Friends say that Russell was an intelligent person and a talented musician. Unfortunately, like many of us, his intelligence went out the window where girls were concerned.
Dating a tweaker with Aryan Brotherhood links is, it turns out, not that good for your health. While getting high with some thugs, she decided that her bf had been disrespecting her and needed to be 'checked'. And while she was at it, she mentioned that he had a large drug stash.
Her fellow tweakers developed a sudden urge to defend her honor - a task which involved liberating Russell of his surplus property. Since he was a little less than pleased by this, they had to immobilize him.
All three thugs agree that they never MEANT to kill the guy they were choking. Nevertheless, they did, so the obvious next step was to dispose of the body and run.