Four men were convicted and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in connection with the October 2019 kidnapping and murder of Santa Cruz tech executive Tushar Atre, according to court records and investigators.
Atre, 50, a web design entrepreneur who had a cannabis business in the Santa Cruz Mountains, was the focus of a multi-month investigation after surveillance cameras captured three hooded figures walking from an alley toward his home on Pleasure Point Drive shortly before dawn on Oct. 1, 2019. Investigators said the footage showed the three figures at about 2:48 a.m.
Police said one of Atre’s employees who was staying at the house heard a commotion around 3 a.m. and reported hearing two male voices asking about a safe before the noise moved outdoors and vehicles were heard leaving. A 911 call was placed at 3:34 a.m. and Santa Cruz County sheriff’s deputies arrived at the residence within about 10 minutes, officials said.
Deputies found no sign of forced entry and officers reported the home did not appear ransacked. Investigators located a bedroom safe containing about $80,000 that, they said, had not been opened by the suspects. Evidence photos released by the sheriff’s office documented blood in the middle of the street near the home.
Authorities said a white BMW SUV that belonged to Atre’s girlfriend, identified in reports as Rachael Emerlye, was missing from the driveway. Investigators later found the vehicle abandoned in the Santa Cruz Mountains, near property where Atre operated his cannabis business. Officials said the SUV showed blood both inside and outside and was examined for DNA and fingerprints. Detectives said Emerlye was out of town at the time of the incident and was ruled out as a suspect early in the investigation.
About 20 to 30 yards from the recovered SUV, investigators located Atre’s body. Officials said he had been fatally shot and stabbed; shell casings were later photographed at the scene. Evidence photos showed Atre’s hands bound with flex-ties, and surveillance footage captured by neighborhood cameras reportedly showed him being chased with his hands tied behind his back before he was tackled and stabbed.
In the weeks and months following the killing, investigators released additional footage, including a clip that appeared to show one of the three suspects carrying what looked like an assault rifle. Detectives traced a blue sedan on other surveillance video and used the images to map possible routes taken by the suspects.
Detectives interviewed former employees of Atre in Las Vegas in December 2019. Officials said Kaleb Charters and Stephen Lindsay acknowledged a dispute with Atre over pay but denied knowing the three figures seen on the surveillance footage and denied returning to Santa Cruz after they left their jobs.
With no immediate arrests, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office announced a $200,000 reward on Jan. 29, 2020, for information leading to an arrest and conviction. On May 19, 2020, authorities arrested Stephen Lindsay, Kurtis Charters, Kaleb Charters and Joshua Camps. At the time of arrest their ages were reported as: Lindsay, 24; Kurtis Charters, 23; Kaleb Charters, 21; and Camps, 25. All four were charged with murder, kidnapping and robbery and initially pleaded not guilty, court records show.
According to court records, the defendants were later tried separately, found guilty, and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
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