The location where Ennis Cosby was murdered

This is the location where Ennis Cosby was murdered.

The shooting took place on the Skirball Center Drive exit on Interstate 405 in Los Angeles, California (Exit 61).

Flat tire

In the early hours of January 16, 1997, Cosby was driving north along Interstate 405 when he realized he had a flat tire.

After taking the Skirball Center Drive exit, he pulled his Mercedes-Benz over to the side of this road near the Mulholland Bridge.

At the time, it was dark, rainy, and cold. To complicate matters even further, the lighting in the area was bad, and he didn't have a flashlight in his car.

Earlier that night, Cosby went on a date with a woman named Stephanie Crane, whom he recently met at a party.

Crane lived relatively close to where he had stopped, and there was also a good chance that she was still awake. Consequently, he called her and asked for help.

Crane drove to Cosby's location so that she could point her headlights at his vehicle.

After hugging and making small talk for a few minutes, she got back in her car to escape the cold. Meanwhile, Cosby started working on his flat tire.

Mikhail Markhasev

That night, an 18-year-old gang associate named Mikhail Markhasev and two of his friends were hanging out beside a payphone in a nearby parking lot.

Markhasev was born in Lvov, Ukraine. He had immigrated to the United States with his mother when he was 10 years old.

He initially performed well in high school and even attended classes for gifted children. However, former friends said he had an urge to fit in.

As he got older, he started hanging around with associates of Mexican street gangs, who nicknamed him "PWee." From that point on, his grades suffered, and he started "acting like a wannabe gangster." Although his mother tried to give him a fresh start by moving to Encino, he kept returning to his old hangouts.

Murder

Markhasev intended to hold up a local drug dealer that night, but he decided to shelve those plans after he noticed the headlights on the side of the dark road.

Sensing he had the perfect opportunity to rob someone, he left his associates and moved in for a closer look.

Markhasev walked up to Crane's vehicle, knocked on her window, and waved his gun. However, when he ordered her to get out, she panicked and sped away.

As she was driving off, she heard a gunshot. Seconds later, she made a sharp turn and drove back around, hoping to scare the gunman off with her headlights.

When she arrived back at Cosby's Mercedes, she couldn't see anyone. Fearing he might have been kidnapped, she got out and began to scream his name.

Moments later, she noticed Markhasev running away in the distance. At that point, she looked down and saw Cosby lying on the ground in a pool of blood.

The 27-year-old had been shot in the head at point-blank range. He was later pronounced dead at the scene.

Arrest

In March 1997, Markhasev was arrested for Cosby's murder after one of his associates submitted a tip to the National Enquirer in exchange for a $100,000 reward.

Markhasev pleaded not guilty to the crime but was later convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In 2001, Markhasev dropped all of his appeals and confessed to murdering Cosby. In his letter, he apologized to Cosby's family and said that confessing to the crime was the least he could do "as a Christian."