MAN SAYS HE WAS FORCED TO DIG MARKOWITZ'S GRAVE.Byline: Marianne McCarthy Special to the Daily News SANTA BARBARA Santa Barbara (săn'tə bär`brə, –bərə), city (1990 pop. 85,571), seat of Santa Barbara co., S Calif., on the Pacific Ocean; inc. 1850. - Prosecutors showed videotaped statements Tuesday that Graham Pressley made to Santa Barbara County authorities about his involvement in the kidnapping and murder of Nicholas Markowitz  This article requires authentication or verification by an expert.Please assist in recruiting an expert or [ improve this article] yourself. See the talk page for details. of West Hills. Jurors watched more than seven hours of Pressley's interrogation interrogation In criminal law, process of formally and systematically questioning a suspect in order to elicit incriminating responses. The process is largely outside the governance of law, though in the U.S. by Santa Barbara sheriff's deputies investigating the slaying of Markowitz, whose bullet-riddled body was discovered two years ago in the Santa Barbara foothills. Pressley, 19, is the third of five suspects in the slaying of Markowitz, who prosecutors say was killed over a drug debt owed by his older halrother. Ryan Hoyt Hoyt is the posse member of Jesse James Hollywood who was convicted of the slaying of Nick Markowitz on August 9, 2000. He reportedly owed Hollywood money for drugs and was offered the opportunity to kill Markowitz as a way of erasing his debt. , 22, already has been convicted of first-degree murder, accused of being the firing the shots that killed Markowitz. A jury has recommended that he be sentenced to death. Another co-defendant, Jesse Rugge, has been convicted of kidnapping for ransom and faces a sentence of life in prison. William Skidmore of Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. is scheduled to appear in court in August. And Jesse James Hollywood Jesse James Hollywood (born January 28, 1980 in Los Angeles, California) was a drug dealer and fugitive. He allegedly kidnapped and ordered the murder of Nicholas Markowitz. , the alleged mastermind behind the kidnap-murder plot, remains at large. He is on the FBI's Most Wanted list with a $50,000 reward offered for information leading to his capture. On the videotape, Pressley tells deputies that ``some guy from L.A.,'' who he only knew as Ryan had a gun and told him to dig a hole in the forest above Santa Barbara. ``I was forced to dig that grave. I thought I was going to get killed.'' Later that night, Pressley and Ryan returned to the site with Rugge and Markowitz, who Pressley said was heavily sedated. Pressley said he was told to stay by the car. Twenty minutes later, he said, he heard ``a continuous stream of gunshots that lasted for two seconds.'' |
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