Filmmaker killed: Tragedy unfolds after hostile dispute
Filmmaker killed: Tragedy unfolds after hostile dispute. A filmmaker was killed in Encinitas, Calif. Thursday after getting into a dispute with a neighbor over trimming shrubs. Huffington Post reports March 29 that John Charles Upton, Jr. was shot and killed on his property and the Michael Vilkin was arrested in the suspected murderer.
Upton was known for bringing awareness to the squalid conditions Romanian children suffered in orphanages back it the 1990s. His work largely contributed to helping bring two dozen children to the United States for medical attention and adoption. He made documentary films on the horrid conditions faced by children in orphanages in Romania.
Vilkin claims he shot the filmmaker after he was violently confronted by Upton with a gun over foliage. The alleged shooter owns some vacant property that was the apparent issue before the shooting.
"I did not go to him," Vilkin told a TV station. "He came to me threatening and pulled a gun (on) me."
Upton's brother -- Michael Upton -- said that the two men had argued about trees in the past.
Michael Vilkin will be arraigned on Tuesday and his being held without bail on suspicion he killed the filmmaker who inspired the help of billionaire philanthropist Richard Branson and actress Jessica Lange to help Romanian children in orphanages.
Upton was known for bringing awareness to the squalid conditions Romanian children suffered in orphanages back it the 1990s. His work largely contributed to helping bring two dozen children to the United States for medical attention and adoption. He made documentary films on the horrid conditions faced by children in orphanages in Romania.
Vilkin claims he shot the filmmaker after he was violently confronted by Upton with a gun over foliage. The alleged shooter owns some vacant property that was the apparent issue before the shooting.
"I did not go to him," Vilkin told a TV station. "He came to me threatening and pulled a gun (on) me."
Upton's brother -- Michael Upton -- said that the two men had argued about trees in the past.
Michael Vilkin will be arraigned on Tuesday and his being held without bail on suspicion he killed the filmmaker who inspired the help of billionaire philanthropist Richard Branson and actress Jessica Lange to help Romanian children in orphanages.
