California authorities revealed on Thursday that two of the four suspects believed to have killed a millionaire cannabis tycoon Tushar Atre, worked at the victim’s marijuana business.   

The four arrested are: Kurtis Charters, 22, of Lancaster, California; Stephen Nicolas Lindsay, 22, of Burbank, California; Kaleb Charters, 19, of St. Clair Shores, Michigan; Joshua James Camps, 23, of Lancaster, California. 

All were charged with kidnapping, murder and robbery after their Tuesday arrests in the two states. 

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During a Thursday press conference with the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office, Lt. Brian Cleveland shared that Kaleb Charters and Stephen Nicolas Lindsay worked for Atre’s cannabis company, Interstitial Systems.

In addition to those two, Kurtis Charters, 22, of Lancaster, California (left) and Joshua James Camps, 23, of Lancaster, California (right) were also arrested for kidnapping Atre and leaving his dead body in his girlfriend’s white BMW SUV

During a Thursday press conference with the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office, Lt. Brian Cleveland shared that Kaleb Charters and Stephen Nicolas Lindsay worked for Atre’s cannabis company, Interstitial Systems. 

‘Dozens of people knew and worked for Tushar. Their names came up early,’ Cleveland said. ‘We were able to gather more and more information on this group.’ 

Sheriff Jim Hart added: ‘We had a huge suspect pool that we had to narrow down. We have the right people, we have compelling evidence. This man was sleeping in his home, people entered the home, kidnapped him, and murdered him.’

Kaleb and Kurtis Charters are brothers. 

Atre was kidnapped on October 1, 2019, by three assailants at his Pleasure Point home

Atre was kidnapped on October 1, 2019, by three assailants at his Pleasure Point home. He was forced into his girlfriend’s white BMW SUB and driven to a property he owned in the Santa Cruz Mountains where he operated his cannabis manufacturing facility.  

He was forced into his girlfriend’s white BMW SUB and driven to a property he owned in the Santa Cruz Mountains where he operated his cannabis manufacturing facility. Atre was then killed

Just hours later, he was found shot to death in the BMW on the 24000 block of Soquel San Jose Road.    

Cleveland shared that the motive was robbery.  

‘This was a senseless crime. These people wanted monetary gain,’ Cleveland said. ‘They were there to take monetary items from Tushar. They were armed with a rifle. This was a planned event.’

It was not explained what transpired between the time Atre was kidnapped and killed. It was also not revealed which suspect pulled the trigger. 

Private citizens raised a $200,000 award for witnesses as authorities investigated the killing. An eventual release of surveillance footage showed three men approaching Atre’s home on the night of the murder. The men in the video could be seen holding a large duffel bag and a firearm. 

Sheriff Hart said that cracking the case took ‘vigilance’ and ‘resilience. The surveillance footage and tips weren’t enough to identify the suspects, Cleveland added. 

An eventual release of surveillance footage showed three men approaching Atre’s home on the night of the murder. The men in the video could be seen holding a large duffel bag and a firearm

‘We butted up against a lot of closed doors over the last seven or eight months. And every time that happened, our investigators found somewhere else to go with this case. This case was solved by outstanding police work being supported by a lot of different groups. I’m extremely proud of the work our investigation teams did. All of that work has culminated into bringing four people who did a very awful thing to justice,’ Hart said.

Kaleb Charters is being extradited to California, while the other three arrested men are behind bars in the Santa Cruz County Jail with no bail. 

Atre was the CEO of website design company Atrenet, but he had just launched a licensed cannabis manufacturing company, Interstitial Systems, before he died. 

His girlfriend, Rachael Emerly, paid tribute to Atre in a Wednesday instagram post. 

His girlfriend, Rachael Emerly, paid tribute to Atre in a Wednesday instagram post