Suspect’s Friends Reportedly at Cosby Killing

Two friends of Mikail “Michael” Markhasev--the man accused of killing entertainer Bill Cosby’s son Ennis--said they witnessed “to some extent” the fatal shooting on a roadside in the Santa Monica Mountains, according to a source.

It was the first indication that there were any witnesses to the killing of the 27-year-old Cosby on Jan. 16.

The young man and young woman reportedly told officers that they drove around with Markhasev shortly before the shooting, arriving at the isolated side street off Mulholland Drive in the Sepulveda Pass shortly before the 1:45 a.m. killing took place, the source said late Wednesday.

Both people were detained at the time of Markhasev’s arrest and were later released, the source said.

Cmdr. Tim McBride, chief spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department, declined comment on the source’s report.

But other sources, including USA Today, identified the witnesses as Eli Zakaria, 23, and Sara Ann Peters, 21, both of Huntington Beach.

Citing unnamed court documents, USA Today said that Zakaria and Peters told police that after driving around with Markhasev, they stopped at a pay phone about 450 feet from the spot where Cosby was parked so they could try to telephone a drug dealer.

The two reportedly told investigators that while Zakaria was on the phone, Markhasev said he was going to do a carjacking and started walking up Skirball Center Drive toward Cosby’s car, according to Channel 11 television, which quoted an uncle of Zakaria.

The uncle, who was not named, reportedly told the television station that they heard “a noise,” and moments later, Markhasev returned and admitted the killing. Markhasev, Zakaria and Peters then drove away, according to the newspaper.

Markhasev, an 18-year-old Ukrainian immigrant, is scheduled for arraignment today. The indictment charging him has been sealed and details have not been released.

Cosby, a graduate student at Columbia University in New York City, was slain by a single bullet to the head after he stopped on Skirball to change a tire that had gone flat as he drove to visit a friend in Sherman Oaks.

Markhasev was arrested in March after a tip to the National Enquirer. The tabloid had offered a $100,000 reward for information in the killing.

The tipster reportedly led police to a .38-caliber pistol used in the slaying and to a knit cap that the killer may have worn. Police said no identifiable prints were found on the handgun.