Jury to Get Jesse James Hollywood Case

Jurors will begin deliberations Thursday in the case of Jesse James Hollywood, the man accused of kidnapping a 15-year-old boy over a drug debt and ordering his death.

Under cross-examination last week, Hollywood repeated his previous contention that he took Nicholas Markowitz in 2000 but neither ordered nor was present at his slaying, which inspired the 2007 movie "Alpha Dog."

"Justice has waited nine years," prosecutor Joshua Lynn told the jurors. "The time has come."

During Tuesday's proceedings, Markowitz's parents saw images of their son's duct tape-bound body on a courtroom screen, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Hollywood's attorney said the images do not tell the whole story.

"You can't fill the void in the prosecution's case with pictures of Nick Markowitz in the grave," he said, according to the Times.

Prosecutors contend that Hollywood, 29, and two friends kidnapped Markowitz from Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley on Aug. 6, 2000, because his half brother, Ben Markowitz, owed a drug debt. Prosecutors have said it was $1,200; Hollywood testified he was owed $2,500.

The teenager was taken to Santa Barbara, where he was held for several days, during which he smoked marijuana and drank with his kidnappers.

On Aug. 8, Markowitz was driven away by two Hollywood associates on what was supposed to be a trip home, Hollywood testified.

He said he learned a couple of days later that instead the boy was shot and buried in the foothills near Santa Barbara.

After the killing, Hollywood said he believed police would shoot him on sight and fled. He lived in Colorado, the Mojave Desert and Canada -- which he found too cold -- before he saw the 1984 comedy film "Blame It on Rio" and decided to head to Brazil.

There, he sold vacation properties and fathered a now-3-year-old boy before his arrest in 2005.

Closing arguments continue Wednesday.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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