Trial begins for tech millionaire killed by workers he was bullying
In this DML Report…
Tech tycoon Tushar Atre, 50, founder of Interstitial Systems and operator of a cannabis lab on Fern Street in Santa Cruz plus a farm in the Santa Cruz Mountains, was murdered October 1, 2019, after intruders broke into his $5.4 million Santa Cruz beach house around 3 a.m. The group dragged Atre from bed, stabbed him on the street—surveillance showed him running with hands bound, screaming for help—stole thousands in cash from his bedroom safe, kidnapped him in his stolen white BMW SUV, and drove 14 miles to his mountain farm. There, Joshua Camps shot Atre in the back of the head; his body, bound with flex-ties, was found nearby, the blood-soaked BMW abandoned. Stephen Nicholas "Nic" Lindsay and Kurtis Charters were convicted of murder this year and sentenced to life without parole; Kaleb Charters, Kurtis's brother, and Camps face charges including first-degree murder, robbery, burglary, kidnapping, and carjacking.
Army National Guard members Lindsay and Kaleb Charters worked grueling sunrise-to-sunset manual labor for nearly two weeks starting August 2019 at Atre's farm, including a 300-mile drive to Humboldt County with $25,000 cash to buy marijuana plants. Manager Sam Borghese testified Atre "pushed his employees very hard," bragged he was "worth thousands of dollars an hour," yelled, withheld pay, fired for disrespect, and twice forced the Charters to do 300-500 push-ups to get $1,400 paychecks—first after intense work, then over bounced checks when farm truck keys went missing (later found on-site). In September 2019, they asked Borghese for Atre's home security code to rob him; he gave a fake one, thinking it a joke.
(read more below)
Kurtis Charters drove Lindsay, Camps, and Kaleb to the beach house October 1; surveillance captured three suspects with duffel bag and rifle. Kaleb's defense claims he agreed only to burglary while Atre was away, never touched him, and learned of murder plans at the farm; he pleaded not guilty Monday, trial continues Tuesday. Camps's trial is paused. Post-murder, Lindsay and Kaleb deposited stolen cash and tried using Atre's bank details for bills, cards, and PayPal transfers; no forced entry signs at home.