3-Hour Siege of House Fails to Turn Up Suspect in Murder

SWAT teams Tuesday night fired tear gas into a West Hills home where police believed murder suspect Jesse James Hollywood had taken refuge, but after a three-hour siege, investigators came up empty-handed.

Los Angeles police surrounded the house in the 8200 block of McLaren Avenue about 4:15 p.m. and used a bullhorn to urge Hollywood, 20, to surrender. But when they entered the home after 7 p.m., police said, Hollywood was not there.

Cmdr. Bruce Correll of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department said a van parked at the house and owned by the resident, John Roberts, was used in the kidnapping of 15-year-old Nicholas Markowitz, whose body was found in the mountains near Santa Barbara Aug. 12.

Roberts, 68, who was questioned but not arrested, told police that he was a longtime friend of Hollywood’s family.

Although Hollywood was not present when Markowitz was shot to death, authorities allege that he orchestrated the kidnapping in an attempt to get the victim’s brother, Benjamin Markowitz, 22, to repay a $36,000 debt. Police say both men were involved in drug dealing.

Four others, including a 17-year-old, have been charged with murder and kidnapping.

Earlier Tuesday, Santa Barbara County sheriff’s detectives searched Hollywood’s family home in the 22700 block of Keswick Street in West Hills and questioned his father, Jack Hollywood, Sheriff’s Lt. Mike Burridge said. They carried several evidence bags out of the home.

“It was just paperwork,” Burridge said, declining to be specific. “We decided to search the residence to see if there is any evidence that would lead us to him.”

After Markowitz’s body was found, police say, Hollywood fled to Colorado, stopping in Las Vegas on the way. But he returned to the San Fernando Valley area last week, probably because his family and friends live there, Burridge said.

“From what we have seen so far, he goes places where he knows people,” Burridge said. “He’s not a very bright crook.”

Burridge said Hollywood was driven back from Colorado by a childhood friend, whom he did not identify. The two stayed at the Flamingo Hilton Hotel on Aug. 22 and at a motel in Camarillo the following night. The friend eventually dropped off Hollywood somewhere in West Hills on Friday, Burridge said.

Risling is a reporter for Times Community News and Fox is a Times staff writer. Times staff writer Jeffrey Gettleman contributed to this story.