case
CBS News correspondent Vince Gonzales reports that Nick Markowitz was just 15-years-old when he was murdered in a remote area of Santa Barbara, Calif., in 2000. His body was dumped in a shallow grave.
Prosecutors say a suspected drug dealer named Jesse James Hollywood and his gang were the killers. They say the gang kidnapped Nick because his older brother Ben, who once sold drugs with Hollywood, owed him $1,200, but then worried their crime could land them behind bars for good.
"Jesse Hollywood decided to hide the evidence. And that was our son, Nick," said Jeff Markowitz, Nick's father.
Nick was bound, gagged and shot nine times. Some of the accused killers were arrested and convicted but Hollywood slipped away and became an international fugitive. He was finally captured in 2005 in Brazil, but now the death penalty case against him is in turmoil, because of a new movie, based on the murder.
While Hollywood was on the run, filmmaker Nick Cassavetes contacted Santa Barbara Deputy District Attorney Ron Zonen and proposed making a movie about the case. Zonen says he believed that might lead to Hollywood's capture, so he provided information, including autopsy and crime scene photos and mentioned he might write a book.
Cassavetes turned the story into a movie called "Alpha Dog," starring Bruce Willis and Sharon Stone, which opened at this year's Sundance Film Festival.
Hollywood's attorney says it was an outrageous move by the D.A.'s office.
"When a prosecutor becomes a motion picture consultant and gives his entire criminal file, with every document, police report, video, photograph," said attorney James Blatt, "and becomes a partner in essence, in creating a motion picture while that case is pending, I believe there's a legitimate conflict of interest."
Blatt showed Gonzales a videotape shot by the filmmakers, on which Zonen gives them a tour of the crime scene and discusses his theories. Blatt says Zonen broke the law, allowing filmmakers to taint witnesses and the jury pool. He wants the D.A.'s office removed from the case.
"We need a prosecutor who, as he is going for the death penalty, is not looking at his movie credits," said Blatt.
In a telephone interview, Zonen told Gonzales: "This is just an attempt by the defense to denigrate me ... According to the defense, the three worst people in the world are Hitler, Mussolini and Ron Zonen." He denied committing any crimes or any conflict of interest saying: "At no time did I ask for or expect to receive any compensation whatsoever for my involvement in this film. My single and only motivation was to apprehend a dangerous fugitive."
The California Supreme Court will decide the issue and, in the meantime, the Markowitz family struggles to overcome the devastating loss of a child.
"It scares me to think about how his last moments were. I just fear that he was crying and scared, cold,' said Susan Markowitz, Nick's mother.
She told Gonzales that the tragedy tore up Nick's brother, Ben, who had gone straight and had nothing to do with the crime.
"Ben was a little rough at times, but he was truly, truly a great brother. He just went down the wrong road and paid the ultimate price," she said.
Ben and his mother stopped speaking for years and only recently reconciled.
"Meeting with Ben, I didn't realize until I saw him how much I have missed him. He gives me a sense of connecting with Nick again in a way," said Markowitz. "He's doing really well, Ben is, and I'm very proud of him. It definitely helps the pain."
After waiting so long for Hollywood to be caught and prosecuted, the delay caused by the movie version of the crime angers the Markowitz family.
"Defense team, get this on the road," Jeff Markowitz said. "It's a murder trial. It's not about movies … It's about our son Nick's murder and who did it."
Hollywood's attorney James Blatt is also attempting to block the release of the film, "Alpha Dog," but Gonzales says that is not expected to happen.
Only On The Web: To hear more of Gonzales' interviews with the Markowitz family,