Unsolved Mysteries Wiki
Unsolved Mysteries Wiki
Unsolved Mysteries Wiki
1,943
pages
in: California, 1997, Murder,
and 3 more

Ennis Cosby

Edit
Ennis cosby

Ennis Cosby

Real Name: Ennis William Cosby
Nicknames: No known nicknames
Location: Los Angeles, California
Date: January 16, 1997

Case[]

Details: At about 1:30AM on January 16, 1997, twenty-seven year old Ennis Cosby, the son of comedian and actor Bill Cosby, was on his way to visit a friend, Stephanie Crane, when he turned off Interstate 405 near Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles to try and fix a flat tire on his Mercedes. Ennis called Stephanie who came a few minutes later and shined her car lights on his car so he could fix the tire. Then, an unknown assailant came up to the driver's side window of her car and pulled a gun on her.
Fearing for her life, she drove away from the scene. About a minute later, she came back to see if Ennis was alright; however, the unknown assailant had already shot him in the head and killed him by the time she returned. She then saw the man running down the street away from the scene. Police believe that the killer may have tried to rob Ennis, but instead killed him because he was not fast enough in giving the killer money.
Several witnesses came forward, claiming to have seen Ennis next to I-405 shortly before the shooting. A Bel Air security guard gave police a description of a man in a blue hatchback he had seen in the area minutes before the murder. Police tracked that man to a mini-mall in Torrence. However, it turned out that the man was not involved.
Suspects: Stephanie reported that the killer was a white man between the ages of 25 and 32 in a light-knit colored cap who resembled a character from the movie Dead Man Walking, played by Sean Penn. He was of average height and weight. Investigators believe that the crime was random and that the motive was robbery.
Extra Notes:

  • The case was featured as a part of the February 14, 1997 episode.
  • This case was excluded from the FilmRise release of the series.
Mikhal markhasav

Mikhal Markhasev

Results: Solved. Co-workers of eighteen-year-old Mikhail Markhasev told police that he had confessed to killing Ennis Cosby on the night of the murder. Other witnesses came forward, including a couple that claimed that they were with Markhasev on the night of the murder. They told police that he had ditched a dark blue knit cap and the murder weapon in a wooded area. The cap and weapon were located; hairs on the cap were determined to belong to Markhasev and ballistics testing confirmed that the weapon was used to kill Ennis. Markhasev was soon arrested and charged with Ennis's murder. In July of 1998, he was convicted of the murder and sentenced to life in prison. In 2001, he finally confessed to the crime, dropped his appeal, and apologized to the Cosby family.
Links:

Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.