Addict v. addict: Jesse James Hollywood convicted of murdering a likely addicted kid and American Idol contestant Alexis Cohen, addict, killed by Daniel Bark, addict. It’s more common than you think.
Jesse James Hollywood, runner-up in the June 2009 TAR, convicted of first-degree murder in the 2000 slaying of 15-year-old Nicholas Markowitz even though he didn’t pull the trigger. The jury found that “friends,” eager to clear the books of drug debts, followed his orders to kill by shooting Markowitz nine times. The gun, which was buried with Nicholas, belonged to Hollywood. One journalist reporting the conviction reminded readers that the case inspired the 2006 movie “Alpha Dog,” which “depicted a dark side of middle-class suburbia, a world of frequently stoned young people who were willing to take orders from a criminal mastermind.” Correct me if I’m wrong, but this seems to imply that this middle-class world consists of stoners taking orders from others “willingly.” Have you ever known an addict who was willing to take orders from anyone unless his life was at stake? And by the way, this “dark side” is, simply, addiction at it worst.
Two-time American Idol contestant Alexis Cohen, 25, struck and killed while walking to her car at approximately 4 a.m. Her bizarre performance in front of the American Idol judges and profanity-laced tirade after being rejected is worth viewing here. The odds that large quantities of alcohol and/or other drugs were often in her system are estimated by this addictionologist as very high. The driver of the car that hit and killed her fled, suggesting yet another tragic incident of likely alcoholic v. alcoholic. See the next entry.
Daniel Bark, 23, was fleeing the scene of an accident when he allegedly struck and killed Alexis Cohen. Police caught up with him an hour later and, after refusing a breathalyzer and being charged with a DUI for the first incident, was released at 7 a.m. He was rearrested the following night after police linked his vehicle to the second hit and run in which Cohen was killed. Bark says he is distraught and doesn’t “comprehend” his responsibility for Cohen’s death. The addictionologist in me identifies a blackout, during which time Bark will never remember a thing (the events didn’t even enter the memory banks). He probably doesn’t recall much of the events leading up to his 2004 DUI, either. He will, however, remember his time in jail (assuming he is found guilty, of course).