SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KRON) — A tech executive’s convicted killer is asking a judge to throw out his murder conviction based on a letter that he claims contains a written confession from one of his three co-defendants.
The hand-written letter is titled, “Dear Best Friend,” has the message “Read & Destroy” at the top, and is signed with the name “Josh.”
Stephen Nicholas Lindsay, 27, was convicted by a jury in March of murdering, robbing, and kidnapping a millionaire tech executive, Tushar Atre, in Santa Cruz County. After Lindsay was sentenced to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole, Lindsay wrote his own habeas corpus petition from his jail cell and filed it in Santa Cruz County court. The letter is included as evidence in the petition.
Prosecutors said Lindsay, Joshua Camps, Kaleb Charters, and Kurtis Charters broke into Atre’s oceanfront home at Pleasure Point on October 1, 2019, before they robbed and kidnapped the tech executive. At the time of the kidnapping, the four young men were between ages 19-23.
The group forced Atre into a stolen car, tied him up, drove Atre into the mountains, and murdered him at Atre’s cannabis farm, according to investigators. Atre’s body was found the next morning at his mountain property.
Jury selection of Kaleb Charters’ murder trial began on Tuesday afternoon with Judge Stephen Siegel presiding. Dressed in a suit and tie, Kaleb Charters smiled and waived at prospective jurors when the judge introduced him to the courtroom. He was a teenager, 19, at the time of the crime.
A trial for his older brother, Kurtis Charters, ended last week on Sept. 18 when jurors found him guilty on all counts. By citing his 5th Amendment rights, Camps refused to testify against Kurtis Charters.
Joshua Camps wrote a jail letter to Lindsay in which Camps allegedly confessed to the murder, the petition states. Prosecutors knew about the letter’s existence before Lindsay’s murder trial began in January, however, it was never revealed to Lindsay, nor his defense team, until after a verdict was already reached, the habeas corpus petition claims.
Atre previously lived in San Francisco and he was well-known for his successful tech company, AtreNet. Atre’s social media profiles show the tech executive loved surfing and mountain biking in Santa Cruz, and he hosted social gatherings for friends at his Pleasure Point house.
A sheriff’s lieutenant previously told KRON4 that Kaleb Charters and Lindsay worked for Atre’s cannabis business. “Dozens of people knew and worked for Tushar. Their names came up early,” the lieutenant said shortly after their arrests.
While he had many AtreNet employees who worked for him, Atre’s professional life crossed paths with Kaleb Charters and Lindsay when he hired them to work for his cannabis manufacturing business, Interstitial Systems, investigators said.
Camps’ trial began in the summer and is scheduled to resume on October 1 with additional testimony. Jury selection for Kaleb Charters’ trial is set to resume on the same day.
According to Lindsay’s petition asking for his conviction to be reversed, Camps wrote a confession and explained the motive behind killing Atre, the petition claims. The plan began when Camps was stressed out about money because his mother died, and Kurtis Charters suggested robbing Atre because he kept $1 million in cash at home, the letter states.
The letter begins, “You asked ‘why’ so I figured I’d tell you the ‘why.’ After mom died, I wasn’t in my right mind. There was a lot of stress with expenses both our own and with my mom’s staff and I knew money would ‘fix the problem.’ But I knew money wouldn’t come quickly. Kurtis knew about what was going on and presented me with the opportunity to make a lot of money fast. He said Kaleb’s boss was a P.O.S. and that he tried to sexually assault Kaleb. They also said he had a million in cash in his safe. I said no. They showed up at the house and for some reason I said f**k it and went with. I could feel myself screaming not to go.”
Atre had lived in Santa Cruz since 1996, according to his obituary. Atre’s obituary writes, “His free spirit, while able to operate within the confines of the East Coast, felt unleashed in Santa Cruz. He lived a few years in San Francisco and Los Gatos, but felt most at home in Santa Cruz. As he once put it, ‘I moved to Santa Cruz for the mountain biking but stayed for the surfing.'”
The jail letter attributed to Camps contains details about the group’s plan to rob Atre, as well as who allegedly killed him. “They told me the plan was to go to his place, take his money, steal his car, and that’s it. But they also made it sound like he was some gangster dude and he would have muscle at his house, which was the point of the gun. I wasn’t planning on shooting anyone. I was like okay, even if we got caught, 4 years max. Well once things were in motion, I quickly learned that wasn’t the whole plan. We tied him up, got the money, I laid him on the bed and started heading for the door. Nick grabbed him and started heading out the door. That’s when sh** went really bad. The guy took off running, Nick chased then tackled. I stabbed him. We got him in the car and took off. We got to the spot. The guy was messed up and bleeding out. I knew if we dumped him there he would bleed out. So I decided to show mercy and just end it fast. I told him I was sorry and that none of this was supposed to happen and then I ended it,” the letter states.
The letter continues, “I’m not an evil murderer. I f**ked up beyond repair and my life is in God’s hands now. I’m sorry you ever met me. Your life would be a lot better I’m sure. And no, I didn’t think I would get away with it. IDK best friend, I’m so lost in all of this. Coming clean to the cops I’m sure sealed my fate, but I feel better TBH. Honestly I think I could have lied and been out free.”
“I love you. Take care. I do not want anyone accidentally getting a hold of this. I could mess up my whole case. Please destroy it. Thank you,” the letter writes.
Lindsay was arrested in May 2020 on suspicion of murder. His jury trial’s opening arguments began in January 2025 and he was represented by San Francisco-based defense attorney Marsanne Weese.
In his petition, Lindsay claims, “The prosecution team withheld a written confession from a co-defendant which undermined portions of prosecutions theory and closing argument of the case. The withholding … amounted to a Brady violation. This violation warrants a reversal or dismissal of conviction.”
In between Lindsay’s arrest and trial, “the prosecution team came into possession of a written confession by a co-defendant. This confession was not provided to myself or (defense attorney) until April 1st of 2025, almost a month after my March 5th 2025 conviction date. This withheld evidence contained exculpatory information directly contradicting prosecutions assertions during closing arguments,” the inmate wrote in his petition.
Lindsay claims his Fifth and 14th Amendment rights were violated because his jury never saw the letter.
Kaleb Charters will have a different jury. On Tuesday, Judge Siegel told prospective jurors that Kaleb Charters’ trial is expected to stretch into November, and although it is a murder trial, is not a death penalty case. Opening statements are slated to begin on October 6. He has pleaded not guilty.
Kurtis Charters is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 16.
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