Police: Tushar Atre was murdered by people who worked for him

Tushar Atre knew at least two of the men suspected of killing him, police say. They worked for him.

The Santa Cruz tech CEO was kidnapped from his waterfront Pleasure Point home in the early hours of Oct. 1. 2019, by three assailants, one of whom was armed with a rifle. Atre was forced into his girlfriend’s white BMW SUV and driven to a property he owned in the Santa Cruz Mountains where he operated a cannabis-manufacturing facility.

His body was discovered by deputies at Soquel San Jose Road about 9 a.m. that day. He died of a gunshot wound.

The Santa Cruz Sheriff's Office has identified the suspects as Joshua James Camps, 23, of Lancaster, Calif.; Kurtis Charters, 22, of Lancaster, Calif.; Stephen Nicolas Lindsay, 22, of Burbank, Calif.; and Kaleb Charters, 19, of St. Clair Shores, Michigan. Kurtis and Kaleb Charters are brothers. All have been jailed with the exception of Kaleb Charters, who is being extradited to California.

The men were arrested Tuesday in Michigan on charges of murder, kidnapping and robbery.

Lindsay and Kaleb Charters were employees of Atre’s cannabis business, Lt. Brian Cleveland said at press conference Thursday.

Deputies interviewed dozens of people who knew and/or worked with Atre and “were able to come up with names of two people who worked along with Tushar, that is, Kaleb Charters and Stephen Lindsay,” Cleveland said.

He described the killing as a “heinous and senseless crime.”

“These people wanted monetary gain and took advantage of the situation,” Cleveland said. He declined to say who the suspected shooter is or offer details about the robbery.

Atre was best-known as the chief executive of AtreNet, a successful Internet marketing company . His cannabis business is called Interstitial Systems.

None of the suspects had a criminal record.

Cleveland said no reward money has been issued.

Sheriff Jim Hart noted there was a huge suspect pool “that we had to narrow down” at the beginning of the investigation.

“I’ve been in this job 32 years, I can tell you there is compelling evidence against these four people,” Hart said.

“This man was sleeping in his home, people entered the home, kidnapped him, and murdered him.”