A California courtroom heard shocking testimony this month about the final days of Tushar Atre, a Santa Cruz tech CEO and cannabis entrepreneur who was kidnapped and slain in 2019.
One of the men accused in the crime, Kaleb Charters, informed jurors that Atre once forced him and another worker to do 500 pushups before paying them. He also described Atre’s business as an exploitative and humiliating workplace.
Highlights
- Tech CEO and cannabis entrepreneur Tushar Atre was kidnapped and later found slain in the Santa Cruz Mountains in 2019.
- One of his accused slayers testified that Atre once made him and another worker do 500 pushups to receive their paychecks, which were not even the right amount.
- The case has reignited debate over toxic work culture, power dynamics, and how far anger and resentment among employees can go.
The internet has remained divided over the case, with many stating that the slain CEO had it coming, and others arguing that some lines must never be crossed.
The trial for Atre's case revealed an unsettling glimpse into the late CEO’s work environment
Image credits: Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office
Atre, 50, was abducted from his upscale home in Santa Cruz County and later found slain in the nearby mountains, according to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office, in 2019.
Authorities arrested four suspects shortly after the incident: Joshua Camps, 23, Kurtis Charters, 22, Stephen Lindsay, 22, and Kaleb Charters, 19, according to People magazine.
Image credits: Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office
Two of them, Kurtis Charters and Stephen Lindsay, have already been convicted of first-degree m**der earlier this year. Kaleb’s trial remains ongoing.
As proceedings resumed this month, Kaleb testified that he and Lindsay had worked just ten days for Atre in August 2019 on his cannabis farm.
Image credits: Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office
According to KRON 4, the pair were informed that they would receive a salary of $200 per day, but tensions grew quickly. Kaleb described working from dawn to dusk.
When they briefly lost the keys to one of Atre’s trucks, Kaleb said, the boss “chided them for wasting his time” and reminded them how valuable every minute of his was.
Image credits: Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office
“He said his time was worth a lot of money,” he told jurors.
He then claimed Atre made them do 500 pushups before handing over a reduced paycheck of $1,400, $600 short of the $2,000 they expected.
Former staff and friends described Atre as a brutal boss
Several former employees testified that Atre ran a tight and sometimes toxic operation.
One unnamed witness told KRON 4 that staff even joked about Atre eventually being robbed, given his tough management style.
Image credits: Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office
Atre’s longtime assistant and confidante, Sam Borghese, testified that while he considered the tech entrepreneur a close friend, he admitted the workplace he created among his workers could be harsh.
Borghese noted that the late CEO ran a tight machine, and he created a hostile work environment by sometimes withholding paychecks from his employees.
Image credits: Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office
Despite these accounts, Atre’s friends and family painted a more complex picture of the slain CEO.
Born in New York, Atre founded the web design firm Atrenet and was known as a “free spirit” who loved biking, supporting local artists, and renovating homes.
He had also survived a bus accident years before, which friends said changed his outlook on life.
“He enjoyed his happily uneventful routine biking the streets of Manhattan until June 6, 1990, when he was hit by a car and run over by a truck on Broadway near Columbia University. The surgeon told his family to prepare for life without him."
“He managed to survive the ordeal. After several surgeries and six months of rehabilitation, Tushar continued with a new lease on life: biking, renovating his homes and enjoying music,” his obituary read.
Public opinion remains divided over what justice should look like
The case has reignited fierce online debate about workplace a**se, accountability, and revenge.
Many readers expressed sympathy for the victims of toxic leadership, but also disbelief at how violence became part of the story.
Image credits: KRON 4
One commenter wrote, “I’m not saying I agree, but I do understand.” Another added, “You quit. You don’t k**l the guy!”
A third observed, “It shocks me how many people agree with m**der… all they had to do was seek a new job.”
Image credits: KPIX | CBS NEWS BAY AREA
Others, however, took a more sympathetic stance towards the suspects. “Don’t be a bully as a boss.
“This new generation has a different payback for bullies no tolerance for no nonsense,” one commenter wrote.
Image credits: KPIX | CBS NEWS BAY AREA
As Kaleb Charters’ trial continues, the testimony offers a haunting look at how a cycle of resentment, control, and retaliation can spiral into tragedy.
Atre’s untimely passing still raises uncomfortable discussions among netizens
