Man ‘executed’ girlfriend’s tenant over rent dispute in 2020, CA officials say
A man accused of “executing” his girlfriend’s tenant over a rent dispute is headed to prison, California prosecutors said.
Michael Hughes, 75, received a prison sentence of 50 years to life in the 2020 death of Mario Velasquez Cardoso, 46, the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office said in an Aug. 13 news release.
A jury found Hughes guilty of first-degree murder in September, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
In an Aug. 13 email to McClatchy News, Peter Blair, the attorney who represented Hughes, said that “while the defense respects the court’s ruling and the jury’s decision, Mr. Hughes maintains his innocence and the case will be appealed.”
For months, Cardoso’s family had been arguing with Hughes’ girlfriend, the landlord of the Romano home they lived in, prosecutors said.
“Hughes decided to end the feud and took matters into his own hands by executing Cardoso,” prosecutors said.
In the weeks leading to Cardoso’s slaying, prosecutors said Hughes “staked out the house and removed a key surveillance camera that would have clearly captured the killer.”
Hughes drove to Cardoso’s home in November 2020, and as Cardoso tried to leave for work, “Hughes set a trap by closing a driveway gate,” prosecutors said.
Cardoso was forced to leave his car and open the gate while Hughes waited in “his sniper position,” prosecutors said.
Once Cardoso walked “into the kill zone,” prosecutors said, Hughes fired one round, fatally injuring Cardoso.
Hughes “then calmly walked away from the scene and to his truck hidden in a nearby field,” prosecutors said.
San Diego County sheriff’s detectives identified Hughes as a suspect and spoke to him 16 hours after the fatal shooting, but“there was not enough evidence to arrest him at that time,” according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors said “it was clear Hughes carefully planned” Cardoso’s slaying.
“He conducted reconnaissance on the house, tested his rifle in the days leading up to the murder, disposed of the murder weapon, wiped his computer history, and attempted to place blame on an innocent third party,” according to prosecutors.
Hughes was arrested nearly a year after Cardoso’s death, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
Detectives’ investigation, which included “the review of tens of thousands of surveillance videos, interviews, and multiple searches,” led to Hughes’ arrest, prosecutors said.
