The half-brother of Nicholas Markowitz, the teen Jesse James Hollywood is accused of ordering killed, testified from the witness stand Tuesday that he believes Hollywood masterminded the murder.

Ben Markowitz, now 30, explained how his friendship with Hollywood started and how it eventually deteriorated. The two worked out together and used to deal and sell drugs together, he said, until a dispute over $1,200 divided the two, and eventually led to the death of his younger brother.

“I thought we were friends,” Markowitz, a convicted felon, said in testimony in Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Brian Hill’s courtroom.

Hollywood, 29, is accused of kidnapping and directing the August 2000 murder of Nicholas Markowitz, 15. Hollywood, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, will face the death penalty if convicted.

Four of his associates have been convicted, including Ryan Hoyt, who shot Markowitz and has been sentenced to death.

Markowitz stated Tuesday that he became friends with Hollywood in the fall of 1999, and that the two had a business arrangement together, which involved Markowitz selling one or two pounds of marijuana for Hollywood each week. “It was just business,” he said.

The two eventually started to hang out and used cocaine and marijuana together, he said.

The disagreement over the $1,200 arose after the pair traveled to San Diego to buy fake ecstasy pills to sell. Markowitz bought $2,000 worth of fake pills from Hollywood, but was only able to sell $600 worth, because customers complained about the authenticity of the merchandise, Markowitz said.

He said he attempted to explain the dilemma to Hollywood, but Hollywood ignored him and pressed for the remaining $1,400. Markowitz was able to borrow $200 from his father, which brought the debt down to $1,200.

Eventually Markowitz grew tired of the debt, and in threatening and expletive-laden language, told Hollywood that he refused to pay the money. This led to a series of events that strained their relationship, he said.

The first incident occurred when William Skidmore, a fellow associate, asked Markowitz to visit Hollywood so they could “hash things out.” But this did not happen, since Markowitz was in a “different place” and didn’t want anything to do with that lifestyle anymore, he reflected Tuesday.

Markowitz’s then-fiancée told him that Hollywood had come into her place of business and written “Ben’s Dead” on a napkin after running up a hefty bill and not paying.

In another incident, while driving home one day, Markowitz spied Hollywood and some associates waiting outside his house. Markowitz continued driving and returned two hours later, when they had gone. The following day, Markowitz said, he moved out.

“I was in a different place mentally, I didn’t want to have a confrontation,” he said.

However, Markowitz admitted to leaving Hollywood a threatening message: (“I said) I knew where he lived, where his family lived, so if he wanted to play that game we could,” he said.

Six months later, Markowitz got a call from his father who said to “watch for a phone call from Nick, he might be calling.” Nicholas had gone missing, and the family was doing everything it could to find him.

Markowitz said he made countless phone calls, including a nonthreatening one to Hollwood’s answering machine, in an attempt to locate his brother, who had been kidnapped outside his West Hills home and driven to Santa Barbara. Once in Santa Barbara, Hollywood and his companions included Nicholas in their parties before Hollywood returned to Los Angeles and allegedly ordered the killing.

Nicholas’ body was found Aug. 12, 2000, near the Lizard’s Mouth trail west of Highway 154 in the Santa Barbara foothills. The teenager had been shot nine times by a Tec-9 semi-automatic weapon, the same weapon Hollywood had in his home, according to court testimony.

Markowitz testified that he did not believe that Nicholas owed Hollywood money or had any dealings with him, although the younger Markowitz knew who Hollywood was, as they had met twice before.

On Wednesday, the defense is expected to conduct a cross-examination of Markowitz.

— Noozhawk intern Kenny Lindberg can be reached at news@noozhawk.com.

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