Phillip Victor Williamson: Medical Marijuana Distributor Murdered by L.A. Couple Over Weed, Cash, Cops Say

By Dennis Romero Thu., Aug. 4 2011 at 11:23 AM

Dirty cache?

Marijuana advocates argue that the more legal it gets, the less pot-related crime we'll have. Decriminalization will wrest the drug from the hands of bad guys, including the cartels.

But that doesn't seem to jibe with the reality of now: Cartels' pot exports are as healthy as ever despite quasi-legalization in 16 or so states, and pot shops and medical marijuana suppliers continue to be victims of bloody crimes.

In Long Beach this week a Granada Hills husband-and-wife duo was charged in connection with ...

... the alleged murder of 29-year-old medical marijuana broker Phillip Victor Williamson, according to Long Beach police.

Thirty-three-year-old Rosemary Sayegh and 28-year-old Marcel Mackabee were arrested last week in Chico, where Williamson based his pot brokerage. The L.A. County District Attorney's office charged Mackabee with one count of murder; his wife faced a charge of being an accessory to murder.

One clue, police argue, was a receipt found in Williamson's home from a Beverly Hills-area convenience store the day of the murder. After checking security video at the store cops determined that Mackabee "was the individual depicted."

Long Beach detectives say the motive was robbery. Williamson's gunshot-riddled body was found March 24 in an alley in the 1500 block of Pine Avenue in LBC. According to a police statement, investigators ...

... learned that [Williamson] may have had several pounds of marijuana and up to $500,000 in cash in his possession at the time of his death, both of which have yet to be recovered.

What would possess someone to kill for $500K? Gambling debt? Drug addiction? Housing crisis?

Police indicate that the two were "persons close to him that were part of his organization." Williamson apparently bought weed from growers in the Chico area and distributed it to medical marijuana dispensaries throughout L.A. County.

Sounds like an alleged set-up to us.

Interestingly, cops say this isn't over: "It is anticipated that additional arrests will be made."

Anyone with information on the case was asked to call detectives at 562-570-7244.

[@dennisjromero/djromero@laweekly.com]

Tags:

cartels, Chico, decriminalization, dispensaries, Granada Hills, legalization, Long Beach, marijuana, medical marijuana, murder, pot shops, weed

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Inlightened

I feel so bad how people like you and the news is trying to make them out to look when its nothing like that at all. I have also been a victim of this type of false accusations and even when they know they have the wrong people they still dont admit it and let them go in peace. Sayegh was never offered a deal nor did she take any! They let her go because they have NOTHING! They just have them locked up hoping something will come up till they cant hold them any longer! They let Sayegh go on the first day of her Trial because they knew she would be found innocent and they would look stupid! That's why she is dismissed and the same will happen for Mackabee when his trial starts too.People should start making statements againist the way our system works not against people that are falsely accused! Its the saying "Dont ASSUME... it make an ASS out of U and ME!"

Concerned

No one should believe just what they read in the news. THEY HAVE NO EVIDENCE AT ALL! I was also a victim falsely accused and found innocent. They made it look so bad in the news but at the end, they found the person who did it and it wasn’t me! Never believe all you read in the paper! My heart goes out them, innocent until proven guilty.And I just read they released them!! THIS GOES TO SHOW YOU THAT THEY REALLY HAVE NOTHING ON THEM!God bless you them and their families!

ZZardozz

If cannabis were legal, we would not have this problem. Just because a few sick people are granted an exemption from the ridiculous anti-cannabis laws (only from state law, not federal), it doesn't mean that this will have any effect on the overall cannabis market, because it is illegal for the vast majority of people, and that is the reason for the high prices, and therefore for this killing. Anti-cannabis laws make a few pounds of dried plant material worth thousands of dollars, instead of what it's really worth, which is not much.