Alpha DOG (Crime story)

Twenty-five-year-old Jesse James Hollywood (his real name) was living a comfortable life in Brazil, teaching English and living in a fashionable neighborhood, when he was arrested in November of 2005 and sent back to California, where he faces charges of kidnapping and  killing a 15-year-old boy. Though Hollywood never held a job, by age 19 he was able to purchase a Mercedes and a $200,000 house in West Hills, California. His place became a popular spot for local kids who came and went at all hours of the day. Jesse was a popular guy, an outgoing kid who, despite being short in stature, was an excellent athlete. How was Jesse able to do all this? Unbeknownst to many, he was a largescale marijuana dealer. Jesse’s world began to unravel when he came up with a scheme to get money owed to him by Benjamin Markowitz, 22, one of his customers. Hollywood went to Markowitz’s family home on August 6, 2000, in order to kidnap him and hold him for ransom. According to authorities, on the way there, Jesse and his friends spotted Markowitz’s 15-year-old stepbrother, Nicholas, whom they forced into a van and transported to the home of another accomplice. After being held captive for a few days, Nick Markowitz was made to walk a mile into the Los Padres National  Forest before being shot nine times with a high-powered  assault rifl e and  buried in a shallow grave. His body was discovered four days later by hikers. While four other kids were tried and convicted in the case, Hollywood e scaped and became the subject of an  international manhunt, his mug shot plastered on the FBI’s website. He wound up in Brazil, where he used fake papers that identifi ed him as Michael Costa Giroux, a native of Rio de J aneiro. In 2005, Brazilian authorities d eported him as an  illegal alien. A 2007 fi lm, Alpha Dog, starring Bruce Willis, Justin Timberlake, and Sharon Stone, is based on the case. He is currently a waiting trial for the m urder. Jesse James Hollywood grew up in an affl uent family and seemed to be popular and successful. How could he have become involved in an awful, violent crime? How would a control theorist explain his actions?


Sources: Tim Uehlinger, “The Long Hunt for Jesse James Hollywood,” Dateline, April 12, 2006, (accessed June 9, 2007; Ted Rowlands, “ ‘Hollywood’ Faces Murder Charge,” April 19, 2006, (accessed June 9, 2007).