A former Russian economist was sentenced Wednesday to 64 years to life in prison for killing his neighbor, with whom he’d been feuding over the cutting of bushes and trees on the defendant’s vacant lot near Encinitas.
Michael Vilkin, 63, was convicted last June of first-degree murder in the shooting death of 56-year-old John Upton, who rented a home near Vilkin’s property.
Upton was a documentary filmmaker who gained fame for his crusade to rescue Romanian orphans living in deplorable conditions during the communist dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu.
Before handing down the sentence, Vista Judge Robert Kearney denied a defense request for a new trial based on an allegation that Vilkin’s trial attorney didn’t adequately prepare the defendant to testify.
The judge also denied a motion to reduce the murder conviction to voluntary manslaughter.
“I believe the jury understood his (Vilkin’s) position,” the judge said. “They rejected it.”
Deputy Public Defender Matthew Wechter said Vilkin felt threatened and intimidated by Upton, who he said yelled at his client and chased him away from his own property.
Vilkin shot and killed Upton the morning of March 28, 2013, when he walked up an easement and approached the defendant.
Prosecutor David Uyar said Vilkin “calmly and coolly” shot Upton in the abdomen from close range with a .44-Magnum handgun, then fired again, hitting him in the head.
Vilkin thought Upton had a handgun and shot the victim, according to the defense. Only the defendant’s gun was recovered at the scene, and a cell phone was located near Upton’s body.
“This is an act of evil in its purest form,” Upton’s brother, Michael, said in a letter read by Uyar.
Upton’s ex-wife, Suzanne Hyle, said “John never saw it coming.”
Elizabeth Upton Baca said her father never mentioned Vilkin in their daily conversations.
“My dad had no idea what was waiting for him that morning,” his daughter told the court.
Vilkin, in a rambling statement, said people are fascinated with the case and that he was sorry that Upton lost his life in the property dispute.
“What happened to love your neighbor?” Vilkin said. “I was a good neighbor.”
Vilkin said he and Upton got along well in the beginning, but the filmmaker yelled at him and told him not to cut bushes on an adjoining road and not to walk on the road.
— City News Service
