3 Arrested in Killing of West Hills Teen

SIMI VALLEY —  Two men and a teenager were arrested Wednesday in connection with the kidnapping and killing of a 15-year-old West Hills boy whose body was found last weekend in Los Padres National Forest in Santa Barbara County.

A Simi Valley man and two others in Santa Barbara were arrested in the shooting death of Nicholas Samuel Markowitz, who would have attended El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills this fall.

Authorities said Wednesday they were searching for one or two more suspects.

William Robert Skidmore, 20, was arrested about 4:30 p.m. after SWAT officers surrounded his parents’ home in east Simi Valley and a crisis negotiator talked him into surrendering.

The two others, a 20-year-old man and a 17-year-old boy, were taken into custody early Wednesday in Santa Barbara. All three were being held in Santa Barbara County Jail, authorities said.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Lt. Michael Burridge, whose agency is handling the case, refused to release the names of the other suspects or where they live, saying it would compromise the ongoing investigation.

Markowitz’s body was found Saturday in a shallow grave near a hiking trail off West Camino Cielo Road, about 12 miles north of Santa Barbara off California 154. The area is popular for daytime hikes and nighttime parties.

The teenager was last seen at home Aug. 6, and two days later his parents, Jeff and Susan Markowitz, reported him missing. It was not the first time he had been reported missing, investigators said, but in this case authorities believe he was kidnapped near his home and killed somewhere in Santa Barbara County.

Burridge said residents of the seaside city will be stunned by the motive, which he declined to explain. He said further details, including the identities and photos of additional suspects, will be released at a news conference planned for today.

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Authorities are investigating the suspects’ backgrounds. According to court documents, Skidmore’s record includes a drug conviction.

“We are looking for dangerous individuals,” Burridge said. “They are involved in the kidnapping and homicide of a 15-year-old child.”

Skidmore was arrested after Santa Barbara deputies, along with the Simi Valley Police Department’s SWAT team, surrounded his parents’ home in the 6700 block of Cowboy Street in the Saddlewood Estates at the base of the Santa Susana Mountains.

After surrounding the house, a crisis negotiator telephoned Skidmore, who agreed to surrender peacefully.

“We’re freaked out, very scared,” a neighbor said.

Another neighbor, standing on a sidewalk on the street of simple two-story houses, said the Skidmores were “the perfect family--everybody thought so.”

Some neighbors, though, were more critical of Skidmore, describing him as someone who didn’t interact with people in the neighborhood and occasionally caused trouble.

Skidmore had apparently returned to his parents’ home to live, neighbors said. Skidmore, who sports close-cropped hair and several tattoos, fancied baggy clothes and enjoyed collecting spiders, a friend of his sister said.

Authorities declined to confirm that Markowitz may have known Skidmore. Neighbors said Skidmore was raised in West Hills and had continued to hang out with friends from his old neighborhood.

Skidmore was arrested at age 18 on suspicion of illegally removing parts from a car.

According to Ventura County Superior Court records, he was placed on probation for three years after pleading no contest to the July 1998 offense and was ordered to serve five days in Ventura County Jail.

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Five months ago, Simi Valley police officers picked up Skidmore on a probation violation. He was charged with use of a controlled substance and vandalism, court records show.

Skidmore pleaded guilty to the drug charge during a May 5 arraignment and was ordered to serve 90 days in jail. His probation was reinstated with conditions that he not use narcotics or associate with gang members, the records indicate.

Jail officials were unable to confirm whether Skidmore served the 90-day sentence.

Times staff writers Tracy Wilson, Tina Dirmann and Zanto Peabody contributed to this story.