A former employee of a once-prominent tech magnate, now turned cannabis entrepreneur, has been found guilty of a brutal murder that shocked the community.

Tushar Atre, a 50-year-old entrepreneur, was violently seized from his Santa Cruz beach house in the early hours of October 1, 2019. The attackers had broken into his luxurious $5.4 million home in the dead of night, around 3 a.m., and forcibly took him from his bed.

This week, the case took a significant turn as 25-year-old Kaleb Charters, a former employee of Atre, was convicted on multiple serious charges including first-degree murder, robbery, carjacking, and kidnapping.

Adding to the severity of the case, Kaleb’s older brother, Kurtis Charters, along with their brother-in-law Stephen Nicholas ‘Nic’ Lindsay, were also found guilty of murder and related charges. Both have received life sentences without the possibility of parole, underscoring the gravity of their crimes.

The chilling incident doesn’t end there, as a fourth suspect, Joshua Camps, who has reportedly confessed to the crime, is still awaiting the continuation of his trial.

According to investigators, after the initial abduction, the men brutally stabbed Atre, then shot him, leaving his body 14 miles away in a desolate, mountainous region. The tragic end of a man who rose from tech success to a turbulent downfall is a stark reminder of the often hidden personal dramas behind public success.

During Kaleb’s trial, witnesses testified that the men had been ‘humiliated’ by the tech boss, KRON reported.

Atre, who bragged about being ‘worth thousands of dollars an hour,’ forced Lindsay and Kaleb to perform between 300 and 500 push-ups to receive their $1,400 paychecks, Atre’s right-hand man, Sam Borghese, testified.

Kaleb Charters (pictured), 25, was convicted of murdering his former boss who allegedly bullied and berated him 

Tushar Atre (pictured), 50, was abducted, stabbed and shot dead in Santa Cruz, California on October 1, 2019

Arte was dragged out of bed at his $5.4 million beach house (pictured) around 3am after a group of men broke into the home

Lindsay and Kaleb, both Army National Guard members, were hired to work at Atre’s marijuana farm in August 2019.

For his part, Borghese – a graduate of the University of California, Santa Cruz – had been hired to manage the cannabis business.

Atre ‘pushed his employees very hard,’ invoked fear, and would frequently yell, withhold pay and fire workers if he felt disrespected, Borghese told the court.

During their employment, Borghese was tasked with driving the duo approximately 300 miles to Humboldt County to purchase hundreds of marijuana plants.

Atre had given them $25,000 in cash to carry out the transaction, Borghese said.

The business manager explained that the pair, after receiving their wages, ‘told me they needed a break, because this was very intense work’.

After Lindsay and Kaleb left, it soon emerged that the keys to a farm truck were missing. Atre seemingly assumed that the pair had taken them.

‘Tushar got really upset. Tushar called the bank and bounced the checks,’ Borghese told the court, according to KRON.

The duo returned to the farm, located the keys at the property and confronted Atre about the bounced checks, prompting an argument.

Charters’s older brother, Kurtis Charters (left), and brother-in-law, Stephen Nicholas ‘Nic’ Lindsay (right), have also been convicted of Arte’s murder

A fourth man, Joshua Camps (pictured), who allegedly confessed to the heinous crime , is waiting for his trial to resume

Atre allegedly bragged about his wealth to the duo and highlighted how ‘anyone who wastes his time is costing money’. He also ordered them to do hundreds of push-ups, the court heard.

Just weeks later, in September 2019, the pair approached Borghese and asked for the security code to their boss’s home. They allegedly said they planned to rob Atre.

Borghese believed they were joking and provided them with a fake code, he testified.

The duo then recruited Kaleb’s older brother, Kurtis, and Camps to help them rob Atre, the court heard.

Kaleb drove Lindsay, Camps and his brother to Atre’s beach house on October 1, dropped them off, and drove away, investigators added.

Surveillance cameras captured Atre running down his street, with his hands apparently tied behind his back. He screamed for help before he was tackled by the trio and stabbed.

Lindsay, Camps and Kurtis forced Atre into a stolen BMW and took him to his cannabis farm in the mountains. Kaleb was waiting for them at the property.

Camps shot Atre in the back of the head, and the group left him for dead. His body was found about 20 to 30 yards away from the stolen BMW several hours later.

Kaleb Charters (left) and Stephen Lindsay (right) are seen working on Tushar Atre’s cannabis farm in the Santa Cruz Mountains in 2019

Lindsay, Camps and Kurtis forced Atre into a stolen BMW and took him to his cannabis farm in the mountains. The car was found covered in blood (pictured)

Atre, who was capture on surveillance footage screaming for help, was found with his hands bound with flex-ties, evidence photographs revealed

His hands had been bound with flex-ties, evidence photographs revealed. The BMW’s interior and exterior was also covered in blood.

In the days following the murder, Lindsay and Kaleb deposited cash into their personal bank accounts and attempted to use Atre’s banking details to pay their bills, credit cards and transfer funds via PayPal.

Kaleb pleaded not guilty to the crime and his defense attorney argued that the burglary plan unraveled into ‘chaos,’ but his client never hurt Atre.

The prosecutor said Kaleb was a ‘major participant in the crime’ and acted with ‘reckless indifference to human life.’

‘They took him to where that confrontation all started, where their plans to ride Tushar’s coattails were dashed,’ the prosecutor said.

‘We see how quick to violence everyone is. They act as a cohesive unit. They could have left Tushar bleeding in the street. They could have dropped him off anywhere, but they didn’t.’

Kaleb was found guilty on all counts, and his sentencing is scheduled for December 17.